Jump to content

August 1st Group Thread


JennyF

Recommended Posts

This is for the August 1st people looking for support on the program.  Post your story here:

 

1) Tell everyone a little something about yourself.

 

2)  Goals for the month of August

 

3) What your greatest challenge will be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 624
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Hi, my name is Brittany, and my husband and I are also starting the Whole 30 this Friday.  Franklin and I have been married for almost 18 years, and we have three daughters that are 16, 13, and 8. I'm sure they are not going to be happy with the food in our house and the dinners I prepare, but tough:)  I have been a stay at home mom for 16 years, but I have recently chosen a new career.  I am now a licensed esthetician and I am working on my master's license. 

 

I have suffered with ulcerative colitis for the past 10 years and I'm never fully in remission.  I also suffer from depression and high blood pressure.  I went to an intergrative doctor, but he didn't take insurance.  It was going to be too expensive.  So, I started researching on the internet, and discovered the paleo diet and the Whole 30.  I also had allergy testing done, and I found out that I'm mildly allergic to soy, wheat, corn, potatoes, yeast, coffee, tea, spinach, crab, and shrimp. I'm tired of the medicine for my uc not working, and I'm not getting on steroids or doing nightly enemas!  My plan is for the Whole 30 to  jumpstart my new paleo lifestyle and finally get my uc under control.

 

Honestly, my biggest challenge is going to be no alcohol.  I love having a couple of glasses with my friends on the weekends!  I've decided I can do anything for a month!  My other challenges will be not having nuts or eggs, because I'm going to follow the autoimmune diet. 

 

My goals are to:  get my uc in remission

                            to find out what foods are triggers for my uc

                            to detoxify my body

                            losing a few pounds will be great, too:)

 

I look forward to meeting everyone and giving each other the support we need to make it to August 30th!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi my name is Jodi. I live in Wisconsin with my husband, our 5 year old daughter & our 2 dogs. I work as an IT manager and am out of the house approximately 50+ hours per week. Plus, our daughter has a social schedule that is never ending, so we are constantly on the go! This will be my second attempt at the Whole 30. Last year, I started with the August group and made it to day 18, but then our daughter broke her elbow and with the stay in the hospital & the stress, I reverted back to my old (bad) habits. I've kept up with a lot of the things, but a lot I've let slide as well.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with you Jenny about planning & being prepared! It’s something that I have to stick with & I know if I do, I'll be successful.

 

I'm doing this because I want to lose weight - of course! I'm still carrying around the weight I had gained when I was pregnant, almost 6 years later! This past weekend we were cleaning out our basement and I found a bag of pre-pregnancy clothes and I found a t-shirt that I had purchased at the WI State Fair 7 years. It was a Youth XL - can you even imagine?!?!?! SO that was a bit of a wake-up call.

 

The other things I'd like to do this for are:

- improved sleep - last year, when I did this - it was amazing!

- relief from my seasonal allergies - they have been a nightmare and nothing is helping this year

- relief from swelling & inflammation – when I first get up in the morning, my joints ache – I want that to go away

- just an overall better feeling!

 

My biggest challenges will be:

- staying prepared with our busy schedule – I know it’s going to hard, but I just have to do it.

- outings to the ballpark – our Milwaukee Brewers are in 1st place, so we’re taking in a lot of games this year. I have to remember that the reason  

  we’re going is to support the team, not to eat the food!

- The WI State Fair at the beginning of the month – it’s going to be tough, but I’ve already started scoping out the foods that are Whole 30

  compliant!

 

Last night I started re-reading “It Starts with Food” – if you haven’t read it – I highly recommend it. It’s not necessary & all of the materials are available here on the website, but it’s a really good reference.

 

Looking forward to this health journey with you all!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brittany & Jodi... so nice to meet you!   I agree this is going to be a bit of a challenge for all of us, but I think we can get through it if we stick together.  The more we prepare, mentally as well as in the kitchen with prep work, the better I think. I work out of my home and can get very busy, so I tend to grab whatever is available. So for me, the key will be to have things on hand that will allow me to throw a meal together quickly.  Like chopping veggies, bagging up salad greens, maybe pre cooking some chicken breasts and dicing it up for salads as well as grilling some fish or hamburger patty's that can be heated up later.  Breakfast should be easy enough. I like eggs, so I can make a veggie omelet or mini quiches etc...  Easy peasy eh?  The real difficulty will be not giving in to temptation!  

 

Curious to know if any of you are going to attempt any exercise during your 30 days?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

I am Angela and I live in South Africa. My motivation for doing Whole 30 is to redefine my relationship with food. I know that I am sensitive to gluten having followed something called the Real Meal Revolution which is similar to the W30. Reading ISWF simply put the concepts that RMR introduced into the scientific format that my brain could readily accept. Fortunately we have ready access to organic produce and pastured reared meats etc - plus they deliver! And when it is all over I have a brilliant local restaurant that not only has a paleo menu, but makes dinners for collection! My challenge will be to motivate myself to cook when I would usually be relaxing and playing with my kids after work and then grabbing something processed and convenient and quick. So I am trying to start some prep work. It's winter here so broccoli soup (a favourite in our house) is on the stove as we speak. In truth, we all know that 30 Days is but a fraction of time so here's to all of us for seeing it through and coming out physically and psychologically better on the other side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello everyone!  My name is Linde and I'm new to the Whole 30 program.  I live in Wisconsin with my daughter, who will (maybe) be doing the program with me.  I am a 62 year old college student and I am very much looking forward to this new-to-me way of eating.

I am hoping to lose weight, lower my blood pressure and hopefully ease up the arthritis and depression. 

I think the biggest challenge will be to keep from falling back into the bad habits of skipping meals, snacking and eating junk all day.

My Kindle has just finished downloading "It Starts With Food", so reading will be on the agenda for this evening!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Angela, what part of South Africa are you from?  I have a friend who lived there for 15 years and she and her husband recently migrated back to the USA this past year.  Her husband Brendon worked running Safari's in Kruger National Park (I hope I spelled that correctly!).  It's so beautiful there!   Will have to check out Paleo Grubs!  This is why a support group is so good..we can gather some great tips!

 

Linde, I'm so impressed that you are heading back to school as a non-traditional student.  What is your major?  It's going to be a whole new you in so many ways... starting with your health and earning your degree!  I think you'll find that this program will give you some extra energy that you need to help you with school.  I downloaded the book too and just today I subscribed for the 30 day support newsletter. I received the first email this morning and I can tell it's going to be a worthwhile tool in 'guiding' me through the whole 30 day process.  I've heard it's been very beneficial for everyone and it's less then $15.00 for the whole month.  I highly recommend it!

 

Another questions I'm putting out to everyone.. does anyone have any favorite recipes they would like to share? I'm looking for some easy lunch and dinner options.

 

Smiles to all!

 

Jenny

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!  This is Jennifer.  I live in Nashville with my husband and will be starting the Whole 30 July 29!  Yay!  I've been psyching myself up for this for the past few days.  I'd like to tag along with this August 1 group.  My motivation for doing this other that general health is to improve my sleep, loose a few pounds and break some bad eating habits.  I'll be getting coffee with milk today for the last time!  Whoo hoo!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Everyone and Thank You Jenny for starting this thread for August 1st Starters.

 

1) I am 26 and live in Raleigh, NC. I am a teacher and a Coach at a local HS. My gf who is not participating in the forum is also doing the Whole30 with me (she is a teacher as well).

 

2) My girlfriend and I are looking for a life-style change when it comes to how we eat. We constantly find ourselves binge eating and constantly feel tired when we finally have enough time to spend with each other. We have attempted to eat cleaner over the last 3 years, but always find our selves falling short, not long after we started. Neither of us are over weight, and she has been much better going to the gym then I have. 

 

3) My greatest challenges are time, eating enough, the cost of food, and being educated on what is acceptable . I have done diets in the past, but I do not want to eat the exact same thing every single day... I plan to be working out with some high intensity and very regularly which means I will need to consume around 2,300-2,500 calories/day. Without bread and grains and other things we can't eat that are higher in calories it is very difficult to reach that number. Also, being a teacher the cost of eating correctly becomes tough on the wallet.

  

4) Goals for August:

        1. Keeping food interesting

        2. Staying up on this forum for support (for myself and others)

        3. Lose some of the extra belly fat I have... I would like all of the hard work I put in the gym to be visible!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the welcome, Jenny.  Right now, I'm leaning toward a major in social work, but have plenty of time to decide...everything is so interesting, it's hard to choose just one major.   I am taking the basics at our community college and will be transferring to a university in a year or two. 

 

I'm so glad you mentioned the support newsletter!  I'm sure it will be a valuable tool in getting through the next few weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the past diets that I have attempted, the MyFitnessPal app has been a great way of tracking what I have eaten. I highly recommend the app if you are interested in tracking each day.

 

Also, How many of you all are going to participate in a fitness regimen as you complete Whole30??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Brian welcome to you as well as Jennifer & Linde!  I have a feeling this is going to be a great group!

 

I plan to participate in exercise, but probably not until my 2nd or 3rd week.  According to the book, they don't recommend it the first week for some, as people can get a little tired while their body is detoxing.   I have a couple of things I like.  "PiYo" combines both Yoga & Pilates mixed with cardio, using your body as leverage for weight training.  I also started my own "Strut Your Mutt" walking fitness program.  I have two dogs that I walk with. It's good for them as it is for me and makes for great bonding time.  I heard that Les Mills Pump was suppose to be good too and I may try that down the road.  

 

Brian, what fitness program do you follow?  

 

Jennifer, I'm so glad you joined our little group!  It's going be fun!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is a program called Flytright, there is an app on the App Store with instructional videos. It is pretty high intensity stuff. It is meant for an increase in vertical jump, my main intention on completing this is to see if it would be beneficial for my basketball players to complete. I will also be accompanying it with a strength training workout each day. Although it may be lofty to be able to make such a change in the next 30 days, If I can get through it, it will be life changing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi, my name is Patty, and I live in the Midwest with my wonderful husband and 4 kids.

 

I am joining the Whole 30 as a kickstart to healing my leaky gut.  i have started the W30 three other times, and quit on day 3 because i wanted sugar.  i am addicted to sugar, yet know that i have leaky gut syndrome and desperately need to change my eating habits for life. 

 

my greatest challenges are sweets, plain and simple.  I'm not overweight, but I love sweets and crave them something terrible!  another challenge is just sticking with the Whole30 challenge, from start to finish.

 

three goals that i hope to accomplish in the month of August are,

 

1) sticking with this challenge no matter how hard it is!

 

2) kicking my sugar addiction

 

30 developing healthier eating habits that will stick with me for life

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a suggestion to all, click to receive notifications when things are posted in this thread. The constant updates from your peers will help get you through those rough moments where you might crack. Even if it is coming from complete strangers, support is essential when trying to change the way you live your life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My name is Angela and I am starting Whole 30 on Friday.  My sister introduced me to the book and I am very excited!  I am 30 years old and am married to a wonderful man for almost 10 years. I am the mother of 2 boys, ages 3 and 4.  I am currently a second year PhD student in Criminal Justice.  My schedule is INSANE! I want to get more energy and not feel so foggy all the time.  I have a rough semester ahead and starting Friday will put me at almost finished by the time classes start on the 27th. 

 

I also want to set a good example for the hubs and my boys.  We all need to get better about what we eat, so it's going to have to start with me!

 

I am scared about dealing with the cravings and the unpleasant feelings, but my sister and my mom have confidence in me, which helps.  I hope to create a new relationship with food, get healthier and feel better about myself! So here are my goals:

1. Kick the carbs! I LOVE pasta and it's my downfall, far more than sweets.  But I think we are going to have to have the "It's not me, it's you" discussion. :-)

2. Get more energy! My boys are super energetic and I cannot keep up with them, but that needs to change!

3. I have had asthma since age three, and I hope to improve my symptoms and eventually get off the meds.

 

So, here's to the next 30 days!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here goes...

My name is Shelley and I live in Wales. I have a two year old son, I work as a manager in the learning and development of our local health board and I'm studying to do a degree in psychology. I've always always always had a very poor relationship with food. I have spent a lot of my life being overweight, though my weight has ranged from 118lbs to 241lbs. I have spent a few months following whole30 on Instagram and have finally built up to starting it for real on 1st August. I am doing this so that I can break the addiction I have with the wrong foods, find out what my body actually can/can't deal with, learn how to listen to my body and so that I can take pictures of myself win my little boy, rather than it just being him only. My greatest challenges will be myself and between meal eating.

I hope that this group will give me the encouragement that I need, just as I'm going to be giving as much encouragement as I can to others.

Speak soon!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello everyone!

 

My name is Shella and I live in South Florida with my husband and our three fur-kids.  My life revolves around endurance sports:  I'm a marathoner and an Ironman finisher; a running coach; and the manager of a specialty running and walking store.  When I'm not doing my endurance sports gig, you can find me cooking away in our kitchen!  I'm a foodie and absolutely LOVE to cook.  I have even attended some culinary seminars/classes.

 

Last November I teamed up with an amazing sport's dietitian who helped me clear wheat out of our household and allowed me to see that carbo loading, in the traditional sense (boat loads of pasta before key workouts or races), is not necessary to have a strong training/race performance.  It has been life changing.

 

I no longer have mid-day lulls and most of my issues with bloating/gas have cleared up; however, "most" is not good enough.  I still have the tendency to go to bed with what looks like a five-month pregnant belly and according to my husband, I nearly "stink" him out of the house.  I have long had my suspicions about soy, peanuts, certain types of lettuce and cruciferous veggies, but recently I think I might have an issue with fructose too (it's a sad day when a peach can make a person so uncomfortable).  I seem to be tolerant of dairy, but I also don't eat it in mass quantities.  I haven't had cow's milk in about a year, but I have a small love affair with cottage cheese... a known FODMAP.

 

I figure the only way to really dial in which food items I can tolerate is to begin to eliminate the remaining items that I'm suspicious of.  I plan on using the Whole30 FODMAP grocery list beginning on August 1st.  I actually began weeding some things out today.  I skipped the onion on my tuna, measured out my spinach and am baking my chicken thighs this evening without garlic or onion powder in my rub... a very difficult thing for an amateur chef to do!

 

Since I already follow what could loosely be considered a primal diet, I know that my greatest challenge is going to be cutting out dairy, specifically heavy whipping cream, cottage cheese and swiss cheese.  All of these are low FODMAP items, but are not Whole30.  It's a bit scary to me.  I also am saddened by the fact that I will not be able to make cauliflower mashed potatoes (FODMAP item).  I have fallen in love with these, but I'm not 100% certain that they love me back. 

 

My three goals for August would be: 

 

1)  Uncovering any final food sensitivities that I might have.  I realize this will probably not be revealed to me fully until I "attempt" to add them back in in September.

 

2)  Shed about 4 pounds to get down to race weight for an upcoming marathon.  Tightening my diet up with the Whole30 should do the trick.

 

3)  Finally, a full week (or two) of going to bed without a "baby belly" would be really, really nice!

 

I obviously plan to exercise during my Whole30, but my body is already used to functioning without grains, added sugar, etc... It's learned to fuel from fat from years of endurance training, so my situation may be different from others.   During a marathon build, I will train anywhere from 10 to 12 hours per week.  This includes all of my running, cross-training and my strength training.

 

Also, someone asked about recipes.  My favorite books/websites are "Against All Grain", "PaleoOMG" and "Detoxinista".  I dig up a lot of inspiration from these three sites.  Not all of the recipes are Whole30 compliant (or FODMAP friendly), but many are and you can certainly dig up a lot of inspiration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My name is Lori and I live in the Midwest.  I have three daughters, 26, 20 and 18. I work a desk job all day but I do see a personal trainer 3 days per week for weight training. I have done the Whole 30 before and experienced great benefits from removing gluten and dairy from my diet. I had so much more energy, got rid of the bloat and had markedly better mood.  But, alas, I got caught up in life and I have been a little lax.  I need a reboot!

 

My goals:

 

1.  Prepare all my menus in advance on Thursday of each week.

 

2.  Get control of my acid reflux.

 

3.  Take advantage of this forum and the support it offers so I don't get too far off track again.

 

Looking forward to it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys,

 

my name's Kathy and I am in for a second round on August 1st :) I'm currently on Day 29 of a Whole30 and will be trying to push through to make it a Whole100 as I am going on holidays at the end of the year for two months and want to really enjoy myself.

 

I live on the Central Coast in NSW, Australia and have a busy lifestyle with my husband. He commutes to Sydney to work and I have a full time job on the coast and also run a tuition business from our house. We have a kitten and a puppy and are also in the middle of kitchen renovations! So doing the Whole30 has been challenging and I'm still learning about how my body reacts to certain foods. I haven't broken any of the Whole30 rules but I know that there are things I can do better. Because we haven't had access to cooking facilities for two weeks I have relied a lot on fruit to get my 1-2 cups in per meal so I'm looking forward to changing that up this round.

 

My husband and I are also really interested in photography and he is starting up his own business which I will help him to run. It's a lot of fun but also requires a lot of energy and sometimes it's hard to find that motivation. I go to the gym 4 days a week but am in remission for a back injury so I'm restricted to the type of exercises I can do; however, so far I've noticed a massive increase in my ability to take on more and more so the Whole30 is already having good effects on me :)

 

My goals for round 2 are to mix up the types of vegetables I'm eating so that I'm getting a wide range of nutrients, focus more on my sleeping habits and be more vigilant about eating out.

 

Looking forward to the kick-off date! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello to everyone again!   

 

I was just thinking.  I've seen a few posts from people who have started this challenge before and quit before completion.  I'm one of those who has a hard time sticking with a diet for very long, which is one of the reasons I'm initiating this forum.  In reading through your introductions, I'm seeing that some of us have health issues that we need to address, so it's almost critical that we stay the course.

 

I'm wondering if we could all brain storm together some ideas of what to do when those moments of weakness arise.  It may be different for each of us. For me, it's all about planning ahead #1 and also about removing temptations.  Just like Patty mentioned, I have a hard time with sweets, so I'm thinking of keeping fresh, sweet fruit on hand to grab when I need the urge to eat something sweet.

 

I also purchased a "Dessert Bullet" a few months ago and I have to say it has been a lifesaver!   I freeze whole bananas in batches. Then when I  have the urge to eat something with a dessert flare.   I slice up some strawberries, roll the frozen banana slices in organic cocoa powder, pour a few drops of vanilla into the dessert bullet shoot and run the bananas through.  It tastes just about as good as a soft serve icecream and I serve it on top of sliced strawberries.  It's really the equivalent of 2 fruits.    I don't know if organic cocoa powder is allowed or not, but I only use about a teaspoon for the whole coating, or it can be eaten plan without cocoa.   If you've never seen a dessert bullet, Google it and watch a video on it.  They are amazing.  You can run any kind of fresh frozen fruit through the device for a lovely sorbet!  The possibilities are endless.

 

Second... I want to toss this out there for anyone who wants to connect with me.  My Facebook page is: 

 

https://www.facebook.com/jenny.fedei

 

Maybe we could come up with some suggestions among us as to how we work through those moments when we are feeling weak and want to break our diet.  

 

I believe we can do this.  It's only 30 days.

 

Best to all!  :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi I'm Vanessa, I live in New Zealand with my husband and 6 year old son. My husband works in an office all day - sitting, staring at a computer screen. I am a stay at home mum even though my 6 year old is at school all day! I take care of the home and cooking while my two boys are busy with their lives.

I decided to join Whole30 because my husband and I had bad eating habits and even though I don't have any major health issues, my husband started to get some and rely on medication and he's only 32! His office job wasn't helping him get any healthier and he was depending more on fast food to just survive the day - just a vicious cycle.

Our 6 year old was the healthier eater in the house - not eating anything sweet or drinking anything other than water and had discipline my husband and I didn't have. Unfortunately, I'm now starting to see some signs that he is picking up some bad habits from us and seeing food in an unhealthy way and I wanted to completely change the way we ALL see food. Thankfully when I explained the program to my husband, he was happy (an overstatement) to join in with me and for us to be each other's support. Our son will, unknowingly, be on the same program bar some exceptions for him (sandwiches for school lunches etc) but we want to not only incorporate some much needed healthy food into our eating but also learn some much needed willpower and discipline.

Our challenges will be:

* A lack of variety of health food alternatives e.g. coconut aminos and other hard to come by ingredients that are not easily sourced on this side of the world without paying an arm and a leg.

* Cost - Vegetables and meat (organic or not) are expensive in NZ and being winter here, our options for vegetables are limited anyway. Also, my husband gets paid monthly - so trying to budget enough to cover for vegetables that will last the entire month will be difficult. Meal planning is great before the month starts (which we have) but if the recipes we try at the beginning of the month need to change because it doesn't work for us (we want to ENJOY what we eat or we won't survive), flexibility in the meal plan is needed which is difficult to plan for a month in advance.

* I don't enjoy cooking. Both my husband and I are not good at cooking. We can follow recipes but our finished product is always not just right so we always depend on our go-to recipes which are few and very unhealthy. Our fear is that it will happen in our Whole30 month and we will fail at the amazing recipes we've added to our meal plan and will resort back to our go-to recipes and justify our reasons.

Our goals for our first Whole30 are:

 

1) Don't spend 2 months worth of food budget in 1 month. Stick to our budget - with a SMALL leeway just in case.

2) Lower or hopefully get rid of all our health ailments we have so our medicine cabinet isn't full of prescriptions.
3) Get better sleeping habits! We are always tired because we sleep late, wake early and never catch up. Only our son gets his full 12 hours sleep a night.

I look forward to coming on here with like-minded people like you all!

Good luck to us all :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Everyone!!  My name is Colleen and I am excited to join you all August 1st!!

 

I'm from Nebraska, am married and mom to two boys (18 and 22).  I work full time at an office job.  I'm approaching my 50th birthday soon, September 4th, and feel an urgency to get a grip on my eating issues (yo-yo dieting, sugar addiction, emotional eating).  I want to make goals and REACH THEM!!  Time's a-wasting!! 

 

I also have Ulcerative Colitis - a problem that started when I gave birth to my first child.  It seems like there are several of us out here in the paleo blog-o-sphere dealing with this illness.  I struggled with poor control for many years, but the last few have been pretty good - though I take some powerful and expensive medicines. 

 

My goals:

 

1.  Conquer my eating issues (as above)

2.  Lose some weight and/or inches

3.  Have the satisfaction of seeing this thing through

 

Glad to be here!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...