Post Whole 30: A Whole New World
The biggest piece of advice for you post Whole30ers: don't plan a trip to Paris 2 days after you come off your Whole 30. It will not end well.
So going into the Whole30 I knew that I'd be going to Paris at the end. I partially did the Whole30 to feel better going into this vacation, which I did. I lost inches, a few pounds, and was on the cusp of another smaller pant size. My post two days after the Whole30 were okay, I added some dairy (hard cheese) back into my diet, some sugar (honey) and wine (because commmme onnn). Not too bad. I packed my carry-on bag full of Whole30-approved snacks to combat the airplane munchies that accompany a 6-hour flight. When I got to the airport I realized I should probably eat dinner before getting on the plane and having the questionable food selections so I stopped and got a baked potato with butter and bacon and a grilled chicken breast. Again, not too bad.
On the plane I had a plethora of snacks including sweet potato chips, Larabars, grapes, raisin and sunflower seed trail mix and some already pre-peeled clementines. I only drank water (ginger-ale used to be my go-to airplane drink) and ate my little snacks and plugged my headphones in to watch "An American in Paris" (fitting I know). Dinner hour rolled along and the attendants brought our options: a choice of pasta or chicken. I chose the chicken and ended up just eating the
4 pieces of green leaves and the hunk of carrot and tomato
salad. Mom was tempted to eat the chunk of bread that was there but we both knew it wasn't even worth it and left everything else on the plate. We spent the next 5 1/2 hours watching movies, reading and taking a quick nap before it was already morning in Paris and we were making our descent into the City of Lights. Naturally that meant another food run from the flight attendants- we were shocked that it wasn't a muffie and instead was a greek yogurt and granola. So we had that. Again, not bad.
Up until this point, I was like "oh man, we can totally do this Whole30 thing abroad. We've got this".
And then I got off the plane.
The biggest piece of advice for you post Whole30ers: don't plan a trip to Paris 2 days after you come off your Whole 30. It will not end well.
Okay but honestly, I knew I was going to Paris and I knew I wanted to enjoy every last bite and I wasn't going to feel guilty about it. We had the most amazing trip and really it was one of my dream trips to take and we ate so many wonderful things that were so NOT Whole30 approved and I was completely fine with it. Croissants, baugette, fresh cheese, pastries, odious amounts of champagne and wine; you know the 'not-approved' list my friends- well basically I solely ate from that list. It was worth it. I would've a) starved to death because Parisians live off bread, wine and cheese and b) been so disappointed and sad if I would've avoided all the quintessential Parisian treats.
A quick look at our lovely (#NOTWhole30) eating in Paris:
One of the funny things I always find while I'm in Europe is that I'm totally fine eating gluten. So far I've been able to eat gluten in United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal and have been completely fine. France was no exception (and considering the amount of gluten I ate...I was shocked). But the funny thing is- as soon as I got back to the States and ate something in the airport (secretly praying that I'll be cured of this stupid disease) I got sick again. Darnit. Back to a gluten-free lifestyle.
The hardest thing for me was coming BACK from Paris and getting back into a groove again. I was good for a week and then fell off the wagon again by letting dairy and sugar creep back into my life. So on the wagon I go again. I'm not sure what my #PostWhole30 life is going to look like, but I'm trying to figure that out. One meal prep at a time, one week at a time because after all it really is like a WHOLE new world.