Reset Whole30 August 1 to forever

[maryalycepreston]

On August 1st I'll be starting the next Whole30. I've done a 30 day challenge twice before, and then I did a primal/paleo challenge with my local crossfit box for a 45 day stretch which I kept going for 60 days. The time that I allow processed/wheat/dairy/junk into my diet is getting shorter between challenges and my bad days are no longer as bad. But I recognize that this summer I allowed myself to go off track again and I'd like to reset myself. I notice that I am much better at staying on track when I have a buddy. Anyone who wants to be my support, I would much appreciate it! I have lots of friends out here in Hawaii who "eat healthy" but our ideas about what that means differs. So when we get together there's always pretty healthy food, but often I'll grab the whole wheat crackers and hummus or eat the salad that they added cheese to. It's not too big of a deal, except that I slowly veer farther and farther off track, concluding with this morning's 3 mini-muffins from the front office left over from yesterday's work schmorgazbord that I indulged heartily in. Luckily I've only gained 5 pounds back over the summer, since I've mostly been eating well and I feel like I'm catching myself in time to do some real damage.

My reasons for going back to strict paleo:

Migraine headaches returned last week

Knee pain returned 2 weeks ago

Wrist pain returned 3 days ago

Facial acne got worse (might be because period is coming soon)

Back acne returned

Bloated feeling returned as soon as I started to allow wheat back in and hasn't really left

Joint "pain" returned (not severe, just there again)

Weight starting to creep back up

What I would like to get out of my next Whole30:

Renewed sense of having "rules"

New buddies and support

Reveal my abs again (getting a little fluffy, remove that 5 pounds and I'm pretty cut)

Strong Crossfit workouts

Clear thinking

No migraines

Support for after the 30th day.

[paleo farm girl]

Hi Mary. Absolutely, I'll do this with you. Pain issues are a big factor for me too. I have major back pain, and I hope getting strict with my diet will make some of it go away.

I'll be checking in on your log.

[paleo farm girl]

So how was your first day without beer, Mary?

[maryalycepreston]

Hey, it was good! Luckily, I've done this before, so I know what to expect. I had sparkling mineral water in the fridge, waiting for me so I had something "special" to drink. This week is the first week of school, so the kids are all back and my schedule has been crazy. I'm the behavioral health specialist for two different schools, so I'm usually out on campus, all over the place until about 1:30 or 2pm. I try to sneak a snack in there, but I just didn't have time the past couple of days. So, I've been eating a good dinner and then not eating much until 2pm the next day. It's an interesting way to go about things. I always pack lunch, so I had roast chicken with homemade guacamole yesterday, chicken with mustard the day before and a leftover hamburger with mustard and okinawan sweet potatoes today. I also always have nuts and dried fruit to snack on when I need it. I usually eat everything I bring for lunch, then by the time I get home at 5pm I'm ready to start cooking dinner. I always cook dinner, mostly because if I don't, my husband will gladly go buy something- like pizza or taco bell. So I usually cook a big dinner of some kind of meat, with veggies or sweet potato on the side. Sometimes I also make tater tots or french fries for him to put on the side, but I've been slowly weaning him off. I don't think he actually realizes how paleo he usually eats when I cook. He takes care of himself for lunch and breakfast.

This time around I haven't been as tired the first couple of days. I do notice the fatigue a little, but not like the first couple of rounds. I think this is because in between challenges my eating has been much more paleo than not. 80/20 most of the time. I didn't even start drinking a lot of beer until the end of July, right after my birthday (the 16th). So I think my transition period won't be as bad. My workout last night was really good, too! I do crossfit and the workout last night was 100 squats, then 5 thrusters, 75 squats, 10 thrusters, 50 squats, 15 thrusters, 25 squats and 20 thrusters. A thruster is a barbell move. The barbell is resting on your shoulders in front of you while you squat, then when you stand up you "thrust" it over head. Hence, the name. It was a long workout, but I kept getting second and third winds. It felt pretty good. And I finished it in reasonable time.

Tomorrow is the weekend, that should be my first true challenge. Since I pack my lunch for the workday and only cook one meal at home over the workweek I don't have too much chance to think about other food. Sometimes on the weekends I start craving snack food like chips, pretzels or cookies. Mostly pretzels and chips. I like crunchy food. Paleo food is mostly not crunchy.

[maryalycepreston]

So the stressful work schedule ended up getting to me yesterday. I am starting my Whole30 again tomorrow. Basically, I need to plan better for my Mondays and Wednesdays otherwise when a bento is offered, as it was yesterday, I will eat it. So I had the bento and then ate some rice at dinner. But I'm not going to let this get me down. My eating is very paleo oriented most days of the week. In the spirit of a Whole30 I am starting over, but I don't actually feel guilty this time around. It's all practice and I will get better and better as the days, weeks and months pass. I've already come such a long way since January 2010. Someday I will be able to say, I've been eating paleo for 3 years now... I think that will be an awesome benchmark for me.

On another note, my husband is slowly starting to come around. He was so sweet when we were shopping the other day... he grabbed the spaghetti sauce with no added sugar and checked all the labels for me. Super cute. Of course, he still bought tons of crap food, but made sure there was plenty that I could eat in our cart. Yay!

[maryalycepreston]

I'm taking this challenge 4 days at a time, per the 4-day win, by Martha Beck. Every 4 days I'm going to evaluate my progress. I restarted my challenge on Friday and I'm going to check in again on Tuesday (or earlier). I will reevaluate my goals and see if I need to change anything I'm doing. So far so good though, with every whole30 I do, I always seem to eat too little in the beginning. Friday evening's workout was weak! I certainly hadn't eaten enough through the day. I probably need to make sure that I eat a good breakfast on the days I am going to workout. I tend to eat when I'm hungry, which means not until about 11:30am most days. It works for me most of the time, but I think on workout days I need to pack in the calories all day, so I have energy.

[maryalycepreston]

Alright, I feel so much better. I'm back on track. Like I said earlier, on full paleo I tend to not eat enough, especially on workout days. Friday I felt super weak. So yesterday, knowing I was going to do my Crossfit workout after work was done, I made myself eat breakfast, which was leftover sauteed kale, onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms from our Sunday grill scrambled with my eggs. So glad I did, because it ended up being a nutty day and I didn't get to my almonds and raisins snack until noon. Then I forced myself to eat my chicken and guacamole when I got home from work, yes, not until 5:30! But I was not hungry. So I shoveled it in, then had a strong workout at 6. The hard part didn't start until 6:30, so I had enough time to digest a bit. I was able to do three sets of 4 dead hang pullups, I was trying for three sets of 5, but I'm not quite there yet. Then we did a nutty workout. It was:

As many reps as possible of:

60 seconds: 3 front squats at 75 pounds, then pushups until the minute is up then

60 seconds: 3 front squats at 75 pounds, then knees to elbows until the minute is up

30 seconds: rest

5 rounds of the above.

I felt like I did pretty well, I started with regular pushups and had to go to pushups on my knees after about 25. That's what I love about Crossfit though, you modify and just keep going. My knees to elbows have also improved.