skyhunter Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 OK, it's 11:00pm on day 30. What am I going to do next? I have to decide if I am going to continue to eat Paleo/Primal (yes, not saying I won't have other foods occasionally), and I have to make up my mind what path to take. I really don't know yet. If you read articles by 5 paleo people, you get 7 different opinions. So do I use honey, eat potatoes, eat white rice, consider legumes the devil? I really miss sushi. Do I eat two meals a day as an IF 16/8, or do I eat breakfast? I really feel better eating only twice a day, I get much less stressed and I don't get hungry in between, so now I know that part of my path. Good! One down. If you read the cookbook Well Fed and the amazing recipes there, you will continue to eat solidly Whole30. If you read Gather or Primal Cravings, you may have a more winding path as they use more sweeteners, starches and bread substitutes and do I or don't I? Only on special occasions (like "I didn't break a fingernail today Sunday")? And then NomNomPaleo.com and PaleoOMG.com throw in their $0.02. Hopefully I will use more Well Fed-style recipes than Primal Cravings (although those look wonderful and I will probably succumb to the Olive Foccacia once at least), but I can't promise that today. Maybe that's my brain still messing with me. The sugar dragon seems quiescent, but I won't know until there is something to awaken her (besides frozen cherries on a hot summer night). I will commit to do my best and see where that takes me, and what works for me. I am committed to eating real foods for the majority of my meals. By that I mean I don't plan to slip or have cheat days, but I know that when I am in New Orleans in October, I will be sitting in a cafe having a beignet or two with Creole coffee and I WILL NOT FEEL GUILTY because I am making a choice. It's a special occasion. Will I attempt to paleo-ify beignets? Nope. Meanwhile, my husband and I have cleared our kitchen of non-compliant foods, stocked it with supplies that make it easy to eat well, and we are firmly on our path. So thanks, Whole30, for showing me another way and helping me with my inflammatory problems. It remains to be seen whether or not my diabetes (diagnosed on Day 1 of Whole30) is affected. I don't think I have lost much weight yet (besides the reduction in swelling in my body), but I am content to take it slowly. I know that if I continue to eat well I will reach a healthy weight, whatever that is. I'm not even going to weigh tomorrow, but I am going to two doctors in the next few days and they will not let me get away with not weighing in their offices so I guess I will find out. Oh, and my GERD is gone, how could I forget that! And I have been much better about exercising at least a bit each day. I wore a pedometer during the last week and found out I walk about a mile a day at work, even though my primary job involves a desk. How cool is that? Exercise for free! I love what I have learned during this experience. Anyone who actually finishes a Whole30 cycle without a slip has no problem with willpower, so if I start making bad choices in the future, I will catch myself eventually and come right back to Whole30 to sort myself out. I know I can do it, and I want to be healthy so I will. And that I can commit to as well. Thanks, again, Melissa and Dallas and everyone here, for the ideas and support. Good luck to all anyone who is also at this point in walking this path of "What do I do for the rest of my life?" I hope you had results of some sort by this point, and you are happier and healthier than you were, and in a position to make good choices for yourself, whatever those are. Happy Day 31! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyS Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 You rockstar, you! Awesome! Congrats on finishing and I lovelovelove your thought processes. Onward! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vian Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Awesome job! I think you've got a great plan and mindset to make choices that are right for you. As far as all the conflicting variations on paleo out there, I feel like the whole9 philosophy of paleo is closest to my own. All these people who "paleo-ify" deserts and pastries and breads don't have a healthy relationship with food. And they're still using tons of sugar. To me paleo, while not "low-carb" perse, should try to minimize blood sugar and insulin spikes. I read an article by a heart surgeon who said that every time you eat something high in carbs and have a blood sugar and insulin spike, it's like scraping a wire brush along the insides of your arteries. It damages the insides of the arteries and leaves lesions and inflammation. The liver then releases cholesterol to patch the lesions, which causes high blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis. My dad has type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. I don't want to have the same issues, so I am doing whole30 to get my sugar cravings under control and I plan to stick with the whole30 guidelines. Once I do the reintroduction, if dairy doesn't bother me, I will probably add cheese and heavy cream back into my diet, but that's about it. I might make an occasional paleo desert, but it will probably be berries or fruit with coconut milk. I'm just not excited by having sex with my pants on : / Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzard77 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Congratulations and how exciting to be moving onto the next phase. Tomorrow is my first reintroduction day so I have been pondering a lot of the same questions. I like your attitude towards life after Whole30 and I tend to lean the same way. I want W30 eating to be the way I approach meals but am not going to feel guilty if I choose to go off plan. You are so right about the will power, if you can do it for a month, you can make the choice to do it anytime! Way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyhunter Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Late breaking news, I did end up getting on the scale this morning because I put on a pair of shorts that I thought might fit since the inflammation was down, and they were loose! I thought what the heck, I'll know tomorrow anyway after going to the doctor. Down 15 pounds! Since I was gaining about a pound a week before Whole30, that itself is total incentive to stay on this WOE! Woohoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 15 pounds! That's amazing! Woo hoo indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzard77 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Friggin awesome! Yay for loose clothes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyS Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Good for you - I don't have diabetes but I do tend to swell up, and I can relate to that feeling of things just fitting better because the inflammation has gone down. What's amazing to me is how much weight that edema brings to our bodies. I started out tiny and lost six pounds in the first Whole30. I'm pretty sure most of that was inflammation/edema, because it came off so rapidly over the month. Anyway, just saying all of that to point out that it's no small thing, losing inflammation/edema and the associated weight. It's really huge. Several months later my life is completely different because of Whole30 and its effects on my body. So celebrate the loss of all of that unpleasantness from your body. Carry on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Chauncey Johnson Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Great job! That's an impressive feat. I was struggling with what kind of Paleo I wanted to follow. And I read an article that compares it to all the different levels of vegetarians. And I guess that I came to the conclusion I want to be Lacto/ Primal. While I may choose to have other items at times, primarily I want to stay with the Whole30 approach plus high fat dairy like aged cheese, sour cream, and heavy cream. Good luck on your journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyhunter Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Lacto/Primal - I think that's me. I have had dairy for the last two days with no issues and I love cheese and sour cream (in moderation) so it sounds like about the right thing, if by Primal you mean Mark Sisson's stuff. in the middle of this post: Oh, ok, I googled and loved this article addressing this very topic. http://robbwolf.com/2012/10/24/shades-paleo/. I'm going to be right there in Shade 3.5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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