My First Whole 30..... Am I doing it right??

[CeeTee]

So it's Day 5 of my first Whole 30.  I've read the book, trawled the website, been eating Paleo for a while but my snacking beast was out of control!  Plus 'extra non Paleo' things were beginning to filter in way too often.

Time for a restart - and true to the timeline:

Day 1 - so what?
Day 2 and 3 - i feel hungry, oh no hang on I'm actually tired/excited/bored/sad/don't want to do my assignment.  Excited was a weird realisations for me - who on earth eats when they're excited - just be god damn happy!!

Day 4 - was expecting the sads, they never arrived! 

Day 5 - Whaaaa, whaaaa. A little peeved I can't have a snack tonight at work - I ALWAYS SNACK AT WORK - IT'S WHAT I DO - I'm sure it makes time speed up??!!

and so here I am.......

 

My biggest query is that although I am battling cravings, I'm not feeling hungry and am wondering if it's possible to eat too much??  I'm sticking to the 3 meals, perhaps I'm adding too much fat?? Is this going to impede any potential weight loss?

 

Examples of meals:

Meal 1 today; half a grass fed steak (big steaks), dozen cherry tomatoes, massive handful of green beans and a couple of tablesppons of homemade baba ganoush. Tablespoon of coconut oil to fry the tommies in. Finished by black coffee with 2 tblsp of coconut milk.

 

Meal 1 yesterday; tuna with the olive oil from the tin, 1/2 red pepper, 1 carrot, 2 tblsp baba ganoush and the coffee

 

Meal 3 yesterday; 1 baked chicken thigh fillet with sweet potato/pumpkin/coconut flakes on cauliflower rice, 1/2 avocado and 1/2 cup nuts.  The nuts actually made me really bloated - was too many, but they were so crunchy and salty and tasty!

 

 

Onwards and upwards - maybe I peg back my meal size a bit - I've not exercised this week because I've felt a little tired. So maybe once I add that back in the hunger beast will arrive!

 

[Tom Denham]

You might not be doing it right. It doesn't sound as if you are going by the meal template: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf  Study it and make adjustments to your portion sizes. 

 

I never tell people they may be eating too much fat, but you probably had too much fat in the meal that included chicken thighs, coconut flakes, avocado, and nuts. 

 

Maybe it is a typo, but you reported two breakfasts and one supper. Spacing your meals out and eating lunch is important. Breakfast is most important, but you will generally do well eating every 4-6 hours.

[CeeTee]

Thanks so much for your advice Tom - I will amp up the veggies and scale back the fat - I think my protein is spot on.  Can you have too many veggies?

 

I am eating every 4-5 hours and finding that the hunger still isn't setting in.

 

I'll take a few recipes from your site too, this will ensure I'm doing it right

[Bargey]

It would be veeerry difficult having too much veggies if you stick to the plan in the book (think cabbage patch).

 

Sounds like you are well on track but just need a few tweaks. Good on you!

[CeeTee]

Thanks for your positive support

 

 

I've scaled back the fat a little.

 

Yesterday, meal 3 - tin of tuna (springwater), cabbage, carrot, 1/4 avo and 1/2 bag of whole 30 approved kale chips.

 

Today, meal 1 - pumpkin soup, 3 scrambled eggs & coffee with a tblsp coconut milk

 

I'm a little anxious about today - I'm a creature of habit that's for sure and EVERY saturday for morning tea I have a raw chocolate bar or raw food ball.  I work at a helath food store and we have all kinds a wonderful 'treats'!!  Yesterdays email showed the usual 'office' stash with a tonne of standard confectionery, I'm lucky that only appeals to me about once a week (usually when I'm stressed).  What I have trouble saying no to are yummy (close to) whole food treats - but they contain the sweet stuff of course! 

 

So I'm going prepared, I have a great lunch of tuna and homemade coleslaw and a dirty big mango to tuck into after lunch.  Hopefully my breakfast will get me thorugh till then.

[Tom Denham]

Good for you!

 

Tiny little thing... I've read research that says more of the omega3 fatty acids we want is available from tuna packed in oil than tuna packed in water. I am not a scientist, although I am married to one, but that note was enough to lead me to go with canned fish packed in olive oil over packed in water every chance I get. I think tuna packed in olive oil tastes better too. 

[amberino21]

Thanks for your positive support

I've scaled back the fat a little.

Yesterday, meal 3 - tin of tuna (springwater), cabbage, carrot, 1/4 avo and 1/2 bag of whole 30 approved kale chips.

Today, meal 1 - pumpkin soup, 3 scrambled eggs & coffee with a tblsp coconut milk

I'm a little anxious about today - I'm a creature of habit that's for sure and EVERY saturday for morning tea I have a raw chocolate bar or raw food ball. I work at a helath food store and we have all kinds a wonderful 'treats'!! Yesterdays email showed the usual 'office' stash with a tonne of standard confectionery, I'm lucky that only appeals to me about once a week (usually when I'm stressed). What I have trouble saying no to are yummy (close to) whole food treats - but they contain the sweet stuff of course!

So I'm going prepared, I have a great lunch of tuna and homemade coleslaw and a dirty big mango to tuck into after lunch. Hopefully my breakfast will get me thorugh till then.

Make sure you don't go too extreme either way in terms of fat - try to follow the guidelines on the template for fats.

Good luck with work - I used to make a lot of raw treats and chocolates, mainly to give away, but they don't even excite me that much anymore! A nice piece of fruit satisfies me these days

[CeeTee]

The Hunger Beast arrived - it was like I wanted to throw him a party, but also punch him in the face!

 

Took your advice Tom and went with the tuna in olive oil for lunch with my coleslaw, passed on the mango. Didn't feel like it.

That got me through 6 hours and boy was I starving when I sat down for dinner!  I made your kale and mushroom recipe with a steak in place of the hammered gobbler.  Delcious! :P

 

@Amberino - thank you so much for your thoughts - I made it through the day unscathed.  The first time I've been a whole day at work and only eaten once! Very happy but sh*t I got cranky towards the last couple of hours!

:angry: :angry:

[CeeTee]

Day 7 - phew wee! I'm tired.

 

Meal 1 - Steak and kale and mushroom stirfry. Coffee with 1 tbsp coconut milk.

Having some digestive issues :wacko:  after coffee in the morning - I think I'm going to switch to tea.......

 

Meal 2 - First one dining out! Fairly easy until my sister ordered a big bowl of chips and sat them in the middle of the table.

Two eggs with mushrooms, tomato, mashed avo & bacon

 

Meal 2 was 5 hours ago and i am no where near hungry........I'm not craving though either which is nice.  Going to be super hard tonight, staying at my mums and as she left she reminded me "there's dark chocolate in the cupboard, and cookies in the barrel, help yourself" not helpful at all!!

[CeeTee]

So I haven't eaten any fruit in my first 7 days, today I was CRAVING it big time..... then once I had a piece, whooooooo I had to have some more - the eat everything in site mosnter reared it's ugly head!  I don't think my meal 2 was ample, i was hungry 3 hours after and HAD to eat. 

 

Meal 1 - 3 eggs, pumpkin soup, no coffee

 

Meal 2 - Housesitting at my mums and she had NO other protein in her cupboard/fridge/freezer) not even a tin of tuna! so eggs again 2 with cauli rice and splash of olive oil

 

Meal 3 - 100gm free range ham, 1/4 cup nuts, tin of tuna and an orange

 

after that I felt compeled to eat some dried fruit Booooooo  About 6 dates and 1/2 dozen dried cranberries.  Now I feel all sweetened up again - it's what I've been trying to avoid.

 

It's only mid afternoon here - I'm headed Bikram at 6. I don't know if/what I should eat when I get home, it will be 7.30 and I feel like I've eaten what I should have already today....

[amberino21]

Avoiding food isn't the answer- I'd have a postWO meal of protein and starchy vegies.

I'd make sure to follow the template for every meal to help with cravings - 2-3 cups of mixed vegies with every meal, along with your protein and fat. Your meals look light in vegies, so your body might be looking for nutrients. Perhaps avoiding the fruit, especially dates and dried fruit (which often has non-compliant ingredients) might be a good idea for a while?

[CeeTee]

Thanks Amberino

 

It's hard to get that mentality out of my head that I may have 'exceeded' my calories for the day - so I shouldn't eat anymore.  But I did eat.  Chicken with a green pepper and 12 cherry tomatoes + a coconut water.

 

Fruits are on the avoid list - back to amping up the veg!!

 

Day 8 (semi) succesfully completed.

[CeeTee]

EPIC FAIL

 

What's the worse thing that could happen to someone doing a Whole 30?  Be taken to a vegetarian 'restaurant' I use the term loosely.  Hadn't eaten in 6-7 hours, sooooooo hungry. Was out in the city with my vegan sister and met vegan friends for dinner at a cafe where the only option was an all you can eat curry plate with rice, lentil curry, veggie curry and naan - I repeat EPIC FAIL!

 

I'm sticking with it - I was going to go back to day 0, but I have a holiday booked on the 28th of Nov, hence my first whole 30 was due to finish on the 27th.  So I will put last night down to a slip up, pick myself up, dust myself off and carry on anyway.  My first Whole 30 might not techniqually 'count' and be the real deal but I bet I will feel the benefits if I keep going anyway.

 

Meal 1 - 2 paleo snags, tsp coconut oil, 2-3 cups of green beans, mushrooms and cherry toms.  Coffee with tbsp of coconut milk.

[Physibeth]

A couple of things. Your first Whole30 is hard enough without adding extra restrictions. Instead of saying "NO FRUIT" why not skip the dried fruit (which is really candy) and have a serving of whole fruit with 2 of your meals either has an ingredient or an aside. Just make sure it doesn't push veggies off the plate. 

 

I'm sorry about your vegan experience. I would suggest carrying on and see if you can't stay compliant on holiday. If you really can't I would maybe suggest another W30 when you get back. Being able to do reintroductions with a clean system is an important part of your first W30 and finding out what life looks like for you after your W30. I told everyone I normally ate socially with during my W30 that I was choosing not to eat out for 30 days because having that clean system was really important to me. 

 

And you only epicly failed if you let it stop you. You only fail when you fail to try. Keep going!

 

One more thought...I noticed you mentioning being hangry a couple of times, that is something that starts to go away as your body adjusts. I've gotten to the point now in my journey where I will get super hungry if I go too long without eating but I don't get angry and moody and bitchy like I used to. 

[amberino21]

Oh dear!! I would have made an emergency dash to the nearest supermarket!!

Well done for getting straight back onto it - you will definitely benefit from eating this way even if you won't have 30 days of compliant eating. Your breakfast sounded a little low in fat, try not to skimp on it!

[CeeTee]

Thank you so much for your wonderful words of wisdom ladies - I feel as though I am at a cross roads now though.  I'm a student finishing my undergrad in only 2 weeks - my holiday is a reward and celebration with a few friends - I had already decided not to be compliant on the holiday - I want a few glasses of Moet god damn it

 

If it's vital to get the whole 30 days in a row compliant and do the reintroduction - I wonder if it is worth me carrying on?  Perhaps it's better that i restart another 30 when I get back from my holiday?  But that includes Christmas and New Year - ahhhhh, what to do!!!

[Physibeth]

It's always worth it to keep making healthier decisions. Most of us eat mostly W30 after our 30 days are over anyway. 

[CeeTee]

Thanks Physi - I'm taking your advice "you haven't failed if you don't give up".

I'm back on it.

 

Form this day forth - my first Whole 30 will be known as "The Psuedo Whole 30" -  30 compliant days of Whole 30, with a 24 hour period where one was forced to dine with vegans.

 

I'll complete a succesful Whole 30 in January 2014