Whole 30 #3

[amberino21]

Have you considered buying baby food for your carbs - I'm sure you'd be able to get pumpkin or sweet potato purée of some description?

[vkanders]

Have you considered buying baby food for your carbs - I'm sure you'd be able to get pumpkin or sweet potato purée of some description?

I know this is a lame excuse, but the idea of baby food grosses me out. I did pick up a big bag of baby carrots, which I can use for some of my carbs, but if I'm going to be running later, they're too bulky. The rest of the weekend, I don't have evening runs scheduled so I guess I will go off carrots and just a tiny bit of fruit. I can handle it in smaller quantities, but not for ALL my  carbs.

[vkanders]

Day 24 (10/19/13)

 

Another compliant day on the road. It's definitely not easy, but being on Whole30 is how I resisted doughnuts, M&Ms, and cookies in the officials' room at the meet today. So even if I'm heavier on the fruit than I should be, it's much better than I'd normally be.

 

6 am: Chicken, dried apples, green beans, goji berries.

 

12 pm: Salmon, coconut flakes, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, grapes.

 

2 pm: 3000 yard swim.

 

3 pm: Chicken, dried apples.

 

6 pm: salmon, snap peas, grape tomatoes, date, coconut butter.

 

Other: 3-ish miles of walking around, one cup of green tea in the morning.

 

Hydration check: 80 oz in.

[vkanders]

Day 25 (10/20/13)

 

Last day of travel. I did pretty well balancing my meals today, but cannot WAIT to get back to my delicious winter squashes to replace the dried fruit I've been relying on during travel.

 

Travel aside, I've reached the point of this Whole30 where I'm starting to think “what's next� After round 1, I dove into a bunch of chocolate and sugar, and after round 2, I stuck sugar free for a few months but kept eating way too many nuts to deal with the lack of sugar. I thought about extending this round to fully beat down my sugar addiction, but I have a half marathon coming up and need to get back to practicing my (non-compliant) fueling program, probably with my long run on 10/26 (day 31). I may try to be “fully compliant outside training†for another week.

 

6 am: Chicken, dried apples.

 

6:30 am: 6.3 mile run with some sprints

 

8 am: Salmon, baby carrots, figs.

 

1 pm: Chicken, dried mango, goji berries, green beans.

 

6 pm: Salmon, spinach, a couple of olives, grape tomatoes, coconut flakes, goji berries.

 

Other: No green tea today.

 

Hydration check: First total fail on this – got about 70 oz. I blame traveling across 2 time zones for making the day effectively shorter, which gave me less time to drink water.

[amberino21]

Is there a reason you can't "fuel" during your training/races compliantly? There plenty of long distance runners with advice in the athletes section of the forum that might be able to help you!

[vkanders]

Is there a reason you can't "fuel" during your training/races compliantly? There plenty of long distance runners with advice in the athletes section of the forum that might be able to help you!

 

I've tried it - after almost a year of experimenting, I find that I simply do better with a specific electrolyte supplement that isn't compliant, and gels are the best thing for me when running more than 90 minutes. I wish the "real food" approach worked for me for hard, long training sessions and races, but it doesn't. I generally only have one, or at most two, sessions per week that would call for something non-compliant.

 

I guess this is an example of where one prioritizes performance over health. It isn't ideal, but if I can keep a handle on things outside of 1-2 training sessions per week, I'm not going to worry about it.

[vkanders]

Day 26 (10/21/13)

 

Got back home really late last night, didn't sleep much, and was feeling sick this morning. I didn't press my luck with breakfast, but got hungry later in the afternoon. Hopefully this is a one-off from traveling all weekend, and I will FINALLY be back to normal tomorrow.

 

9:30 am: A spoonful of coconut butter between meetings. Stupid nausea earlier in the morning.

 

11:30 am: Broccoli roasted in coconut oil, mix of turkey and beef in tomato sauce. More coconut butter.

 

4 pm: Salmon. Was hungry due to not eating in the morning.

 

6:30 pm: Salad with romaine, grape tomatoes, chicken, a few olives, and balsamic vinegar. A homemade pumpkin seed-cashew butter mix on the side.

 

Other: No green tea today. No workout, but I did get outside to walk about 2 miles.

 

Hydration check: 80 oz.

[vkanders]

Day 27 - kind of (10/22/13)

 

I woke up at midnight with horrible nausea and spent almost all night throwing up. Had a 102+ fever, couldn't keep down any fluids, nor Tylenol to get the fever down. Morning came, and I was still sick. I tried a few bites of banana to settle my stomach with no luck, so I moved onto what I know works - rice cakes.

 

Yep. Not compliant. But they settled my stomach, I got in the Tylenol, and now my fever is under 100. One of the Whole 9 principles is that we are supposed to eat food that makes us healthier, and in this case, a few rice cakes settled my stomach and helped me get my fever back down - in other words, it made me healthier. I tried to hold out, but by noon, it had become clear that I was only getting sicker. Obviously, rice cakes are NOT health food, but if they get me semi-functional when nothing else can, it's what I'll go with.

 

There isn't really any food or activity to log today, except a couple of rice cakes and some coconut water, plus a 4-block roundtrip walk to the grocery store that almost left me passed out on the sidewalk.

 

I realize this makes this "not really" a Whole 30, but I've gotten most of what I was looking for - a better feel for habits I need to work on, and a reduced dependency on sugar. I'm going to "continue" through day 30, this Friday, and see what my results are. I suppose a couple of rice cakes might negatively impact the results, but the stomach flu is much worse.

 

(Also, there is no chance that this will turn into a license to off-road like crazy. The thought of anything sweet makes me positively ill right now.)

[vkanders]

Day 28 (10/23/13)

 

Back on with it post-stomach flu. My portions were small today, and I had to drink coconut water (about 18 oz total) to replenish fluid and electrolytes – it was the only thing I could get down in a meaningful quantity. Looking forward to being 100% again soon.

 

8 am: Chicken, butternut squash, pumpkin seed-cashew butter, coconut water.

 

12 pm: 6.8 mile run, 3.6 miles at threshold effort.

 

1 pm: Chicken, butternut squash, coconut butter, coconut water

 

4:30 pm: Chicken, coconut butter

 

6 pm: 30 minute strength training session.

 

7 pm: Salad of romaine, grape tomatoes, chicken, a few olives, cashews. A little more coconut water.

 

Other: No green tea today. About 1.5 miles of walking to run errands, etc.

 

Hydration check: Way under 80 oz, even with  the coconut water. Stomach was NOT having it today.

[vkanders]

Day 29 (10/24/13)

 

Appetite is still unstable after the stomach flu, but I stuck to the template pretty well today. Almost feeling back to normal.

 

5 am: dried apples

 

5:15 am: 5 mile run with 4x1000m threshold.

 

6:30 am: Butternut squash and chicken

 

12 pm: Chicken, eggplant-tomato dip, broccoli, coconut butter

 

5 pm: Chicken, cashews, cucumber, grape tomatoes, dried apples.

 

6:30 pm: 4100 yard swim

 

8:30 pm: Butternut squash, chicken, dried apples. A little coconut oil20-30 minutes later to top off my fat for the day.

 

Other: No green tea today. No caffeine. Not missing it anymore. 2.5 miles of walking to run errands.

 

Hydration check: Stomach still not taking in fluid in large volumes. Not bothering to check.

[vkanders]

Day 30 (10/25/13)

 

And it's a wrap. I'll write more later about what I learned this round, and will check in with results soon.

 

6 am: 60 minute bike trainer workout

 

7:15 am: Butternut squash and chicken. A swig of coconut water (damn you, residual dehydration from stomach flu)

 

12 pm: Chicken, eggplant/tomato sauce, spaghetti squash, a few olives, some coconut flakes

 

4 pm: Chicken, cashews

 

6:30 pm: Chicken, broccoli cooked in coconut oil, sweet potato, baba ganoush. A square of 100% cacao chocolate (no sugar!) and a little coconut cream to celebrate a kick-ass Whole 30

 

Other: 2.5 miles of walking. A cup of green tea during a morning meeting.

 

Hydration check: Probably 60 oz today. Better.

[Sam-I-Am]

That was absolutely a kick-ass Whole30. Way to go, especially with all the time you had to spend on the road.

[scrapstitching]

Sounds like you're really active and sort of tough on yourself. I have PCOS too and it has improved in many ways with W30/paleo eating. I'm on round 2 of W30 right now to get myself centered. Don't beat yourself up about fruit! 

 

Sleep got better for me with W30. I'm tired when I go to bed. I'm sure you are too with all of your activity. I have a fairly strict sleep hygiene routine - get ready, read, lights out. I used to tell my daughter to not try to go to sleep, to close her eyes and try to stay awake with her eyes closed. It worked every time for her. If I fall asleep, I'm able to stay asleep. I hope you find what works for you. Sleep is as important for me as good eating. 

 

Congrats on sticking with it and here's to a magnificent remainder of this W30 for you!

[vkanders]

That was absolutely a kick-ass Whole30. Way to go, especially with all the time you had to spend on the road.

Thanks! It can definitely be done on travel, just requires a lot of planning.

[vkanders]

Sounds like you're really active and sort of tough on yourself. I have PCOS too and it has improved in many ways with W30/paleo eating. I'm on round 2 of W30 right now to get myself centered. Don't beat yourself up about fruit! 

 

Sleep got better for me with W30. I'm tired when I go to bed. I'm sure you are too with all of your activity. I have a fairly strict sleep hygiene routine - get ready, read, lights out. I used to tell my daughter to not try to go to sleep, to close her eyes and try to stay awake with her eyes closed. It worked every time for her. If I fall asleep, I'm able to stay asleep. I hope you find what works for you. Sleep is as important for me as good eating. 

 

Congrats on sticking with it and here's to a magnificent remainder of this W30 for you!

My sleep got a little better, but I was still having multiple wake-ups during the night towards the end. Just not quite as many, and I now usually get 6 hours straight without issue. It's a start.

 

Thanks for the kind words about PCOS. It's tough - I'm technically not overweight, but my doctor wants me 15 lbs or so lighter.

[amberino21]

My sleep got a little better, but I was still having multiple wake-ups during the night towards the end. Just not quite as many, and I now usually get 6 hours straight without issue. It's a start.

Thanks for the kind words about PCOS. It's tough - I'm technically not overweight, but my doctor wants me 15 lbs or so lighter.

My husband and I have worse sleep - less hours, with wake ups during the night - when we're overtraining. When we had a 4 day split, with less volume, we were sleeping through, and getting great sleep of at least 8 hours a night. About 6 weeks ago we were set more sessions with higher volume by our coach and pretty much instantly noticed the difference.

[vkanders]

My husband and I have worse sleep - less hours, with wake ups during the night - when we're overtraining. When we had a 4 day split, with less volume, we were sleeping through, and getting great sleep of at least 8 hours a night. About 6 weeks ago we were set more sessions with higher volume by our coach and pretty much instantly noticed the difference.

I've definitely considered this possibility. Insomnia has been an issue for me since age 16 (I'm 33 now), and I've had a few layoffs from activity/training in that time with minimal relief. I really think stress is a big part of it; of course, training can be stress, but there are other impacting factors. I've tried to make changes over the past 6-8 months to reduce sources of ongoing stress in my life. It helps a little bit, but this is probably a big long term thing.

[vkanders]

So the results:

 

I am 5'8" and started at 162.5 lbs. I finished at 157.0 lbs, which is a 5.5 lb weight loss. This is nothing compared to what some folks post, but I'm satisfied with this for a few reasons:

-Even at 162.5, I was technically within my ideal weight range. While my doctor wants me down under 150, or possibly 140, I don't have very much to lose at all. When you don't have much to lose, it takes a lot of time to whittle away the tiny bit extra.

-The PCOS makes losing any weight at all quite difficult. A rate of just over a pound a week is outstanding.

-It wasn't just about the weight loss. Some other things I noticed include:

-->No more caffeine addiction! A little green tea here and there instead of a constant stream of coffee all day.

-->More stable energy and moods.

-->Feeling much better during most of my workouts

 

I also learned quite a bit this time around:

-I probably tried to keep too small a list of foods to eat. I can eat nuts and coconut butter without issue if I do so in small quantities. Ditto sweet potatoes.

-That said, it's about habits, not specific foods. I definitely have an issue with wanting to eat a lot at night, and I'm trying to avoid that. I do need post-workout meals after evening workouts, and I do best if I have it packed up in a container and ready to go in the microwave right after I get home. That way, I get in my post-workout nutrition but don't set myself up to eat anything and everything in the kitchen.

-I do feel much better when I'm not eating sugar, no matter how delicious it is.

-If I want to avoid snacking, I should set my computer up at my desk, not the kitchen table (shocking revelation, I know).

-I procrastinate with eating - this is probably a lot more common than most acknowledge. So I am going to try to get into the "just do it" habit for everything - chores, work, etc.

-I have a bad habit of snacking before making a real dinner after work. This means my meal winds up unbalanced, even if what I snack on is compliant. This means that almost all weeknights are leftover nights for me. I have, however, found that I'm less likely to do this if I have a balanced mini-meal at work around 4 pm (such as a handful of carrots, a few coconut flakes, and a couple bites of chicken). I think otherwise, I just have too much space between lunch and dinner.

 

I spent the weekend enjoying some delicious things in celebration of my boyfriend's birthday, and am back on track today. I am documenting my days over in my post-whole 30 log, and am going to try spelling out my offroading plan for each month in advance. I'm hoping that gives me some good boundaries to work within without being too restrictive.