LisaLulu Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I started my first whole 30 on April 9 (I'm on day 13 now) before learning about this forum. I'm a 36 year old mother of 2 daughters (4 1/2 and 22 months) and am still breastfeeding the youngest one 4 times a day. I am a normal, healthy BMI/weight but have been suffering from dizzy spells/exhaustion/nausea since having my second daughter which I am pretty sure were from blood sugar. I also was constantly bloated and gassy from something I was eating. I also couldn't drop the last 5 pounds from my second baby and while eating very well during the day most days I was starting to eat junk almost every single night once the kids were in bed (frozen pizzas, take out, chocolate, chips, ect). I found myself thinking about food/healthy eating way too much but not actually doing anything about it. When I realized that summer was just around the corner I figured a whole 30 would be perfect to clear up all those issues. My first few days I was REALLY hungry, but the bloating disappeared right away and I found I had more energy and was sleeping better so I stuck through it. Aside from cravings I didn't really get any of the horrible side effects until a few days ago when I felt nauseous and dizzy because I didn't feel like eating much anymore. I realized I was just sick of the foods I was eating so I got through that by thinking of new things to eat and feel great again. I plan to fully do the reintroduction when the time comes so I can rule out certain foods once and for all. I suspect it's not any food in particular but digesting starch that is my issue. I don't miss eating starch with meals at all really. This time has really helped me evaluate which foods are 'worth it' and chocolate is definitely the big one! I never thought I was an emotional eater because when I'm upset I lose my appetite, but I've realized the feeling I tend to fix with food is exhaustion. I crave treats or junk food when I'm tired at the end of the day or when the baby is napping. I've replaced that with a cup of herbal tea. Sitting and relaxing with a hot drink gives me the same 'ahhhh' feeling as a treat did in the past, aside from cutting the starch portion from most meals that is another habit I want to keep. The food prep hasn't been as bad as people have said because my husband is paleo already and my kids eat gluten free, plus we have no money so I'm used to cooking everything from scratch already. It actually feels like less work now that my blood sugar has evened out because I don't have to eat as often and also don't have to worry about getting dizzy from having to wait to eat because we're out or my kids need me first. Now when I'm hungry I just want food, but that can wait when it has to! Today I realized I'm getting close to half way. I have all my Easter chocolate tucked in a drawer for some day in the far off future, the stuff lasts for months so I'm in no rush. It will be a novelty to eat it at a time of year when it isn't available to anyone else. I am going to draw out my reintroduction (dairy, potatoes, rice, corn, oats, sugar, legumes, gluten) so I can rule out which I need to cut for good (if any). I want to be able to have a slice of cake by my daughter's birthday on June 16 though I survived Easter dinner because by some miracle every food except the mashed potatoes whole compliant. It was so easy to say no to those when I had a big roast beef, bbq chicken, salad, carrots and fresh fruit to feast on. I was doing this with a friend but she dropped out yesterday (Easter was just too much for her) so hopefully I can find people here to keep me motivated instead. Anyone else start around the same day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malgal Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Hi there. I am not on the same day but I did an elimination diet when I was breast feeding my second child. He was spitting up constantly so I started out on just pear, lamb and non-gluten grains. I then added stuff back slowly and remained off dairy and soy the entire time. I ended up being about 10 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. It was wonderful! Sorry your friend dropped out. My family isn't close to being on board with this. So I have a house full of potato chips, cheese and all sorts of yummy stuff Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Oh no, do you have to cook different meals for everyone too? I make the same thing for everyone but make boiled potatoes (which I hate) for the rest of the family and my husband eats chocolate which is hard sometimes! I can't imagine only being able to eat 3 foods while nursing, that must have been very hard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malgal Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I usually cook 3 meals, although last night I sent my husband to Subway with the boys It really depends on what I plan to cook as to whether or not I do a special meal for me. I can do some things with only a slight modification for them. I didn't stay with only 3 ingredients for long. I am thinking that there must have been more in the way of vegetables that I was able to eat. Those days are a big blur LOL. I added in some of the things that I felt were least likely to be causing the constant colicky symptoms pretty quickly. I think it was only milk protein that he was sensitive to. He now drinks milk and eats cheese with no problems, thank goodness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 I'm not sure where we update our own progress (I'm too lazy to do a full on log) but I just wanted to say I'm on day 20 and feeling great! I went to a party yesterday that had cake, 3 kinds of chips, twizzlers, chocolate cupcakes, hummus, crackers and brownies and even though I was hungry all I ate was raw vegetables and herbal tea (then I came home and had chicken and sweet potato and a big salad). I don't feel constantly hungry and thirsty anymore (maybe this was an insulin thing?), I'm sleeping very sound at night, I stopped craving things and my stomach is never bloated anymore. I want to fine tune my program for the last 10 days to cut out nuts now, and then do a long drawn out reintroduction to pinpoint exactly what it was that made my stomach hurt all the time. I have a sneaking suspicion it might have just been overly large portions of refined starch rather than an intolerance. I tried having tapioca noodles about halfway through and I got that horrible bloated, painful reaction that I used to get after eating a lot of rice/pasta/potato/bread pre W30. So maybe potatoes would be a good reintro start just to test that before adding in any typical inflammatory foods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share Posted April 29, 2014 On day 21 now. Easter fell about 1/3 through my whole 30 so when I received chocolate for gifts I put them in a drawer to eat at some point after reintroduction. I was excited about the idea of it. Well now when I think about it I don't like the idea of eating a cadbury cream egg anymore, it seems kind of gross. Even raisins are too sweet for me these days, I can't imagine eating the filling of one of those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 Day 26. I was looking at pictures of pizza on google images last night, my husband called it 'pizza porn'. I'm planning to do a proper reintro so it will be a while... sigh. I still miss my favorite foods (pizza, chocolate and a few others) but realize there are many other poor food choices I was making that I can totally live without indefinitely. I'm finding my groove within the program and what works and what doesn't work for me which will help me keep it up most days once I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Day 28.. so close!!! The part that sucks is I know I waited 3 days to start with my friend so if I had started on my own (since she dropped out anyway) I would be on day 31 today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiquiry Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hi Lisa, It is interesting to read your progress and comments on taste change. Are you thinking of reintroducing chocolate at all now?Pizza? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 I'm going to do my reintroductions properly just to rule out any big food intolerances, then at some point I'll have pizza and chocolate again.They are the only two foods I really really miss. I think for the next few months I'll do a strict whole 30 at home (except for white potatoes, honey and maple syrup in cooking which I plan to add back in to meals as I'm not trying to lose weight), go off road at social events plan. All of my bad habits were from running out to buy junk food after the kids were in bed. If I think back to the past month I had 3 social events where I had to turn down non compliant foods that I really would have liked- mashed potatoes and some chocolates on Easter, some cake at a party and a casserole that included dairy and rice and chocolates at another party. Those are the foods I wish I had eaten after the fact. What I will be doing is thinking twice before making food choices at social events- these events also included things like cheese and crackers, chips, candy, ect that I would have mindlessly ate in the past but don't deem 'worth it' anymore. Another bad food habit I've realized I have is trying to force myself to eat things I don't like/want so food doesn't go to waste. I tried this with compliant foods during my whole 30 (freezer burned shrimp, ect) and it just made me feel terrible to choke down food. I am pretty good with my menu planning/shopping that not much goes to waste anyway, but it's okay to throw things out sometimes rather than make yourself miserable. I have plenty of healthy foods that I LOVE and should focus on eating those. I also used to do that after parties we hosted- people would bring food and there would be leftovers and I would feel obligated to eat it. Now I try to only make things our family eats normally and try to get others to bring things we eat too. And if they don't? It can be tossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLulu Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Last day today!!! So exciting!! Tomorrow I get to try some cheese on my salad. I better go buy some! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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