Jennifer Riley with skis

Jennifer R.

Craig, Colorado

I feel like I have a path forward with food.

I had a few BIG wins this round of my Whole30. I’ve completed several rounds of Whole30, but none were as successful as I feel this round was. There are a couple of reasons…

Last year, after I completed a Whole30, I still wasn’t feeling the “tiger blood” feeling that I thought I should. My skin wasn’t cleared up, and I just didn’t feel amazing. I decided to do some blood tests to see if I had any food sensitivities or intolerances. The test results came back and revealed five foods to which I had a high level of reaction/intolerance: beef, avocado, cashews, watermelon and cucumbers. I was kind of shocked about the first two – beef and avocados – because I LOVED THOSE. Begrudgingly I gave them up. My skin cleared. I stopped getting sores on my scalp. Over the late summer/fall, if I ate one of those foods, a few days later I’d get the sores and bumps on my chest.

Fast forward to this Whole30. I avoided the foods mentioned above. This was my first time doing a Whole30 without beef and avocado. Midway through the 30 days, my energy was really great, my sleep was amazing, my night sweats and night-time were itching gone (thanks peri-menopause), and my was skin clear. I just can’t believe the changes. I feel like this was what I was waiting for each time before, but when it didn’t come, I was disappointed and frustrated. I would slide right back to old habits because I felt like “what’s the point?”

I am committed to reintroduction. So committed, that I delayed it to Super Bowl Sunday. I’m starting with non-gluten grains so I can have popcorn with the game.

I feel so happy and honestly, so relieved. I feel like I have a path forward with food.

Thanks, Melissa and Whole30 team. I love the support, the resources (FREE resources, to boot), the culture and climate.

Published by Nuala

Danielle Nuala Schoen (Nuala), lives amongst community in the mountains of western North Carolina. She is a massage therapist (LMBT) and RYT-200 yoga instructor with a background in social work. Nuala is passionate about redefining health and wellness in order to center the self-determination and self-actualization of each unique individual, and thereby, the actualization of the collective.Nuala enjoys ecstatic dance, contact improvisation, creek dips, travel, and sharing Whole30 meals with her loved ones.