Mary 'n' Marc's whole30

[MaryP]

we started July 9th -

Motivation for me: improve sleep, skin, stamina and drop a few lbs

Motivation for him: support me, improve energy levels, drop a few lbs

We're both runners, and already quite lean, but would like to regain our competitiveness and to do that we need to shed a few.

Over the past year we have transitioned to almost Whole30 - with the exception of wine, dark chocolate and dairy. Prior to that I was an avowed sugar addict. We only ate rice very occasionally and had almost completely cut sugar. Dairy will be the toughest since we both depend on it for a large part of our calories (I make milk kefir and sheep's milk yogurt, and we are in Switzerland so we eat a lot of cheese).

We're now on Day 4 and after the first 3 days I realize I need to make sure to eat 3 (three) meals a day in order to get in enough calories to fuel the workouts. I was getting ravenous between and snacked a lot on hazelnuts. I guess I should eat larger meals.

I'm only going to log for me because I don't track what DH eats!

Day 3:

M1: 2 scrambled eggs w/ 1/2 avocado and 1 banana

M2: salad w/tuna, 1 HB egg, 1/2 avocado, greens, red pepper and EVOO dressing

snack: hazelnuts, almonds, apple

M3: taco salad: ground beef, red pepper, guacamole, salad greens, apple

I know this is low on veggies but days 1 and 2 we had more. (broccoli and sweet potato, carrots)

Day 3 was a challenge for me because I had a writer's group meeting and sat at a table with a plate of cookies directly in front of me for three (3!) entire hours. It's easier than it used to be because I have really tried to stop eating sugar for the past year, but cookies are and have always been my weak point. The smell nearly killed me, as did the little box of exquisite lindt chocolates on the table. But thankfully no one pressed them on anyone and I noticed they were mostly still there at the end of the meeting. I'm not the only one being careful. If only she'd had some carrot sticks...

DH is low on energy so I'm going to buy some more sweet potato and add it to the breakfast scramble tomorrow.

[Colleen Roy]

I found that I was pretty hungry in between meals for the first 4-5 days, but things evened out after that. My energy plummeted on day 6-literally couldn't get off the couch and napped for 90 minutes! I did a 6 mile run the night before and I think that depleted all my energy stores!

We are on day 20 now and each day has gotten better. I've had to play around with eating enough carbs and healthy fats to sustain my energy during workouts, but I think I'm on the right track (if this morning's run is any indication, I'm definitely on the right track!). Sweet potato hash in some form or another has become a staple in the mornings.

You'll figure it out as you go! Good luck!

[MaryP]

Hey thanks, Colleen, that helps, knowing it's going to get better!

I just bought a bunch of sweet potatoes and I'm going to make it part of our breakfast, too. I also just found the Swiss version of beef jerky, which is just dried beef, sliced very thin. It doesn't say "grass fed" - nothing does here, but it's "humanely raised" which in Switzerland is pretty significant.

[MaryP]

SO day four..

I'm not used to eating breakfast. Or lunch, for that matter. I'm a grazer. SO this is turning out to be kind of hard.

M1: 2 eggs, scrambled with onion and coconut oil, 1/2 avocado, 1/2c sauerkraut

Then I ran 10 miles. When I came home about 12:30 I didnt' feel like eating anything, I was more thirsty so drank a lot of water, but had some pistachios to replace the salt I'd sweated out.

Afternoon: Pistachios, apple, HB egg, 2 carrots

evening: 1c blueberries, waiting for DH to get home from work (after 8 pm tonight)

dinner: salad with raw carrot, zucchini, bell pepper, fennel, avocado and parsley with paleo ranch dressing and roast chicken.

The hardest thing for me is eating a proper meal at lunch by myself (I work at home) and then not grazing. The toughest time of day is from 4pm-dinner. I always snack then, without fail. Usually I go to nuts and dark chocolate, or fruit. The problem with that is then when dinner comes around I'm not that hungry any more.

Tomorrow I'm going to eat three meals and if I need to snack, a HB egg with mayo.

[MaryP]

I slept horribly last night... woke up at 2:30 am just feeling like I was crawling out of my skin. Very anxious feeling. I got up and did some stretching and drank a magnesium effervescent (I can't get natural calm here). Woke up at 7:30 feeling v. groggy.

Made a huge (for me) breakfast of 2 eggs scrambled with sweet potato hash with ground beef and onion, sauerkraut on the side, coffee with coconut milk. Maybe eating breakfast is a good idea after all!!

My skin seems to be looking a bit better. Wonder if it's the lack of chocolate or the lack of dairy? I guess I'll find out when I reintroduce afterwards.

[MaryP]

Well I've made it through day 7.

This weekend was a challenge - eating away from home with friends. But I stuck to it. No wine, no bread, no cheese... That's tough in Europe because those things are ever-present in any gathering.

Today we had a brunch at which all I could eat was one soft-boiled egg, some fruit salad, some dried fruit and a piece of proscuitto. By the time I got home at 7:30pm I was ravenous. After eating dinner (steak, salad with HB egg and avocado and red pepper, sauerkraut and raw carrots) my stomach hurt really badly.

I slept a bit better last night, and I think my skin is looking healthier. After breakfast today my energy was really good. But now (9 pm) I'm lagging...

[MaryP]

Life without coffee and cream is questionable.

[Derval]

Life without coffee and cream is questionable.

have you tried it black? with coconut milk? or cold-brewed?

[MaryP]

Doreval

Yes, I've tried it black (too acidic), and with coconut milk (blechhh). Both taste horrible to me. It's part of my morning ritual and I am really missing it. I used to have sugar with it and got accustomed to no sugar - I even like it better that way now. I even switched form frothed milk to cream, and I liked that. But no cream? I'm just going without. But I really miss it. Tea doesn't do it for me, either. I guess I'm just too picky.

I'm hanging in there - did a 19-km (11 mile) hike/run yesterday fueled on nuts/apples/banana after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sweet potato hash and sauerkraut. I feel much more energized now than around day 7, seem to be sleeping a bit better. Still wake up at 3 am but I don't have any crawling out of my skin feelings.

[MaryP]

We've had some tough challenges!

First, a good friend brought me a bag of jelly bellies back from the US. These things were my favorite food in my sugar addict days, I could scarf tons at a time. I haven't had a one since last summer. It was really, really tough for me not to just have one little jelly belly... the reward component of those little sugar bombs in my brain is astronomical. But I succeeded.

THen yesterday, we were invited to my husband's administrator's birthday party. She served an enormous paella. I was served a huge helping with tons and tons of rice. We were seated just across the table from her and she poured us both a glass of red wine. Not eating or drinking what you're served here in Switzerland is considered very rude.

SO here's what we did: Marc didn't touch the wine, but ate the paella, rice and all. I swished the wine around in my mouth a little so it looked like I was drinking it. I ate the paella, but gave some of my rice to my son when the birthday girl was up getting seconds. The cake part was easier since we were standing around for it, and we just passed on cake.

So we failed with respect to the rice. I'm not going to stress over it. Sometimes you have to roll with things. In the car on the way home, though, I was hungry!

[MaryP]

we're now on day 16 - it's getting better!

I'm taking 400mg magnesium glycinate before bed and it seems to be helping me get to sleep easier. I still wake up at 2 am but I can get back to sleep. Still struggling with the snack demon during the afternoons. But we are getting used to the food choices and actually enjoying mixing it up at dinner time with different kinds of veg and meat combinations. We're both eating a lot of fruit, as there is so much good stuff in season.

My skin is looking better than it has in years! I am so psyched. Energy levels are getting better too.

as for coffee/cream, I find the thai kitchen coconut milk in the can is horrid, it has a can taste, but in the uht pack it is palatable and even tastes decent in my coffee. No more canned coconut milk.

[MaryP]

we're on day 19!

Survived a real challenge last night - we had 12 people over for a pot luck. I made zucchini boats from the everyday paleo blog, and a huge tray of veggies and raw zucchini hummus. Other people brought potato salad, green beans, salad, and dessert. We grilled sausages and eggplant on the grill. And served copious quantities of wine.

Because I prepared the zucchini boats and the crudités, I knew they were fine and I filled up on that and green salad (I made the dressing with EVOO and balsamic vinegar). We didn't touch the wine, and no one commented! It's amazing, you think everyone's going to notice what you're doing, but in reality, they don't really give a s*&t. If they do, you just say, "I'm abstaining." easy.

Dessert was fine because I also offered watermelon slices. We just ate those and passed on the scrumptious pies. It wasn't even that hard, because I am not a pie fan in any case.

On the other hand, I must have drunk a ton of water because I had to get up a pee a couple of times in the night. And I was hungry when I went to bed - it was late because of all the cleanup work. But I don't mind being hungry in bed. I have never been a night eater.

But the great news is I SLEPT WELL!! and no twitchy legs.

The bad news is I'm still craving food in the afternoon and eating too many almonds. The habits of a lifetime are really hard to break. At least I'm using healthy food now. That's the first step, right? then to move to three meals and no snacks. Maybe in my second Whole30?

[MaryP]

WE MADE IT!! Today is day 30. I cannot wait until tomorrow morning when I can FINALLY have cream in my coffee again. Other than that, I haven't minded this in the least. I probably ate too many nuts, though.

But everything we ate was Whole30 compliant except that teeny bit of rice on the birthday thing I described, which we could not really avoid without being insufferably rude, not something I'd be willing to do.

We both feel we are sleeping better, that we're more alert. My skin is doing better overall, however in the past few days I've had a breakout around the chin, so...

Other than that, no earth-shattering health improvements. We were healthy going into this, and it has been interesting. We are planning ot re-introduce two things, both dairy: homemade sheep's milk yogurt and goat's milk kefir. Small amounts, to see what happens. And of course, a bit of red wine on the weekends!!

[Derval]

Well done, enjoy your glass of wine