Already started......Jan 28th

[CookieP]

Hi everyone!  My name is Cat, I am 49 yrs going on 90 or so it feels some days!  I am over weight and have had horrendous eating habits most of my life(hence overweight).  I have always had difficulty losing weight and I mean discouraging difficulty.  LIke running 5 miles per day and eating veggies and meat only and still don't lose weight kind of stuborn body!  My doctor simply told me that I am at the weight my body has determined it needs to be.  And I believed her, was I sooooooo stupid!!!  Last summer, I started gaining weight.  I did not change my eating habits, I did not change my activity level. I do warehouse work for a living and walk a LOT, as in 10+ miles per day.  Within the last year, I started feeling like I was run over by a Mac truck on a daily basis and some days felt like I got ran over by the whole fleet.  My back hurt, my legs hurt, my everything hurt!  No matter what I did or what kind of orthotic insert I put in my shoes, no matter how many yoga pose,, nothing and I mean NOTHING helped. I felt like I could sleep for weeks!  I was ALWAYS tired, it did not matter how much I slept or rested.  Again, I was misinformed by my doctor.  She told me it was all part of menopause and the aging process.  I accepted that for a while, but something told me that if growing older sucked this badly, there would be no reason for social security or 401k's since no one would live long enough to utilize either!  I thought that there has got to be something that I can do or change, cuz if this is growing old, it sucks and can I pass?  Well, passing isn't exactly an option, so my search began.....

 

In the meantime, I stopped drinking soda and started drinking water and tea.  And for me that was HUGE!  I drank 3-6 full sugar sodas a day!  I didn't feel any better, except that I could brag that I didn't drink pop anymore.  I stopped buying chips, crackers and microwave popcorn and all the yummy reckless foods I've known for years I should not eat, but did despite my knowledge.  This did not fly well with others in my family, but they have recovered nicely.  And one would think the pounds would have just melted off, but they didn't.  (which really pissed me off!)  My search was raised to the level of feverish now!  Cruising the net one day, I stumbled onto Paleo eating, which lead me to Whole30.  

 

I read all I could on the internet and then bought the book "It Starts With Food".  The more descriptions of what unhealthier eating can do to your body and more importantly for me personally....how it made people feel, the more I got paranoid.  Were these authors stalking me?  How did they know that's how I felt? They are good!!!!!  In all seriousness, I felt like they wrote the book about me and for me.

 

Things have been going quite well in my new relationship with food.  I am almost to the end of my first week.  I am finding that I have minimal cravings which are pretty manageable by simply ignoring them until they go away or eating a few nuts and a piece of fruit.  BUT I am holding my breath waiting for a HUGE craving bomb to drop in the middle of my kitchen!  I know this is probably a silly question, but does it seem plausible that since I removed some of the naughty and probably the worst foods from my life weeks prior to engaging in a Whole30 lifestyle that it helped cut down on the cravings and their intensity?  I am almost afraid to tame any cravings by eating food period, healthy or not, for fear of returning to my old habits!

 

At any rate, I am glad to have found this program.  I don't even care if weight loss is a side effect or not.  As long as the Mack truck gets parked somewhere else besides on top of me, I will be glad for the change!!!  I just want to feel better!!!

[Physibeth]

Welcome to the program! I hope you find some relief from your Mack truck fleet!

 

The best way to deal with cravings is to do something non-food related. Try not to satisfy a craving with a compliant food. Grabbing fruit when you are craving sugar for example just feeds the dragon. Not to say you can't have fruit, just try to eat it for what it is not to satisfy a craving. That said having made a lot of the changes prior to your Whole30 does help. I had been mostly paleo for a few months before I did mine and I don't recall having any super strong cravings which as a former binge eater is pretty amazing.

 

A question about your activity level. Are you still working that high activity job? Are you still running 5 miles a day? That much cardio does put a lot of stress on your body and could be contributing to some of what you are feeling. Make sure you are getting at least one rest day a week and maybe put more focus on strength training than cardio outside of your job especially work that strengthens your core as you are on your feet all day.

[nikki5577]

Day 18 here and my cravings were minimal to non-existent like yours and have not returned. And as long as I follow the meal template I am not hungry. So far, no cravings bomb   I love this part of my Whole 30. I used to have to eat every 3 hours or I would kill someone.

[CookieP]

I no longer run 5 miles a day as it did me no good!    I have been laid off for about 3 weeks now.  I keep busy working around my house doing all the stuff I can never get to when working, like cleaning closets, painting.  Good timing to change my eating habits, don't you think?  

 

I hardly ever get cravings anymore and when I do, they are pretty easily managed.  That's why I am  waiting for the bomb to drop, cuz I keep reading how I am going to suffer bad cravings.  Come to think of it, when I was trying to kick the pepsi habit, I had extreme cravings!  And they continued when I was eliminating the nasty snack foods too.  Hummpf, just answered my own question.  LOL!

[Physibeth]

Sorry to hear about your job but yes a perfect time to focus on eating habits and getting stuff done at home. I'm sure that is all playing a part in your feeling better as well.