On our way to Whole30 success!

[middleagedpaleo]

PaulaB -- Good news on getting your daughter to the paleo water trough! I really do think that's more than half the battle, because once people read about and start to understand the food/health dynamic, they are way more willing to make a change.

CaseyD -- What's not to love about steak & broccoli--well done! (as it were . . . sorry for bad pun )

jrustdc -- I'm impressed with the bike riding to work. Getting to work is hard enough some mornings!

Our winery trip turned into one visit to a cactus/succulent garden where it was blazingly hot. Whew--enough! Husband wanted to stop at a cafe afterwards for a freddo/mocha/cream/sugar/frappachino blah-di-blah. I nobly stuck with plain iced coffee, but did have one (one!) sip of his drink when he asked me to taste it for whether there was actually any coffee in it, not just chocolate. Once again, my contribution to scientific inquiry

Yes, there was coffee in it and it was just fine, but the amazing thing is that I thought it tasted nasty anyway--too sweet, too creamy, too everything not healthy. In my pre-primal/paleo life, I used to love, love, love this particular drink, but now I realize I don't ever want/need to have one again. Stunning development.

[jrustdc]

I am fighting so hard to stay on track. My neighbors' 20 year old son was killed in an accident two days ago, and we learned about it last night. I am so sad and shaken and just keep having urges to eat crap. I've held strong but it's really hard.

[PaulaB]

jrustdc, I am so sorry. This is a difficult time to try to think about healthy food choices. It is hard enough with daily stress, but throw the stress of a tragedy into the mix...well, we understand. I don't have any words of wisdom except that eating crap will only make you feel worse. Hang in there, hon.

[CaseyD]

Oh no, Jen, that's horrible. I can't even imagine what you guys, and particularly that family, are going through. I'm so sorry.

Just take care of yourself the best you can. Try to remember, something as simple as crying or talking feels a whole lot better than eating crap. Like Paula said, hang in there.

[middleagedpaleo]

jrustdc, this is so, so sad. I agree with CaseyD--take care of yourself. Sometimes just being honestly sad is the best choice you can make.

[mrstrudo]

jrustdc, that is absolutely tragic. Your poor neighbours

I've gone off road. I succumbed a bit to the "Ah what the hell I"ve already cheated what's another bite... " I had a sausage at a festival (That was absolutely amazing, but it had cheese curds in it); I ate a handful of chips from my son, I had two pieces of cheese. And I'm sure some added sugar here and there.

Onwards and upwards, I guess. I'm really feeling like I am losing my steam.

[jrustdc]

Thanks, guys. I had been thinking, "food won't help" but it is a better mantra to think about how crap food will actually make me feel worse.

In addition to everything else, I am now having a ton of work stress. (Gee, it only took a week back!) And I KNOW bad food won't help -- that it will make things worse -- but holy moly these emotional pathways are so hard to clobber. Apparently I am just fine with sugar (i.e, no cravings) unless I am under stress and then I am so, so programmed. Feel panicked? Drink Coke. Eat crap.

But I. Will. Not.

Help me be strong. Thanks!

[jrustdc]

Doing better this morning. I figured out part of a plan to address some of the work stress, and enlisted the help of my assistant, so that helped a bit. Knowing I haven't given into these stress and sadness cravings is empowering, at least when I'm not in the moment.

I finally had Whole30 dreams last night. I dreamt that I went out to restaurants and bars with friends and went off the rails. It all started with a glass of wine, until I found myself eating peanut butter M&Ms and then having some bread, "since I've already done everything else". The dream even included confessing on the forum. I think this is hysterical!

[Donna]

been good all day....no cheats! Amen....it's been hard getting on board again with those sugar dragons pulling me back! But onward and upward because it's progress not perfection! Feeling motivated and determined. Eye on the prize of feeling great!

Day 2

Eggs with onion and ghee

handful of nuts

banana

Paleo Meatloaf, greens, green beans

[middleagedpaleo]

It's been a rough patch for me as well around here. Nothing specific to get me off track, but my inner food demons suddenly have been protesting loud and often about this new regime. And thus some cheese slipped through the cracks, then two crackers themselves. I can't say where I might be on the Whole30 any longer, except not really on it in a rigid official way. BUT I'm still attempting to eat as clean as possible, and so far so good -- for today at least

So what I'm learning from my own experience and others' posts is that a Whole30 is actually really, really tough. I know that they say getting clean & sober is hard, and in comparison a Whole30 is not. I get that. But I also get that our lives' reality can throw us unexpected curve balls, and the required laser-like focus to stay "within the lines" can be extremely difficult to maintain. Way to go, jrustdc!!!!!

I'm also trying to remind myself of the good things I have accomplished. For one, I continue to abstain from the scale. As a former scale junkie, this is really good. Maybe because I was already fairly primal/paleo with a solid weight loss, I haven't felt any of the major changes that newbies experience at this stage, like loosening of clothes. (And in fact, I'm wondering if my best dress slacks aren't just a little bit tighter--yikes!) But I've kept all of those evil "Let me just check the number" urges at bay.

My biggest recent positive is that this last weekend I ran my first ever 5K trail race. For someone who previously hated, hated, hated any sort of physical activity and was always chosen last for teams, etc., this is really huge. I've been so much more active since going primal two years ago, and the race was solid proof of the change.

It was very hilly and very hot, and I walked a chunk of the course, but I finished it. And didn't come in last! In fact, I got a third place medal for my age group of women. Amazing. Okay, so there were only five of us old bags crazy enough to do such a thing but I was still stunned and delighted.

The final win was that at race end there were various snacks, including ice cream sandwiches which people were hoovering up like mad. I took one look at them and thought "Ugh!!!" and marched right over to the oranges instead. Hey, any check in the plus column works for me!

Sending good thoughts to all of you--

[mrstrudo]

And I'm going to go ahead and just call this a big fat fail. I fell off the wagon today. Hard. So hard they had to call in a clean up crew after hurricane me got through all the food there was to eat today. Wow. Out of control just about describes it. I feel awful, guilty, disgusting, unhealthy. I clicked the "I made some bad choices today" in my Whole30 Daily. That's an understatement.

Last time I made it to Day 29 before I went off track on vacation. This time I made it not as far. I'm going to pick up where I left off in the morning, but like middleagedpaleo I don't know how adherent I'm going to be. I'm going to do my darn best, anyway!

middleagedpaleo, that is awesome about the medal! jrustd, I am loving that you are dreaming of the forum. I had weird dreams last night too, about some consultant I worked with at one time who was in a news article. weird.

I'm definitely not going to sleep well tonight. I feel like I am pregnant with a food baby. I won't even go into detail what I ate. I don't want to shame myself. HA.

[PaulaB]

MAP, way to go on your 5K! That is just awesome. And way to go for the oranges instead of the ice cream sandwiches.

And you guys who've gone off track, don't beat yourselves up... You've learned a lot! If you want to start over, that's great; but if not, just continue making the best choices day by day. Donna said it: Progress, not perfection. If you aren't meeting your goals or getting the results you wanted, then you can always do another Whole30!

I'm still doing well. I came down with a bug of some sort yesterday...ran a fever, had chills, had a stomach ache (but no vomiting thank goodness) and even almost fainted at one point! I didn't eat much all day. I did sleep well, and was surprised to wake up feeling tired but otherwise fine. I expected to be sick for a couple of days, at least. Who knows, maybe this last 21 days has improved my ability to fight off bugs!

[CaseyD]

Paula, I caught my husband's cold/sinus infection last weekend and it was over in less than two days. I even did a 20-mile bike ride while I was sick and didn't get worse. He had this thing for a full two weeks. I think it is the stronger immune system we get from eating this way.

Every time I try to add something to this log, I get interrupted and never finish it! Life is pretty hectic right now, but at least I feel physically good from clean eating. I think my stress levels are out of control, though. I'm starting to seriously contemplate whether or not I can handle being a stay at home mom anymore. I'm trying to let go of the tremendous amount of guilt that decision carries. Ugh, I just feel like I'm in the red with my stress constantly with the amount of crying and resistance I get from my toddler.

As for those of you who are stumbling on this Whole30, don't guilt yourself for it. Like the Whole9 folks say, what you choose to eat doesn't make you bad. These are just lessons you can learn from on your path to being the best you. The fact that you are on here, admitting it, and not giving up is something to be tremendously proud of!

[jrustdc]

Must be the grass is always greener phenomenon. I am so much LESS stressed when I am at home for the summer and am losing my mind trying to keep all the balls in the air with two of us working full time out of the house. Eating nothing but whole foods is hard when you work full time away from the house, because it's so time consuming. Can you freelance and find a part-time school program for her? Hang in there.

Still on track foodwise - I did have about 1 tablespoon of whipped coconut milk with a dusting of cocoa powder last night. Compliant ingredients, but definitely eating to cope with stress. I then figured out that part of my evening stress is that my doctor screwed up a prescription for me, so I am going to try to get that fixed!

[jrustdc]

Sorry - I don't think that came across the way I meant it to. I'm sorry you are feeling so stressed and hope you can find a solution that works out for your family.

[middleagedpaleo]

Oh fellow Whole30-ers, I'm really feeling for you. Like I wrote before, keeping that laser-like focus for a totally perfect Whole30 is turning out to be incredible hard. Certainly beyond my skill set at the moment.

I do comfort myself with acknowledging that even though I'm now lagging in the dust of the perfection bandwagon, I'm STILL eating way, way better than I ever have. Some of the hardcore rigitarians out there in the blogosphere may call that attitude a lame compensatory excuse, but, heck, it's the best I got!

I do think it's a good idea to try to de-couple the guilt & shame from the off track eating. The post binge guilt is just as much a habit as stuffing six doughnuts down our craw after some stressful experience. I'm not saying that one should just mindlessly and happily inhale whatever is around, but neither the bad choice eating NOR the guilt are healthy habits. Both are equally damaging in their own ways.

It sure is a complex world out there (and in our heads!). I've decided to take a leaf from AA -- I'm now working on a "Whole One."

[CaseyD]

Yeah, I guess I have to remember just how stressful being on deadline all the time was anytime things get really hard with my daughter. I think it's that you can't really do much to vent around the two year old that's driving you nuts. Whereas when we were all on deadline, we could yell at each other (and we did ;-).

Middleagedpaleo - you do have to do it one day at a time. So long as you never throw in the towel and give up on yourself, you're moving in the right direction. No judgments here! I'm actually very surprised and impressed with myself that I feel I'm finally at the place I wanted to get with my diet. The real test will be August 31 and how I handle that.

I seem to be sailing right along. We went to a burger place yesterday and I got a bun-less, cleanly cooked burger with avocado and a side of fruit. I really thought about getting the fries, but decided that it just wasn't that important. I was really there for the burger, anyway.

[PaulaB]

A "Whole One!" I like it! Who was it that said "perfect is the enemy of good?" I do understand the necessity of the very clean 30 days, and am doing my darndest to do it, because I want to get to the reintroduction phase and see if I can identify some of the things that might be okay once in a while and what I really need to leave alone. MAP, I totally agree with you that neither the bad choices nor the guilt are healthy habits.

My husband races a stock car and last night he was in a crash. He's okay, but mad, and the car is a wreck. Wasn't his fault at all. Anyhow, the stress of that made me really want to "eat all things." I had passed up a basket of chips and salsa without a second glance at the restaurant where we had dinner, and totally enjoyed my taco salad with no tortilla shell or sour cream, with extra guacamole. But after the race I wanted ice cream! Wahhh! But I knew how to handle it and made it through.

[jrustdc]

And honestly, I think having very little people is just %&*($#% hard, no matter how you do it. The ways that it is stressful vary by the particulars of one's situation, but it's just hard!

I have been totally compliant at the ingredient level (except the presumed vegetable oil at my dad's and in the two restaurant meals I had) so far (21 days) but am still struggling with snacking, sugar cravings and eating too many nuts. Plus I am still having odd digestive distress and occasional breakouts, which I didn't have in May/June. So I am worried that I will get to 30 days and still not have achieved the benefits I hoped for, either in terms of feeling super-healthy or in being ready to reintroduce foods and find out what really bugs me. But perhaps the next week will be miraculous. I can hope.

Paula, I'm sorry to hear about your husband and high-fiving you for holding the line on the ice cream. I've had the same struggle more evenings than not in the past 10 days. Haven't given in yet, but geez, do I want it!

I need to get to bed to handle the work week ahead. Good night all!

[CaseyD]

Jen, I had a return to my old IBS symptoms over a week long period right after the halfway mark. I read several posts on here about people having something similar happen, so I just held tight and hoped for improvement. It did get better, but it was rough for that week!

But, I hear you. I feel like some things are improving for me, but others are only mildly improving and I expected more. I'm realizing stress is probably sabotaging some of my progress, so as of yesterday I am focusing on meditating every day. I'm going through the One Moment Meditation book and learning that method, as I really hate sitting for long periods of time. I'm better off doing yoga instead of sitting for half an hour.

I think I'm going to stay Whole30 through September to give this stuff more time before I make any judgments. I feel like I'm on the right track, but 30 days isn't long enough to resolve some of the issues I have, it seems. Have you heard of the 21-day sugar detox the Practical Paleo/Balanced Bites lady does? I've been considering adopting her rules on fruit/sweet potato for the next month of this and see if that helps completely stop the sugar cravings for me.

[PaulaB]

I have heard of the 21 Day sugar Detox but not sure what the difference is. What are the rules for the fruit/sweet potato? I can't imagine they would be any more stringent that what I've been doing, lol. I think I'm going to have to eat this way for a long time (with only a very slight bit more leeway occasionally) in order to have a chance at healing the damage of 60 years.

My problem now is what to do next. I had my C Reactive Protein and A-1-C tested at the dentist last week and my dental hygienist called last night to give me the bad news. Both are UP! And the CRP is way up. I can't even remember the figure she told me because I was so shocked that it was up so much when I've been so GOOD! (In case someone doesn't know, the CRP is an inflammation marker) She's going to mail the results.

I posted a question in the section of the forum for those with health conditions but haven't gotten any replies yet. I suspect that I may need to eliminate nightshades because I know already I can't eat green bell pepper. I am not sure I'll know how to cook or eat without chile powder and cayenne pepper, much less do totally without tomatoes!

And I may need to end up following the autoimmune protocol, which nixes nightshades, all nuts, and eggs. Wahhhh! The Whole30 will look like a cakewalk if I have to do the AI protocol.

[Phanniemae]

PaulaB- My w30 ends on Friday. I'll be starting a W30/AI-style Monday-ish to clear up some inflammation issues. I've cut way back on eggs, but hear ya on the tomatoes and nightshade spices! I think you'll find a lot of support at this forum for doing the autoimmune protocol.

[middleagedpaleo]

PaulaB -- I've never done a full-tilt AI eating regime, but I have certainly noticed on my own that fewer nightshades = less arthritis pain/stiff joints. But give up red peppers and tomatoes in late summer? Now THAT would be hard! I try not to pig out on such things, but I'd probably have to postpone an AI experiment until January or February if I wanted any hope of success :-)

Is it possible for you to take the CRP test again for confirmation of the results? I dunno, but if you were that surprised at the number maybe it was an exception due to, well, a kazillion different factors. I am soooo not an expert on this test, but maybe a little interwebs research, plus hopefully some informed responses in the other forum, will give you an idea of how sensitive the test is, timing variables, etc., etc. I think Chris Kesser has a particularly well-researched yet readable site for the science-y side of paleo and nutrition.

And more power to you for the sugar detox! Thinking about it, for me at least a sugar detox might actually be easier than giving up chili powder...

[CaseyD]

Yeah, the AI protocol looks tough compared to the sugar detox. I think the only real difference from the Whole30 and the sugar detox is that you nix all fruit, sweet potato and winter squashes (acorn, butternut), save one green-tipped banana or one green apple a day. On days where you are doing high intensity exercise, or for athletes, a 1/2 cup sweet potato or 1 cup winter squash on those workout days. So, it's actually pretty low carb, but I've read it really helps with sugar cravings.

I find that I have days where I just eat a bunch of sweet potato for no reason, and now I crave fruit (which I'm sure is actually a sugar craving in disguise). I wonder if I'd feel better if I tightened that up. In the past, when I've done lower carb, I actually feel and perform better. I know that's not true for everyone, but I've noticed this for me.

Wow, Day 28. I can't believe it's almost September!

[PaulaB]

I thought it must be something like that, and I've been limiting fruit and sweet potatoes anyway. I'm doing pretty well with cravings.

On my "what to do next" post, I was asked if I'd been sick around the time of the test, and I remembered that weird virus. It is possible that I was still fighting the effects of that at the time of the CRP test. So I am leaning toward cutting egg whites, most nuts, and the bell peppers (of any color) for another month, while adding some of the supplements recommended in Practical Paleo, including daily bone broth if I can find some good bones. Then I'll test again, and if it is still high, I'll start the full AIP.

Funny thing, my mom had to be very careful about eating green bell pepper in anything. In her later years, she would get almost immediate diahrrea. But she ate a whole tomato or two every day with no ill effects. (She lived to be 94 yrs old)