Starting at the beginning.

[Lilybet]

So, in December I was training to take part in a charity white collar boxing event. By week 4 I wasn't really losing weight and decided that I needed to go paleo. This wasn't as random as it sounds; my brother is a huge advocate of the lifestyle (notice I said lifestyle and not diet?) and his results spoke volumes. 4 weeks later I had never been so fit, healthy, and just feeling plain fabulous as I did at that moment.

Then I got cut. They had too many girls and while I could take a punch really well giving them back was a problem. I was devastated. I had worked so hard, had put in more commitment to it than anything I had ever done in my life before, and I failed. It felt horrible. So what did I do, I binged obviously. I stopped exercising and I ate rubbish. The first binge felt horrible. I woke up with a genuine food hangover (the room was spinning, tummy felt queasy, headache, the works!). But did that make a difference? No obviously. Just like with alcohol you think that you'll never do that again and then before you can say dunkin donuts you're back in your old habits.

This was way back in February. It took me until the end of March to snap out of it really but it's taken me this long to acknowledge that I've become a sloth, an ever so slightly tubby sloth, with an ugly muffin top. My clothes are ridculously tight, I don't sleep well, I've broken out in acne. All I can think about it is how different it felt when I was doing everything right. I am essentially a very lazy person. Although I realised in March I needed to snap out of it it has taken me until now to actually do anything about it.

Monday morning will be my day 1 of my whole 30. I'm being realistic because I'm going away to Bangkok and don't want to be stressing and hungry while I'm there, scrabbling around for a lettuce leaf!

Things that are relevant:

• I live in Asia. Do you know how much wheat, soy, and sugar is involved in pretty much every single meal of local food? Crazy. I will be cooking. If anyone has any advice on how to survive paleo in Asia I would love to hear it though! It also means that some of the fantastic ingredients and paleo things I have heard in paleo-land and seen in beautiful recipes (I love you Melissa Joulwan!) I won't be able to find here. I'm going to have to try to be a bit creative to stay interested.
  
• I have never really been bothered about food, but as soon as I start thinking about not having it it's all I can think about?! If I'm busy I will put food to the bottom of my list and not even worry about it. If I'm bored I will graze. On anything and everything that's around me, even if I don't really feel hungry, and my mouth becomes some kind of food hoover. It's disgusting really.
  
• We have unlimited supplies of cookies at work that call my name every time I go to refill my water bottle. I'm probably not hungry, and I really don't like that clammy, glucky taste and feeling you get in your mouth afterwards, but I do enjoy that initial taste. I'm a pig, basically, and need to just grow up and realise that just because they're there I don't actually have to have one (or 3....) every time I'm near by.
  
• I don't drink so this bit is easy, used to the abuse I get for that!
  
• My friend just got married and is coming back from her honeymoon. After pretty much 2 years of dieting she wants to eat bad foods for a while and not feel guilty. I will have to hold her hand and not join in, and I think this will make her feel bad. We'll have to get through it together. (There's bound to be something paleo friendly at a chocolate buffet, right?.....)
  
• I'm lazy. I must have things ready to go when I'm hungry. One of the reasons I eat badly is because I'm lazy and because I'm not bothered about food, I'll just grab what's near to stop feeling hungry, even if it's a bag of crisps.
  

That's it really, all the excuses that I hope not to be making aired so that if I fail I can be publicly flogged. I really don't want to fail. I miss my super good sleep and my slimmer frame. I miss the affect it had on my sports, during and after. So failure is not an option.

It may be a whole 30 but I'd like to get to that point where I don't even think about it. Where it does become lifestyle and not diet. Where I can go back to not even being bothered about food, instead of worrying about if I'm doing the right thing, just know that I am.

But it starts with the first step.

[Derval]

First step, stop speaking to yourself in a negative voice

Read over the above and count how many negative labels you put on yourself?

I love Chalene Johnsons attitide, have a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTRNYFxuVLM&list=PLB5ACA6616B074BEA&index=4&feature=plpp_video

[Lilybet]

Thank you Derval, I realise I need to work on it!

So anyway, day 1. Was very tired, got back very late and my alarm clock was not my friend. On the plus side I had remembered to cook up something to eat and pack some snacks so was all organised! I area homemade meatloaf for breakfast, was still yummy! Then I weirdly didn't feel hungry for the rest of the day but I had some fruit at lunchtime and that filled me up. I'm having my lady time so feeling very bloated and that probably helped with the full feeling. For dinner I had some pork belly strips and some oven baked sweet potato. And a handful of baked cashews and almonds. Had some water and herbal teas throughout the day.

And that's day 1. Very ready for bed!

[Derval]

Well done on day1, being prepared is key for sure.

[Lilybet]

So it's day 3. Day 2 went without a hitch I am pleased to report, however the variety of food was not good and too much of the same things, but still, I made it through to day 3 so happy days.

Day 2 was a long day. I had recovered a little bit from the lack of sleep of the night before. Monday I had even managed to motivate myself to do my weekly shop before going home and passing out. I didn't sleep very well though, taking me a really long time. Woke up feeling ok, rested but not well rested. The snooze button got pressed a god few times! I would say I had got distracted because my copy of it starts with food had landed (yay!) but to be honest I only managed about 3 pages before my brain decided it really was going to switch itself off for the rest of the night.

I had some leftovers in the fridge, had boiled some eggs, and had bought salad type things. Weird thing, still wasn't really hungry... I got to work and thought I should eat something anyway otherwise it'd get to 10 and I'd have the munchies, so had a handful of nuts. Lunchtime I had a small portion of homemade veggie soup, some leftover pork belly strips, a couple of hard boiled eggs and some lettuce and carrots. Well and truly full but craved something sweet so had an apple. I had a pear just after work before I went on a 6km waddle around the track next to the office, and then a 2 hour hockey training session, which was hard work because it's mixed with the boys! Felt completely exhausted when I got home but made sure I cooked up some chicken and some pork chops so I had things in the fridge. I had 2 more hard boiled eggs while I was cooking, had the nibbles. Made my lunch for today and then quick shower and pass out. I think I got to bed around 1145, which I know is too late but realistically on a Tuesday I'm not going to get to bed before 1130 so I'll just have to deal with that. I think I was over-tired last night. It took me a really long time to get to sleep. Everything was too bright, my mattress was too uncomfortable, I was too hot, too cold, just not a good sleep. I'm normally a very good sleepy so this is not something I'm enjoying.

Have woken up completely shattered. Thankfully not a long day today but have got bootcamp after work which should hopefully make sure I get to sleep quickly. Also catching up with my friend who got married, looking forward to seeing her.

So, onwards and upwards with day 3!

[Lilybet]

Day 3 was a success, whoop whoop! again, limited choice of foods, so need to do a bit more prep work over the weekend to make sure next week's a bit more interesting. Things that happened included a huge delivery of cookies from "the Biscuit King", I kid you not, we're having a pizza lunch in the office on friday for birthdays and leaving do, I got invited to have fish and chips, plus a lunch and two dinners. I hope I don't crumble under the social pressure, but am feeling strong so just have to hope some of the menu options are whole 30.

I say I'm feeling strong but I also ache. I did bootcamp last night with the girls from netball and my abs and shoulders are stiff today. A good stiff, the kind that lets you know your body did something, but stiff. I had forgotten all about the day 3 feeling of not having the energy, and feeling quite weak, during exercises. My normal bounce was not there last night so am hoping that'll get better next week. just glad we did more abs and things because my legs were not happy with burpees.

I ate nuts, 2 apples, a chicken salad in olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, a pork chop, fried egg, and oven baked new potato fries. I think I need more fat, and I don't have that much today on day 4 either but will try and sort that when I get home. Can't find any decent avocados at the moment so am on a mission this weekend.

Day 4 and aside from the stiffness I am actually feeling very good. I feel trimmer, just a little bit, and my brain is more focused (which could just be from catching up on sleep but either way I'll take it!). I'm going to go for a run tonight and maybe a swim, see how the run feels.

For breakfast I had the leftovers from the sweet potato of yesterday, and some nuts. For lunch I have just had another chicken salad, as well as portion of homemade veggie soup (which I really enjoyed). I am now digging out some brothless soup ideas, and am contemplating boiling up a chicken at the weekend to get my own broth and some tasty chicken for the week, I enjoyed the soup that much. Comments from my colleague about fresh bread with lashings of butter were not overly helpful but am still loving the soup.

Still not made headway into "it starts with food" but that's what weekends are for. Looking forward to it.

[Lilybet]

The weekend has been and gone in a blur! Can't believe how quickly time seems to be passing at the moment but that's good because it's day 8 already! Whoop!

Pleased to announce that I made it through pizza and cake friday. It was surprisingly easy to do even thought he cheese cake looked absolutely amazing and the chocolate cake smelled delicious, not to mention that melted cheese.... anyway... I had salad and felt very smug! After work I went for a little joggette, managed about 7km. Was planning on doing more but it was really muggy so didn't but happy with the 7. I went home and had my dinner, watched movies, spoke to my family, and passed out.

I have a confession to make that I did zero exercise this weekend. I had lots of good intentions but did nothing. I'm having a lot of trouble getting to sleep at night. I thought it might just be the initial stages and it would get better but it isn't so I googled it and apparently too much protein can have an effect. Looking at my meals I think that might be it. I am not having too much caffeine because I like the herbal teas, don't touch coffee, no sugar, no alcohol, so I think that might be it. Will go for a bit more of a balance with the meat and veg and see what happens. anyway, the point of that was that while I was going to get up in the morning and go swimming or something, I lay in. Which actually was very nice. Had a lazy breakfast, went to get my hair cut, returned my library books, did my big shop, went home and had a big cook up. it was raining all day saturday too. I then went out to volunteer and made it home by about 9.30pm by which time i didn't want to do any exercise, so watched a movie.

Sunday, the mens hockey teams had their first matches of their season so went to support, then went to volunteer, then did a bit of shopping, and then went home and ate and did some more cooking.

I had lots of great tasting things which felt like they should really have been SWYPO but weren't and then I confess I did have SWMPO and it wasn't very disappointing. I had this amazing iced mint tea from starbucks which if I hadn't seen them put the tea bag in to brew I would have sworn was from a bottle. It was delicious. I roast a chicken, which I haven't done for a really long time, and the meat is so tender and yummy. I made mayonnaise. Sounds ridiculous but I had a can of tuna and it always tastes a bit dry on it's own. I could have mixed in some olive oil or balsamic vinegar or something but was feeling adventurous so made mayonnaise. I had made it before a long, long time ago and didn't like it but tried it this time with the lightest olive oil I had and I love it! Now I want it on everything, or just get a spoon and eat it straight. Another success from MJ (Melissa Joulwan)! I roasted pumpkin. Always put it in things, never roasted it straight. oh my word, it's so tasty and sweet.

So you can imagine what my lunch looks like today, am very excited!!

The actual SWYPO was a blackberry cobbler. The cobbler topping was an almond meal concrete. the blackberry's stewed up nicely though. Had to make it swim in coconut milk to make it edible so not a success and a good lesson learnt. And I had about a million pieces of fruit on saturday which is not good, so had none on sunday. My skin is still a mess. I'm hoping it's just everything coming out but it might be the veg thing too. Will see what happens after this week. And my toilet situation might also benefit...

Ooh, I found avocados! Getting a bit sick of coconut milk so trying to find other fat sources but now I have my mayonnaise I think I'll be ok this week. Might be sick of mayonnaise by the end of the week!

Planning on going jogging later, and want to have a swim tonight too. Feeling motivated so want to get to it. Day 8, bring it on!

[Lilybet]

Day 8, nailed. I managed to jog for 8 whole km! Very pleased. didn't swim though, less pleasing, but actually had a lot to do after work so wasn't beating my self up about it. the job felt good. I mean, not good like a warm bath or anything, but i could breathe, my legs were ok. I could have probably done more, which was a brilliant feeling. My lunch was delicious, thanks to the mayo and the roast pumpkin. Dinner was leftover roast chicken and mayo. Not at all nutritious I know but I had a lot on, wasn't especially hungry (shock!) and the mayo is so very tasty... had a portion of blackberries, straight, but that was all the fruit. Am doing ok without it.

Day 9. Still having trouble getting to sleep and my meat and mayo addiction won't be helping, so have had tuna salad for breakfast and a veg packed stir fry for lunch. Probably won't have time for a proper dinner tonight, tuesdays are the late night, so will see how it goes. Toilet situation still a bit of an issue. Actually not sure I'm having enough liquids either....

Other than that, feeling fabulous!

[Lilybet]

Day 10. I am so very tired.

It's making me want to dive head first into the biscuit tin. Use the chocolate wafers as a mattress, snuggle up to a pineapple jam, and maybe use the cheese filled ritz crackers as a blanket. I can't even focus my eyes today I am that tired.

Late night last night involving getting back from hockey at 11, doing some work until 1145, calling my parents because I hadn't spoken to them for a while, while waiting for the chicken and pumpkin curry I was making to cook through, eating some soup because I was starving, and packing my lunch for today. The curry could have waited, that was not very sensible, and I'm sure my parents wouldn't have minded waiting another day, but I felt like it all had to be done, so I did it. Now I regret it. Must have been about 1 by the time I eventually got to bed. Then I think I was over-tired. I hate my alarm clock.

Breakfast was prawns and tomatoes in mayo, lunch is left over stir fry, some blueberries, and a handful of macadamias. Dinner will probably be veg soup and some fruit. Bootcamp tonight. Oh lordy...

[Lilybet]

The good news, I survived bootcamp! Woo hoo! Was a very good session. We were doing lots of arm things so I fully expect to not be able to raise my arms as the day goes on and my thighs are a bit jelly-like from all the squats but so glad i went, despite the enormous tiredness. Walked back to the train with one of the girls and she had the same Tuesday night as me, except replace hockey with netball. We were blearily sympathetic towards each other!

Dinner was as expected, soup and a pear. I managed to have a shower, crawl in to bed, open my book, then close it very quickly before I fell into unconsciousness.

The bad news, I woke up late. I have some leftover stir fry for lunch and a handful of blueberries but breakfast.... erm.... well, haven't really got breakfast. Tricky. I'm trying to drink things in the hopes of fooling my body in to thinking it's not hungry. I woke up hungry though so it could be a long morning.

On the plus side, I slept reeeeeaaaallly well. Yay! A little jogette after work, make sure I pack myself some food for tomorrow and I'm all good to go. Nearly 2 weeks in already, can't believe it.

I think once you get your head around it all it's not tricky to do. The mind games you have to play with yourself are quite amusing though, that innner dialogue is a pest a lot of the time!

[Cheryl J.]

Hi, Lilybet,

In terms of drinking things to fool your body into thinking it's full, I suggest lots of hot flavored tea or coffee -- they worked well for me on Day 1.

[Lilybet]

Thanks Cheryl! I did just that, had some peppermint, rooibos and vanilla, and earl grey kicking around in my drawer, intermixed with lots of water. It worked, I survived until lunch. Phew!

If you're doing your whole30 hope it's going well. The planning/preparation for me is definitely the key to it. As my friend told me it's all about the 7 P's: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. But think I'll stock up on the herbal teas just in case...

[Cheryl J.]

I like that acronym! I'm training for a marathon in mid-November and doing my first W30 at the same time, so we'll see how that goes. Sounds like you're working out hard, too, while you're doing yours. Good luck!

[Derval]

And all that herbal tea provides lots more pee

[Lilybet]

Too right Derval, all the P's got a jump yesterday. Apologies to anyone eating while reading, but have had a good clear out of the system in the last couple of days which feels much better. Anyway, moving swiftly on.

Total opposite today, lots of food and feeling happily full. Yesterday I was hungry all day. Even after I had eaten my lunch, and bought an extra apple. I went for a jog after work and managed 8km. I don't know if it was the fact I was hungry, the fact it was getting dark, or the fact that the shuffle function on my ipod was on top form, or a combination of all of it, but I got round in a pretty quick time for me. I got home and had some chicken and pumpkin curry and felt much better. Leftovers of that with mashed cauliflower at lunchtime, was tasty. Have some blueberries for later before my little jog after work.

My skin is possibly the worst it's ever been though.... Don't think I'm eating too much fruit but maybe I am, otherwise I'm not sure what it could be. I might cut the fruit out altogether and see if that makes a difference. I am sleeping much better, and waking up is not the torturous experience it used to be so very happy about that.

Day 12. Yes.

[Lilybet]

Bleurgh. kind of dizzy and headachey today, not a great start. Think it's got something to do with not at all getting anywhere close to the 8 hours I should be getting... never mind, onwards and upwards.

The weekend. Well. It was the most glorious weather here this weekend. The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky, the humidity was low, and there was a fantastic breeze. It was amazing. It was also the type of weather that makes you want to sit outside and eat fresh juicy fruit all day. uh-hum. I did. I had a lot of water melon. oops. It was all whole 30 compliant but the volume was probably not good for me. And I really didn't eat very much else apart from fruit. I went to a party on saturday night and there was a very lovely buffet but of the plethora of dishes available there were 2 that I could even go near. 2. BBq'ed herby chicken drumsticks and ham. The ham probably had some kind of sugar preservative in it as well so I think it might have been a fail, but I did only have a couple of slices so not horrendous. Was shocked by it, but then wondered what I'd put on for a paleo buffet... needs some more thinking about... And I had some more SWMPO.... made some paleo pumpkin bread. It wasn't too bad, but I ate it like I hadn't eaten for a month. Pure gluttony. My mouth is not a hoover, my mouth is not a hoover...

Monday, back to work, and I had fruit for breakfast, and an apple for lunch, and sweet potato for dinner.

Yesterday, an omelet breakfast and a raw carrot. Lunch was stir fry with egg fried cauli rice. I had an apple, some dates, and a handful of macadamias. Got home from hockey and had some oven baked sweet potato rounds. So you see, my food thinking this week is pretty much non-existent.

Today's breakfast was an omelet and a raw carrot. Lunch is left over stir fry from yesterday, and I haven't thought about dinner. I would like to have something nice. That's all I know. Will have a scour for some recipes at lunchtime and get a bit creative with some coconut cream I think.

So you see, my food thinking this week is pretty much non-existent. Must improve.

But guess what, it's day 17!!

[Cheryl J.]

Yay! My first week is coming to a close!

[Lilybet]

Congratulations Cheryl! Well done you! How does it feel? How has it been? Getting easier?

[Cheryl J.]

Congratulations Cheryl! Well done you! How does it feel? How has it been? Getting easier?

I feel pretty bloody good, and it has been getting easier -- except that coconut milk has now become my ice cream fix... but there's a positive side to that: healthy fat is good as a source of fuel for endurance running. And I feel lighter -- If I can keep eating like this until the marathon in November, I think I will be in good shape come race day.

Cheers!

[Lilybet]

If cheese is the vegetarians meat then coconut is the primal eaters cheese... or something... Primal people are definitely doing their bit for third world industries. I wonder if some entrepreneur-type paleo person has formed a coconut co-op...

Sounds like it's going really well for you, well done! I'm sure you can keep it up until November (at least), you're dedicated and focused, and sound like you've got some real drive. I believe.

What's your training plan looking like? Are you mostly just focusing on the running or are you fitting some strength and conditioning workouts in their too? Am curious, especially as you went from CrossFit. Seems like straight old fashioned running (or plodding, in my case) is very anti-paleo-thinking, maybe need to research a bit more on that though.

Day 18 here. I didn't have the "nice" dinner i was thinking about all day, but I have mad something tasty (I hope) for lunch. Creamy beef and vegetables.... mmmmm.... I was late back last night so resorted to what has become my standard go to last-resort, I want to say meal but probably a snack - oven baked sweet potato rounds. I love them, they fill a gap, but I know it really is just a replacement of a different snack habit. Will try to improve on that. And not eat so late. Still working on trying to get the right sleep balance too.

Breakfast this morning was sardines, with coconut cream scrambled eggs, and sliced tomatoes. Surprisingly tasty. Carrefour here carries tins of sardines and mackerels in water, it's my new bargain find. I only bought a couple of tins to try but if breakfast is anything to go by then I will be stocking up.

Should be back tonight at a reasonable hour to make a proper dinner. Am going to go for a joggette tonight after work. Did 10k on Monday which felt surprisingly good. My calves were ridiculously tight for the first 6k but after that they seemed to have worked themselves loose. Going to try for the 10 again tonight. Bootcamp was yesterday and it was great. We now have resistance bands so we're doing more strength work. I miss hill sprints, not burpees, but the jack-in-the-boxes and overhead presses were a nice change. Booked to go to a beach bootcamp on sunday, which sounds like it should be nice but all I can think of is legs burning from trying to move in sand and sand sticking to my entire sweaty body. Am looking forward to see how it'll be though.

[Cheryl J.]

Hi there! I'm definitely dedicated to The Whole30, but the marathon training... well, that's another story. I still have just over three months, so there's no reason to start panicing. I ran for 50 min. last night and, on the whole, it felt pretty good, but when I tried to do it again in the early afternoon today, I couldn't get myself to run hardly at all -- my legs ached, my back ached, and I just wanted to quit, and so I did, instead of wasting time on an unenjoyable run. It could be that my body isn't used to running in the daytime -- I always, always run at night. Or it could be that I needed to eat more (W30-approved) carbohydrates. To that end, I've decided to start eating sweet potatoes and/or yams and/or butternut squash, and will mix them with coconut milk, pumpkin pie spice, shredded coconut meat, and perhaps chia seeds (to give a nice, pudding-like consistency) in a smoothie. I'm also going to try to reset my biological clock to become a morning person, so I can get used to running in the morning, get the training out of the way early in the day, and carry on with the other things I need to do. I've read Steve Pavlina's articles on "How to Become an Early Riser" and "How to Get Up Right Away When Your Alarm Goes Off" (http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/, http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser-part-ii/, http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-get-up-right-away-when-your-alarm-goes-off/). He recommends practicing getting up immediately when your alarm goes off as if it were an exercise drill, which sounds -- and is going to feel -- a bit silly, I'm sure, but I've decided to give it a try, starting tomorrow. If I can become a morning person, that will be one more problem solved through this program and one more step toward a better me.

[Lilybet]

Those links look great! I always set my alarm for 0630 and am rarely out of bed before 0730. I'm going to join you in this challenge, it'd be a definite positive improvement.

Now then. Running. It sucks. I don't care who you are and how much running you do, nobody can honestly, hand on heart, say that running is fun. It's not. Endless pounding on your joints, trying to block out the sound of your own wheezing, and dealing with pedestrians. Bleurgh. And straight running is not ideal training, especially if you've not been a runner and you're trying to go for endurance. It's a whole different game, mentally and physically. You think it should be easy and then it's just not. Actually you still need some strength and conditioning work in the mix. Have a read of this and see what you think... (http://festersmonkeyarmy.blogspot.sg/2011/02/are-you-tired-no-why-youve-been-running.html)

The company that I do my bootcamps with have a running technique bootcamp too, is there anything like that near you that could help you out?

You might not ever "enjoy" your running but you can go about your training in the right way to keep you motivated. You have a goal, would be a shame to not get there. And a marathon is a great experience, even if you only ever do it once in your lifetime. I still believe.

[Lilybet]

Epic fail on the getting straight out of bed challenge. I did get straight out of bed and then I thought to myself, why do I want to be up at this ridiculous time, and promptly got back in to bed.

Breakfast was leftovers from last night. Which was a surpisingly delicious simple meal of beef and veg. Lunch was left over stir fry from the other day. And as I am playing netball later I have bought a small portion of mackerel and tomatoes for pre-game.

I ache today, am as stiff as a board. I'm pretty sure I did 10k yesterday but it could be anywhere between 9 and 13, I lost count of laps a few times (i run on a sort of track). I didn't think I was feeling too bad after bootcamp on wednesday but it turned out I was and however far I "ran" was not easy. It did get a bit better towards the end but today... ooh... Netball might not be fun.

I have some leftovers in my fridge for dinner, if I make it back from the other side of the island before midnight. and then it's the weekend! Woo! Going to do my big shop tomorrow and get more tasty goodies for next week. Trying to reduce my fruit intake and doing ok. it's Ramadan though so they have lots of very tasty, very whole 30 compliant, date and nut snacks about the place. Might indulge this weekend. Within reason of course.

Day... erm... lost count, but still going!

[Cheryl J.]

Yesterday, I read Leo Babauta's (of Zen Habits) posts on how to become an early riser, and his advice seemed more feasible than just practicing waking to the alarm like a drill, as Pavlina recommends: http://zenhabits.net/10-benefits-of-rising-early-and-how-to-do-it/. He suggests shaving off 15-30 minutes from your wake-up time, a few days at a time, until you reach your goal time. Starting last night, I shaved off an hour and a half from my usual bed-time and 30 minutes from my usual wake-up time, and I'm going to continue doing that until I reach my goal time of 4:30 a.m. I'm also going to keep pushing back the times of my runs until I am out the door and running within an hour of waking. Last night was odd because, even though I got to sleep an hour and a half earlier than I usually do, I still had trouble getting up at the earlier time and felt slightly groggy, even though I slept 9 hours instead of 8. It seems oversleeping is harmful for me.

Last night's run was also lackluster -- I did the minimum amount I could according to the training plan (30 min.), then called it quits and walked home. I had eaten some sweet potatoes beforehand, in hopes it would help with the run, but it didn't seem to do any good. I may need to just eat more overall; throughout the program so far, I've been eating under 2,000 calories a day. Hope that will help me with my running...

[Lilybet]

Hi Cheryl

I had a look at your log. looks like you're getting a good variety of foods. When you say about eating more though, think I'd have to agree. Some of your meals look a little like snacks to me. Maybe you need some more meat protein in there. I am by no means an expert but half a chicken breast sounds really little... How far are you getting in your 30mins, do you know? Because it's a reasonable running time, especially for the first few weeks of training. Don't stress about running for hours at this stage of the game, you've still got a long way to go. build up to it so your body doesn't hate you and your mind gets used to the monotony.

I think I'm on day 22! It's going ok but I don't think I'm doing the strictest whole 30. I think it's probably a bit more primal than a transformational thing. Not sure why it feels like I'm not doing it right, but it sort of does.

Todays challenge, drink more. Aside from my really hungry day where I did nothing but drink different flavoured teas I really haven't been drinking enough and am feeling a bit dehydrated, so this week I will drink more.

Going to dinner tonight to a mexican place. Not sure there'll be much whole30 friendly on the menu but I will try my best. The hardest thing will be handling the torrent of abuse I get when I turn down dessert. I never turn down dessert. I love a challenging monday! Hopefully I'll be home in time for a swim, won't have time for running tonight.

I did go to beach bootcamp yesterday. It was ok. Not the best bootcamp I've been to but ok. It was very hot and sweaty, very sandy, but the beach was lovely, and that early on a sunday it was quiet. So that was nice. I think I probably would do it again but glad it's only once per month. Am going to go back to my early morning training sessions this week. 0645. it's been a while since I saw that time of day from my fully awake eyes. Am a bit scared.

Today's lunch is chicken salad and homemade veg soup.