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Ann's Whole 30 Maiden Voyage


**Ann**

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About Me:  I'm 38 years old, have 3 small children and have lots of weight to lose.  I'm a former very novice crossfitter, but going to a box was no longer in my monthly budget, so I'm going to try at-home fitness challenges before I work up to at-home crossfit style workouts.

 

Day 0: Got my newsletter, food shopped yesterday, and decided which 30 day fitness challenge I will take during Whole 30.  i already do weekly meal plans for primal/paleo.  The challenge for Whole 30 will be to always have Whole 30 recipes (some of my staples use honey) and to make sure I'm never unprepared for work lunches. ETA: I almost forgot, no wine will be a BIG challenge. haha

 

As future incentive, I also scheduled a hair appt for a new cut and color for Day 31 as a reward to making it without starting over.  If I start over, that appt gets cancelled and rescheduled. I haven't cut or colored my hair in over a year, so its a good little reward to look forward to since it isn't something I do routinely.

 

I've been paleo off and on since March 2013, so my house and pantry did not need too much of an overhaul.  My biggest weakness is dairy and cheese, so that will be the biggest temptation challenge I will face in this 30 days.

 

I'm excited, scared, and READY to start my Whole 30!  WooHoo

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, I'm not good at the logging thing, lol.  If I was, I would have been able to keep a food diary in  years past.  Anyway, today is my Day 9, and its going pretty well.  I was Paleo before I started, but would go off track, so the stricter version wasn't too hard of an adjustment.  I Whole9'd some of my favorite Paleo meals to keep me through.

 

I fell on the ice in Day 3 of my challenge and really cranked my knee.  So I wasn't able to keep moving with my 30 day fitness challenge for a few days. I'm restarting my 30 day fitness challenge tomorrow.  So, it will be off a few days.. No biggie.

 

I feel good, not magical, but good. I have only been getting 5 hours of sleep (and I cut coffee cold turkey with this Whole 30 too) so I've been tired the past few days, but nothing like I would have been if I wasn't whole30.  Hoping my work and kid schedule get back to normal so I can get in 7-8 hours.

 

I do have to say, I'm super proud of myself.  I've been able to successfully not fall to temptation with my kids' snack foods in the house (they only eat semi-paleo, they still have SAD parts of the diet).  I'm so proud of myself.  Tonight will be a big test, it will be pizza night at the house for the kiddos.  I'm planning on one of my favorite dishes to make b/c I don't know if there is a such thing as a whole 30 pizza.  :)

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On Day 13.  Still going pretty strong.  I have definitely lost cravings.  I'm still a little on the tired side, but I don't think 7 hours of sleep per night is cutting it.  I probably also need my thyroid retested.  I did, however, experience KILL ALL THE THINGS this morning.  It was so...unexpected.  But, it has passed :)

 

I am going to try Well Fed's Shepard Pie this week, and I made a delicious orange and balsamic viniagrette that I put on a spinach salad for lunch.  

 

I toyed with the idea of cooking up shredded chicken earlier in the week, to just mix with some of my favorite sauces later.  But nixed that idea.  I kinda hate pre-cooked shredded chicken.  I'm thinking of either cutting up and cooking bite size pieces of chicken in the beginning of the week to keep on hand, or maybe busting out my deep fryer with some palm oil shortening.  I need to investigate if tht is compliant.

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Day 15, the half way point.  I feel good, but have not experienced "tiger blood" yet.  I don't know if I ever will, I'm a little skeptical of this "tiger blood" phenomenon. I'm still tired, but I know its due to not enough sleep.  I need to get another hour. But with my job (I work very long hours) and fitting kids, cooking, at-home workout routine, I don't know where I can shave off another hour to add to sleep.  I'm getting 7, but I think I need at least 8, maybe 9.

 

I'm sticking with my fitness routine and have rowed 2000m every day along with the little 30 day fitness challenges I'm doing.  I'm thinking next month I may start one of those kettlebell workouts I saw in the Whole 30 newsletter. Combining that with my rowing machine should be pretty awesome.  By the way, if you are considering an at-home piece of workout equipment, I highly highly recommend a rower (and spring for the Concept 2).  Its low impact, but its a tough cardio workout.  I love it.

 

I think my biggest struggle is the "no scale". I messed up and stepped on the scale, but it was a good surprise.  I went down 11lbs. So, I'm hoping this good discovery will squash my scale temptations in the future because it was a positive result.  However, I can see how devastating it would have been to me if I would have stepped on it and it didn't really budge with all this work I'm putting in.  I think I can wait until Day 31 to see the end result. I never took a before pic, but I did take body measurements.  I haven't been tempted to take those yet, so at least that will be a nice big surprise at the end of my journey.

 

I've peaked at others' blogs and see them after their Whole 30 and talking about going off the rails in reintro.  I might spend more time reading there to keep me from getting crazed. lol  For me, I have found I no longer have physical cravings, alone, for "bad" foods. But, at certain sights and smells, my brain does perk up.  However, I've been amazed at how well I've resisted the urge. I've literally been able to cut up my kids' pizza (one of my favorites) and not take a bite, lick my finger...nothing! I am so very very proud of myself for being that strong...but it has me wondering if its only b/c in my brain I know its only 30 days its off limits.  I'm afraid my brain is going to rebel on me day 31.

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Its Day 21, and after reading today's daily Whole 30 email, it seems my burst craving dragon appeared on Day 19. That was the only time I suffered such a ridiculously strong craving to date.

 

But, this email got me thinking.  I've done this for 21 days, and in this moment, I feel like nothing can stop me now.  I looked at the bottom of the email where you click whether your ate clean or need to start over.  I cannot imagine making it this far, with all this sacrifice, to blow it one day and have to start his all over!!  Holy crap, what a scary thought.  haha.

 

I have yet to experience this "tiger blood", but I do feel generally good.  its a subtle feeling that I think I would miss if I went off track, but I can't say I want to shout from the rooftops how amazing I feel.  I don't know if I would ever do another Whole 30 because I kind of feel like I'm at the stage of "why am I doing this again?".  I think I feel that way b/c i was Paleo before, and I never really engaged in paleofying foods (no paleo baked goods, candies, etc)  I'm glad I'm doing it, not sure how I really feel about it, but certainly cannot wait for it to be over. LOL

 

ETA:  Let me change this.  I think the biggest thing i got out of this is I learned that I have pretty strong will power, and that means I can make good food choices all the time, even in the toughest of situations.  For me to be able to give my kids a donut, smell their pizza, cut it up, to be amongst friends and co-workers who are eating delectable desserts, heavy cheesy, bread laden meals and NOT succumb, I'm pretty kick-ass. haha  I think that will be my biggest takeaway, my mind and willpower is strong if I'm willing to let it be.

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Day 22, home stretch. Yeah baby!

 

Day 2 of my kettle bell workout and I'm certainly feeling.  I can't wait for the end of this whole 30, not because of the food, but I'm excited to see the changes in my measurements.  I think things are feeling looser, but I want to see if that is the case.

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Day 26, and I cannot wait for day 31.  But, I'm not sure why that is.  Its not like I plan to go off the rails, but there is something about not being permitted to have a food that makes it seem, i don't know, tougher.  I don't know what I'm going to do Day 31.  i really don't, but there's something in my brain that is telling me "Day 31 is almost here!!!"

 

I have no idea what re-intro is going to look like or what I'm supposed to do.  But I'm still not sure how I feel about the W30.  Its been a good experience, but I don't know that I would feel compelled to do this again.  I think W30 is a good experience, but I'm not sure I'm willing to live this strict all the time. I think the big struggle will be learning where I can loosen the reigns and having the mental strength to stop eating something or controlling portions.  I've proved I can be strong enough not to be tempted, but the bigger test will be, can I control it when I indulge??  That remains to be seen.

 

Oh, and I think I can't wait to have my sriracha after this W30.  Red curry paste just doesn't measure up as a substitute. :)

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I have no idea what re-intro is going to look like or what I'm supposed to do.  

 

For some guidance, check out the Whole30 sample reintroduction schedule. You only need to reintroduce the foods you're curious about, in terms of your physical/psychological reaction, or that you want to eat again.  The results from a controlled reintroduction can help you decide what, if any, guidelines to put in place as you "ride your own bike" going forward.

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Day 28!!! Woo Hoo!!!!  GFChris, thanks for the reintro guide. I found that after I posted my journal. :)

 

I've made some scheduled things for April that I think will lead me to do Whole 30 during the week, and do regular paleo on the weekends.  Just a mini goal. I don't think I want to cycle another whole30 as I'm really interested in reintroducing dairy. I can live without legumes, so if I experiment, it would solely be for peanutbutter when I don't have any other nut butter on hand.  I think I will reintro grains, only to test if I'm sensistive, not to make them part of my diet.  But it will be nice to know that I can tolerate it if I happen to be out and its on the menu, etc.

 

I know for sure, I'm going to be pretty diligent about watching added sugars (except with my sriracha, lol).  I'm definitely going to go back to dijon mustard with the white wine in it.  for sure.  I'm on the fence about coffee.  I certainly don't miss the caffiene, but i do love the smell and if I can make a compliant cup of decaf for sunday mornings, great.  I just don't want to get caffiene hooked again. I've drank nothing but plain water or seltzer water this entire time.  Oh, and I think as a wine replacement, I may do a glass of fruit juice spritzer.  We will see.  i'm almost a little scared as to how having a glass of wine might make me feel now, but I enjoy the act of sipping on something crisp, like wine, and socializing.  So I think a fruit juice spritzer with seltzer could be a happy compromise.

 

I'm so excited that I'm almost to the end of my journey!!!

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Day 30 has arrived!!! Yahoo! I plan on logging my final thoughts tomorrow after the W30 is truly over.  Unless something goes colossally wrong today, I'll be back tomorrow with my comments and thoughts,

 

But, hell yeah, its day 30!!! woot woot.

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Welp, its over!! haha I did it!!!!

 

I ended up losing 14lbs, 2" around my waist and hips, an inch on my legs, and .5" on my arms.  I'm very happy with that!

 

Overall, my experience was a good one on the W30, even if I had a long stretch where I was questioning why the hell I was doing it.  haha  I think the most important lesson I learned is that I can eat paleo in the face of temptation.  And that was a very important lesson I needed to learn. I don't plan on being W30 strict all the time, and we will see what reintro shows.  I honestly can't wait to add Dijon mustard and sriracha back into my diet (Dijon has white wine in it, and sriracha has sugar as the 5th ingredient on the label).

 

I am happy I did this, and I would do this again if I felt I was losing control or just needed a mental food cleanse, so to speak.  My reintro is going to be a little different.  I'm actually going to be W30 compliant today, rather than reintro. I have a christening tomorrow and I'm not sure what will be on the menu.  So, tomorrow's food choices will influence my reintro order.  I would have preferred dairy first, but I don't know what will be among my choices tomorrow AND the family has a sinus infection going and I don't want that to skew or mask, or appear to create, a dairy reaction.  So I think gluten will be my first intro given the place we are going tomorrow is Italian.

 

Here's a few things I know for sure...I'm certainly going to have the occasional gourmet baked good. While I know how some foods are bad for you, I can also appreciate the culinary mastery that comes into preparing certain foods, and while they may contain ingredients a paleo person would avoid,...I'm not going to deny delicious baked desserts or artisan breads don't taste delicious and can be appreciated for their culinary art without becoming a complete disruption of following a paleo way of eating overall.

 

I do have hashimoto's and considered doing an AIP on Monday, but I've decided against it. I feel really good now (although never got tiger blood so to speak) and I dn't want to bother with the restrictions of AIP if my bloodwork with my endo show everything is back to normal range.  I was not symptomatic and continue as such.  My feelings would be different if I was suffering from affects of my Hashi's.

 

Other than a necessary AIP, I don't have any plans to do another W30, unless I feel an actual physical or need to so.  I think my plan will be W30 during the week, and on the weekends be primal/paleo.

 

I probably won't reintro coffee, unless its decaf. I don't miss it as craving at all, but I do love its smell and the ritual of drinking it on an early sat or sun morning.  Sorry, just can't get behind bone broth as a coffee replacement :)

 

I have decided I will reintro legumes, strictly for peas and peanuts.  I don't miss beans at all, but I am not sold on the avoidance of green peas.  I'm actually not sold on excluding white potatoes either, but I don't think neither should be a core staple to a diet.  Peanut reintro just make it easy to know if I can have them if stuck in a situation, but not that I would want to replace nuts in my diet with it.

 

As I mentioned earlier, dairy is absolutely on my list and my most desired.  Again, eating primal, its use would be occasional normally, so I'm hoping it works out.

 

Anyway, that's my thoughts.  At times, it sucked, at times it wasn't so bad, but overall glad I did it.

 

Thanks for listening and best of luck on your journey!!

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