paleo farm girl Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 After a few false starts, I'm going for it today. I'm declaring it out loud, to the forum, so I can't cheat and "just start again tomorrrow." I was going to wait for the mass August 1 start date, but that just gives me an excuse to behave badly for a few more days, and I need to get healthy NOW. I have a couple of health issues that a really clean diet would help with. And I have a few vices that I REALLY need to drop. My main goal is to improve my health. Weight loss isn't my primary motivator, but for the record, I was 123.8 lbs when I weighed this morning. (I'm 5'7") That's actually a bit above my normal weight, because I had a few vodka & sodas last night, and ended up scarfing down the rest of the brown rice I made for the kids. (Right there are a couple of the vices I alluded to) While I don't aim to drop a bunch of pounds over the next 30 days, I do hope to feel awesome enough to get to the gym more. As a farmer, I get a good bit of exercise, but I also need to lift weights and do some yoga to feel "right". So, here it goes... no turning back now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Go you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Farm girl, welcome! You can definitely do this. I'd love to be a support for you, and hope that you'll support me in my journey too! I have a much harder time doing things on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 This accountability log has saved me from blowing it already! After working in the garden this afternoon, I came inside and had a wicked craving for beer. If I hadn't posted my intentions earlier this morning, I totally would have grabbed a beer and told myself "I'll just start tomorrow." I surely wouldn't have stopped at one, and who knows what I would have ended up eating for dinner. Today started with a cup of herbal tea. I recently gave up my morning coffee when I learned that it was interfering with the absorption of my thyroid medication. That was a pretty huge sacrifice, as I've been addicted to coffee for decades. I have yet to find an herbal tea that I love, or achieve a level of health that has me bounding out of bed with energy in the morning, so I'm kind of missing the coffee. However, I'll gladly trade it to get rid of these hypothyroid symptoms! I skipped my morning yoga class because I felt so tired and bleh from my dietary indiscretions last night. For breakfast, I had 3 eggs from our pastured chickens, fried in a little bacon fat, plus 1/2 of an avocado. For lunch, I had leftover curry made from grass-fed beef, cabbage, carrots, red pepper, and homemade balti sauce. And cherries. For dinner, I had grilled organic chicken thighs and zucchini "pasta" with olive oil and garlic. And more cherries. Thanks to this forum for keeping me honest today! I feel more confident that I can do this without cheating. Also, if anyone has a caffeine-free suggestion for a former coffee addict, I'd love to hear it. So far, the best thing I've found is dandelion tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Hooray for accountability! I didn't know that coffee could interfere with thyroid med absorption. Yet another reason for me to quit. Arg! I recently tried, but only made it 13 days. I find doing a W30 easier than quitting coffee! Anyway, good luck with your W30! It sounds like you will have lots of wonderful food from your farm to eat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Day Two. Confession: I weighed myself. It's a hard habit to break, especially since it's deeply integral to my particular brand of crazy. Good news is, I was down 2 lbs in one day. Not surprising, since I was probably retaining water from my brown rice binge the day before. I didn't have any miraculous, overnight recovery from pain, however. My low back pain isn't fixable with diet alone, (multiple bulging disks, 2 disks degenerated to the point of non-existence, fractured vertabra, torn disk, bone spurs, spinal stenosis - lots of fun.) but I'm desperately hoping for some relief by eating better. I guess it'll take some time. Breakfast on the run today was 1/2 avocado, a deer sausage stick, and a handful of cashews. I did some weight training, but it wasn't a great session. I felt very tired. Lunch was beef curry, a handful of grapes, and a handful of the Caramalized Coconut Chips from Well Fed. Oh my, I could get into trouble with those! They are to die for! I immediately bought 4 bags of coconut chips on Amazon. I'll try not to go through them in 4 days. The fatigue didn't lift all afternoon, so I had a coffee at 4pm. Not a great idea, but it was either that or take a nap. The last time I started a Whole 30, I was super-tired on day 2 as well. I've never made it to day 3, to see if it was a temporary phenomenon. I've been low-carbing for years, so I know it's not a fat-adaptation thing. Dinner was a salad with Well Fed's Creamy Italian Dressing (good), and the Meatza Pie (also good). I ate way too much of it, however, because I was eating in front of the TV, watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I should have eaten first and then watched the show. Sitting in front of the TV is such a trigger for overeating! I've always known that, but I think I finally get it. I remember thinking "I'm full," but since the show wasn't over, I kept going. I will try not to eat in front of the TV anymore. I should probably get my laptop off the dining room table too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Hey there. Don't be so hard on yourself! I know for me, the first week of going full paleo, I have to allow myself to overeat some of the "allowed" things, like cashews or meat. If that keeps you from grabbing something else, then it's worth it. I've found that after the first week I don't want so much, but there is a period of time where your body has to get used to it. Don't expect anything to change the first week. The exhaustion is normal for sure and it might last a few days and if coffee is what you need, then do it. Usually if I have coffee in the afternoon I try to really water it down, so I'm not up all night, but do what you need. Because, again, sometime soon you won't have that exhaustion at 2pm or 4pm. And the pain takes a while. One day you'll be like, hey, I don't feel so bad! But, it's never been immediate for me anyway. I'm starting full paleo on the 1st, so I'm sure I'll be complaining a bit come Thursday and Friday. And weighing yourself isn't something to beat yourself up about either. It's awesome to just go through the process without that check-in though. The thing it helps with, is if you gain a few pounds in the beginning while your body is regulating itself, it gives you the wrong feedback. We're so ingrained to think that gaining a pound or two is "bad" but in the beginning you might gain before you lose. So it's not a realistic tool to use. Anyway, keep it up, you can definitely make it past day 3 this time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 You're so right, Mary. I shouldn't worry about over-eating nutrient dense food, when what I used to do pre-Whole 30 was a lot worse than that. It makes sense that I'll settle back to more normal eating once the lure of what I can't have isn't so strong. I'm just not used to feeling so full, and it makes me kind of panic. I guess I really need to do this, because my relationship with food and alcohol is all screwed up. I weighed myself again this morning, and I was up 1.2 lbs. So I put the scale under the bed, to keep it out of sight. Today was better than yesterday, as far as fatigue. Pain was actually a little worse - probably from working out yesterday. Thanks for your input. You know, it really did help! On to day 4... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Hurray for day 4! Keep it up, you got this. It'll be so worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Day 5. Still waking up feeling like a creaky 90-year-old. I always start my day with a cocktail of pain medicine, which I desperately want to get off of. These medications are wrecking my health. I'm pretty sure they're responsible for my thyroid crapping out. If I can get off these pills in the next month, I'll go on a Whole 365! I did take slightly fewer pills today than usual, so maybe I' m on the right track. In the past, I would take my daily quota of medicine during the day, to get me through my farm chores and workouts. Then in the evening, I'd switch to a few drinks to take the edge off. Now that alcohol is off the menu, I'm feeling the pain more acutely in the evening. It's tough, but I'm determined to see this through. This morning began with Triple Leaf detox tea. (My liver surely needs help!) Then I had 3 eggs fried in bacon fat and a whole avocado. I needed the fat to get me through a day of farm work. Lunch was fajita steak with peppers and onions. Plus 1/2 c macadamia nuts. A little excessive, I know, but my husband just got back from Hawaii, and he brought me a couple bags. I LOVE those things! I craved something sweet, so I had about 5 grapes. I've decided to restrict fruit to just a few bites, since fructose is processed through the liver, and mine is overloaded already. Dinner was grass-fed steak and home-grown zucchini. And another handful of macadamia nuts. Yikes! That's like 700 calories worth of nuts in one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Emily, I hear you about the coffee! Even when you get past the withdrawal headaches, there's still the fatigue to deal with. I don't know how long it takes to get over that, because I've never pushed through it. Here's what I've started doing now: I take my thyroid medicine first thing in the morning, with a cup of herb tea. An hour later, I eat breakfast and follow it with a good strong cup of coffee. Hopefully, the thyroid medication has already been absorbed, and I still get the benefit of coffee powering me through my workout. When I abandoned coffee altogether, my workouts really suffered. Plus, when I told my pain doctor I went off coffee, he recommended I start drinking it again. He said the alkaloids in coffee actually have pain-relieving properties. I'm due to get bloodwork in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how my current strategy is affecting my thyroid levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Hey! I thought I posted something. It might show up later and I just can't see it now. Anyway, it was something to the effect of Yay day 5! Keep up the good work, hope your pain goes away soon. And macadamia nuts are delicious. If you're gonna overeat something in your first week, they certainly aren't the worst things. Just remember to start regulating when you start getting used to this. Your body may start telling you when you're full. Just remember, if you worked out or you had a hard day of work, and your body is telling you you are starving, you might be! So eat! Keep it up, starting tomorrow and I'm getting excited. I love starting this way, excited instead of too scared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura B Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 For dinner, I had grilled organic chicken thighs and zucchini "pasta" with olive oil and garlic. And more cherries. Sounds phenomenal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Day six. Breakfast: grass fed steak, 2 eggs fried in bacon fat, sliced garden tomato. Cup of coffee, then off to the gym for a weight workout. The coffee helped my workout immensely. And it turns out my doctor is right.... I do have less pain when I drink coffee! I'll never give it up again. I just need to time it strategically - not too close to my thyroid medication. Post workout snack was a tin of smoked herring (water packed). Lunch was Chocolate Chili from Well Fed, and 1/2 avocado. I had another cup of coffee after lunch. It also seems to help with the urge for something sweet after a meal. I did a lot of running around in the afternoon, and was famished when I got home. While I cooked a time-consuming dinner, I devoured an obscene amount of macadamia nuts (like an entire cup!), a handful of grapes, a piece of watermelon, and even a medjool date! It was a feeding frenzy! Needless to say, by the time dinner was done cooking, I was no longer hungry. So a bit of a fail tonight. Good thing I hid that scale! I'm pretty sure I'd be discouraged if I got on it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 LOL, I've definitely done that before. Snacked so much while making dinner I was no longer hungry for dinner at all. Oh well. Maybe you can save it for breakfast? I'm starting my Whole30 tomorrow morning. I had one last beer tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Day Seven. Another chaotic day. I skipped breakfast to run errands. Lunch was what I would have eaten for dinner last night, if I'd finished cooking before bedtime: grass fed beef curry with cauliflower. Dinner was a repeat of last night. I got home so late I couldn't cook dinner, so I started in on the nuts again. You guessed it - macadamia nuts. And I threw some coconut chips in for good measure. I probably had the caloric equivalent of a McDonalds meal! Yes, I have self-control issues. Other mistake of the day: Once a week I let the kids have a treat - something I ordinarily wouldn't let them have. They wanted to make ice cream cookie sandwiches. So I opened this package of chocolate chip cookies, and a few were broken. I mindlessly popped a couple of the broken pieces into my mouth. Crap!! (Oh, but they tasted good!) I guess my self-control issues aren't that bad, because I did manage to stop after I realized what I'd done. I could have kept going, that's for sure! I hope this doesn't mean I'm supposed to start over at day one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Day Eight My new favorite breakfast: eggs fried in bacon fat, 1/2 avocado, and a garden tomato. Lunch was the rest of the macadamia nuts. Really. But they're gone now, and macadamia nuts are not coming back into this house!! At least until I get a grip. I had an insight today: when I'm not drinking, I eat food the way I used to consume alcohol - rather compulsively. I know I've put on weight since I started my Whole 30 a week ago. First of all, I'm eating significantly more fat than I used to. Second, I used to drink a lot instead of eating a lot....and the food I'm eating now has more calories than the alcohol I used to drink. More nutrition too, obviously. I know I'm ultimately doing a good thing for my body, regardless of what the scale says, but if I don't get control of this compulsive eating, I'm going to have a major freak-out next time I step on a scale! As a snack after a quick weight session, I had a little deer sausage and a few olives. Dinner was Well Fed's Czech Meatballs. (I'm working my way through that cookbook, if you haven't noticed). The flavor was good, but I hate to say, the texture of a meatball suffers without bread crumbs. I also had cabbage and onions cooked in bacon fat, and beets sauteed in ghee. Then a peach and a handful of coconut chips for dessert. My goal tomorrow: less fat and more reasonable portions of food. I'm not even really missing alcohol, so I don't know what my deal is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleo farm girl Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 I broke the "no weigh-ins" rule this morning. I was stressed about the fat-laden foods I've been chowing down on. I figured if the scale reflected my fears, I would make an effort to cut back. To my utter amazement, I've dropped 2.6 lbs since I started my Whole 30! I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight - just want to get healthy without gaining - but I'll take it!! I don't regret breaking the rules and checking in on the scale. It put my mind at rest that I can eat this way without giving up my hard-earned size 4s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Oh good! I don't know if you follow Mark Sisson at all, his thing is Primal, not necessarily Paleo, but they are very much aligned. He has lots of articles explaining why fat is so much better for us to eat. I always check his site when I feel like I need a reminder of this. I know everyone is different, but many people are surprised when their high fat food actually helps with weight loss. There's lots of articles about how you begin to burn fat, which is more efficient than burning carbs, and how much better it is for you in the long run. Anyway, keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryalycepreston Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 How have you been doing? I noticed that I stopped writing and I started thinking about non-paleo goodies and I slipped yesterday. It was a super-stressful time for me to start this challenge, so it's okay. I've learned not to beat myself up about it. I am just starting over. Tomorrow is my new official start date. I ended up being starving again at work and the principal had bought a bento for all of the staff and I didn't even think about it. I just ate it. Feeling bloated today, but I'll be alright. I hope you've been stronger than I have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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