Take Two: Lady M's second Whole 30

[LadyM]

I have changed a lot since I attempted this the first time in April 2013. When I finished my first Whole 30, which was actually a Whole 47, I was so incredibly dissatisfied with my results, I didn't do a final write up in the Success Stories tab. Now, with the distance of time and the wisdom that comes with experience, I can see how my first Whole 30 did indeed change my body and my life, even if the results didn't look the way I wanted them to by any external measure.

 

In short, I didn't lose weight or inches, but I did slay the sugar dragon and completely change my relationship with food which has continued to evolve in the best of ways over the past year. Therefore, I am back, with renewed perspective, and a greater spirit of calm benign self acceptance as well as an openness and curiosity to this process.

 

Here are my goals:

 

Exercise:

* to follow the Higdon Novice 2 Half Marathon training that I began this past week, with my half marathon scheduled for May 5.

* to continue my daily meditation practice and 2-3 times a week yoga practice.

* to add strength training three times a week.

 

Nutrition:

* to stick to the elegant and simple template, avoiding snacking and unnecessary nuts and fruits.

* to focus on eating an appropriate amount of food for my body, understanding that this will require being attuned to my body and will change from meal to meal and day to day.

* to enjoy food in a calm and quiet manner. Meal time is for meals.

 

Stress management:

* to make sleep a priority. Put up black out curtains in bedroom. Aim to get a minimum of 7-8 hours per night.

* make the hours between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. screen/technology free.

* TCB. Deliberately attend to tasks and responsibilities in a timely manner. Eschew procrastination and make time for fun!

 

I will also take measurements and pictures, but I intentionally aim for this Whole 30 to be focused on longer term health goals instead of weight loss and changing the shape of my body. I trust the program and my body to give me what I need, which isn't always what I think I want.

 

I am excited to discover new things about myself over the next 30 days. I am also looking forward to relaxing into the process and enjoying it, rather than gripping and gritting my teeth and efforting my way through, like I did last time. Perhaps that's a lofty goal, but I think it's possible. This is where I will document it. Thanks for joining me!

 

[LadyM]

Day 1

 

M1: hot water with lemon and ginger. three eggs scrambled in ghee. 8 a.m.

M2: evoo sardines, roasted brussels sprouts and cauli with sauerkraut. 1:30 p.m.

M3: zucchini soup and curried chicken thighs. TBD.

 

My body is sore from increased mileage this week. I haven't decided yet if I will do my long run today or rest today and do the run tomorrow. Every part of me is tired today, so I may just give myself the day off to read and relax. I did attend the first session of an 8-week fat loss camp at a local gym this morning, and the trainer who's running it is on board with my doing the W30 and half marathon training in conjunction with her program. Her nutrition advice is basically paleo. I'm looking forward to having a face-to-face support group as well as this forum.

[LadyM]

Day 2

 

M1: sage mustard roast pork, pureed veg soup. 8 a.m.

M2: more roast pork, braised cabbage, carrot parsnip soup. 12:30 p.m.

M3: roast chicken with fennel and lemon, green salad. 6 p.m.

 

Today is a big cooking day, and after a winter of pretty much only eating things with a spoon, all this food is really scrumptious. I had forgotten how the parameters of the W30, especially during week 1, energize my creative juices in the kitchen.

 

Here's what I've prepared for the week:

 

meat:

mustard sage roast pork, from Bon Appetit magazine

roast chicken

curried chicken thighs

 

veg:

roasted carrot parsnip soup

pureed green veg soup

ginger zucchini soup

braised cabbage

mustard brussels sprouts

roasted cauli

 

Still mad for soup, I guess. We still have plenty of snow and single-digit (sometimes negative) temps, so it makes sense. It's a wonderfully filling, comforting go-to, so I'm happy with it.

 

Had a luxurious, long sleep last night. A friend asked me to go to breakfast after I'd already eaten, and I joined him anyway but just drank black coffee. I almost said no because of W30, but thought better of it and decided I do not need to sequester myself! That was a mistake I made first time around. Learning is so good.

 

I plan to run 4 miles this afternoon and maybe do a yoga class at 5:15. It really feels good to be back in the saddle and taking care of myself.

[LadyM]

Day 3

 

M1: curried chicken thighs, pureed green veg soup. 7 a.m.

M2: roast pork, braised cabbage, carrot parsnip soup. 1 p.m.

M3: roast chicken, green salad. 6 p.m.

 

Gave myself a bit of a lie-in this morning. One of the things I hope this W30 helps me do is appease my adrenals. Sleep is priority. But I start rehearsals tonight for a new play, and that on top of my regular work, power dating, and half-marathon training could easily cut into sleep time. I did procure new black out curtains last night, though, and all the running certainly helps me drift off to sleep quickly.

 

Speaking of which, I did get in my 4-mile run last evening but didn't get to yoga. That's OK. I might shift my T/W/Th runs to M/T/W to better coincide with strength training I plan to do M/W/F. But I skipped today for the aforementioned sleep.

 

Today I have a massage on tap. Yippee.

 

So far so good.

[LadyM]

Day 4

 

Yoga this morning and a 3-mile run on tap this afternoon after work. Food is ready to go.

 

M1: scrambled eggs, ginger zucchini soup. 8 a.m.

M2: roast pork, braised cabbage, carrot parsnip soup. noon.

M3: roast chicken, green salad. 6 p.m.

 

My intentions so far are coming to fruition. I could have slept longer this morning, but opted for yoga anyway. I never regret getting out of bed for that class. Rehearsal last night was tons of fun. Winding down after 10 will take some adjusting, but thankfully I have a spring break coming up to catch up on zzzzzs. I know there's no real such thing as catching up, but still. I look forward to the space and time to luxuriate in sleep. At a certain age it's the most luscious thing there is I've discovered. And healthy to boot!

[LadyM]

Day 5

 

M1 poached eggs, kale, beets. 8 a.m.

M2 gingery chicken stew. noon.

M3 roast chicken, braised cabbage, carrot parsnip soup. 6 p.m.

 

Just realized I am behind two weeks in my training. Math never was my strong suit, dammit. Oh well, I don't think it will be too big a deal to increase my mileage by two weeks. All my runs have been super easy. I do not look forward to 7 miles on the treadmill Saturday, but maybe I'll brave the snowy, icy roads. We'll see.

 

Let myself sleep again this morning and I do not regret it. Got a solid 8 hours, maybe a few more. Running out of leftovers from the weekend's cookup, so cooking today and scrounging a bit. But this is where it actually gets kind of fun for me. I just remembered I have a couple of soups that I can take out of the freezer for just this occasion. Maybe pick up more salad fixin's. A dollop of homemade mayo with a chopped anchovy and lemon makes for a divine quick dressing that makes me long for salad even on the coldest days.

 

OK. Four mile run today after work and before rehearsal. Nothing wild to report. No cravings or bad moods or other weirdness. Starting to wonder if I've been in better shape than I thought--which also means I really shouldn't expect dramatic changes in this W30. Whatevs. I'll ride it out.

 

Happy hump day!

[LadyM]

Day 6

 

M1: poached eggs, kale and red cabbage sauteed in bacon fat (US Wellness, of course). 5:45 a.m.

M2: roast chicken and cauliflower with mustard sauce. noon.

M3: gingery chicken stew. 6 p.m.

 

I spoke too soon yesterday. Turns out I'm exhausted. Seriously hit that "All I want is a nap" phase. Had a rough time with my run and ended up with 3.5 instead of 4 miles, more of which was walked than I'd like to admit. So it goes. Today I'll aim for another 3.5 instead of 3 to make up for the lost .5 yesterday. But I have no expectations in terms of strength and power. Just getting in the miles, and feeling good about that.

 

Running low on food, but still have enough until my next shopping trip, either tomorrow or Saturday. Went through my Well Fed 2 cookbook and chose a bunch of veggie dishes to prepare. Probably something meatballish, too. More eggs and maybe another pork roast and chicken this week. Enjoying the food--both preparing and eating--very much!

 

Noticing how incredibly sweet things taste now that I've removed hyper sweet foods, including fruit and nuts. I had noticed myself reaching for the almond butter and spoon at the end of meals shortly before I started this W30, and that was a clear sign my blood sugar was a runaway train. The quick turnaround with my taste buds is encouraging and promising.

[Physibeth]

Welcome back! Looking forward to watching your journey. I noticed you are not logging your workouts, are you doing pre/post workout food? I don't recall from last year, but are you newer to running? What are you using to gage your runs? Are you just paying attention to mileage or are you watching pace/HR? I've found training in HR zones to be very helpful to me in the past year after always training to paces in the past. 

[LadyM]

Look at you, a moderator and everything now! You go, gurl!!

I am returning to racing (ran the Chicago marathon in 2005 and have done shorter races here and there since), so not new but taking it easy and following Higdon's novice 2 12-week training. I use both HR and pace to gauge my workouts and I'm not doing pre and post meals because I don't feel like I need them. My interest is in healing my relationship with food more than anything, so I'm only going to eat when I'm hungry. I will certainly troubleshoot if and when I encounter trouble, but so far so good. I mean, tiredness on Day 5 seems like par for the course, and I had a much better run today. Also, usually I run at about 4 p.m. and eat dinner almost immediately afterward.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Physibeth!

[LadyM]

Day 7

 

M1: gingery chicken stew. 8 a.m.

M2: beef pumpkin stew, sweet potato with coleslaw. noon.

M3: WF2 cauli soup, salmon salad. 5:30 p.m.

 

Nice long sleep but a slow start this morning. I'm usually a bounding out of bed in the morning kind of gal, but I guess the W30 and running right now are doing their magic.

 

Having lots of wildly vivid dreams, but they're about Putin, ex-boyfriends, and jeans that are too big. Much preferable to guilt-ridden banished food dreams!

 

Did a mini cooking frenzy this morning before I needed to head into work and glad now to have more go-to food on hand. The thought of sauerkraut and canned fish for the next few meals didn't make me very happy. So, this is a good thing.

 

Happy also for a proper rest day before my long run tomorrow. If the weather's nice, I'm taking it outside. WOOT!

[pjena]

Welcome back.  I hope you have a fabulous W30!

[LadyM]

Thanks, Jen! Good to see you again!

[LadyM]

Day 8

 

One week down. WOOT!

 

M1: gingery chicken stew. 8 a.m.

M2: pumpkin beef stew, sweet potato and coleslaw. noon.

M3: crispy chicken thighs, sardines with kimchi, broccoli salad. 5 p.m.

WO: six mile run. OUTSIDE is the plan!

 

I had my first food dream last night but it wasn't pleasurable or guilt ridden or anything. The scene: I went to lunch at a fast food place with my cousin and ate a crappy bagel sandwich with terrible fries. I didn't enjoy any of it. This is actually what generally happens when I visit my extended family. I eat crap that I don't enjoy because it's what's available and what they're eating and I don't want to come off as an uppity snob. The takeaway lesson here is the same one I've been working with for years: take care of yourself. Period.

 

Kind of having another slow morning, but choosing to luxuriate in it. Heading to the farmers market to load up on meat and eggs. Looking forward to planning and preparing meals for the week ahead. I don't love having to wash all the pots and pans that come with the mad cook ups, but I do love the fruits of my labor.

 

Here's to a happy weekend of R and R!

 

Edit: Just hopping on to say that I'm craving something sweet after dinner. I don't know if this is genuine sugar dragon, perhaps awakened by the three raisins and half a pecan in the broccoli salad I just ate, or boredom, or otherwise emotionally fueled. But now that I've written it down, I'm proclaiming the kitchen closed. No spoonful of almond butter or applesauce will make the craving go away or make me feel better.

 

Now I think I'll go sip tea until my pedicure appointment.

[LadyM]

Day 9

 

M1: last of the gingery chicken stew. 8 a.m.

M2: roast pork, cauli soup, coleslaw. noon.

M3: Roast chicken, roast veg, green salad with WF2 beet salad. 5:30 p.m.

 

Slept a dreamy luscious sleep last night. Still dreaming of men from my past, but the dreams are good, healing even. Was surprised at how quickly I fell asleep last night, on the chaise watching Miss Fletcher, my guilty pleasure. I think the mani-pedi and massage chair helped lull me into dreamland. Glad I skipped a date after a bad afternoon date and just gave myself the night to relax.

 

More cooking today. Another roast pork, this time in the oven, not the crotchpot; roast chicken; broccoli and beet salads and coleslaw and cauli soup from WF2 made and ready to go. That lady is on fire. Not a bad recipe in the book so far.

 

Skipped my run yesterday so making it up today. It's beautiful and sunny out as opposed to grey and funky like yesterday, so I'm calling it a good choice.

[LadyM]

Day 10

PWO: hb egg. 5:45 am.

M1: 2 poached eggs over kale. 7:30 am

M2: roast pork, coleslaw, beets. Noon.

M3: roast chicken over zoodles with pesto. 5:30 pm.

Another good long sleep last night with vivid dreams. No more waking up in the night. Awesome.

Good 6-miler yesterday, and feeling it in my legs today, but not bad. Felt good enough to try out the Bootcamp class this morning. Glad I went. Now that it's week two and I'm starting to feel stronger and less fatigued, my aim is to hit the Bootcamp class mwf, yoga t and th, run t, w, th with long run on Saturday. Sunday will be a complete rest day. Excited about this plan, especially the addition of strength training. I've really been missing it, not to mention its rewards! But just the act of lifting I enjoy. My life feels incomplete without it. Note to self: remember this, and get back to it in a sustainable way. No injuries, please and thank you, because you're in it for the long haul!

[Physibeth]

Good plan LadyM! What I'm finding is I need to listen to my body regardless of what I have on my schedule. Like today I'm feeling on the cusp of overdoing it so I'm not going to run this morning like I had planned so I have enough energy for my chores and teaching my class tonight. 

[LadyM]

You're so right, Physibeth. Thank you for the reminder! I'm especially committed to sleep, so that takes priority. Period. And I'm also committed to at least one full rest day per week. Staying injury-free and well rested is key.

[LadyM]

Day 11

PWO hb egg, 5:30 am

M1 romaine chicken salad with coleslaw, kraut, and side of cauliflower soup. 7:45 am

M2 broccoli salad, roast pork, noon

M3 roast veg, broc salad,two nomnom cracklin chicken thighs, 5:30

My body is sore. Yesterday's Bootcamp and Sunday's long run are taking effect. I love this feeling. Hoping yoga this morning helped and that my 3 miles today go all right.

Feeling tired but happy today. Could do with more than 6 hours sleep. Thinking a late afternoon nap is in order.

[LadyM]

Day 12

 

PWO hb egg

M1 sweet potato, coleslaw, chicken breast with chimichurri. 7:45 am.

M2 roast pork, steamed kale with beet salad. nomnom spicy tuna cakes, coleslaw. noon. 12:45 p.m.

M3 cracklin' chicken thighs, beets and romaine. 6 pm.

 

Especially pleased with myself today for arising at 5 and making my way through the fresh winter storm to bootcamp followed by 4 pace miles on the treadmill. I will be very sore tomorrow, especially since we did legs at bootcamp, but I say BRING IT!

 

I think there might be a little tiger blood roiling beneath the surface. In fact, I think I almost hit a little endorphin high ON THE EFFING TREADMILL. What the what?

 

Anyway, feeling good after breakfast and ready to take on the day (after a shower). YAY day 12!

[LadyM]

Guess what just arrived in the mail! The bathing suit bottoms I ordered to go with the top I'd bought a month or so ago. I tried them both on and will certainly wear them as is; however, I couldn't help but visualize myself just a bit leaner and more taut.

 

For anyone who followed my log during my first W30, you know the two-piece bathing suit is a potent symbol of self liberation for me. I have NEVER had what mainstream media would even mildly consider a bikini body, but I decided while in Nice in 2008 to throw caution to the wind and bare my bod anyway. You know what happened? Nothing. No one gasped in horror or hid their children or gawked at my belly rolls and pendulous breasts.

 

The result: I felt free and happy with my body.

 

Anyway, I was reminded of that again today while looking at my imperfect, flabby, and now slightly noticeably aging body in the mirror. And all over again it made me feel happy and free and extra glad that I pushed myself this morning in the gym and committed again to W30.

 

Whether my body changes on the outside or not, I am changing on the inside, and that's more than enough to wear a two-piece leopard print bathing suit with confidence and gusto--two things that are in and of themselves beautiful!

 

Join me, won't you, in feeling shameless love and pride for your body as it is right now!

[Chocoholic382]

Especially pleased with myself today for arising at 5 and making my way through the fresh winter storm to bootcamp followed by 4 pace miles on the treadmill. I will be very sore tomorrow, especially since we did legs at bootcamp, but I say BRING IT!

 

I think there might be a little tiger blood roiling beneath the surface. In fact, I think I almost hit a little endorphin high ON THE EFFING TREADMILL. What the what?

 

Looks like things are going so great for you! Let us know how that tiger blood progresses!

[LadyM]

Day 13

M1 veggie sauté, scrambled eggs. 8:30 am.

M2 chicken salad with romaine and endive. Noon.

M3 roast pork with kale and beet salad. 5 pm.

Kind of dragging today, but not terrible. Got good sleep. More erotic dreams, but hey, I'm in no way complaining!

Yoga this morning was canceled bc of weather. Sad about that, but it meant more sleep, which is great! Three mile run on tap this afternoon.

Looking forward to mixing it up in terms of food for next week. More play with sauces and the crockpot. A shipment from US Wellness is due any day and it contains delectables such as duck breast, lamb roast, and a corned flat iron for Paddy's Day. It's also time for chicken liver. This will be fun. And I've missed my soups this week, so back to that and a new bunch of veggie dishes. Got to keep it interesting, and since I have a two week break from teaching, I'll have time and energy to play in the kitchen!

[LadyM]

Day 14

 

PWO hb egg, 5:30.

M1 spicy tuna cakes, veggie saute, 7:30.

M2 roast chicken with romaine and endive salad, 12:30.

M3 sauteed onion and cabbage with cracklin chicken thighs and beet salad, 5:45.

 

Here's what I have to say today: OMFG it feels so good to be working out again! I need to remember this feeling, this joy of movement, this embodiment. I simply do not live well if I'm not deliberately moving. More than yoga--cardio push and lifting heavy things. I need it all. I crave it all.

 

Yesterday I was pooped. So I postponed my run and reorganized my schedule so I could take an afternoon nap. Today I feel much better and had a good bootcamp class and run this morning. I like it!

 

Pretty wonderful to be able to listen to my body's needs and respond in kind.

 

Also, I think my skin is looking better and my middle is smoothing out just a tad. Tonight I have a hair appointment before rehearsal, so I look forward to looking as good as I feel. WOOT.

[Physibeth]

Are your spicy tuna cakes the ones from NomNomPaleo Food For Humans?

[LadyM]

Are your spicy tuna cakes the ones from NomNomPaleo Food For Humans?

Yes, they are. Have you made them? I didn't have jalapeno, so I omitted that and upped the red pepper flakes just a tad. I found them underwhelming. I'm going to try WF2's spicy salmon cakes and compare. These kinds of portable foods are handy, but more like fuel than super yum, in my experience.