Liza's Whole 30 to Health: Day 9 and Counting

[lizaloo]

I've been reading some of the wonderful, inspiring posts on the Log forum and decided to jump into the fray with a catalogue of my Whole30 from here on out. For some context: I was a healthy athletic girl through high school and the first two years of college; all-state cross-country, in-season crew, swimming, etc. While I've tried to eat healthy my whole life, I've always been addicted to sugar and carbs, and it has been a constant tug-of-war between salads for lunch and ice cream for dessert. But I was always able to stay fit and healthy up until my early 20s.

 

Junior year of college, however, everything changed. Over the course of two weeks I came down with what was to be diagnosed at different times as chronic fatigue or Lyme disease, depending on the doctor and the day of the week. Practically overnight I was unable to run (the joy of my life) or do any kind of exercise beyond short walks. I have to go to bed at 9 or 10 and sleep 9-12 hours a night. I have tried numerous medications and some half-hearted attempts to cut 'sensitive' foods out of my diet to see if this will help the fatigue, but I have always been too addicted to food and my beloved wine to fully commit.

 

I have been researching the Whole30 for a while after living with 2 Paleo friends my senior year of college. It makes intuitive sense to me, and seems the only logical way that I will be able to break free of the sugar dragon that has me in such fierce captivity. I also wanted to give up major allergens or 'bad' processed foods to see how that would impact my energy levels. So I committed to starting last Sunday, and am now on Day 9.

 

I have found Robin's Whole30 timeline to be pretty darn close to my experiences. The first day or two was easy, followed by cravings, irritability, and now fatigue. Obviously I am always tired, but I was so exhausted this morning I stumbled around my house for about a half hour just trying to talk myself into going into the office. I am hoping that this phase will end soon, otherwise I am afraid of becoming despondent and giving up early. I would love to hear how this journey has impacted others' energy levels and/or chronic headaches, and whether there really is a 'turning point' after two or three weeks in general.

 

I also seem to be gaining weight rather than losing it; I am constantly full, even though I make myself eat, and I tend to snack on nuts since I miss snacking so much. My body is not used to being given fats like avocado and red meat on a consistent basis and it seems to be storing everything up. I am hoping that when I push through the 2-week mark this too will pass.

 

For food, I have been eating a fairly regular breakfast of eggs and sauteed veggies with chicken sausage and a few nuts if I'm still hungry. Lunches are giant salads with chicken or fish, avocado, veggies, and occasionally fruit. I do snack on nuts at work, so I'm going to try keeping those out of my office and stick to tea. Dinner is usually some kind of salad or stir-fry with meat and olive or coconut oil, followed by a little fruit. The last two days I have snacked on 100% unsweetened chocolate, which I know is the subject of much controversy here on the forums. I think for me it is substituting my post-dinner/late-night dessert habits, so I am going to try not to eat it from here on out.

 

I will keep whoever is reading posted as I journey through Day 10!

 

xoxo

[lizaloo]

Day 11, and very seriously considering giving up. The past two days I have woken up more tired than I ever did before.  I am doing okay on cravings, but am sick of eating nothing but veggies, meat, and avocado/nuts, and sick of worrying about it.  I am moving this weekend and want to be able to celebrate with a trip to the dumpling house and a glass of wine as all my friends are doing.  When there is no guarantee that this Whole30 will have positive effects (indeed, looking through these forums it seems that there are quite a few people who get none or few of the benefits described) it is so tempting to turn to behavior that will guarantee happiness and ease. I want to make it to 2 weeks to see if this is just a period needing to be pushed through, but I just can't convince myself that doing this for as long as needed will actually bring the benefits promised.

 

So confused today...

[Kmlynne]

Sorry to hear about your confusion, and I hope you hung in there.  Sometimes it takes people a little longer to see some of the benefits.  There have been times that I have thought about quiting too (is it worth it, etc).  I have found that trying different recipes, changing up my proteins, etc have helped me.  (Variety is the spice of life).  Even if the changes you are wanting to see are slow, eating healthy is such a gift we can give to ourselves!

[Physibeth]

I'm sorry you are struggling so much right now. It is quite normal to feel like you do at this point in your Whole30. Days 10 and 11 are the hardest days for most people. This article might be a good read for you: http://whole30.com/2014/01/do-you-really-want-to-quit/

 

I do want to encourage you to hang in there. In the great big scope of your lifetime 30 days isn't very long. You can do this!

 

I would encourage you to focus on what you can eat and not what you are choosing not to eat right now. Notice the wording I used there. You made a choice to do Whole30. So it isn't that you can't eat dumblings and drink wine. You are choosing not to for 30 days. 

 

I would encourage you to cut snacking on nuts completely. This is most probably keeping you from feeling lighter. Nuts can be very bloating. I would also encourage you to explore other fat options. Try making your own mayo, coconut butter on a sweet potato or acorn squash, drizzling olive oil on your veggies, or having a handful of olives. So many fats outside the realm of nuts and avocado.

 

A question - are you eating any starchy vegetables? Thinks like sweet potato, beets, and winter squash for example? If you are not adding some might help with your energy levels. 

[Chocoholic382]

Not sure if you're still hanging in there or not but I noticed you have chronic fatigue issues. As do I, since freshman year of college. In my experience, it takes longer to get to the good parts than for most other people. And I had to push myself a lot harder--mentally and physically, depending on the day--than it seemed like other people had to. For me it also took eliminating nuts completely. But it was really nice once I got to the good. I'm so far from symptom-free, but almost every symptom I do have got a bit better after my second Whole45. (Like I said, it takes longer. Sick bodies have a lot more healing to do.) My fatigue, my dizziness, my brain fog, my blood pressure, my post-exertional malaise, my lady hormones...they're all a liiiittle less of a distraction from life these days. And now that I've done 2 full rounds, I'm getting to the point where I can even tell when food messes with my sense of calm. It's like layers and layers you get to peel back. You just have to stick out the crappiest parts. I hope you come back! I'll be around if you ever wanna vent.