You know what is hard? Giving up stuff that you really like. Think cheese. Pizza. Corn on the cob smothered in butter. And speaking of butter, think of saying good bye to that too!
I introduce to you The 4 Week Gut Protocol:
Now let's think about the unpleasant stuff that we alllllll deal with. Farts (especially stinky ones), burping, bloating (I hated looking 5 months pregnant all the time!) and fatigue. Autumn Calabrese didn't like dealing with all of those things, so she decided to do something about it! And now we have this awesome program to help us out!
This protocol was hard. I said goodbye to gluten, dairy, corn, highly processed soy, and artificial sweeteners for 4 weeks. Alcohol is also off limits for the full 4 weeks, but I was okay with that since..... I don't drink haha!
The reason she has you eliminate those foods from your body is to help you learn which food sensitivities you have and which foods to avoid. And eliminating those foods helps heal your gut. If you have leaky gut, this is the way to help fix it!
This program is kind of like the Ultimate Portion Fix that Autumn created several years ago. You still use color coded containers to portion out how many of each type of food you get each day. This is what mine looked like:
So, my plan had me eating 6 cups of vegetables every day. For someone who isn't a huge vegetable fan, this was hard for me at first! It was also hard for me to just stick to two cups of fruit each day. Not eating as many carbs as I wanted also was difficult. When I measured out 1/2 cup of some cooked gluten-free pasta, I was not impressed with how little the amount was. But, in the end everything worked out and my body adjusted to the different portion requirements.
*On a side note: You can buy the containers directly from Beachbody, however I have found these ones on Amazon work great, and you get two sets for a good price.*
Okay, let's talk about my experiences each week as I went through this program:
Week one of the program was rough. I was having mega withdrawal symptoms as my body was detoxing from all of the junk food that I had been eating. Headaches, fatigue, nausea, and irritability were all incredibly present that very first week. My poor hubby and kids had to deal with me! And other thing: I was HUNGRY. Despite the fact that I was eating a ton of food, most of which were veggies, I found that my stomach was growling for more food. Maybe it was because my body was just digesting the veggies faster? I don't know why, it didn't make sense to me.
Week two was better, I didn't have any headaches or nausea and I didn't feel as tired. But I would still get hungry after all my servings of food. I went over on my purple container (fruit) servings pretty much every day.... And hello cravings for all the "bad" foods.
Week three was hard, mostly because I was so sick of meal planning and all of the prepping/cooking. My kitchen was a disaster all the time. I felt like I would cook, eat, clean up. Then immediately repeat. We had a few nights where we went out to eat with family to celebrate birthdays and other things. Being the only one on the gut protocol and trying to find something on the menu that I could eat was hard and frustrating. Everything had dairy, or everything had gluten. I ended up with a very bland tasting white egg omelet with chicken, tomatoes and spinach. It was gross! I was pretty jealous of everyone around me eating all of the good fattening stuff! And again, I had cravings. Mostly for carbs.
And then the final week, week four. The end was so close, yet so far. I went to the movies during the final week and not eating any popcorn was SO hard! You know, the second you walk into the building your nose is attacked with the most delicious smelling popcorn. Loaded with salt and extra butter! BUT, corn is off the list during this program. So I had to muster up ever ounce of self control to not cheat myself. Luckily I had people there who knew I was doing the program and helped support me. They encouraged me to keep going to finish it! While they were eating their popcorn haha!
Overall, this was hard. I love food. Like the food that isn't very good for you. But one thing that made it easier was that I could follow the recipes available on Beachbody and on Autumn's Instagram. There is also this amazing blog that has so many different recipes based off of the Beachbody nutrition programs. The blog is Confessions of a Fit Foodie. I highly recommend it!
In the end, I love that I don't feel so bloated. Like my stomach doesn't feel tight. I haven't had brain fog for a couple of weeks now and it is amazing! I haven't been burping or farting nearly as much as I was before this program (come on, everyone does it) and Kip is pretty happy about that!
So, without further ado, here are my before and after pictures:
In my before and after pictures, it is crazy to me to see that the bloat has gone. All that's left is that adorable little baby pooch... haha.
Let me add in here that I paired this eating program with the workout program that Autumn designed to go with it. It is called 4 Weeks For Every Body. You can read my post about that program here.
Overall, doing the gut protocol and the workout program helped me lose lost just over 8 lbs and 5 inches total off my body. I am back to the weight I was when I got married! Crazy.
Now I'm going to go back to the regular portion control program while slowly adding foods back in (the gluten, dairy and corn). We'll see which foods I may have sensitivities to. I'll update the blog once I've done it!
UPDATE:
It has been several weeks since I finished the 4 Week Gut Protocol and have been adding different foods. I have discovered that I am sensitive to gluten, dairy, and corn (like, who knew?).
When I tried adding gluten back in, I did it the way Autumn said to. Every 3 days I had something that contained gluten. The first thing I tried was whole wheat pasta. I felt okay after eating that. The next time I made whole wheat pancakes, but I got a really bad headache that lasted for about 2 days. And I got bloated.
Okay so gluten is out (for now). Next I tried dairy. I am pretty sure that a little bit of cheese mixed in and cooked in my food is okay. But.... then I had a cheeseburger wrapped in lettuce with cheese and the special sauce the restaurant uses that contains dairy. I felt so sick that night and the following day! I had a stomachache and a headache and was incredibly tired.
Okay, so most dairy is out. Let's talk about corn. Corn? Skinny Pop is like one of my most favorite things to eat IN THE WORLD. But I found that when I ate it I would get bloated and gassy.
In the end, I can still eat these foods, I just need to prepare myself to maybe not feel as great afterwards. I'll try introducing foods back in again in a few weeks.
Well friends, there's an update for you!
**This blog contains affiliate links. I may make a commission off of qualifying purchases. Thanks!**
Comments