Whole30 I Love You

[Emma]

pjena,  Lots of people like that kids dinosaur book and I'm glad we had it for the start of things, but overall, it's not a book we look at very much.  Allergies to eggs and pork and cod is really a game-changer.   It's amazing how delicate our bodies can be and how out of touch we are with that as a society.  A sigh to you for needing to continue to tweak, but also a clap - how much further we all are in understanding things than we were before!

[Emma]

Baking paleo cakes in preparation for my son's birthday and what do I do?  Lick the bowl, the spoons, the measuring spoons!  It's so nice not being in Whole30 and I can just imagine how tough next week will be.  I'm really not sugar free these days.  I even bought a donut and a candy bar yesterday before dinner.  But today has had better choices and my digestive system was really unhappy last night.  I didn't know if I took extra digestive enzymes or was catching the stomach bug, but I suspect it might have been the pure unadulterated junk food I ate before dinner.

 

Right now I'm sipping some apple cider vinegar - I swear it really helps with the allergy snorfiness that happens in my nose.  It's fascinating how much I like it and how much I think it helps (not as powerful as over the counter standard medicines, but pretty helpful in its own right)

 

Off to pack up for a night at the beach.  We're having some semi good hot dogs, beer and probably a couple s'mores that our friends will make, though maybe I won't since I don't really like them - hmmm - maybe I'll bring bananas and make chocolate bananas or something like that - seems a bit more in line with dinosaur life.

[pjena]

I need to try ACV.  My son, too, if I can get him to try it.  His nose is horribly stuffed up right now.  Do you drink it straight?

[Emma]

I need to try ACV.  My son, too, if I can get him to try it.  His nose is horribly stuffed up right now.  Do you drink it straight?

I put one tablespoon in a half cup of warm water.  At first I added a bunch of honey which makes it rather a pleasant tea like drink.  Now I just do the ACV with the warm water and make sure to brush my teeth afterwards since the ACV is hard on enamel.   If you do get ACV, make sure to get the stuff with the "mother" inside floating around.

[Emma]

We were going to start Whole30 today, but we celebrated a birthday yesterday and made a pretty big paleo cake (with non paleo frosting and fondant) and it just didn't seem right to start when we had such tasty leftovers.  As well, we have beer in the fridge and it just seems so final to commit to the process.

 

However, the kids were crazy today.  They were great in the morning, but neither napped and my little girl was unbelievably sassy and stubborn and sassy some more.  They are usually pretty easy going kids with their share of ups and downs, but today was not the norm.  I, also, have been a bit grumpy and eating all sorts of things.  Most are paleo, but not all and even the things that are are going into me in much larger quantities than feels good.  Out of balance we are!

 

And yet I still don't want to commit to starting tomorrow.  I feel myself bargaining and postponing - maybe we'll have cake in the morning and then start.  Maybe we'll go out to lunch and then start.  Sigh.

 

But my son starts preschool next Tuesday and, unless I'm looking for problems, I need to get him through that first week of UGH this week so he can start off next week feeling good.  shucks.  i don't want to commit.  isn't it crazy that it can be so hard.  it really is like little monsters racing around in my body tweaking my brain so that it stays off track.

[pjena]

You can do it!  I didn't want to commit, either, until finally  I felt like I didn't have a choice.  Once you start, those little monsters will hopefully calm down and stop getting you off track! 

[Emma]

You can do it!  I didn't want to commit, either, until finally  I felt like I didn't have a choice.  Once you start, those little monsters will hopefully calm down and stop getting you off track! 

Well I sure didn't want to commit and I haven't completely committed yet, but I'm not off track either.  Seems I'm good at committing to great ambitious ideas in the evening, but not so good at following through on them.  That quieter resolve that carries me through seems to show itself up in the morning and this morning everything has gone well.  Of course, mornings usually do.  Mornings and lunch are not big issues, but the afternoon is.  I can picture the chocolate bits in the cabinet and the leftover cake on the counter.  I tried to talk my husband into a movie this afternoon picturing popcorn, but luckily the time doesn't work.

 

I did have a good healthy lunch of spaghetti squash, eggs, spinach and mushrooms.  I hope it carries me through.  I'm making some coffee which will hopefully help my head and then...we shall see.  

 

The kids slept ten full hours last night and would have continued sleeping, but I woke them up in preparation for next week's earlier rising.  So far, my kids are back to their normal ways and one has already fallen asleep for naps.  I have no desire to repeat yesterday's craziness and I do think it might have been because of the non paleo frosting and fondant.  

 

Dinner tonight will be some ground pork with mushrooms and broccoli.   Oh my  - I just remembered the dates sitting in our drawer.  My brain is busy!

[Emma]

Well, I got through yesterday.  We even went out to the movies and oh, it smelled so good and I was so tempted to have some popcorn, but I didn't.  We'd had a large dinner and I'd made sure to eat a lot of the ground pork, vegetables and kimchi.  I'd made it through the toughest part of the day which was the afternoon and early evening with no snacking at all - not even for baby carrots.  It was interesting to me just how bleck my head felt.  It felt like it needed a triple shot of coffee or something to get it to snap to attention.  It was a useless brain.

 

This morning feels the same way.  It will be good for this to pass.

 

I was tempted to go start posting on Whole30, but was scared I wouldn't follow through with things.  So far I am, however.

 

This is a list of my current ills and awarenesses:

Feel bloated and crampy and uncomfortable in my stomach

Feel foggy and unmotivated and unfocused in my head

My left knee is a bit swollen.  I did do a lot of walking on Saturday, but I really think the inflammation may be because of the donuts, marzipan and non-paleo frosting I consumed.

I weigh 144.  (I really thought I'd be about 160 with how I feel, but I think I haven't been off track for THAT long.  Give me another month of my ill eating ways and maybe I would be there).  A healthy BMI for me is under 137.

I haven't been exercising.

I've got a lot of stressful work coming up and I feel myself not rising to the occasion.

 

What I'd like to be doing:

Training for a triathlon without injuries (even if it's a really drawn out training schedule)

Getting my work done and ready ahead of time

Waking up early, exercising and greeting my waking kids with a cuddle

Feeling strong

Feeling confident

Feeling slender (not necessarily looking slender, but feeling slender and not bloated in my gut)

Feeling relaxed in the time when I'm not doing the other things so that I can enjoy my kids, my books, my friends, my partner

Feeling a sex drive (which really started happening before I off roaded - it was like an old friend from high school!)

 

Day Two?  Yeah, I'm on board.  And prepared for some extra whines from my carb monster daughter who is also on Day Two.

[pjena]

Good job sticking with it even through the movie!  I love the smell of movie theatre popcorn, but it always makes me feel sick so I never ever buy it.  Homemade popcorn is a different story.  

 

Good luck with the carb monster daughter today!

[Emma]

So far - so good.  But I am in the middle of the afternoon when things are the hardest.  There is still leftover cake on our counter, carrots in the fridge and other things to snack on.  I doubt I'd sneak anything, but I'm aware of wanting - just wanting to eat something.

 

The crazy thing is how I feel much better than I did yesterday and the last few days.  

 

Last night and today I felt hunger pangs for the first time in a while.  That was nice.  Today my energy is just better.  I did have two cups of coffee in the morning, but a couple days ago, that would barely make a dent.  Today, after lunch, I realized I felt okay and not dragging.  I also got several things done that need getting done.  I'm doing the things that I've been putting off or that need to get done in the next month, but that are not work related.  In a couple weeks, I need to focus solely on work and don't need these little things (dying fabric for halloween costumes, hot gluing things back together, downloading photos, etc) distracting me.

 

I googled beginner triathlons and got a bit overwhelmed.  I googled a triathlon training schedule and left it on my computer.  Until I actually START exercising, it is a bit of a pipe dream, but just the fact that I was looking lets me think that it's a direction I want to head.  I did a mini sprint one last year and it was really fun training for it.   The injuries to my knee however have left me super aware that I need to take things slowly.  Perhaps if we continue going to bed early, I will begin waking up early enough to workout before my husband heads to work.  I can feel my body saying, "let's get moving" and I can feel it being so much more out of shape than this last year.

 

But just the fact that these are my ideas and they're full of hope lets me already know that I'm already feeling better - crazy how just one full day away from the sugars can do that.

 

Breakfast - sweet potato, spinach, eggs

Lunch - ground chicken, tomatoes, carrots, orange pepper, broccoli, kimchi

Dinner - salmon?  bison?  leftover chard? not sure, but very glad my husband is on board for cooking whole30 at home

[Emma]

Two days down and onto day three.  We are doing remarkably well - this is a much smoother transition than it was that first time back in April when our poor systems were shocked at the changes taking place.  My kids are pleasant and chipper (perhaps a bit too much) and I felt decent when I woke up in the morning.  I'm not jumping and running around, but I'm not dragging either.I do still feel crazy bloated.  I'm taking digestive enzymes and they help a lot and my bloat doesn't feel like my fat cow bloat of a few days back.  I can suck in my gut and feel my stomach with this bloat, but it feels like my system just isn't working smoothly - and of course, it's not!  That's why I'm doing this.

 

I'm eyeing my soda water over on the table and will glug that down shortly after this post and then begin the day.  It is a chilly Fall morning so hopefully we will get outside for a good morning play.  Or maybe I'll meditate for 10 minutes while my kids are lost in their imagination world.

 

Off to a good day - still wondering when I'll begin exercising - feeling very glad to be eating with boundaries again.

[Emma]

Three days down and yesterday, inspired by all you folks exercising daily, I got myself to the gym for a zumba class.  It's hard going to the gym in the evening because that's our family time, but I can certainly do it at least once a week.  I finangled a friend down the street into going with me (she's in the same not exercising boat) and it was good.

 

I used my new barefoot shoes which I've been wearing and that felt good, but my foot was swollen and sore when I got home.  I iced it and went to bed.  During the night my knee tendon was a bit sore and both were a touch swollen this morning.  None of the soreness is out of the ordinary. I do have some pretty severe tendinosis issues, but now I know to respect it.  I will be kinder to my body this year and give it a couple days rest and get my sleep and eat well and then (hopefully) use my body again next week without overtaxing it.  A bit of soreness seems reasonable and even helpful as other muscles and tendons are asked to step up to the plate.  It felt good to get out and do something.

 

I feel good about the entire barefoot shoe thing and the philosophy behind it.  So far, my foot and knee seem to do well getting back to a more natural walking step.  I'd like to try running one of these days, but if I do, I plan to do the run/walk/run thing to prevent overuse AND I will keep it shorter than I'd normally like to.  Keep It Slow Silly should be my mantra so I can have a goal of healing injuries and preventing more injuries.  Now just to get a bit of a routine where I can practice this version of KISS.

 

Eating is going well.  There are temptations of course.  My kids whine that they are hungry and I start noticing I am too.  We've had some snacks, but I've kept them as mini meals and we're doing okay.  Overall, my mood and energy is much better than last week when I felt like a fat greasy cow.  Now I feel normal.  I LOVE that my new sense of normal is THIS and not my old way which was quite familiar!!!

 

Lunch was too small and I can feel my brain seeking out snacks.  I might need to go cook up an egg with spinach.  Friends are coming to dinner tonight.  They will drink beer.   I will want one, but I shall abstain.  It's nice to be on this side of things and feeling better and feeling healthier.

[pjena]

I have some of those barefoot shoes, but so far I've only used them in the house.  It's hard to get over the idea that I need support when out and about.  I hope the work for you!

[Emma]

Pjena, Yeah, it's a very different way of thinking and rather contrary to everything I've ever heard or read, but the good supportive shoes with doctor prescribed inserts really weren't causing anything to get better, and over time, things were getting considerably worse.  I've been wearing my shoes everywhere - this morning for a three mile walk - and they're comfortable and feel good.  I'm trying to be more aware of my posture, but I bet that awareness is just a smidgen of the time.  

[Emma]

Did I say that my kids were transitioning just fine into Whole30?!  Ha!  Well, the transition certainly is better than other times, but it is certainly not seamless.  My angelic son had several time outs yesterday for the lamest of things and he tried running away in crazy giggles as well.  He egged on his sister in blatant attempts to cause her to cry.  He was a bugger!  He was also wonderful much of the day, but other times - it was exhausting.

 

The worst is the wailing, "I'm hunnnnngry" as if they are dying.  Since they ate big meals and not much time had passed, I knew dying was not really in the cards.  I tried responding consistently with things like, "It's okay to be hungry.  Lunch is in an hour.  The kitchen is closed."  My boy would collapse on the ground in pain and his sister would copy his every movement and wail as younger siblings are bound to do around such beautiful dramatics.  Little sister was also not immune to things as well.  She had some fall aparts that took quite a deal of patience.  

 

This morning is was all about an apple.  "I don't want it in SLICES!" my child wailed as if this was The Worst Thing That Could Happen in the Entire Universe.  My husband, on Day One, wanted to slice it anyway so that we didn't reward the whining.  I, on Day 5 (Kill Everything isn't it?), said to just let it be and give it to him whole.  He was intensely upset and normally doesn't manipulate the world to get his way in such vocal ways.  I think he's feeling Day5.

 

I also had a crazy bout of insomnia last night.  One of the kids hollered out at one am.  I got up and changed him and then couldn't fall asleep AT ALL until at least 3:30.  I'll be glad to have this pass.  I'll also be glad to have this first couple weeks pass because my boy seems to have multiple accidents at night at this part of Whole30.

 

We took a three mile walk this morning on a very cold blustery day.  The kids needed some prompting and imagination games to keep them interested in the walk (and not plopped on the ground refusing to move), but overall it was good to be out and good to get the kids out.

 

One motivation for doing Whole30 again is to reduce inflammation.  The tendon in my foot is sore and a bit swollen, but nothing too bad.  My knee has a sharp little pain, but again, nothing too bad.  I'll rub my foot on the roller ball and my leg on the roller thing and keep plugging along with all these healthy wholesome ways.

 

Oh - but I did have a wonderful craving for a burger and fries with lots of salt.  I could picture it and taste it - ahhh would have been so good.  Instead we went inside and cooked up some ground chicken with vegetables and kimchi.

[pjena]

Where are you that it's cold????  It's so hot here!  90's today again!  Tomorrow, thank goodness, is supposed to stay under 80, or the fair would be unbearable.  Your stories about the kids made me laugh.  Sorry.   I remember those toddler days of the sandwich not cut the right way or foods touching on a plate.  Actually, that might have happened today with my 9yo.     Good job pushing through Kill All Things!

[Emma]

We're in Alaska where Fall/Winter is in full swing.  I saw a photo of a friend in a swimming pool down in Texas and felt some envy, but overall this is a wonderful season.

 

We went out on a three or four mile hike today and the kids did great.  It's our Day 6 which is supposed to be lack of energy.  Being outside was a good place to be.  They came home and fell right asleep into naps.  I'm tired too, but should feel better after the coffee.  We were outside in chilly weather for three hours which is tiring in general.

 

Definitely this is a smoother transition into Whole30 and I'm hoping that this time I really feel the tiger blood that didn't happen my first time around, but now I have four pretty decent months of eating under my belt so my system is bound to respond more positively as it digs its way out of all that crap I'd been eating for years.

 

I'm feeling a bit more slender in my gut and secretly hopeful that I'll start to lose some weight.  I'm enjoying feeling hungry and feeling hungry without cravings - it's such a different space to be in!

 

My knee and foot are sore, but not too bad.  I really think the rolling ball on the arch of my foot helps even though it hurts to use it.

 

What else?  Oh - my mood.  This morning (after another bout of 90 minute insomnia after waking up to help my boy get changed) I felt okay.  I wasn't ready to get up with the alarm (we're using it as we transition back to school hours), but once I did, I found myself getting out a puzzle and DOING things with my kids right away instead of just sitting and snuggling (we did both the doing and snuggling).  I didn't feel any more energetic, but objectively I could see myself being more energetic.  Now if only I'd get up and get our living room feeling a bit cleaner and less cluttered.

 

(pjena - I had a friend tell me yesterday that she has decided that all her kids are still just two year olds even though they are all much older - made me laugh when I think about all the ways teenagers react to life and problems)

[Emma]

Day Seven - I thought we were breezing through things, but bam was I hit hard by one crappy crabby mood today.  It almost makes me smile to think about how absolutely unamused I am with the world, particularly my husband.  I don't think he's doing anything different than normal but it FEELS like he is and I am annoyed by pretty much everything he does.  My kids are thankfully relatively pleasant, but let me tell you, they were bugging me too!  They wanted to do a craft project and they didn't kept asking me to do things and they leaned on me when I was trying to draw the shapes and they touched the paint before it was time - heaven forbid! Cognitively, I know they were quite typical three and four year olds, but at that moment, I expected something far different.

 

I've scrubbed our toilet that hasn't been scrubbed by hand in ages.  It's still not clean.

My husband smiled at me and I gave him a horrible smile back.  

 

Day Seven - I thought you were just about being tired and instead Kill All Things (such a horrible phrase) is here in my head full force.  

I feel very ugly in my head and do appreciate that this is not my normal way of being.

 

It's super rainy out and cold.  I finally got my husband to go upstairs and take a nap.  I'm annoyed at him for not cleaning, for working on a puzzle I wanted to work on, and for just sitting.  It's good he's upstairs.  He doesn't deserve my laser nasty thoughts. 

 

It's a good day to sit with a friend, away from one's family, and drink a margarita in the afternoon.  This is something I've never done, but I know it would be a good fun freeing wonderful thing to do.  Alas, I don't actually have any desire to have a margarita.  Nor do I want to leave my family, nor do I have a friend who is available to do such a thing.

 

What is going well is that I don't want to eat other foods.  I'm happy being hungry.  I'm happy eating our foods.  Before lunch, when we were outside, I fondly recalled eating lunch out and was seduced by the idea, but not by my stomach or brain.  IT's amazing how different one is without the cravings.

 

As I did dishes I wondered about it and wondered about emotional eating.  For a moment I was pretty sure I wasn't one, but then I realized that if I was stressed, I'd gladly eat a whole bunch of spaghetti squash pesto.  So yes, I can be an emotional eater, but it's so much better in the Whole30 world where all that would happen is I'd be full of squash!

 

I did take a probiotic pill this morning.  My super crabbiness happened after that.  For a bit, I entertained the idea that my crabbiness was due to the probiotic - heck, maybe it is.   But chances are, my body is behaving like I'm on Day 4 or 5.  Shucks.  I was looking forward to being solidly into week two and feeling better.  Now I may have a few more unpleasant days ahead!  

[pjena]

Alaska!  I've always wanted to visit Alaska.  I think we're going to try to take a family vacation there in a year or so with the kids. 

 

LOL about your friend saying all kids are 2 yo's!  Mine seem like it sometimes!

 

I hope your day gets better.  I hate when I'm like that - super irratible and annoyed by my family when they aren't doing anything abnormal.  A quiet moment with a cup of tea might help...

[Emma]

Alaska!  I've always wanted to visit Alaska.  I think we're going to try to take a family vacation there in a year or so with the kids. 

 

LOL about your friend saying all kids are 2 yo's!  Mine seem like it sometimes!

 

I hope your day gets better.  I hate when I'm like that - super irratible and annoyed by my family when they aren't doing anything abnormal.  A quiet moment with a cup of tea might help...

Heh - I don't think ANYthing could have helped yesterday.  It was craziness how I was feeling.  Thankfully, I had a decent night's sleep and woke up feeling relatively okay.  Took my boy to his first day of preschool this morning and it was nice to be up early and doing things.  Now I'm procrastinating getting an hour of work done.

 

I did have tea though - hot water with a touch of orange juice and gelatin.  I'd forgotten all about the daily gelatin I was going to try to do for joint health.  It's kinda nice in the evening, but this having to pee all night long is a drag.  My little boy had yet another accident, but only one so maybe just a few more days and our systems will adjust to the new foods.

 

My husband is now on Day 3 and this morning, when it felt like I was doing all the kid duty, breakfast cooking, lunch packing, picking up, he was cooking up some food to take with him for lunch since he won't be home.  I was mildly annoyed that he wasn't helping ME, but then I realized he was doing something pretty big deal by planning ahead and making sure he's got food.  It's nice he's on board too and I'm thankful, after yesterday, that we are at different places in the process.  When he hits his ugly day, I'll be prepared and pleasant (so I hope).

 

Slight headache today.  Foot a bit sore, but less than before. Knee feels fine.  No insomnia last night.  Woke up before the alarm. Things are okay for the moment.

[Physibeth]

Sorry you had such a crabby day and I hope you feel more normal soon. I'm glad I'm not in a kill all the things mood because my husband did zero packing this long weekend and he was home for most of it. Better not to spew venom at them. Your hubby making his own meal is great! 

 

No insomnia and waking up on your own seem like big fat wins for sure!

[pjena]

I'm glad things are better.  Hope today is even better!  I keep forgetting to try the ACV.  Need to remember tomorrow.

[Emma]

I don't even remember what day I'm on!  That's a good sign.  Things are moving forward.  My knee and foot don't clammer for my attention when I go down the stairs.  My energy is decent though I'm not terribly productive.  I'm definitely stressed over all I need prepared for next week and that stress is causing me to WASTE wonderful pockets of time in which I could be working.  I blame it on the Whole30 transition and pretend that my energy is supposed to be low and I'll be On Fire next week, but really I know this is my typical way of doing things.  Nonetheless, I'm feeling the stress.

 

Packing lunches for my son at preschool is kinda fun.  I bought one of those ridiculously priced stainless steel planet boxes and I have to say, I really like it.  The different shapes actually appeal to me and making lunches is a bit of a creative challenge.  So far, so good.  The kids at school get stickers for trying all their food.  That's cool.  I'm a-okay with supporting some food tasting skills since many kids don't branch out at home.  They also get a sticker for finishing their plate.  Ugh.  That one I don't like at all.  Ah well - these are the small things and we spend plenty of time counteracting that idea at home where it's perfectly okay to save your food, pass it to the dog (unless your parents want it), or just be done with it.  Mainly, I'm super relieved that the teachers at the school support our food choices and create a natural environment for my son to choose his foods or try the provided food.

 

My daughter's eczema still exists.  I always hope it will just disappear and we'll say, "Yay - this is the solution!"  Things don't work so easily.  Her skin is, however, MUCH better than it was when we were traveling and eating other foods.  

 

My son had a snuffily nose last night and this morning and I thought, "Oh no.  One day of school and already my little guy is coming down with things!"  He and I are very susceptible to transient viruses.  I gave him some ACV and a bit later he wasn't snuffling.  It won't ward off the big things, but maybe these small things it will help us get through.  

 

I looked at the ingredients in my shampoo and saw some non-good things.  Sigh.  I guess it's about time to explore other shampoos and probably other facial moisturizer.  It's so nice to have ones I like, but I'd also like to have ones that don't contain such dire sounding chemicals.  Suggestions?

 

Oh - and snacking.  Oh my.  I rather had an extended lunch today.  Since we're not watching how much we eat, it seems fine to just eat until we're content at meal time.  Usually not a problem, but today I just kinda wanted something more so I had some baby carrots, then a spoon of almond butter, then part of a beef stick and then a hard boiled egg.  I justified it all by saying I was still in the lunch zone, but I think I might have been stretching things because WHILE I was eating my true lunch, I actually thought I'd served myself too much since I was so full.  Hmmm.

[Physibeth]

I've had some good luck with Dirty Poo though I've had to go back to conventional for my non-conventional hair colors sake. Just for a month or so and then I'm going back to Dirty Poo. I've actually stopped using anything at all on my face. I have pretty easy skin anyway so I don't think I need much. I've heard good things about oil cleansing method and keep meaning to give it a try. Haven't done much research myself on moisturizers. 

[pjena]

My son's lunches are boring.  At 9, he's aware of what others eat and doesn't want to have his lunch garner any attention so I can't pack anything out of the normal elementary relm.  At home, he'll gobble up brussels sprouts, but I can't put them in his lunch!  Enjoy the creativity!