Natasha's 2nd Whole30

[natashajulian]

So, I embark again on another Whole30. I completed one in March 2013 and felt fantastic afterwards. But old habits creeped in and I find myself in a worse position than last year when it comes to health and well being. I have a habit of dwelling on past mistakes, so this year I have committed to focusing on action. Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. Whole30 is my action for this month. The best part is: I know I can do this. I've done it before. There's no reason I can't do this again.

 

When I first started I struggled with what to do with my in-laws. My husband and I have dinner there once a week, and it's always a processed food extravaganza. I thought about just leaving it alone and eating Whole30 compliant the rest of the time, but I soon realized I was shortchanging myself. It was a hard conversation to have with my husband, who never likes to put anyone out. Finally, I just realized that I'm not willing to put myself out instead of someone else when I've been feeling terrible for so long. I'm the one who has to live with this body, not anyone else. I took a stand and, luckily, my husband agreed with me. Life is too precious to shortchange myself so that I don't make someone else feel momentarily uncomfortable.

 

So, here we go. Day One went well enough, on to Day Two.

 

My goals for this Whole30:

 

#1 Try 4 new vegetables (ideally, one a week)

#2 Sleep 8 hours a night - this is going to be a struggle, but so worth it

#3 Eat mindfully - I have a tendency to shove food into my mouth as fast as possible

 

I'm currently going through a bunch of whole30/paleo resources for recipe inspiration. It's not enough for me to do the Whole30, I need to have an arsenal of yummy food to continue on with after I'm finished. This time my journey is going to be about how to change how I view, eat and celebrate food. How can I take what I've learned from this process and apply it to everyday life? As they say, this isn't the Whole 365, but I need to find strategies to prevent myself from falling into old habits.

 

The fact is: I'm scared. I'm scared I'm going to go through all of this again and end up right back where I started next year. I've been repeating this pattern ever since I was a teenager and I'm worried it will never change. It feels different this time, though. Maybe I'm finally ready to shed my emotional attachment to food (it was my only friend in high school) and develop a healthier relationship with food. Maybe everyone who has struggled with food in the past comes to this realization at some point in their lives. Maybe I wasn't ready until now.

 

I might just be feeling melancholy because it's Day Two and I'm dealing with the pain of all the crap I've eaten in the past 8 months, but it's good to get it out of my system. I'm tired of feeling constantly sick.

 

Today is a new day. All I have is this present moment. The past is behind me, the future is uncertain. All I can do is make good choices right here and now.

 

[June14]

Keep it up! This is my first one. I have never been able to maintain good eating habits. I get complacent and start eating more and more crap! Then before I know it I'm blowing up like a balloon. So I feel your pain! Maybe you'll get to the end of this 30 days and want to do another. That's what I am hoping for myself! For me it's about breaking habits! Good luck!

[lori_vt]

Hi Natasha!  I'm about to start my 2nd Whole30 too.  I had a great experience with my first one, which ended just before the holidays.  I intentionally planned to complete it before the holidays so it wouldn't be too difficult, however I think I would have been better off to actually be ON the W30 over the Thanksgiving/Christmas time, so I would have had the excuse that "I can't have that - I'm on a W30 - I'm eating WHOLE FOODS for 30 days."  I don't need to lose weight at all; I'm 5'3 and weight 125.  However I still believe I have an unhealthy relationship with food.  I have never known anyone who could binge on as much food as I can without "showing it."  Do I have a high metabolism?  I don't know.  But eating that way is like a closet eater - I hate it.  It feels secretive and "bad" to me.  I don't want to do that anymore.  In fact, I am looking forward to this W30 so I can really take the time to savor my food, and hopefully change forever the "gorge yourself as fast as you can" mentality.  It's awful!  To eat so much without tasting or enjoying it, and feeling guilty and ashamed of it.

 

How are you doing with the family?  I love your 3 goals for this W30 - how was your first day?  I have been making every effort to get a minimum of 8 hours sleep, up to 9 hours if I can.  It makes such an incredible difference!  But here it is 9:15 pm, and I'm not in bed yet.  Yikes - time to get moving!!

[natashajulian]

Keep it up! This is my first one. I have never been able to maintain good eating habits. I get complacent and start eating more and more crap! Then before I know it I'm blowing up like a balloon. So I feel your pain! Maybe you'll get to the end of this 30 days and want to do another. That's what I am hoping for myself! For me it's about breaking habits! Good luck!

 

Thanks! I agree that it's about breaking bad habits and creating new ones for myself. What do I do instead of eating when I feel sad? What do I do when I'm feeling lonely? Or bored? Or celebratory? How do I replace these with bettwe habits. I will use my time during the Whole30 to figure that all out. I didn't last time and I think that's part of why I end up back where I started.

[natashajulian]

Hi Natasha!  I'm about to start my 2nd Whole30 too.  I had a great experience with my first one, which ended just before the holidays.  I intentionally planned to complete it before the holidays so it wouldn't be too difficult, however I think I would have been better off to actually be ON the W30 over the Thanksgiving/Christmas time, so I would have had the excuse that "I can't have that - I'm on a W30 - I'm eating WHOLE FOODS for 30 days."  I don't need to lose weight at all; I'm 5'3 and weight 125.  However I still believe I have an unhealthy relationship with food.  I have never known anyone who could binge on as much food as I can without "showing it."  Do I have a high metabolism?  I don't know.  But eating that way is like a closet eater - I hate it.  It feels secretive and "bad" to me.  I don't want to do that anymore.  In fact, I am looking forward to this W30 so I can really take the time to savor my food, and hopefully change forever the "gorge yourself as fast as you can" mentality.  It's awful!  To eat so much without tasting or enjoying it, and feeling guilty and ashamed of it.

 

How are you doing with the family?  I love your 3 goals for this W30 - how was your first day?  I have been making every effort to get a minimum of 8 hours sleep, up to 9 hours if I can.  It makes such an incredible difference!  But here it is 9:15 pm, and I'm not in bed yet.  Yikes - time to get moving!!

 

Oh man... I can relate to your secretive eating feeling. I can gorge on pretty much anything, but it makes me feel terrible physically, emotionally and mentally. And yet, I keep doing it. So, it's not enough that I change what I eat, but change how I view food.

 

My first two days have been a success. I'm feeling great in some aspects and terrible in others, but that's to be expected. I'm missing a lot of my favourite foods, but I'm taking the time to grieve over this loss as they suggested in the Daily Whole30. I love those daily e-mails so much. It's like an encouraging e-mail from a friend.

 

My husband has no interest in doing a Whole30 with me, but I'm lucky that he doesn't try to sabatoge me either. Same with my in-laws. They mean well, they just don't quite understand what "real food" means. They were perfectly fine to have me bring me own food since they were having processed ham with honey mustard and potatoes, but they were taking aback when I didn't have dessert.

 

Me: Oh, none for me. Thanks, though.

MIL: What? You can't have pie?

Me: No. It has flour and sugar in it, but thanks for the offer.

FIL: What about cookies? Can you have cookies?

 

I think it's best to find the humor in things.

 

Just keep swimming, right?

[natashajulian]

It's been a few days since I've posted in here, but I'm still here! Just working a bit silently. I think I will have to get better at posting daily. I'm just not making it a priority right now, but I will. Starting right now!

So... I'm on day 7. And things are going. I'm in the tired/cranky stage but I'm still in good spirits.

What's going well:

1. I'm getting up on time without feeling ridiculously tired
2. No more acid reflux
3. Less digestive issues
4. Falling asleep easier
5. Mood is better despite everything else going on

What's not going great:

1. I'm feeling nauseous after eating
2. I'm having a lot of trouble feeling motivated to eat during the day. I'm great with breakfast and dinner, but lunch is just not working out for me.
3. Actually, that's it! Everything else is pretty great.

I've found some Whole30-approved soups that I will try making on the weekend. I like having hot lunches, especially when it's -26 outside. I have never been much of a salad person, but I'm working on it. I think soup is the best way to go for the time being.

I'm optimistic right now. I feel like this month is going by really slowly in terms of how many days I have left in the Whole30, but I feel like it's only the first two weeks that I really have to worry about. The last 15 days are easier to deal with and I'm REALLY looking forward to getting over that hurtle. The next few days I'll be battling food cravings, so I'm mentally preparing for that.

Onwards!