Started my first Whole30 April 27th!

[Amazing Grace]

Hello! My name is Grace and I'm 24 years old. I have two kids and after having my second son was born I was not able to lose weight and had a lot of unexplained health issues. I've had knee and ankle pain that's not from injury or overuse, unexplained rashes on my arms and legs, I'm tired 100% of the time despite 8+ hours of sleep, and have a ton of digestive issues.

 

I've started noticing that certain foods and beverages make me feel terrible. I was addicted to soda and gave it up a month ago and that helped with my chronic fatigue but I was still eating fast food all the time and consuming sugar like crazy in lemonade, candy, and baked goods. I've also always been an overeater...constantly wanting more just because it tastes good.

 

I've tried going gluten-free but mostly just went crazy trying to find gluten-free versions of bread and the like. When a friend told me about Whole30 I did my research and (thanks to pinterest) I thought it seemed totally doable and actually more freeing than just being gluten-free because you're reprograming your taste buds and brain rather than trying to trick your brain into thinking gluten-free bread is awesome. Haha.

 

I'm only on day 2 of the Whole30 but I feel awesome! And I surprisingly don't feel deprived! We'll see how that goes for the next few days.

 

My goals for the next month are the following:

• Gain self control in the area of eating. Learn that it's okay to say no as well as learning to stop eating when I'm full.
• Break my addiction to sugar.
• Break my addiction to grains.
• Gain self confidence.
• Get rid of joint pain and digestive issues.
• Get my energy back!!!
• Lose weight.

 

Lose weight is definitely last on the list. I'm sure I will but my main goals are my mental and physical health.

 

Cheers to everyone starting on this journey! I'm excited to see where it takes us!

 

I'm hoping to track my successes here so I can keep tracking them. Any tips and tricks are welcome!

[Mimi Flaherty]

I'm just starting today.  Thanks for the encouragement. I think it has so much to do with the mental state of "I'm going to do this"  and then hopefully temptations won't be  our "i'm going to do this" will be our defense. Like the authors say "we can do this"!!!!Yes!

[jekchi]

Hi! I am also on day 2 and so far so good.  If you're looking for a tip, I got a good one from a friend and I think it's going to serve me well as I also try to kick the sugar urges.  

Their suggestion was to add fruit to club soda as a treat with dinner.  I have a juicer so I took it a step further.  I juiced up a pound of strawberries with a handful of mint leaves.  It yielded about a pints worth of juice.  I added about a 1/4 cup to a pint of club soda last night and it was delightful! If you don't have a juicer I'm sure a blender would also work to macerate the fruit and make it more drinkable.  It felt like I was drinking a fancy drink rather than boring old water.  

 

Good luck!

[Tom Denham]

Trying to achieve control over sugar cravings while creating fancy fruit drinks is not a recipe for success. The principle of success with sugar cravings is to starve them into submission. Sometimes that means eliminating all fruit for a while because fruit is nature's candy. It is healthier than store-shelf candy, but it still keeps the sugar dragons hot.

[jekchi]

I agree.  But doesn't the program recommend having small amounts of fruit in moderation? I don't see the harm in a 1/4 cup of strawberry juice once a day with dinner.  It's just like adding a little bit of lemon or lime to water.  It's not like drinking a giant glass of juice or a smoothie.

[GFChris]

I agree.  But doesn't the program recommend having small amounts of fruit in moderation? I don't see the harm in a 1/4 cup of strawberry juice once a day with dinner.  It's just like adding a little bit of lemon or lime to water.  It's not like drinking a giant glass of juice or a smoothie.

Actually, the Whole30 Can I Have Guide states to only using fruit juice in limited quantities as a flavoring in cooking, not as a beverage. Have a couple strawberries chopped into your dinner salad instead.

Details here: 

Fruit juice is the only acceptable added sweetener on the Whole30. (We had to draw the line somewhere.) Use it to flavor sauces, soups, or entrees.Tip: While drinking a glass of fruit juice may be technically compliant… we really, really wouldn't recommend it, even if you juice it yourself. Juicing strips many of the nutrients out of the fruit, but still leaves all of the sugar. We'd much rather you just eat the fruit.

- See more at: http://whole30.com/2013/06/the-official-can-i-have-guide-to-the-whole30/#sthash.nCDIa7U3.dpuf

[jekchi]

Thanks! I honestly didn't even think twice about it.  I originally was just going throw some fruit chunks in my water, but then thought "I have a juicer, why not!" 

I've become so focused on making sure I don't accidentally slip sugar in (do you know how many herbal teas have stevia in them?!) that I didn't even think to look freshly juiced fruit up.

[Amazing Grace]

So it's day 7 and I woke up 5:30 for no reason. I'm not too tired though. I am having lower abdominal cramps though. No clue what those are for. But I'm not a fan.