RECAP: Whole30 Week One + Goals Workshop

The first week of our Whole30 flew by, and I’m a couple days late writing this recap!  I felt sluggish and tired for a few days at the beginning.  Nothing too serious, though.  I’m positive it was due to the extra sugar I had in my diet during the weeks prior!  Whole30 has taught me to listen to my body and I feel more in tune with it, now knowing when those sugar cravings come roaring back, it’s time to reset!  

Backtracking a bit, I want to share with you how wonderful it was to kick off our Whole30 with a Goals Workshop at Pure Barre Preston Hollow!  (Big thanks for Britta Noble for hosting us at the studio.)  You may have heard me mention it here, or on social media.  Goal Coach, Lizzie Somabut, lead us through a goal setting setting workshop, focusing on short term goals for the Whole30.  It’s very eye- opening to participate in a session such as this and reflect on why you are doing something and what you hope to accomplish.  There may be more to it than you think!  

It’s easy to just write down a list of goals, but it takes some thinking and planning to figure out why you want to make improvements and how you are going to go about doing it!  That’s what the workshop was geared to do.  Below is a framework of what we did during our session with Lizzie.  She provided me with a summary and I’ve filled in some of my goals/thoughts I had during the session.

“We used the goal-setting framework to create action oriented plans week to week for the 30 days.  We came up with an ideal vision for how participants wanted to feel during the Whole30, what their expectations were, and who they ultimately wanted to be after the 30 days.”  

It was interesting to hear as each person spoke, that everyone’s expectations and goals were different.  Everyone said they wanted to improve their health, but each person had a different reason for wanting that.  From triathlons, to weight loss, to just overall feeling better, everyone had an important reason for wanting to make changes.    

For me, a couple of the things that came to mind were feeling stronger and more rested overall.  Instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour, sometimes I’ll stay up late to “get things done” while everyone is asleep.  I’m sure that many people can identify with this situation.  The fact of the matter is, I’m not doing myself any favors by doing this.  My nutrition habits can be totally on point, but I might not reap all of the benefits I could if I’m not getting enough sleep.  So, one of my main goals is to go to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier to get a jump start on the day.    

I shared with the group that I often go to bed later than I should, and don’t get enough sleep to feel rested.  This results in a cycle of feeling tired during the day and relying on caffeine or sugar to give me a boost.  (You’re probably asking yourself why I’m worried about sleep during the Whole30.  Well, lack of sleep disrupts many important functions in your body, including fat loss.  In the book, It Starts With Food, 8-9 hours of sleep is the recommendation.  For more info, read the book and this article.)  

“Through the use of positive language and compassion, we worked to write goals that inspired participants to find the happiness within the challenge without losing pieces of their personalities.”  

Breaking down the goals into mini goals was helpful.  We wrote down things we could commit to, to make it happen in 30 days.  For example, Lizzie asked me what I could do to make sure I followed through with my goal to get more sleep.  Together, we came up with setting an alarm on my phone 30 minutes before an ideal bedtime, as a reminder to start winding down.  Sounds simple, but it has helped me stay on the right track.  Except for one night when we stayed up late to watch a movie, I’ve been in bed by 10:30pm.  I am hoping to gradually make bedtimes and wake up times earlier over the next few weeks until I find the right balance.       

“By identifying the “don’t wants” of the challenge (ie: feelings, extra weight, to feel tired, etc.), we quickly transformed the “wants” into personal motivators they can come back to if the challenge gets tough; they can see what goals and desires they created for themselves and hopefully find inspiration in that.”  

I thought this part was great!  It really helped everyone see more clearly what they want to accomplish during the 30 days.  For example:  I want to feel more energy, rested, and able to focus.  I want to have a more consistent sleep schedule, getting 8 hours of sleep per night.  I don’t want to feel tired when I wake up in the morning and throughout the day.  

All in all, I thought the workshop was wonderful!  Lizzie’s coaching gave me some important tools to use to reach my goals with Whole30 and other areas of life.  I’d recommend this type of coaching to anyone who wants to have a clearer vision of their goals and help with planning the necessary steps to accomplish them.  

Lizzie offers a range of life and goal coaching services to help you navigate your short and long term goals.   Her services include one on one coaching, goal setting workshops, and a follow-up series after the goal setting has taken place for more personal work on the goals created.  She is also available for sessions via phone.  

For more information, be sure to visit visionaries.life.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Photography:  Stephanie Drenka (Who is also doing the Whole30!  Be sure to check out her fantastic post on what the Whole30 has taught her so far…)