wheresanita

Greetings! There is a lot of good advice here. I agree that it is really important to figure out why you want to do the W30. If your 'why' is compelling enough you will find a way. What I can tell you is that the fact that you work night shift makes things exponentially more difficult. I did my first W30 while working nights. I have a super-supportive husband who loves to cook and we have no children...and it was still a real struggle. Tom D may be right that this is not the time for a W30 for you. Perhaps try 14 days with no take out/restaurant food and see how that goes! There was just an article on the blog about baby stepping vs diving in..maybe your current context calls for baby stepping. Ok, so if you decide to pursue the W30 I will be so bold as to offer you some advice on staying on plan while working night shift. When you pack your food for work, bring twice as much as you think you'll need. I am an RN and around 4am I would get a terrible case of the "I'm way too tired and want to go to sleep but can't so I guess I'll just eat" munchies. I wasn't always able to stay true to the meal template but nibbling on carrots and almonds was a far better option than graham crackers and peanut butter from our lounge or Poptarts from the vending machines. In a perfect world every time you eat it would fit the template but we all have our own contexts and difficulties and sometimes carrots and almonds at 4am is a victory! I hope you find an approach that works for you and your family..and understand that any changes - even small changes - towards a healthier lifestyle will have positive long term benefits. Be well!

Check out this guide to fine "sneaky" sugar! http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Sugar.pdf

This probably won't help you at all but on my work days I have breakfast shortly after waking...so usually around 5:15 and then everything else is haphazard..I have a busy, unpredictable work environment so I pack lots of compliant bite sized foods (meatballs, slices veggies, HB eggs and nuts) and do the best I can to eat a sample of each when the opportunity presents itself! On my off days I sleep until 7:30, have 2 cups of coffee and a *small* compliant mini meal before going to a 90 minute hot yoga class. I have a real meal after I get home - around 12noon. How I proceed from there depends on whether or not I'm working the next day. If working, I have my next meal around 6pm and then that's it - in bed by 9pm and up at 4:45. if I'm not working the next day then I have a 2nd meal around 4pm and a 3rd around 8pm and then in bed by 10:30pm. This has all been discovered after several years of trial and error and having learned what works for me. Try the three meals but have compliant, template based snacks available until you figure out what your body wants and needs..and enjoy the learning process!!

For some some awesome meatball recipes check out Clothes Make the Girl blog!!

Is the hypertension chronic? is it something you've had for a while? If not, it could have resulted from the pain and stress of the situation so monitor carefully once you feel things are 'back to normal' so you don't end up with a drop in your BP. Why blood thinner for the rest of your life? Did they do detailed coagulation studies and determine that you have some sort of congenital coagulation problem? After a one time event the docs may want to anticoagulate you for a set amount of time (+/- 6 months) and then wean you off. Also, please be careful of the blood thinner you choose. Many of the new drugs don't require frequent monitoring by lab studies but also can not be reversed in an emergency. Make the decisions that are best for you but be an educated consumer - especially when it comes to medications. Good luck.

Whenever we travel my husband and I try to rent an apartment. This gives us the ability to 'live like a local'. We get to experience local grocery stores and markets and interact with locals in a less touristy environment. My husband likes to cook so we don't necessarily worry about a personal chef - although daily housekeeping would be awesome! Not only does this way of travel make a Whole9 vacation more realistic it is often more economical than a typical hotel stay with every meal at a restaurant - so it may put your dream vacation within reach!

Here's an article about grieving the loss of your old food choices! http://www.whole9life.com/2012/01/the-five-stages-of-food-grief/

We have a few of these that we found at our local grocery store (Publix)..they are great!

Avocado sprinkled with truffle salt..ridiculously good (if you like truffles!)...

Gas grill??

'Yeah - I forgot to mention that I also brought 3-4.5L of water with me (still do, even on days!) - my co-workers think I'm insane but our nephrologist applauds my efforts! On nights I brought way more food than I do now..partly because it was my 1st W30 and partly because I just never know how I was going to feel in that 2a-4a time frame - that was my difficult time. If my patients were stable then most of my work was done and I hadn't begun to close out my stuff to get ready for shift change..that's when the junk foods from the break room would be audibly calling me!! I did find that if I kept it to 'mini-meals' I really did feel better than if I just munched on carrots or almonds..the well rounded snack was more satisfying and gave me a better boost than caffeine or sugar - this took about 18 days to happen - but it did happen. You might also find that your "W30 timeline" is a bit skewed because of the metabolic effect of working nights. Hang in there!! It gets easier, you feel better and you'll eventually figure out what works best for you.

I worked 12H hight shifts the 1st time i did a Whole30 and here's what I found... The guidelines for the W30 say to eat 3 meals with protein, veggies and fat and avoid snacking. When I was working I would make a lot of crock pot meals that incorporated my meat, veggies and fats in to one easily re-heatable package (i.e Well Fed's chocolate chili). I would also pack WAY more food than I thought I needed. Hard boiled eggs and small containers of unsweetened apple sauce were my friends! Mashed cauliflower and ground turkey worked well for me. Mashed sweet potato and any kind of meat. Tuna salad made with home made mayo with raw veggies. Compliant jerky. Egg/veggie 'muffins'. I always had lots of options because I just never knew what I would have a hankering for at 4am. if I had 4 or 5 different options I could usually find something that hit the spot. It gets very difficult when you're surrounded by junk and your tired and hungry and may not even have time to heat something up (right!?!)...if it's 5am and you plow through a bag of baby carrots your still better off than if you dive head first in to the oreos sitting on the table in the break room! And most importantly...sleep!!

After your W30, a bit of fruit with coconut cream is ok if it doesn't promote an unintended less than desirable psychological reaction, but during your W30 each "meal" should follow the template - fruit alone or with coconut milk does not fit..remember, it's just 30 days!!

The flu-like symptoms are not unusual...the pain is concerning, but as a fellow RN I will say (and you KNOW this!)..now that you've started the antibiotics...finish them!!

I think the email is just trying to give some ideas - help people who are new to this discover new ways to have convenient and portable snacks. Compliant deli meats can be difficult t find but I know that the Whole Foods near me has a few. I don't look at it as a preferred option, but there are times and situations where it might be a helpful one nevertheless.