Sitting Down for Meals?

[anorrish]

Anyone else having problems with the spirit of the program by having to actually sit down and not be distracted during your meals?

 

I have a four month old whose schedule completely dictates mine. I'm only on Day 2, but this is worrying me. Before starting my Whole30, I'd come home, feed her, make supper, get her ready for bed and then put her to bed, eat (a cold) supper, then go to bed about an hour later. I ate breakfast on the go in the car in the mornings. I don't get a lunch break...it's "built in," meaning I have enough downtime throughout the day that an actual 30-60 minute "break" isn't required by law. What happens is that I eat at my desk so I can continue to answer phones and the doorbell, since there's no one else to do it.

 

No excuses. I know. Anyone have any suggestions? I managed to sit down and eat a proper breakfast on Day 1 and 2, and can see that absolutely being doable for the remaining 28 mornings, with some modifications in my morning routine (and hopefully for a long, long time after that). My husband makes breakfast for us and he's done a wonderful job of tweaking his added fats so I can stay compliant (we already had eggs every morning- I just had to eliminate the buttered toast).

 

That being said, those of you with infants know the importance of a schedule in order to get decent sleep. And sleep is important on the Whole30 too! I tweaked her schedule enough last night to allow me to eat BEFORE getting her ready for bed, so I was able to eat supper 3 hours before going to bed. No small feat, I tell you. I got to eat at 6:30 instead of 9:00, (victory!) but it required much more baby preparation and resulted in a missed workout (thank goodness I at least had the meal prepped ahead of time- another victory!). However, instead of sleeping through the night (which I worked SO HARD for) she got up at 3:45 am. I know, I know, I can't really complain about only once, but really...ALL THAT WORK to get her to sleep through the night and it's GONE with one minor change. I also was eating supper one handed, standing at our island, while simultaneously feeding her, strapped to me in her Bjorn. An undistracted supper? Is that even possible?? I'm wondering how all of you Whole30 veterans manage to work out a schedule that works for baby AND Whole30 while still managing to fit a workout in 2-3 times per week AND keep the kiddo sleeping so you can sleep! Yeah yeah, I know, the husband can help...and he does. But since the baby's been around, he's been shouldering all the housework. Seriously, ALL of it...I haven't washed one dish, stepped foot in the laundry room, or plugged in the vacuum for four months. Bless his heart. He also manages our young, rambunctious dogs. Note to self: DON'T adopt two puppies while pregnant...they'll still need lots of attention and training by the time baby comes! The dogs were my idea too, and he's the one dealing with the fallout. So I really feel like the baby responsibilities fall on me. Don't get me wrong, I love every minute of it! I just don't feel right asking him to take on even more than he already does.

 

On to lunch at work. If I want an uninterrupted lunch break, I have to take it unpaid. That adds up to 10 less hours per month, which equals her daycare cost. Money's tight...I can't afford that. We have a voicemail option, and my boss has no issue with me letting calls go to voicemail while I eat. I can also unlock the doors and ignore the doorbell while I eat. Those problems can be tackled. My worry is that there's really no other place to eat, other than my desk. It's a large, U-shaped desk and I've been eating at the end opposite my computer and phone. There's nothing on that side. Is that compliant? What can I do to make that compliant? There IS a staff lounge, but it's full of non-compliant food, as well as the copy machine and mailboxes, so there's always people in there. My desk is much quieter and doesn't have all those sugary temptations around.

 

I expected the cravings (which, holy sugar cravings today!) and I expected the temptations to eat the freebie sweets that are always sitting around and work. I expected headaches and stomach issues that go along with the detox. I expected to doubt myself and debate going off the plan (check- last night and on and off today). I prepared myself for all of that. I didn't forsee such environmental obstacles and therefore didn't do much preparation for them! Help me!

 

 

[Carlaccini]

Hi There

 

Welcome to the whole 30.

 

My thoughts by reading your post is - don't over think this.  Really don't.  Eat the best way that you are capable of.  If distractions are part of your life because of your little one - so be it.  But I think what you need to do is do the best of what you are able to do.  And maybe work towards the less distractions.  But don't let perfect be the enemy of good.  Once you get the hang of the whole 30 you can work towards the other things.  But for the moment - do what you can.

 

Forgive me, as I do not have any children of my own.  I am aware that babies schedules do get messed up easily enough but I am trying to understand this - How is it that you know that the extra preparation for you to eat before baby resulted in the 3:45am wake up time?  Has this happened more than once? 

 

Also I eat at my desk - every. single. day.  Sometimes while lurking around and reading articles on the interwebs  , sometimes I bring a book or I knit for after I finish eating. - Is it ideal - no.  But I am trying my best to relax with what I've got.  If that makes sense. So if eating at your desk is the only option so be it.  Then maybe bring a book, or a magazine to look through.

[ShannonM816]

Just to be clear -- while it's ideal to sit down and eat undistracted by anything else, not doing that does not in any way equal being non-compliant with the W30.  You have a lot on your plate right now, and the fact that you can do a W30 at all with a 4 month old, a job, and two puppies is really remarkable.

 

Do the best you can. If you can eat breakfast sitting at the table, but that's the only meal you can do that for, that's okay. I think forwarding the phones and sitting away from your computer and phone is an excellent compromise at lunch. It meets the idea of not multitasking while you eat, and keeps you away from the temptations in the break room. As far as supper -- again, just do the best you can. At some point as your child gets older, you'll all be able to sit down to supper together. Right now, that may not be an option. Don't stress about it.

 

Really, don't stress. Relax. Enjoy your new baby, and your puppies, and do the best you can.

[anorrish]

Thanks Shannon!

 

The schedule I have the little on one seems to be what gets her through the night, after sticking to it for a couple weeks (and thus having a couple weeks of full nights' sleep). She eats when I get home at 4:00, then again at 7:00, get ready for bed after the 7:00 feeding, and a bottle at bedtime at 8:00. Essentially, I'm doing baby stuff straight through 7:00-8:30ish each night. The combo of cereal at 7 and a bottle at 8 gets her through the night. Since I got home and prepped my meal first that first day, I gave her a bottle at 6:30 instead of cereal at 7. Then I tried to give her some cereal at 7:30 but she wasn't hungry enough. Without the cereal meal, (bottles only, all evening) 12 hours just wasn't going to happen. Actually, the fact that I got almost 8 hours of sleep out of her without any cereal is surprising!

 

Thanks for the reassurance on not overthinking it. I figured the most important part is reading the labels and sticking to compliant foods, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't totally derailing myself! 

[veromama]

Hey there!

 

Here also a mother of a 3,5 mo (and a 22 mo) and on day 28. Nice that you also do the whole30! It is hectic with small kids, I know all about it.

I was stressed about the manner of eating in the first 3 weeks, than I realized that there are factors I won't be able to change. At least for now. I cannot guarantee that my little ones won't need me every meal and that I can just sit down and enjoy the food. So I'm not stressing about that, instead when I DO get the chance, I am really mindful about eating slower and enjoying the meal, rather than just getting through it. This mindset change was already a HUGE help for me.

 

About the sleeping: I would also not worry about it. My oldest one was a terrible sleeper in the first year, he had periods that he would wake every hour in the night. Fun is something else, but if you keep in mind that just because they sleep through a whole night for a month (and he did when he was 3mo), it doesn't mean at all that it will stay like that. Changes, especially new skills learned, growing periods and other factor can throw off their sleep. That's just natural. If you keep in mind that it's just a phase, you will go through it much easier! Really!

 

I also wanted to comment on how good it is that you discovered babywearing! It's such an amazing thing to have your little one so close to you. This is a little information about it, you might like to read (hope it's okay to place this link as it is not food related, otherwise let me know moderators if i should remove it)

 

http://onyababy.com/2012/09/babywearing-baby-positioning/

 

Good luck with all the office temptations   and it's already a huge step that you got started! Keep up the good work

[LisaLulu]

Oh dear, yes I know. I have small children and it's near impossible to keep up with the food and eating (I posted in 'off track/staying on track last night because I was so overwhelmed).

 

I made it through my whole 30 but tried to just focus on staying compliant and let other things go. I told myself that if I wanted to do a 'perfect' whole 30 it could be my second one (Starting october 14!) but one thing at a time. 

 

Lunch time is my good time of day for chaos so I generally eat my most template friendly/relaxed meal then and anything goes at breakfast and dinner as long as it's compliant. It's usually standing up and spread out in between the madness of children. But the lunch really helps and so does eating compliant foods. The magic happened despite not being perfect about every meal.

[Guest]

for me, sitting down for meals is important in terms of making me aware of how much I'm eating (recovering from an eating disorder) and also stopping me rush my food and break down my day slightly. However you're not 'off plan' if you don't

[anorrish]

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling great on Day 5 so far, but I realized I had a sneaky sugar yesterday in my cold medicine. Grrr! I know it's only a little bit, but I still can't believe I didn't think to look at the list of ingredients before taking it! On a related note, I'm checking my lip balm now. One of them has sugar in it and so it's been shelved for the time being. Lol 

 

I also coach a high school dance team, and this weekend will be an emotional one for me; one year ago tomorrow, one of my dancers passed away. The rest of the team has really been struggling this month and I'm having them all over tomorrow to be each other's support for the day. foursimplewords, she passed away from anorexia so while I can't begin to imagine the struggle you've dealt with (and maybe still are) I admire you for finding and working at a program that keeps you healthy and strong! It's a deadly disease and so difficult to fight. She fought for four years (that I'm aware of, I'm sure it was longer) and took her own life on what was supposed to be her last day of high school because she decided she couldn't fight any longer. Her parents let me read her letter (I was actively involved in her recovery) and it made so much sense to me that I can't be upset with her for choosing what she did. The poor thing; I don't know how she made it as long as she did, with all that inner torment. She truly believed she wasn't going to get better and couldn't imagine living the rest of her life with the disease. I've got my fridge stocked with compliant foods so if I do want to emotional-eat, it's all compliant. I'm hoping I can find something else to do if I feel the urge to emotional-eat...take a walk with the baby, vacuum (ha), work out, get crafty with some of the leftover DIY still I bought while I was nesting at the end of my pregnancy...you know the drill.

 

Woof, heavy post! Sorry about that! For the most part, my crazy sugar cravings are gone, but I'm having some residual headaches still. Man, Day 2 was HARD! I would've dove into a chocolate fountain that day, given the opportunity! I already feel better and I'm feeling comfortable and confident in a shirt I haven't worn since before I got pregnant. Success!