crewgirl Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I am on Day 10 and it's going very well. I feel great and I enjoy what I am eating. However, I feel like the "fun" has been taken out of food. This very well could be a good thing, but I fear that it will be easy for me to slip back into old habits because they are "more fun." It's Friday after a week at work and normally I would be looking forward to a glass of wine or a nice dessert or sushi with my husband. Instead I am going home to make tilapia and green beans and drink seltzer water. Boring. Tomorrow night I am going to a party and I won't have able to have any of the goodies. I know I won't cheat, but I also feel like I'll be very tempted at the end of the W30 to have these "treats" more often than I should. Encouragement or advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa L Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 This is not for life. It's for 30 days. Maybe it's supposed to be fun, but maybe it's not. Sometimes the things that are the best for you are not the most fun. I am on day 13 and I am missing LOTS of foods, but...in 17 days I can start reincorporating them back in to see how each one treats me. This should change your relationship with food. Have you had any realizations? Sounds like you feel great...were you not feeling great before? What can you do differently, once you are no longer in these constraints, that will continue to make you feel great? I know I have recognized now how much I was dependent on sugar. Also the emotional eating part of it was huge for me. I'm now learning to deal with my emotions as the come rather than stuff them down with cake (or a muffin, or chocolate or...). While I can tell you I'm not having a lot of fun, I know that's not what this is about. I am learning a totally new way to eat and how to look at what my body needs. This 30 days of no fun will most likely give me years of informed food choices and a happier, healthier me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jent103 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 One of the most valuable things my W30 did for me was show me what I really truly missed, and what I could live without forever if I felt like it. It also forces you to pay attention to how you're feeling. if "fun" right now means a glass of wine and a piece of cake, but you realize post-W30 that those things actually make you feel sluggish or irritable or ____, it becomes not nearly as fun. And by day 30, some of the things you're mourning now on day 10 may be no big deal (strange but true!). So don't worry too much right now - wait till day 25 or 30 and see how things look! You might also make some substitutions for those "fun" things - Paleo treats instead of gluten/sugary desserts, or whatever. Better choices, if not W30 choices. Or you might decide that ____ is totally worth it on special occasions. I think the key is to make it a conscious decision, not just a force of habit, and that's what W30 helps with - breaking the habits so you can revamp what's needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingseaside Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I have lots of fun with food on Whole30. Between the cookbooks available (and I've been obseesively collecting paleo cookbooks) and recipe blogs out in the paleosphere, that there's no end to the creative and fun recipes available - I'm never, ever bored with my food. It's so fun and tasty, in fact, that I continue to eat this way post Whole30. Choose fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrayS Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Oh, how I commiserate with the loss of the Friday night unwind. Wine and sushi with my husband - I could have written this sentence myself. And I probably did if I went back to my logs from last year and looked. Your post-W30 fear is a valid one, especially given your current feelings. I am on my third W30 now I have definitely found that I slip into old habits more easily than I want to. Yes I want wine, but it makes me feel like crap. But I still want it, so I drink it, then that habit is back. Yes I want chocolate but pretty soon I'm searching for it at 3 PM without fail. For me, the post W30 world is full of slippery slopes that send me careening back into bad habits that sneak up on me until all of a sudden my face itches, I'm gaining weight, I'm tired yet not sleeping well, and I'm spending all day thinking that I will either a) drink wine tonight or struggle to avoid the compulsion of having that one glass (which might turn into 2 or 3). Repeat this pattern enough, and frustration commences. But it's not frustration with the "limitations" of Whole30, it's frustration with myself for letting bad habits back in. And they had gotten back in in a big way by the end of December. But I can feel it now - the scales have tipped, and I am now thinking these highs and lows are the key to my LONG TERM success. I am on W30 #3 now, and I am actually looking FORWARD to an alcohol-free weekend. Instead of wine and sushi, tea and couch time and an early night sounds great to me. I know I will sleep peacefully and wake up early and rested and my energy will be high tomorrow. And Sunday. And that will set me up for an energized work week. At this point I am not sure how long I will W30 for, but it will be longer than 30 days and I am not just waiting for Day 31 so I can have a glass of wine. I guess what I am finally starting to accept is that I need to (and it is possible to) reframe my idea of fun. Now, I realized this from my very first W30 in August 2012. But realization and acceptance are not the same thing. Now, I just bought a ticket for a beer festival that I am going to with friends in April - and it was a DD ticket - no beer for me, just socializing. And I am feeling fine about it. Hell might have just frozen over. So understand that 1) what you are feeling is totally normal and 2) this is part of the process for long term change - which is probably what you had in mind when starting the Whole30 in the first place. If you are learning from your experiences, you're on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alliath Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 One of the reasons I wanted to do a Whole 30 is that I don't WANT my food to also be my fun, if that makes sense. That's where I got into trouble. If the best things in my life and the things I most look forward to are all food, that's bad. I don't want my brain to think fun = food, I want fun things that AREN'T food. It isn't about not having a girl scout cookie again ever for the rest of my life, it's just fixing my brain so that my brain doesn't say HEY ALI, HEY WE ARE SAD AND COOKIES ARE FUN! LET'S EAT AN ENTIRE BOX OF COOKIES. (I have totally done this.) Instead I want my brain to say ALI WE ARE SAD AND BOWLING IS FUN! LET'S GO BOWLING! So yeah, eating this way is not fun intentionally, I think, because one of the main points is to teach your body, especially your brain, to separate between the two. This was actually one of the main reasons I wanted badly to do a whole 30, because I am REALLY REALLY bad about "I have had a bad week and I need something fun. I KNOW, PIE." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opt-out Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 It's not really the food that is the fun. It's the company. You will remember your times with your peeps, you won't remember the food. The true richness in life comes from interactions with others. Go out have fun be with your peeps and stay complient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookluvingbabe Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I'm on Day 9 of my 3rd or 4th Whole 30. I've lost track... I'm spending a lot of time muttering to myself that if I knew the world was ending at X date or that I was going to die on Y date no matter how I ate, I'd totally being chocolate cake right now. And boxed mac and cheese. And not sparing a thought for grass fed, GMO or anything else. I also think I told my husband that I kind of missed the life I had where I didn't know how messed up the SAD was. But I do know. And for me, while it is "just 30 days", It is also about learning how to maximize my health and wellness so I can be the best parent I can be, the best spouse I can, the best employee and generally just the best ME I can be. I know that GMO soy is f-ed up. So why am I willing to eat gloppy Americanized Chinese food? I know that bread gives me acid reflux. So why am I eating it? Etc. So this time, I'm not messing up the reintroduction. I'm not going to go back to thinking that a little damage is okay. I'm doing this for the long haul. On the bright side, I totally found two amazing, non-Whole 30, discoveries that I can't wait to try once I can do trace amounts of wine again. (I totally realized that I like wine but I don't need it and I sleep so much better without it. So that was one thing that stuck from the first round.) I found a pheasant pate that didn't have weird cornstarch or milk proteins in it. But it has port. So not right now. But I know what we're having for Valentine's Day. And I found a paleo ketchup at the local organic store without sugar but with wine. Again, for later but I'm so excited! Baby-steps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Angel0 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I'm on my 5th W30 in less than a year right now. The way I look at is it's a time to get back to the basics, exercise some discipline, and reign in the sugar monster to keep that sucker on a tight leash. I make it a point to cook delicious food and focus on what I can eat instead of what I can't. I would get bored really fast with a chicken breast, piece of fish, and broccoli. Putting a bit more effort into good food pays off big time for me. By the end of a W30 I'm definitely ready for a nice paleofied treat but as delicious as they are so is all the food that is W30 compliant. Humans are hardwired to gain pleasure from eating. It should be fun and it should be delicious! Even on a W30. Sure I can't have my occasional veggie smoothie with whey protein but I can have crispy gizzard confit that is delicious, easy, and cheap (from the new nomnom paleo cookbook)! I can have steak with mushroom sauce, mashed cauliflower, and roasted brussels sprouts with bacon. And I've even entertained quite a few times serving a completely W30 compliant menu. Dessert is the hardest but I usually do a big fruit salad or grilled fruit with coconut cream. Food even non-paleo family and friends find mouthwatering. Sure a W30 takes some discipline but it's a lot easier when you focus on all the delicious 100% healthy food you can have rather than the stuff you are choosing to temporarily abstain from. I'm not one that is ever going to be a W365 type person. Sorry, I like my treats in moderation and have no plans for that to change. However, for 30 days I'm perfectly capable of buckling down, sucking it up, and then enjoying a healthy dessert on day 31! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Applegirl Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I love most of the responses to this post. W30 is a challenge. Hopefully the sense of satisfaction of having completed something worthwhile will outweigh the "not fun" parts. I do have to say that if I was eating talapia, green beans and seltzer water, I would feel deprived. Maybe mix it up a bit and enjoy some really satisfying foods to get you through the rest of your days - maybe that won't help you, just a suggestion. Hang in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crewgirl Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thanks for all of these great posts. I definitely recognize the value of the Whole30 and I am going to stick with it. I am making almond crusted tilapia so that is a little more exciting than plain ole broiled fish. And I do make good recipes, but I'm a busy mom with a full time job and I go to my Crossfit gym a few nights a week so time to cook "fun" recipes is just not there every day. I think this realization in and of itself is important. What are other outlets for fun besides food? How can I still enjoy life and make good, healthy choices? I'm sure this will be more of a challenge at the end when I technically have more options and have to make more choices. In some ways, the restrictions make it easier because so many things are off-limits. Anyway, thanks for weighing in and good weekend to you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookluvingbabe Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 If you can squeeze a little time on the weekend, or after the kid(s) are asleep, I find cooking in advance helps a lot with being able to eat more variety when the chaos begins. (Like this morning when the 2 hour school delay kept me from getting to the gym.) Last weekend I cooked down 2 pounds of mushrooms so I would have them to eat. Roasted a week's worth of sweet potatoes. Monday I did lamb shanks in the crockpot and cooked a pound of chicken thighs. Tuesday I cooked a pound of thin pork chops. Wednesday and Thursday I just reheated stuff, plus scrambled some eggs for breakfast. Today I reheated pork belly for breakfast, made more chicken thighs at lunch, put short ribs in the crockpot, and made a double batch of meatballs when DS got home from school. (My kitchen looks like it was hit by lightening.) But that means that tomorrow morning, I can go to the gym and the local library book sale without any muss or fuss or feeling like I need to be doing other stuff. (Time alone with books is my thing.) In the afternoon, DS and I are going out for a camp reunion while DH shops for suits. We will just re-heat what we want to eat, plus I think the avocados are ripe so that opens up more options. I spent a lot of time thinking about what things made me happy. I had cancelled my subscription of Entertainment Weekly because it gave me a huge case of the "I wants"--books, tv shows, movies. I realized that those were all things that made me happy. I might not get to see the movie in the theater but I could watch it on Netflix later. I also started to follow Gretchen Rubin. I haven't finished "The Happiness Project" yet but I get that I need to make myself a priority or no one else will. My two cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marceeruns Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 One of the reasons I wanted to do a Whole 30 is that I don't WANT my food to also be my fun, if that makes sense. That's where I got into trouble. If the best things in my life and the things I most look forward to are all food, that's bad. I don't want my brain to think fun = food, I want fun things that AREN'T food. It isn't about not having a girl scout cookie again ever for the rest of my life, it's just fixing my brain so that my brain doesn't say HEY ALI, HEY WE ARE SAD AND COOKIES ARE FUN! LET'S EAT AN ENTIRE BOX OF COOKIES. (I have totally done this.) Instead I want my brain to say ALI WE ARE SAD AND BOWLING IS FUN! LET'S GO BOWLING! So yeah, eating this way is not fun intentionally, I think, because one of the main points is to teach your body, especially your brain, to separate between the two. This was actually one of the main reasons I wanted badly to do a whole 30, because I am REALLY REALLY bad about "I have had a bad week and I need something fun. I KNOW, PIE." Such a great response! Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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