Two first timers - Whole30 Log

[Mark Hargreaves]

So...I've never done anything like this before. I've made some rather paltry attempts at lifestyle change; I did stop drinking soda for about 6 months, until my great nemesis, the Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale reappeared. But like this? Nothing at all like this crazy diet (I say this lovingly, really I do). 

 

But here I am. A good friend of mine, who sadly now lives on the other side on the country started a whole 30 about 3 weeks ago and told me about it. He's doing well now, feeling the effects of the good food, focused and just much better.

 

So I starting researching. Read ISWF cover to cover, and made plans. I have 4 roommates and an enormous variety of schedules. I work a mostly standard daytime office job - geriatric social work, particularly avoiding hospital readmissions. Fen - the roommate who's on board with me is a small business owner - he runs a hobby shop and works all manner of odd hours and long weeks. Roommate 2 (we'll keep him anonymous) was the reason I waited so long to start. I had hopes he's do this too, as he's seriously considering gastric bypass surgery in the spring. He's convinced he can't handle the Whole30, though, and no amount of convincing got us anywhere. So...I'm just leading by example.

 

It means a lot of additional challenge. There’s tempting snack food everywhere, and my attempts to move it out of sight have been less then successful (this is mostly due to roommates 3 & 4, otherwise minor players in our story) - so here goes a real challenge of my self-control. So I've come here to share, chat and maybe get some encouragement, since I'm a newbie in a challenging situation.

 

I'm actually writing this at the end of Day 2, so I'll be playing catch up on meals and moods in this post.

 

Day 1

 

I definitely fell into the frecited (is that the word? frightened/excited) category. Sunday night we prepped a whole bunch of veggies and stuffed peppers for Day 1. I didn't feel super excited, and I'm too nervous to blow this off as easy on Day one, even if I did eat well. I was actually off work for the day (7/14) more as a mental health day and in an effort to start dealing with work stress (of which there is a great deal, in social services). I'm terribly fortunate to have Fen on board with this, as he's far more comfortable in the kitchen. 

 

Breakfast was an egg scramble with carrots, onions, wilted spinach and half an avocado on top with a few strawberries on the side.

 

Lunch was zucchini noodles, chicken sautéed in coconut oil and dressed with a sun butter sauce and a few black olives.

 

Dinner was the prepped stuffed green peppers, cauliflower 'rice' tomatoes, a poblano pepper and spices, primarily cumin. I suspect there was more but Fen added more when I wasn't looking. I finished off the olives from earlier to round out the meal.

 

Was definitely hankering for dessert after, and have a few carrot sticks dipped in sunbutter. not great, I know, but better than a bowl of ice cream, so I'm calling it a decent day. 

 

Sleep remains a great obstacle for me. I usually wake up at 5 to get to work around 630. I'm not near as active as I should be, and mornings are usually not much more than a quick walk with the dog. One of my goals is to improve on this. 2 mile walks (probably in the afternoon) at least 3x/week. Still, I got to bed at 11, which is good for me (it's usually past midnight). Hoping to get it steady around 10-10:30 by the end of this.

 

 

Day 2

 

Per the Whole30 timeline, I woke up expecting a whammy, but it wasn't that bad. I definitely felt a bit off, and I wasn't hungry in the morning - I never am. At work I apparently looking pretty rough around the edges. I got to explain a bit about the diet to most of the team (they're good folks and we have to work as a unit, so I'm used to the questions). Most of them were pretty horrified at the thought, but it doesn't feel that bad. I had pangs - someone has some cinnamon muffins floating around the room and I really wanted one, until I thought of how little real food was there, and then...well, I still wanted one, but a little less. I didn't EAT one though, and that's the important part. I'm writing this in the evening - about 3 hours since dinner, and I'm feeling ok. I want dessert - something sweet, but I can tell its habit, not because I'm hungry.

 

Breakfast - scotch eggs on a bed of wilted butter lettuce

 

Lunch - chicken salad with lightly wilted greens, carrots, a hard-boiled egg and a homemade strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.

 

Dinner - broiled salmon fillets with ghee, salt and pepper, and a light cream sauce (homemade olive oil mayo diluted with lemon juice) and another salad, butter lettuce (can you tell what was on sale at the grocery store?) carrots, onions, some toasted pine nuts and sunflower seeds and sesame oil/balsamic vinaigrette, and a few blueberries for a bit of sweet in the salad. Would have preferred mandarin oranges, but these I did not have.

 

A couple notes - breakfast left me a smidge queasy - the sausage was a bit greasy and I don't think I'm used to eating real breakfast. Usually it'd just be coffee/cream/sugar and a granola/candy bar or two.

Also. Breakfast and Lunch were compliments of Fen, but the salmon I did on my one, from frozen fillets. It was a touch overdone, but I did it myself, which I confess a certain amount of pride over. The homemade mayo was mine too - succeeding at both has been a bit of a confidence boost.

 

For now, I'm signing out. If you got this far, thanks for reading!

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 3

 

Today was not as bad as the 'schedule' led me to fear. I think I'm getting a slight reprieve in that I've been adjusting other habits - sleeping more and actually eating breakfast, primarily. I have been sore and a little slow, but nothing all that bad, certainly no worse then when I try and function on 4 hours of sleep.

 

Fen's had it rougher - he was at his shop and had to stare at a rack full of candy most of the day (the card players buy it, so it's not like it can be moved too far out of sight. He also got his first experience trying to order Whole30 at the local diner - eventually got a terribly basic salad.

 

I had a cup of coffee (no cream or sugar) this morning, the first one since I started my Whole30 - I'd been taking it black for about a week in preparation, but didn't much care for it today. It made me a little shaky and buzzed, and...I don't think it's an experiment I'll repeat for a while. I haven't felt like I need it in the morning either, at least not yet.

 

Breakfast - leftover (exploded) stuffed pepper, scrambled up with a couple eggs and a little ghee.

Lunch - 2 half scotch eggs, and something more crudité then salad - butter lettuce, carrots, cucumber slices and blueberries with a sesame oil/balsamic dressing/dip.

Dinner - beef stir fry with carrots, peppers, snap peas and onions, also with a touch of sesame oil. 

 

For lunch - I think I'm going back to a true salad, I missed the mixed flavors.

 

Also - Took Jasper out for about a 1.5 mile walk with about a third of it being a jog. Small things, but an improvement for me.

 

Dinner felt like a major accomplishment - I haven't been cooking much in the last few months and the smells wafting from the kitchen were tremendous. It was honestly a very empowering experience - not only choosing to eat well, but knowing exactly how to eat well The beef was one of my 'treats' - grass-fed ground round from a local farm. I don't think that I can afford this sort of thing all the time but...wow, it was delicious. And there's a fair bit left over for more morning scrambles.

 

Right now my biggest worry is that I'm overeating - it's so strange to feel full all the time (again, I think this is related to actually eating breakfast aside the eating good food). I know the meal template and I am trying to follow it, but I still worry. I'd hate to sell myself short over something that seems so simple with all the other dramatic changes I'm making.

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 4

 

Today was...not bad. Not my best day either, but I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I cut back my breakfast portion a bit due to my concerns about overeating. That was a bad, bad idea. Especially given the 6-7 hour stretch between meal 1 and meal 2...it's clear things are much better for me when I do a big first meal. I was extremely grouchy and hungry by the time I got to eat lunch. Lesson learned.

 

I also had a big flag of energy today around 2 o'clock. I wasn't hungry, and my mind felt clear enough, but my body went...sluggish, for lack of a better word. It was a very odd and not especially pleasant feeling. Maybe partly a lack of sleep last night - I didn't sleep well at all.

 

Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, leftover beef, onions, peppers and spinach, and half an avocado. I need to find a different morning fat source, just for some variety.

 

Lunch - Acorn Squash soup with coconut flakes and sunflower seeds as a garnish, and some chicken breast. Delicious soup, breasts were delicious alone or dipped in the soup. (Hey, my inner 5 year old can have fun, right?)

 

Dinner - Longhorn Steakhouse. Dry grilled Sirloin, plain sweet potato and green beans steamed in vegetable stock.

 

This was my first attempt to eat out on the WHole30. It went well and considering I was grouchy and feeling very off, it was good to feel that I can still manage the things I need to. Including not eating the bread roommate #2 got, or even caring about his French onion soup. Our waitress was great, double checked everything and made for a very pleasant meal – we’ll certainly be back. And yes, we tipped well.. Onward!

[Mark Hargreaves]

Late report for Day 5 - I was so crashy last night that I didn't feel like writing. By crashy, I mean tired, not sugar crashy. Have definitely been feeling low energy levels, but not hunger, the past few days. Thursday and Friday both I started to feel very low functioning around 2pm. I suspect this is from my issues sleeping. I'm thinking of picking up one of the Mg supplements to help with this, or at least try and get my body into a pattern.

 

Another small coking fail - well, two really. One was a real failure of cracking an egg for my morning scramble so there was shell in the scramble. That was an unexpected and rather unpleasant crunch. The second was trying to do a sort of mayo based cream sauce for the snap peas at dinner. I chose poorly, and I think I'll leave it at that. It's the first experiment I don't think was worth saving, though I got through my own portion just because I don't like wasting food.

 

Breakfast - The usual scramble, 3 eggs, big spoonful of ground beef (I'm amazed at how far that 2 lbs has gone - 5 meals already and there’s more, I’m glad too, means that sort of expense seems more affordable). I was fed up with spinach and wilted lettuce so I went with all non-leaf veggies: bell peppers, carrots, onions. I filled up MUCH faster this morning, and ended up tossing half of it into the fridge for leftovers / other roommate. I held me through 6.5 hours, and one crisis at work.

 

Lunch - Chicken breast and acorn squash soup, with sunflower seeds and coconut flakes as a garnish - repeat from yesterday but an absolutely delicious one.

 

Dinner - A hash of sweet potatoes cooked in ghee instead of the usual coconut oil and aidells chicken/apple sausage. This part was delicious and convinced me there needs to be more sweet potato in my pantry and diet. Green beans in cream/mayo sauce - this part was terrible. It won't be repeated.

 

Definitely feeling some cravings for dessert. I'm not a big dessert eater of late, since my favorite has always been ice cream and I already know, pre whole30 that i have daily issues. Still every night has been worse on this of wanting something creamy after dinner. I'm hesitant to even eat some fruit for that - seems like that's feeding the sugar dragon.

 

Still, besides that obnoxiousness, things are proceeding apace. I know it's probably just the water weight, but when I went to put on my normal work belt this morning, I could have easily gone another notch, which that belt doesn't have. It was a good feeling.

[Kmlynne]

Welcome to w30!

 

I have enjoyed reading your logs!  Looks like you have a pretty good handle on the template and are doing well without snacking between meals.  Dessert time is always hard.  All I can say about that is to try to distract yourself  

 

When I really want something, I think long and hard about why I want it.  Am I really hungry?  Am I eating from stress or boredom or habit?  It doesn't always make the craving go away, but it helps me say no.

 

Oh...  and the sweet potato hash?  The best!  When I traveled out of town for a week, I made about 5 pounds of the stuff.  Had it for breakfast every day (you know, its not half bad even when its cold), shared it with family for dinner one night, and still had leftovers!  Try cooking it in bacon fat one day (with the bacon crumbled in) - yum!

[Physibeth]

I've also really enjoyed reading your log! Well done so far! Keep up the great work! All your instincts and experiments and conclusions are spot on.

 

 

Definitely feeling some cravings for dessert. I'm not a big dessert eater of late, since my favorite has always been ice cream and I already know, pre whole30 that i have daily issues. Still every night has been worse on this of wanting something creamy after dinner. I'm hesitant to even eat some fruit for that - seems like that's feeding the sugar dragon.

 

Your hesitation to eat some fruit when you are feeling like this is spot on! When you are cravings sweets and you are actually hungry eat something savory. When you are craving sweets and you are not hungry find something else to do. This is really about retraining your automatic response. I know you can!

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 6

 

Ugh. Sorry folks, super late with Day 6 because, wow did I feel out of it, still do today, really. I'm going to pass this off to the 'I need a nap' phase. I hope this improves soon because work next week will be misery if I'm still feeling like this.

 

Spent most of the day running errands with Fen. The exciting, diet related one was picking up a size 40 (instead of 42) belt. Granted, I'm at the first notch, but...well, that just means there's room to move forward, right?

 

Breakfast was the usual scramble, eggs, bell peppers, onions, and coconut flakes to add fat (think I really burned myself out on the avocados for a bit)

Not really a snack but I did have a plain iced coffee (coffee and ice) on the car ride, for something besides water to drink.

 

Lunch ended up pretty seriously delayed due to shopping, Fen drove the last leg home and I was feeling a bit crashy and hungry. I do have some larabars I picked up for emergencies but had neglected to stash any in the car, so I stuck it out and sort of half-napped. We had some chicken fingers (breaded with almond flour and a little egg) with a peach-chili-sesame oil dipping sauce along with some roasted asparagus (also delicious dipped in the sauce). Neither of us were really full after so we made up a sort of hummus analogue with almonds, applesauce and coconut oil, and munched on carrots dipped in that.

 

Dinner was salmon with a sort of pineapple chutney on top, mashed cauliflower w/ ghee and a little coconut milk and sweet potatoes au gratin. 

 

I'm actually a little worried how much I enjoy the sweet potatoes - they're not over sweet, but they do caramelize wonderfully and they are remarkably comforting food for something that has no real history of being comfort food. Not like they were on the menu my mom made  when I was sick (chicken soup and ginger ale). Ginger ale remains one of my worst temptations to this day, now - it broke my 6 month stretch of no soda just prior to my Whole30. So I worry, but I've never seen them included in the lists of foods-without-breaks - still, I am going to try and keep them to one meal a day, if for no other reason then that I don't want to burn out on them!

 

Sleep is still iffy. Got 9-10 hours coming into Day 6 and didn't really feel rested. But writing it off to adaptation unless it continues for a longer period.

 

I really appreciate the feedback from folks here, always nice to hear i'm more or less on track

 

Onward!

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 7

 

Still feeling that overwhelming sense of tired. There was a suggestion to sleep in and I did today. It helped. A little, but I still spent the day in a bit of a fog. Didn't accomplish much today either. Did laundry, prepped some meat and veggies for the week to come, honestly not as much as I would have liked but there it is. There will be food to eat the next few days, at least. Ground beef, chicken soup (oh I am going to miss the noodles), asparagus, broccoli puree. Fen'll probably do more before bed tonight.

 

Also did general weekend things like laundry and walking the dog, but who wants to hear about that kind of stuff?

 

Only two meals today, meal on was rather late due to sleeping in, and meal 2 was dinner time is. Had a small snack in-between but I wasn't hungry enough that a full meal felt justified. (And I may have been feeling a smidge too lazy to prepare it as well. But that'll be our little secret)

 

Meal 1 - sweet potato hash with aidells chicken/apple sausage, and acorn squash soup on the side. Water to drink.

 

Snack - half a salmon filet w/ pineapple, cauliflower puree.

 

Meal 2 - Baked chicken with the peach chili sauce from the other night, braised asparagus, cauliflower puree (mashed cauliflower. sort of).

 

Honestly the coconut milk or ghee in the puree may be unsettling my stomach (or maybe the cauliflower? I suppose it's possible but seems less likely) - it's not severe, just the very earliest warning sign I get before I'm likely to get sick. I'll probably post more about this in a different forum, but Roommate #2 is getting very upset about Fen and I doing this. We asked...I begged him to do it with us, but he insisted it wasn't going to work for him and had severe issues with the restriction and disputed the science. But every day is an argument now - now so much about the diet, more personal issues regarding his self-professed addiction to food and his desire/need for gastric bypass. I'm not engaging but he is, with Fen primarily, it's been awful on both of them and it's wearing me out just standing on the sidelines.

 

But that about covers the day. Fen and I are going to veg a bit and then bed and another exciting work week.

 

Onward.

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 8

 

Well, let’s see. Today started fairly well, got up easily, though I’m still not sleeping well. The usual breakfast got me to work and through the morning quite well even when we had a major coverage issue. It got me involved, but I wasn’t especially panicked or nonchalant, it just sort of became a part of the day and rolled off me. This was certainly a good feeling and I would suspect not what would have occurred a few weeks ago.

 

But as the day rolled on things went downhill. Late lunch (again – and I wonder why my eating habits were so messed up). Energy flagged around 4pm and I crashed hard. Unplanned nap in my chair, and a tantrum over dirty dishes when I did go down to prep dinner. (They took my clean plate away and put pizza on it!)

 

At least dinner turned out pretty passable considering all that – I think I’m getting better at broiling salmon, and I managed an entire side dish with no sweet potatoes. (I know they aren’t bad, but we want variety, right?)

 

Breakfast – Scramble. 2 eggs, ground beef, sweet potatoes, onions, and bell peppers. Water to drink

 

Lunch – Chicken soup (w/ carrots) and a side of baby carrots to munch on, I should have brought some kind of nut butter sauce for additional fat. Water

 

Dinner – Broiled salmon, and a salad of zucchini noodles, snap peas, red onions, Kalamata olives and a dressing of sesame oil and rice vinegar. Water

 

Also, cravings! I haven’t had much issue with these but today. I had a Crunch bar bond to my hand briefly, and I’m still, even now craving dessert something fierce. I’ve stayed out of the Larabars so far at least. And the crackers, and the alcohol closet, and everything else. Ugh.

 

I know this too shall pass, and I hope it passes soon.

[GoJo09]

I want to know more about why RM#2 is getting upset about you improving your health?!

 

I'm enjoying your little spiels about your day - great style. Ditch the Larabars. Don't even have the possibility of temptation in your mind. And I've been known to eat two sweet potatoes in a sitting, purely because they're tasty, so I get you on the wariness of them. They're an orange alert food for me (as opposed to nuts, which are red alert).

 

And what's happened to your walking?? Happening/non happening?

[Kmlynne]

I have found that for some people, all I can do is lead by example.  Talking to RM2 until you are blue in the face doesn't seem to work.  Maybe walking away from the arguments, and then letting him see the successes you have at the end of the 30 days will make a bigger impact.

 

I went on a family reunion recently and took all my own food.  I stuck to the plan.  I didn't overeat or overindulge.  The people who watched me were very dubious when I talked about w30 and being healthier.  When they saw how much and what I ate (and was how much weight I had lost since they last saw me), they became more interested.  One is even now doing a w30!

[Mark Hargreaves]

The issue with RM #2, I think, and we had a rather serious conversation this afternoon, that he was convinced that this is some sort of fad diet. I got him turned around, at least, on the point that I'm not the sort to do something without at least some research. You should have seen me prepping for our vacation to Disney World last winter - so he should know better, and he admits that.

 

He's still not convinced that the Whole30 would work for him - I would even reset the clock to do it with him if he'd agree. But he is, at least, going to try something (a soylent diet, which I admittedly know little about), before he goes forward with having the gastric bypass.

 

I hope, as Kmlynne says that the leading by example will eventually win him over, but we'll see.

 

Walking went down a bit. we were having nasty rainstorms / flash flood warnings and neither myself or the dog especially enjoy getting sopping wet. I did about a mile Sunday through my tired fog and we were out again today for about the same.

 

Onward

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 9

 

Another super late log. I'm sorry for those folks following me. I want to say, first, that I'm tremendously appreciative for the comments and feedback - the support means a lot and it really is helping (I can't have a Larabar now, what would GoJo think?) - also fair warning that this post is going into some household drama that was triggered or at least catalyzed by doing the Whole30

 

That said, today was pretty much awful. Not at first. Got up, went to work, and am enjoying a perk of having been there for 2+ years - I finally have a place to park! Got through the day with no major issues really. I have felt the more level energy and that at least is a win. Also my new 40 belt is cycling between notch one and two, also a good feeling.

 

So I got home from work and then the world exploded. Fen and RM#2 are back at their arguments with a passion. Fen uses junk food as a coping mechanism - he knows this isn't healthy, but it's what he's always done, and having taken that away is making things worse. And we're in the time-approved bad days right now. The arguments went on for hours. Whether this is a fad diet, RM#2's history with essentially competitive dieting as a kid, his potential gastric bypass, other diets. Bringing home ground beef to make hamburger and them making them non-compliant (mayo and ranch seasoning in the beef), after he said he'd be supportive. And towards the end of the night what was honestly probably a slip of the tongue: "This is why mom thinks you'll sabotage me after my surgery."

 

And that hurt. Much like his comment about this being a fad, I had hoped he thought better of me, at least. I don’t' want him to get surgery, I think it's a bad decision, but I wouldn't ever actively try and prevent him for succeeding.

 

Breakfast - the usual ingredients but eggs sunny side up for some variety. Sweet potatoes, onions, bells peppers. water to drink

 

Lunch - Fen made me a quasi guac salad. Spinach, tomatoes, onions, a little zucchini with a avocado puree/dressing. I tossed some coconut flakes on top and added side of Kalamata olives for a little fat.

(Gotta say that I still don't care much for tomatoes, which may be a whole30 struggle, but there it is)

 

Dinner/Snack - Fen made a salad with spinach, watermelon chunks, sunflower seeds and a watermelon vinaigrette as a snack, we were planning a late dinner. It didn't happen.

 

So...I'm really screwed up and hurting right now. Fen's on the verge of moving out (this was brewing beforehand, admittedly) and I'm sitting here in the middle of the whirlwind wondering why anyone would make healthy choices if this is what it costs. I'm not sure if anyone has answers, or thoughts, but I could use some right now...

 

Because honestly I want to go down to Sweet Frog (local frozen yogurt place) and just gorge myself, and I only haven't because I know it'll just make me sick. I know it won't help, but...yeah, nothing seems like it will just now. Somehow, though, for now, I'm still compliant. Haven't even touched the LaraBars.

 

I think there’s a fine line between willpower and insanity and I'm not sure which side I'm on.

[Kmlynne]

I'm sorry to hear about the chaos going on around you. Often times people talk before they think and hurt feeling ensue. I do know how it is.

If you would like some advice... (If not, don't read this paragraph).... You have to do what is right for you. It is your health and no one else's. If w30 is what you are choosing to use to be healthy, no one has the right to "Sabatoge" it. It took me years and years to realize that, and longer to stop the emotional eating. Please don't take what others said in anger (frustration, other emotions) personally. I believe he knows you better (as you said) but it is a defensive comment he used knowing it would hurt.

Hang in there!

[Physibeth]

I'm really sorry that you are going through all this drama in the house. What your resistant roommate is doing is more about him then it is about you or Fen. I know (and I imagine you know) what it is like to be in a place to desperately want change, see others making progress and change, and trying to sabotage them rather than make a change for yourself. Timing matters and it is not the right time for RM#2 clearly. The best thing you and Fen can do is not to engage him. I know this is hard. You both need to own your personal W30s and let him rage if he needs to but let it bounce off you. 

 

I do find it interesting that your real food style of eating is a fad diet but he is considering soylent. I just don't understand how people see eating meat and vegetables and fruit and healthy natural fats as a fad but a chemically concocted shake is perfectly reasonable.

 

I'm not saying you should say this to him. Let your results speak louder than your words.

 

When you feel frustrated enough to dive face first into FroYo do something non food related that makes you calm and happy. Keep staying strong you've got this!

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 10

 

So, This may be the hardest day, but after last night, well, nothing is the hardest day anymore. Took the day off work - the arguments went till 4am, so I was in no state to wake up at 5 and head in. Fortunately I’m well reputed as a hard worker, if I ask for a day off, then the question is what's wrong, what world ending event has occurred...and no one fights me for the time.

 

Slept in again, because I needed the rest badly. I admittedly didn't do much over the course of the day. Watched TV and tried to process things and what might happen next.

 

Meal 1 - Breakfast scramble, heavy on the onions and sweet potatoes. Managed a passible omelet for Fen to put his scramble in. Put a little thyme in the egg. Not a grandiose step but it made things a little tastier.

 

Meal 2 - This was essentially dinner again because of the sleeping in and attempting to reset to go back to work. Chicken breasts with a chicken sauce, green beans braised in beef stock, mashed potato (yes, we used white ones) and a spinach salad, with strawberries, watermelon and toasted sunflower seeds. It was very very tasty and perhaps a small step towards recovering the peace in the house.

 

Short walk with Jasper, enough to wear him down a little, but not much more - the level of physical exhaustion from last night was stunning. I tried the natural calm for the first time tonight and didn't feel like it affected my sleep at all. I may need a heavier dose.

 

 

 

Day 11

 

Back to work today. Can't say my heart was exactly in it, but my brain wanted to have something to process besides empty air and mindless TV/videogames. (Just wanted a distraction, really). Work went quite well, all told. I was able to accomplish a fair bit, and in part because of what's been going on with me being back full swing, our team is making good progress toward our monthly goal. Breakfast held me through the whole day, though I was getting a little tired around 2. Again a late lunch. Big breakfasts are just going to be important, I think. This part of my schedule is largely out of my control.

 

On the drama front, things are slightly better. Still a lot of raw nerves and needling, but things are settling a bit. I'm immensely grateful for that. I'm off work tomorrow and spending the weekend with a friend in Harrisburg. Prepped some stuff to stash in the mini-fridge, and have plans for dinner for the next two nights (hotel restaurant and a really nice Italian restaurant). Lunch is going to be a bit of adventure, but there's a chipotle local that should be safe as a backup.

 

Meal 1 - breakfast scramble. onions, carrots, wilted spinach, 2 eggs, ground beef. The first few bites were a struggle. I need some variety that's easy to prep in the morning.

 

mid morning - iced coffee, plain

 

Meal 2 - spinach salad with coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, shredded carrot and lamb tip. Dressing was a tomato based one, Fen was 'tricking' me into liking tomatoes with it.

 

Meal 3 - initially shepherd's pie, but became lamb steak, steamed green beans and roasted potatoes.

 

So my weekend logs may end up a bit condensed. Thank you all again for the commentary and support. It matters.

 

Onward.

[GoJo09]

It's crazy (and sad) how invested people are in defending their eating choices by berating others for theirs. I think you need to hard-line it with RM#2 and say "it's just food, I'm not forcing it down your throat, eat it or don't but shut up about it". Easier said than done, I know, when you have to live with the person afterwards!

 

Just so you know, your weekend trip is when I would pack a Larabar or 2, just in case (I'd hate you to starve for fear of me judging you!)

 

And if you don't like tomatoes, don't eat them!

[Mark Hargreaves]

The comment about judging was meant in jest. Humor is my main coping mechanism for dealing with that sort of stress. Though admittedly you advice has stuck in my head and probably has been part of the reason I haven't indulged that way.

[Mark Hargreaves]

Also, as regards tomatoes, I'm trying to broaden my horizons. I don't mind tomato based sauces, but I've never been fond of the chunks in salad or slices on a burger. Concurrently, Fen isn't a big fan of onions. Both are, however, pervasive in most cuisines out there, so we're both trying to grow a little over the 30 days.It wasn't a malicious trick at all, and the dressing tasted quite fruity and a little sweet (tastebuds adjusting, maybe?) and went quite well on the salad. Just made him giggle to find out how much I liked it.

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 12

 

First day of my Harrisburg trip with my friend Erik. Started at home, slept in till 8:30 (a treat unto itself!). The day consisted of meeting up with him at the hotel and then a trip to Lake Tobias which is a small, privately owned wildlife park and reserve. We hiked around the walking trails, took the safari bus tour.

 

I learned today why all wise whole30'ers (is that the right term? whole30ites sounds odd.) carry salad dressing with them for any outings - one cannot assume the existence or compliance of oil and vinegar dressing. Sadly I was not wise and ended up with a dry salad for my trouble - it was hard enough to get it without cheese. But lesson learned for the future. Dinner at hotel restaurant was disappointing but a little easier to find a compliant entree.

 

Me: "Can you tell me what the chicken is marinated in?

Waitress: "I don't know...I'll go check"

She returns

Waitress: "just olive oil and Monterey chicken seasoning.

Me: "I'm trying to avoid sugar - Do you know if there's any in the seasoning?"

Waitress: Not exactly...

Me: Alright - I'll just have the salad then.

 

Breakfast: leftovers from dinner a couple nights ago. Chicken breast, mashed potatoes, green beans (getting sick of eggs)

 

Lunch: salad w/ grilled chicken. A bit bland and there were definitely flecks of cheese that still needed picking off - the salads were almost certainly pre fab. No dressing, so a handful of nuts and coconut flakes for some fat

 

Dinner: salmon and salad. Again a less than stellar salad, but edible. Had oil and vinegar this time, at least.

 

The adventures continue tomorrow with a fairly nice Italian restaurant - order is pretty much worked out there already though.

 

Onward!

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 13

 

Well, this one started out rough - I ended up staying up much later then I would have liked last night.  Had to do a late night run to get a missing piece of my CPAP or no one (including me) would have slept. (Ditching the machine is one of my highest hopes for the whole30 – I hate it. I like that I get to sleep but I do not like the face sucker of a mask stuck on my face at all)

I don't think I mentioned in my log but there was a handful of nuts/seeds/coconut flakes prior to the drive - I was more tired than I really wanted to be at that point anyway.

 

So this morning I woke up feeling flat out hungover - after about 6.5 hours of sleep (short, I know, but not THAT short). Could barely open my eyes, had a horrible migraine and just did not feel like moving at all. I figure either something non-compliant snuck into my meals yesterday, despite my best efforts, or the shift in sleep did it, or both. Either way, not exactly how you want to be when you have an anxious and far too awake friend wanting to see the sights. A warm shower helped, as did breakfast, and aside an undercurrent of tired that went on through the day things went pretty well. Though I did doze off watching an Imax film at the science center around 4:15pm.

 

I was also bad in that had a Larabar today. I see why folks suggest not keeping them around. Paleo-compliant food without breaks. But I hit a point after my unintended nap where I was very hungry, my planned food was pretty much gone and I had 4 hours before the dinner reservations. So I had one, and only one and that got me through the rest of the evening.

 

 

Breakfast: 2 Scotch egg halves, cold sweet potato hash

 

Lunch: Salad from the Pita Pit - grilled chicken, spinach, roasted pepper, olives,  cucumbers, dried oregano in place of the oil and vinegar they didn't have either. (never realized what a complex request that was).

 

Snack: Lara Bar

 

Dinner: Mangia Qui: prosciutto/nectarine/almond appetizer and rib eye, wood grilled, with salt and pepper and a pepper tomato sauce on the side, as well as roasted rosemary potatoes. Absolutely delicious.

 

 

Walking wise - walked about 2.5 miles around City Island with a game of mini-golf in the middle. That was fairly tough. City Island is a sot of wannabe boardwalk, but the smells of many forms of non-compliant snackage were very, very tough. <whine> The cravings of late have been really, really bad, and really widespread - cheese, candy bars that I never eat, lemonade, ice cream. I want it all and want the stupid 30 days to hurry up and be over so I can eat them! </whine>

 

Also walked about a mile round trip to and from dinner.

 

Trip ends tomorrow so I can get home and do laundry and get things rolling for next week at work. Much excitement.

 

Onward. 

[Kmlynne]

When I find myself without salad dressing, I ask for some lemon wedges. I squeeze 1 or two on the salad and add a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Gives it a little flavor. Also, if it's a resturant that has avocado, a couple slices gives you the fat.

Sounds like you did a great job despite some challanges . Almost half way there!

Oh - and the CPAP? I ditched mine half way through my second w30 - some nights I could probably have used it - but those are few and far between

[Physibeth]

I was also bad in that had a Larabar today. 

 

I want to address this because I think this is so important. YOU are not BAD for eating a Larabar. The food choices you make do not make you a good or a bad person...they are just choices. Those choices may make you more healthy or less healthy but they don't change who you are.

 

I'm telling you this because it was the single biggest lightbulb idea for me when I started eating this way. I have a long history of food sneaking, binging, and using food as rebellion. When I finally separated my food choices from my moral standing it gave me a lot more control over the choices I made. 

 

So I'm encouraging you to ditch this language from your eating vocabulary. 

 

And well done handling your trip and all the curve balls thrown. 

[Mark Hargreaves]

Hi Physibeth,

 

You're right. I really ought to know better - hello psych major. But the point is well taken.

 

More to the point then - I know Larabars are considered an iffy food at best, acceptable by for emergency use only. So I made a less healthy choice as opposed to crashing, which I think was the best option available in the moment

 

And thank you for the support

 

Mark

[Mark Hargreaves]

Day 14

 

Trip ended today and Erik is on his way back home. Our refrigeration failed so I ended up without breakfast and not really wanting to risk myself at the hotel breakfast buffet, both because I'm not convinced the staff had good answers about what was there (it's a large chain and the menu is apparently set by corporate. My back and forth on Day 12 was not reassuring), and also because it was full of things that I was craving badly - pastries and muffins, etc.

 

I am really struggling with the cravings at this point, I'd hoped they were getting better, but every day they just seem to intensify. I know Fens in much the same boat. it's getting hard to deal with. Admittedly this weekend was a special challenge, being away from my comfort zone (I didn't pack my guitar), but still. I don't know how long I can hold them off if they keep getting worse.

 

Meal 1 - about 3 hours after I woke up, after I got home from the trip. 2 Aidells sausages with green peppers, roasted potatoes and onions

 

Meal 2 - noodles (carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes) and tomato sauce with ground beef and chunks of steak in it.

 

Not sure I have a lot more here. Work starts back up and the routine should help - I'll get back into big eggy breakfasts again, at least and they do seem to hold me through the day pretty well.

 

Trying to count on the positives - not needing coffee in the mornings, notch 3 on the belt and certain tee shirts fitting better. This weekend I may try a night off my CPAP and see how that goes. On the occasions I've dozed off in my chair I've woken up without that apneic start where you catch the end of a snore, and my throat hasn't been dry, so I’m hopeful.

 

Not so hopeful that I'm not massively craving a chocolate chip muffin, but hopeful.

 

Onward.