We spend such a short amount of time with our riders each week. 45mins 2-3 times week. We are so invested in ensuring their experience is the best it can be while they are in with us, so they can carry that with them once they leave the room. Outside of that its almost impossible to impact their lives in any other way. Unlike a PT, group fitness leaders can see up to 500+ people a week and while we want to be more invested in how they balance their lives outside our classes, the reality is, its almost impossible. So the best we can do sometimes is lead by example.
We all know by now that any results we attach to weight loss are more about what and how much we eat, rather than what and how we train. But the importance of what we eat and how we fuel our bodies is so much bigger than loosing weight.
FOOD IS MEDICINE. The words say it all. What we consume can prevent/lower the risk of illness and disease, it enables our bodies to heal, repair, function, grow. What we consume has an impact on our digestive system that in turn effects our skin, our sleeping patterns and the list goes on.
With so many diets around, some that specifically relate to allergies or intolerances, others just out right fads, how do we know where to begin? And how do we know outside the general knowledge of foods that are bad for us such as deep fried, high sugar, high fat ect foods, what kind of foods may not be having a positive reaction in our bodies such as gluten and diary?
Well the simple answer is. REMOVE THEM ALL! By illiminating and reintroducing food groups, not only will you discover how effectively your body can function and how good you will feel but you will also discover what your body doesn’t particularly process well when you start to put them back in one by one.
To do this effectively will cost you nothing but time? How much you ask? 30 days. And if you think that is a long time to invest in becoming the best version of you, then you have much further to go than you think! ANYONE CAN DO ANYTHING for 30 days.
Does it work? Well, thousands and thousands of people claim it does and we do too. Because we are seeing the effect and result in front of our very own eyes. One of our own beloved leader Naomi Lang took the 30 day Whole30 challenge. We asked her to document her journey. Why she wanted to take the challenge, how she feels so far on it and what shes discovering from it.
Here is Part 1 of her journey:
Whole30: 1/3 By Naomi Lang
I’ll be the first to admit, I have no issues with staying active. If I’m not spinning at Vicious Cycle, I’m running, walking or stretching on a yoga mat. However, one thing I’ve always struggled with is eating. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a completely healthy relationship with food, be it eating too much or too little or not enough of the good stuff.
So when a few of my friends told me they’d completed Whole30, I decided to read up on the program. Here’s the high-level overview of it:
- 30 days of no alcohol, no dairy, no gluten, no legumes and no processed foods or artificial sugars
- 30 days of eating meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds
- Note: It’s basically 30 days of being paleo
My first instinct was to shudder thinking of all the bread and ice cream I’d miss. But since I was feeling so “blah” after the Easter weekend (Cadbury Humpty Dumpty – Felt great when I was 8 years old, not so much at 24) I decided to embrace Nike and just do it. Side: I also despised the thought that I couldn’t do this and my competitive athlete side took over. I can do anything for 30 days!
1/3 Whole30 Reflections:
- There were slight tension headaches after giving up my daily bread, but they only lasted a few days
- I’ve learnt to cook like a real adult! I’m only talking roasting vegetables and meat but hey, we all have our own mountains to climb
- I started sleeping better. And I mean legitimately passing out the minute my head finds the pillow
- I stopped craving junk food since I started feeling quite full off massive salads and vegetable/protein dishes
- I also kicked my sweet tooth. Considering I used to down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s like it was air, fruit now tastes super sweet to me… who am I?!
- In terms of fueling for spin classes and workouts, sweet potatoes and dried fruit have been perfect
- My skin is clearing up!
- My energy levels during the day are more stable. No more sugar highs and crashes. Also no more using food to stress eat since so many of my favorite stress eat foods are off limits
- I’m legitimately astounded at how high-functioning my mind and body are despite not having any grains/carbohydrates/sugars – Who knew?!
- Weight loss, though not the aim, is naturally happening!
Stay tuned for how I feel completing the next 20 days, but so far SO GOOD. I 100% recommend this if you want to develop a healthier relationship with food, understand how your body reacts to certain foods or you just want to challenge yourself to some clean eating habits!
Resources that I’ve found helpful:
- Program Rules – https://whole30.com/2015/01/rules-recommendations/
- Shopping List – https://lifehealthhq.com/whole30-shopping-list/
- Expectations – https://whole30.com/2013/08/revised-timeline/
- Food blog – https://www.oliveyouwhole.com/
