Scott's Whole30

[neisonsd]

I read the book in one day. It immediately grabbed my attention; I knew it was something I had to do. I'm on Day 10.

 

Just a little background. I live in Cincinnati, but I fly to Omaha on Mondays for work and fly home to Cincinnati on Fridays. I have an apartment in Omaha so it's easy to cook. I was worried about traveling, but I have Meal 1 before I head for the airport and I am not hungry while traveling so it works out perfect! 

 

The first week I jumped in with both feet without a lot of time for planning. My meals often consisted of peppers, eggs, lots of sardines and I used butter to cook because I didn't have time to get to the store to buy some ghee. I didn't use a lot of butter. 

 

Day 4 was the worst. I had aches and pains for which I could not identify the source; they came from out of nowhere. I also ended up with a headache that day. All those ailments were gone by the next day.

 

I have never had an urge to snack, but I'm hungry when it is time to eat. Awesome!

 

As I type this it sounds like I must not have been too off track to begin with, but I assure you I was. I've struggled with my weight all my life. I am on medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I'm a massive snacker. I consider a medium pizza and a pint of ice cream a single serving. I can down a bag of potato chips with dip in nothing flat. So yes, when I say I have not had an urge to snack since I started the Whole30, it is truly awesome.

 

I've expanded my food palette to include cooking with ghee (an amazing thing!), using the recipes in the book to create a protien, veggie, fat base using grass-fed ground beef, I love the roasted veggie recipe in the book, I'm including sauerkraut and kimchi in my diet. I also purchased some coconut water. I don't recall from the book the benefits of coconut water, if there are any, so if someone could set me straight there, that would be great.

 

My biggest challenges - I have two. 

 

1. Not weighing myself. My last attempt to get healthy was an attempt at weight loss. Don't get me wrong, I lost 40 pounds. While I was eating better, I was not truly eating for my health (I know that now). Anyway, there is a scale at work and I plopped myself on it regularly. It was a huge boost to see the numbers on the scale as they dropped from 307 to 266. Seriously, I am addicted to weighing myself. If I had food cravings that were as strong as the craving to weigh myself, I would be in big trouble. I suppose it's a bit different. Weighing myself won't hurt the health I'm creating inside my body, but it could definitely hurt the health I'm creating in my mind. So while I'm continually tempted and pretty good at rationalizing that it wouldn't be so bad to weigh myself, I have stayed away from the scale for a full nine days.

 

2. Chewing. The book says to set aside time to relax and eat. I totally get it. It's hard, but I am really making an effort to make it so. What I've found is that I generally don't fully chew my food. It requires real concentration on my part, hence why setting time aside to eat is so important. If I am not focusing on eating, but rather on other things, I catch myself shoveling the food in. I'm putting another bite in my mouth before I'm done with the first bite. 

 

Benefits - I have been taking Prevacid daily for years. I've had heart burn for as long as I can remember. If I missed a day, I knew it. Yesterday was my first Prevacid-free day and it went great! In the past the food I'm eating this week, which is the ground beef with veggies (onion, squash and zucchini with sauerkraut - veggies sauteed in ghee), would have set off my heart burn in nothing flat.

 

I had not symptoms yesterday!

 

I purchased the Practical Paleo cookbook. I expected recipes, which of course it does have, but the first half of the book explains how food affects the body, just like ISWF. I read in the book that heartburn is actually caused by a lack of acid in the stomach, not an over abundance. It all made sense. And since I was squelching the acid in my stomach with the Prevacid, it made sense to me that I was actually exacerbating the heart burn. So I'm off the Prevacid! Blood pressure medicine next followed by cholesterol medicine. That's the plan!

[Tom Denham]

You're doing great!

 

I'm glad you've got ghee and have moved on from cooking with butter. The milk proteins in butter are a problem for the Whole30. Even a little bit can be a problem for someone who is sensitive. And the only way you can figure if you are sensitive is to eliminate all milk proteins for a month. 

 

Coconut water is okay during a Whole30, but not encouraged. Coconut water is sweet, which can be a problem for people with a sweet tooth. And it adds calories when plain water does not. Adding calories can be important in some situations, but I like to save my calories for foods that deliver important nutrition too like pork shoulder roast.

[Derek`]

Welcome, Scott.  Thanks for sharing your story.  I always enjoy reading them.    Best wishes on your new life journey. 

[neisonsd]

No... I really, really, really, really want to weigh myself! 

[Physibeth]

Some reading to help you with your scale resistance:

 

http://everydaypaleo.com/attention-scale-addicts/

http://everydaypaleo.com/attention-scale-addicts-part-2/

 

I was a scale addict too. I actually put off my Whole30 for a full 4 months after I started eating Paleo (via Practical Paleo meal plan) because I didn't want to give up my scale. 

 

After my Whole30 I weighed myself once a month on the 1st for a few months. Then one month I forgot.

 

If you can't rid the scale from your life completely (sounds like this is at work) then every time you walk past it say out loud "that isn't for me" and walk away.

 

And as Tom said...whatever day you last used the butter tack that many more days onto the end of your Whole30 before trying a dairy reintroduction.

[Derek`]

I used to be a scale addict too.  It really got me in trouble and could often sabotage my progress.

 

If I had a good weigh in, it would sabtoge me, as I'd say, "Yay! I'm doing so well.  I can splurge a little and have that pizza."  (obviously not during W30)

 

If I had a bad weigh in, it would sabotage me, as I'd say, "This isn't working.  I may as well have that pizza." 

 

I don't worry about the scale much anymore.  I can't help but notice clothes getting looser and buying smaller sizes, but my real focus is how I feel, energy-wise and how my workouts go.

[1Maryann]

I used to be a scale addict too.  It really got me in trouble and could often sabotage my progress.

 

If I had a good weigh in, it would sabtoge me, as I'd say, "Yay! I'm doing so well.  I can splurge a little and have that pizza."  (obviously not during W30)

 

If I had a bad weigh in, it would sabotage me, as I'd say, "This isn't working.  I may as well have that pizza." 

Oh, Derek!  This used to be me!

 

I was a scale addict.  I couldn't use the bathroom without hopping on the scale every time.  It was like, if I saw it, I had to use it.  I have done several W#0s over the last 2 years.  Last time, I forgot to weigh before I started.  I take that to mean I finally broke the habit.

[neisonsd]

Thank you everyone for the commisseration and advice with the scale. It's weird, isn't it? And Derek, you are right on. Whether good or bad, the scale has done to me exactly as you describe. Physibeth, the scale is definitely not for me!

 

Day 14 and still going strong. 

 

Oh… I do plan to weigh myself on day 30 (or 31).

[Physibeth]

It's perfectly fine to weigh yourself on Day 31. This is what I encourage you to do before you do though. I want you to write your success story before you step on the scale. Write down all the benefits you gained that have nothing to do with your bodies relationship with gravity. 

[jlb111]

what great stuff about the scale.

I too fought that in my first whole 30 and the blessing for me is tha although my wife is still convinced after 8 months that the scale is still of benefit to me, I am more than ever convinced that it keeps me trapped in a mode of self judgement.

If the numbers good, great I 'm such a happy camper if not into the pooper I go.

its seems to make sense to be a happy camper without the need of things outside of me .

That codependency that manifests its self with deciding something or someones opinion of me is more important than how I decide to feel about my self simply takes me back to eating or behaving in ways that are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle

Thanks for sharing yourself to help me and I'll bet others to get a better look at ourselves

[neisonsd]

This is Scott reporting on the completion of my first Whole30.

 

First off... I weighed myself!   I lost 21 pounds. Amazing. Also, in the process, my love affair with the scale has diminished a bit - not entirely, but a bit.

 

I stopped taking Prevacid around day 11 and never looked back. Again, an amazing thing. I have had heartburn for as long as i can remember. Before Prevacid it was Tums. I always needed something for my heartburn. Not any more!

 

At work I am noticeably sharper and more relaxed. I'm better able to recall details and remember to remind people for task updates (I'm a project manager), so I am more productive and more effective. Situations that previously would make me want to walk out the door because I felt I had been pushed to my limit now roll off my back.I'm able to focus on the important things, get more work accomplished and better ignore the negativity.Others have noticed and commented... so of all the amazing things, perhaps that is the most amazing. I mean, it's one thing for me to sense that things are better, but for people to notice and comment... seems there's no doubt things have changed. Yay!

 

So what happens now? First I'm going to read the 'Reintroduction' chapter of the book. That was the only chapter I skipped because it didn't pertain at the time. I'm certain it will make much more sense now that I've followed the prescribed Whole30 way of eating for 30 days. I'll make time to do this tonight because I have to say... I'm a little afraid of carbohydrates and sweets. I have this weird feeling that with one bite and I'll lose control. 

 

For now, I have no plans to chang my diet. The Whole30 way of eating is something I can easily continue. Just know that for me the Whole30 was more or less a piece of cake. It's what comes next that has me nervous. Any help and direction you can provide is greatly appreciated!!!!

[GFChris]

Congratulations!

 

Regarding reintroduction, you test only those foods you're curious about (in terms of your physical or psychological reaction), or foods you want to eat again.  Then, depending on your results, you use that information to decide how you want to eat going forward.