Newbie - Making My Introductions

[stubz706]

Hello all, my name is Christiaan. I'm a 25year old male and I live in the UK. In Bristol, England to be more specific. I'm currently on day 8 of my whole30 after completing three days and then making some poor choices and having to start again. In any case I'm 8 days strong now.

This is my first post as it's also my first day of signing up or rather creating an account for the forum.

Who are you all? And how are you getting on?

[Derval]

Welcome Christian, best of luck second time round and well done on 8 days under your belt!

[stubz706]

Thank you. 8 days gone feels good feels like there isn't long to go. Lol. At the moment and up until now I haven't really been struggling with 'the sugar dragon' or anything like that. I just feel really focused on my goal. The only thing that could be a problem is that I sometimes miss meal 1 like this morning and yesterday for example. It's not for not wanting to eat, it's that I wake up to late and have to get to work. Sometimes I have something at work, but the past two days I haven't been able to. :-S hopefully tomorrow I'll sort it. I think I'm try a whole life rather then a whole30. Or at least a whole90 maybe. :-D

[daisydaisy]

Hi! Small world - I'm from Bristol too! Out of curiosity, how did you stumble across the whole9/whole30 thing? Congrats on lasting 8 days - that seems like an eternity from here, but am also thinking a whole '90' might be required!!

[maggyk]

Day 4 for me. So far so good. Except for two homemade mayonnaise fails (will try again tomorrow, mixing in the oil even more sloooooowly), I haven't had any real difficulty, although label reading has been an eye opener. When I discovered soy in my canned tuna, I realized this would be a little harder than I'd suspected. Instead of thinking about cheating/not cheating, I've decided to switch metaphors and think about this like the time my husband broke his ankle. It was broken, so no walking or standing on it. Period. It needed to heal. My digestive system is broken and needs time to heal. "Cheating" is for diets...the theory that I can make up for a cupcake or a pizza or whatever if I work out a little more tomorrow or just take a little longer to lose the weight. Healing, on the other hand, means letting the parts of me that try to handle gluten, lactose, etc., get a complete rest so they can get back to full function. It has required a lot of effort and creative problem solving initially (I didn't even know there WERE coconut aminos, much less where to find them), but so did making the house wheelchair friendly, developing a strategy for getting clean without getting the cast wet, and scratching unreachable itches. Fully functional ankle? Worth it. Looking forward to a fully functional digestive system, too. And now, off to the gym.

[connistock]

Hey Christian,

Snap! Someone who restarted on the same day as me! Bring on Day 9! I am sleeping later than normal as well. After checking out the Whole 30 timeline, I realized that we are in the stage of full sleeping. I have remedied my late breakfast by eating leftovers. Sounds boring but I actually grabbed a piece of my steak, couple of almonds, a handful of raw carrots and a strawberry for good measure. Yesterday, I had to rely on a Larabar (Didn't eat the whole thing but felt fine until lunch). Good luck to you and we can do this for sure! I will NOT have to restart again!

BTW: Are you a football fan? If so, you will understand this imagery... I see everyday like it is my own football match... I am the manager and I must have RIGHT formation, the BEST possible players I can afford, and I must trusted to do my job to the BEST of my ability so I can BEAT ManU, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham so I can be BACK. In the Champions League!

You'll Never Walk Alone!

[stubz706]

Day 10 BoooYA! Pretty much 33% of the way there now, or 11% if I go for a whole90. We will see though. As before I'm still not finding it all that difficult. I still get to eat great food and I don't yet feel like I'm missing all the rubbish processed foods. I haven't consumed any legumes or grains or dairy. It's all good. I have psoriasis, which seems to be taking a turn for the better. Still a way to go yet and I'm hoping that it will continue to improve. I've definitely lost fat, still more to go...a lot more to go but it'll go. I'm in this for the long haul. For my health and well being. It takes 4 weeks for you to notice a change in body composition, 8 weeks for family and friends and 12 weeks for the whole world! This is kind of why I want to do whole90. And then carry on to Whole9Life! Anyway enough about that at the moment.

On day 8 or rather night 8 and leading in to day 9, I had my first food dream. Hahaha. I had read in some Whole30 literature that it is normal and that people do experience these types of dreams. Mine was really curious. From what I recall I had eaten some carb product like a sandwhich or pizza or something that was laden with unapproved Whole30 foods. I didn't realise I was eating it though and it was as if it was an accident. Then once I came to and out of my food eating stupor I recognised what I had done. I felt awful and then if I remember correctly, I thought well I've already messed up I might as well carry on. Oh NO!! :-O I was glad to wake up and realise that it was all a dream. Phew. Haha.

@Connistock I'm not a huge football fan. I will watch it but I play rugby so I'm more interested in that. I would say I am however most certainly a sports fan. Your analogy works for all teams sports and I like it very much. I haven't managed my team very well today, in that I now need to go out and find myself some food for Meal 2. I didn't bring enough to work with me today.

How are you finding Day 10, you still going strong? What type of foods are you making? What's been your favourite so far? Also what are your aims, by that I mean why are you doing Whole30? I'm glad you are experiencing the same sleeping patterns as myself. This morning I felt like could have gotten up earlier, I didn't though, I fell back asleep. Hopefully that'll change soon enough. I'm expecting it soon. Where is this Whole30 timeline that you speak of?

@MaggyK, I think that you are exactly right, cheating has all the wrong conatiations. Largely because they are negative conatations. I think that we need to be honest with ourselves and just say this is my choice. Not so much, oh I'm going to cheat, and further to what you said about the injury and healing etc cheating will put a kibosh on that process. We have to be clean for some time to experience real changes, and to see the real health benefits. How is day 6 going for you?

@daisydaisy huzaaah. Or rather gurt another Bristolian. Although I can't proclaim to be a true Bristolian as I moved here for university only and have loved it so much so have stayed. 6 years come september 19th. Perhaps I can be an honorary Bristolian. Lol. In any case it's brilliant to meet you. I didn't think that I'd find anyone else here in Bristol doing the Whole30.

How are you finding doing Whole30 here in Bristol? You finding all the right foods to eat etc? Where are you going to shop and what type of foods are you cooking?

I was actually pointed to Whole30. I have for the entirety of 2012 being trying to loose or rather get rid of fat. I'm reluctant to say loose, because I have absolutely not intention of finding it again. In any case, I have been looking at various ways of doing and have been trying a number of ways too. I was doing something called 4 hour body by Tim Ferriss and I had also tried Paleo (but hadn't read anything as comprehensive as 'It starts with food' so wasn't sure what to be doing) anyway I was on forum for 4 hour body and was explaining that I was struggling with the amount of training that I am doing and the food. (Monday Night Martial Arts, Tuesday Night Rugby, Wednesday Night CrossFit, Thursday Night Martial Arts followed by Rugby, Friday Night CrossFit and Saturday Day Rugby Match, Sunday Rest Day) and despite all my exercise I wasn't loosing weight. Not only that it was a struggle as the food wasn't really working for me. So this having been mentioned on that forum someone said that I should read 'It starts with Food' and it has to be just about the best advice that anyone has given me so far!

Hopefully with the continued nutrional change and the training I can really ammend my body composition. What are your motives for Whole30 and how did you find out about it?

Cheers Guys for all the replies, keep them coming!!!

Right time for some Whole30 meal 2 food. I'll see what I can find.

[stubz706]

Well, well, well. Is the magic beiginning? I woke up this morning at 0700 with no alarm not nothing just woke up! Day 11 and I'm full of energy...so far... it is only 0853. Lol. I was singing in the shower this morning and singing and smiling at work too. Is this the start of something new?

I had another food dream last night, this time it was about chocolate. Hmm they were yummy in my dream. I honestly didn't think I would be getting any of those types of dreams but hey ho. At least they are in my dreams rather then in real life. I guess the craving in my dreams makes up for my lack of craving in real life.

@connistock how are you getting on? You still going strong. How is day 11 feeling for you?

[daisydaisy]

@daisydaisy huzaaah. Or rather gurt another Bristolian. Although I can't proclaim to be a true Bristolian as I moved here for university only and have loved it so much so have stayed. 6 years come september 19th. Perhaps I can be an honorary Bristolian. Lol. In any case it's brilliant to meet you. I didn't think that I'd find anyone else here in Bristol doing the Whole30.

How are you finding doing Whole30 here in Bristol? You finding all the right foods to eat etc? Where are you going to shop and what type of foods are you cooking?

I was actually pointed to Whole30. I have for the entirety of 2012 being trying to loose or rather get rid of fat. I'm reluctant to say loose, because I have absolutely not intention of finding it again. In any case, I have been looking at various ways of doing and have been trying a number of ways too. I was doing something called 4 hour body by Tim Ferriss and I had also tried Paleo (but hadn't read anything as comprehensive as 'It starts with food' so wasn't sure what to be doing) anyway I was on forum for 4 hour body and was explaining that I was struggling with the amount of training that I am doing and the food. (Monday Night Martial Arts, Tuesday Night Rugby, Wednesday Night CrossFit, Thursday Night Martial Arts followed by Rugby, Friday Night CrossFit and Saturday Day Rugby Match, Sunday Rest Day) and despite all my exercise I wasn't loosing weight. Not only that it was a struggle as the food wasn't really working for me. So this having been mentioned on that forum someone said that I should read 'It starts with Food' and it has to be just about the best advice that anyone has given me so far!

Hopefully with the continued nutrional change and the training I can really ammend my body composition. What are your motives for Whole30 and how did you find out about it?

Hi!

Congrats on getting to day 11, I'm on day 4 (5 really, but the whole9 daily emails started a day late, so that's my little secret extra day!), and feel ok so far. Have kind of done something similar before and had cut out most wheat products for a while so perhaps it was easier for my body to shift into whole30 mode... although don't want to get too smug, as it could hit me BAM tomorrow or something! In fact, am off for a weekend away camping with friends where there will be SO much booze to try and avoid... :-/

I'm also a 'fake' Bristolian having moved here about 4 years ago for work, but love it here... although having said that am in the process of moving to Oz in November, but you know, as far as cities go I think Bristol is the best in the UK!!

With regards to finding food in Bristol, if I get the chance I go to a local butchers and grocery shop for veg, but the organic 'better food co' in st Werburghs and scoopaway on Glos Road is good for coconutty products and other bits and bobs. Otherwise, co-op isn't so bad, can get quite a lot of free-range meat there. Mostly avoid going out to eat at a restaurant - have recently had to submit my menu choices for a work do, and ended up being so prescriptive they must think I'm a total weirdo!!

Yay you also crossfit! I found out about the paleo diet through watching a video my local crossfit gym posted (crossfit avon - where do you go?) and got interested. From there, I read a book by Robb Wolf, became moderately obsessed by the topic, and through forums found the whole30 idea back in Feb, but have only now decided that all out 'war' on my standard diet was required! I don't go to crossfit as much as I'd like, as haven't found a routine that works for me with my job/my ability to make a million excuses under the sun, but I do enjoy it (is "enjoy" the right word??).

Anyway, very long post, but good to 'meet' someone in Bristol doing a whole30 - no one I've ever spoken to in 'real' life has ever heard of it! A few people refer to it as a "weirdo caveman diet" and then bug me with a million questions as to why I'm eating certain things that aren't what cavemen ate, etc etc, gets quite frustrating/boring! How are you finding the not drinking? Are your friends supportive?

Cheers

[maggyk]

First 6 days have gone well. Aside from some low-grade headaches, so far it's been pretty good. I had a strange dream last night about a giant bag of pretzels that I was trying to put away from the living room because they weren't exactly tempting, but I was worried I'd start to eat them in a moment of distraction. So far I haven't wanted to kill anyone or anything (Quaker lifestyle beats out Whole30 sugar cravings??). Biggest challenge was the initial grocery shopping, but now that I know where to find things, I expect that to get easier. I'm having to cook a LOT more than I'm used to, but I'm really enjoying the results, so that's OK, too. I just have to do lots of planning...making sure I have ingredients and time on hand to actually come up with a reasonable meal. As the saying goes, "failure to plan is a plan to fail." Well done everyone on your progress thus far.

[stubz706]

Go team go!! We've got a 5dayer with @daisydaisy and a 6dayer with @maggyk keep rocking it gals we got this! If I'm not mistaken and if @connistock is still going strong then we have another 11dayer. :-D Good times.

@daisydaisy I'm also at CrossFit Avon with Andrew...and Charlie and Paul and I guess Vandy too. Coaches wise of course, there are many others there as you know. I haven't been for a couple of weeks myself it has to be said. In part owing to Whole30, I wanted my body to adjust to the food changes and then bring exercise in. I trained on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, but this was in Martial Arts only, as there is a grading coming up in September so I want to do that. It means Rugby and CrossFit are sitting on the backburner a little. It's all for a good cause and I still get a great and also very tough workout in Martial Arts.

CrossFit, hmmm I have to be honest, I think 'ENJOY' is the right word. Lol. I love it. So much fun the guys at the box and the work, yeah its tough but it's great!

As far as drinking, well some of my friends are supportive others at the rugby club for example aren't. I haven't faltered though. And at work there are biscuits about which people keep on offering me and I politely decline. I think so far I'm doing pretty well on that front. My friends had fish and chips the other day and that didn't tempt me at all. So all's good atm.

Moving to OZ eh? My father just moved to Brisbane for a business project about six weeks ago. So hopefully I'll be going out on holiday at the beginning of next year. I will of course look for a box in Brisbane whilst I'm out there so that I can continue to train.

@maggyk I have to say that I am finding myself cooking a lot more now too, and I love it. experimenting with different (whole30 approved foods) and seeing what works with one thing and not with the other. One that tasted AMAZING, was par boiled sweet potatos, then put them in a frying pan with coconut oil, then put paprika on top and a pinch of salt, literally amazing. Seriously give it a go! I tried it with cinnamon the other night but it wasn't as good. And that's what I like about the experimenting.

I'm glad you got through your first shop ok. It's a real eye opener isn't it, seeing what is in some of that 'supernormal food'. It's really made me think about so called 'food' manufacturers, I genuinely think that it's completely immoral what they do to foods.

In your dream did you manage to get the pretzel out of the room? Did you give in to temptation? Next time you have a dream like that, I say go for it. Eat until your full. It's in a dream so it can't hurt you, at least it wasn't real life.

@daisydaisy remember to stay strong over the weekend. You can do this, I know you can. Don't give in to peer pressure and drinking it's not worth it. You can have fun without it. Remember to get yourself some water and put some freshly squeezed lime in it or something so that you have something in your hand and you don't look out of place. But stay off the alcohol. As the saying goes and as @maggyk has already alluded to, 'failing to plan is planning to fail' so plan your weekend away so that you have enough Whole30 with you. You don't want to have to start again on Tuesday after the bank holiday.

Over and out. lol. And go team go!!!

[DucatiGirl]

Hi Christiaan, Welcome! You sound like you are doing well. I'm on day 25 and finally feeling pretty good. I had a rough go of it during weeks 2 & 3, feeling really tired and lethargic, but am feeling more like myself now. I'm hoping to ramp up my exercise now that I'm not as tired and will hopefully recover more quickly (than the 2-3 days it was taking during weeks 2 & 3). I'm still not feeling the ultimate fabulousness many folks go on about but I'm hoping it will come. I have a feeling I may get to the end of my 30 days and feel the need to continue my Whole30 ways a bit longer.

Good for your for taking the challenge! See you in the forum.

-Megan

[maggyk]

Day 8 is just about over. The food has been amazing (spicy orange chicken and roasted broccoli is definitely a new favorite). The lowgrade headaches have really got to go, though. And I had my first -ever migraine Friday morning. On the plus side, I've gotten a lot of exercise this week, including 2 gym visits and a 5K charity race this morning. Friday (after I came home and had a 3-hour nap), I hadn't been planning to do anything but vegetate, but my body decided it really wanted exercise, so I took a walk through the neighborhood. I don't recall ever ...*ever*... having wanted to exercise before. I've certainly worked out before, but not because of any inner prompting - only because of will power/guilt. Inner promptings beat both of those hands down. How is everyone else doing with the weekend?

[Marcy]

I'm on Day 9 today. Came to the end of my initial grocery shop. So food options today weren't so great. Sweet potato and poached eggs for breakfast. Then went to crossfit and had a handful of walnuts and some blanched green beans for a snack. Had a couple of baked chicken legs late in the afternoon. Then more green beans and a burger with bacon (no bun obviously!), and my cod liver oil. I don't feel hungry today, just unsatisfied really. I know that's because I didn't have as much variety in veggies though. Most days I have also had kale or broccoli. So gotta shop and prep a bunch of food tomorrow before I go off the rails.

[daisydaisy]

@daisydaisy remember to stay strong over the weekend. You can do this, I know you can. Don't give in to peer pressure and drinking it's not worth it. You can have fun without it. Remember to get yourself some water and put some freshly squeezed lime in it or something so that you have something in your hand and you don't look out of place. But stay off the alcohol. As the saying goes and as @maggyk has already alluded to, 'failing to plan is planning to fail' so plan your weekend away so that you have enough Whole30 with you. You don't want to have to start again on Tuesday after the bank holiday.

Thank you so much for your supportive message, I read it just before I lost signal (was in Wales) and it really gave me a booster to think that if I succumbed to the pressure, I'd have to admit it to the forum (or slink off, tail between legs more likely!). I found the non-drinking actually surprisingly ok, as once I said "no", most people were kind of ok with it (it helped that there were a lot of people with young kids/babies who were also not drinking!), but it has also given me confidence to know that I totally can deal with those situations!

Planning ahead definitely helped too - not only did I take whole30 compliant food to the party to share with everyone else, I had a backup leftover chilli in the camper fridge, and a coconut-butter-based snack to see me through. We went off to the beach the next day, and I'd already pre-cooked some chicken for a quick pull together salad, can't believe I was so organised! It made all the difference though - rather than reaching last minute for a processed snack, it was great to know there was something good to go that still ticked all the right boxes. Have been hankering for LOADS of food today though, not off-plan food, just quantity of food, even though I've been eating plenty.

I've avoided crossfit since starting the whole30 - tried to do some pull ups/press ups at home and just felt pretty weak, so decided I'd give this a few more days and get more energy before going again, so have been sticking to light exercise for now. Keen to get back into it though, and there's Crossfit in Perth as well so looking forward to keeping it up!

[stubz706]

So that's day 14 done for me now, and my my was my bank holiday weekend (UK only; I'm guessing) hard. Not for any desire on my part but from a friend. I haven't seen this guy for a while and he lives in London (about 2 hours away for those across the pond) and we had organised to meet up over the long weekend. We met half way and stayed at my fathers house (empty as he has moved to Brisbane, Australia). The weekend was for a general catch up and we had organised to play golf and also go to the cinema to watch a couple of films.

I arrived in the area at about the same time that his train got in, so I duly picked him up and we parked the car to go and grab some food. There wasn't a table available at the time so we sat at the bar. I had a tap water with ice and he an orange juice with lemonade. He asked why I was having just water and I explained about whole thirty. About the principles behind it all and that I was really feeling good in myself after having completed 12 days of no unapproved foods. Our table became available and we sat down to eat. He was keen after our discussion to eat healthy - or so he said. We read through the menus and he wanted to order some starts. I was very concious about what to have he kept on saying for me to have calamari and we could share. I politely declined and ultimately decided on chorizo. Perhaps not the best but certainly not deep fried in some vegetable oils and covered in batter. For my main I went for a rare fillet steak and some green beans. As we proceeded to our film he tried to make me have ice cream again I kept saying no. I thought that after our talk at the bar and my saying now to the calamari that he ended up ordering and still offering me that he might get the picture. Evidently not. In any case I shan't tell you all the details as the story would go on. Over the weekend though he kept on telling me to eat crisps and ice cream and cookies etc. I'm very pleased with myself for not giving in, not even a morsel just to shut him up, lol. One comment he made was, go on have just one crisp just to show that you are human. This weekend to that end was my first real battle with someone challenging me.

Anyway enough about that!

@diasydaisy congratulations I'm so happy for you. Well done for not giving in to peer pressure. I feel that when you come out the other side of these challenges that you are all the better for it. Both mentally and physically. And if you can stay whole30 on a weekend away with no access to a kitchen I'm sure you can complete the rest of your whole30 challenge. I believe in you.

With regards to training whilst on W30 I'm similar. For my first week or so I wanted my body to adapt to the food changes. There were days as expected that I felt lethargic and figure that I would listen to my body and train when I'm ready, and when I did - Martial Arts - I felt a lot better. More energy and I feel that I was really pushing myself so that's all good. I should be back in the box after Sept 1st once my next grading is completed.

I think that's the key though, listening to your body, as aforementioned on the days I felt tired I slept and the same to you, on the days that you are feeling uber hungry just eat, W30 approved of course, but go for gold! Hahaha.

@DucatiGirl wow, 25 days, well done! That's fantastic. I think I'm with you on the whole60 front. I first want to get the Whole30 out of the way. That's for the physical changes of more energy which I already have but if there is more to come I'll welcome it. Also I wake up in the mornings now and don't feel the need to go back to sleep which for me is GREAT. Haha, not normally a morning person you see. I know that with W30 there is more to come so I eagerly await it all. I would however say and I hope it's not to early to say it...I think that I have changed my relationship with food, and my eating habits and choices have vastly improved. I don't think that I will ever eat the same again. I have the right mentality now. Here's hoping anyway.

@maggyk 8 days you go girl. Tehe. You're almost a third of the way there. The headaches - and I'm no doctor - could be a form of withdrawal. Just from your body not getting the sugar that it was used to. Migraines are never fun I have only ever had one and it was awful so I hope Friday's was your last. How have you felt over the past couple of days? Headaches gone yet? I'd say from the literature that I have read that maybe by day 11 or so that you should take a positive turn. Perhaps if by day 14 they haven't subsided maybe see if anyone else on the forum has experienced any similar symptoms. We are all here to help one another of course.

Spicy orange chicken sounds very tasty indeed. Was that a recipe from ISWF? Or is it something that you put together yourself?

An inner prompting to exercise is awesome, that's your body taking control and showing you that you can do it. Keep up the great work.

@marcy hello and welcome. Day 9 and your still going strong, congratulations. You won't go off the rails I assure you that, because you are 9 days strong so far, which means you're a day away from being 33% complete on your journey. This short journey which is the beginning of the rest of your life. You've got this. I'm with you entirely that it is a challenge to remain whole30 when you don't have the right stock in. Just make sure that if this is the case that you don't reach for the wrong type of food. Stay strong until you get to the shop and then get all your W30 approved items so that you can get home and cook a delicious and nutritious meal.

Poached egg and sweet potato sounds amazing. How did you have your sweet potato? What did you do to prepare it? I think it's my new favourite vegetable. You may have read above how I have been experimenting with it.

Anywho ladies and gents I must tie it up hear. It's great to hear from you all and keep the posts and updates coming in. We're in this together. Lets all hope that we can stay as strong as @DucatiGirl has done so far. She is 5 days away from completion, let's all keep going.

Peace and Love

[maggyk]

Day 12 is just about over, still going strong here. Funny moment was Monday when we had an outside client come in for a lunch meeting. Everyone else had their box lunch from one of the catering places. I excused myself for a moment to go heat my food, explaining that sandwiches weren't allowed on my current eating plan. And everyone felt really bad for me, having to eat my sad little diet food, until I came back in with my spicy orange chicken leftovers and the gazpacho I made on Sunday. Then they were jealous, instead.

The headaches seem to be winding down. At least there's been no repeat of the migraine, for which I'm grateful. Saturday I had one of my best finish times for the charity 5K I walked (45:30).

@Stubz, the chicken recipe came from one of the local farms here that sell quality meat. You can check out that recipe and some others at simpsonfamilyfarm.com. My other new favorite is Cajun baked sweet potato fries. My husband normally dislikes sweet potatoes, but he found these quite tasty. Congrats, by the way, on holding out against peer pressure. I wish other people didn't have to handle their own fears about not making the improvements they need in their own lives by sabotaging others, but seems like it's pretty common.

@daisydaisy, really good to hear how you worked your plan this past weekend and figured out how to avoid drinking while being social.

Keep up the great work, everyone! We can do this!

[stubz706]

@maggyk, that's brilliant I love that you came back with a delicious meal that they were all envious of. Haha. I bet they were regretting eating their sandwichs. Thank you for the website by the way I will make sure to check it out. I'm a little shocked that your husband doesn't/didn't like sweet potatos, they're amazing. Tehe. :-) No, I'm just joking, it's good that you brought him around with the Cajun Baked Sweet potatos.

It is curious that others struggle with our more real food choices over their supernormal food choices. Often I eat meal 1 at work and my have some chicken with broccoli and asparagus and maybe some nuts or perhaps avocado or something, or ground turkey with other veg etc and my colleagues always feel the need to pass comment. "Why are you having that for breakfast?, Isn't that a bit unhealthy a bit too rich for breakfast" and so on... "I'm not this is my meal one and who is it that suggests you should only have cereal and or toast with a glass of orange juice in the morning, why is it that we can't have a truly nutrious meal?" or something to that effect. I don't feel the need to pass comment on their food choices. But hey ho, that's what we have to go through, but I'm 17 days in now and I feel so much better that I'm not bothered what others say or think.

Day 12 is great, almost half way through the initial Whole30. Congrats. It seems like a downhill slope from now on for me. That said yesterday I experience my first thought about eating something of plan. Other then my dreams. I thought to myself oh, i'd love a pork pie. (do you have those in the states, they're like little picnic foods) Oh course I didn't have one. Lol.

Keep up the great work everybody!

[Spamfritter]

Hi all I am starting my first whole 30 on the 3rd sept x well prepared as been paleo for a few month caffine free also which was hard x I'm dreading giving up the alcohol other wise I've been pretty much whole 30 for a month any way x I am also uk x sunderland x and use x as my full stops so please forgive me ha x I started this journey through a friend and now I'm obbsessed with foods x I love cooking and experimenting and not finding it too hard now x like I say the alcohol will be the test x I have already planned my weeks meals and shopping for my first 7 dys and I do believe that is what will get me through x nice to hear you all working through the plan x keep it up x

[stubz706]

Welcome @Spamfritter (which by the way is certainly not Whole30, lol) anyway I hope you're ready for some magic to happen. See I haven't missed alcohol all that much, but each to their own, so it may well be that, that is your largest challenge. Come here for support though, we will help you through. Read the above and @daisydaisy's weekend away. She was camping with her friends and was worried that she might end up drinking. Nope! Go @daisydaisy.

I wanted to share two experiences with everyone. The first of which I will keep short, I went to make the mayo from ISWF last night only to discover that my blender was broken. I bought all the ingedients during the day and was super excited about making this delicious mayo, and I was going to have it with my lovely steak (accompanied with Dallas and Melissa's Mocha rub - amazing btw) Anyway I got home and noticed that it didn't look right, I thought nothing of it and put in all the ingredients and then as I blended everything started to fall out. I was so disappointed.

I have to say @Spamfritter I too am obsessed with my foods in that I love food and I love cooking and trying new things and putting all the bits and bobs together it's so fun. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed in such a way that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. No sir! Not now, not since W30! 18 days now and it seems each day gets better and better.

The second thing I want to share and to ask others if they have experinced it. Last night I was training and (I know this is odd) but my sweat felt cleaner. Purer some how, I'm not sure how to explain it. In comparison to when I trained and I was un-W30 last night my sweat felt noticably different. I know it's a strange thing to notice, and also to comment on but has anyone else experience this?

Keep Strong over the weekend everybody!

[maggyk]

Day 14! Definitely need to go shopping tonight. I didn't plan as well as I thought this week, and while there's food in my pantry, not much of it is Whole30 approved. I've been doing remarkably well in ignoring forbidden foods - actually, I've found them remarkably unappealing, which is WAY better than before Whole 30, where if I saw it, I pretty much had to eat it. I truly was starting to feel possessed. Still, it's much easier to stay on track when there's actual food to eat, so it's time to do a little shopping tonight, and hit the farmers market tomorrow morning.

Can't say that I've noticed anything new and different about my sweat (except that I do, in fact sweat because I'm actually working out again). I'll try to pay attention next time I go to the gym.

[stubz706]

@maggyk day 14, that's fantastic and you must now be on day 17 congratulations keep up the great work. It's lovely to hear that your headaches are slowly diminishing and that the Whole30 is taking it's hold.

I agree, most foods now that are not Whole30 approved don't seem as appetising to me. I also think that the more I say no to those foods and drinks then the easier it gets for me. That being said yesterday on day 20 I started to have some cravings, granted they weren't too strong but I did start to think about off plan foods fortunately I didn't faulter but it was bizarre to have such feelings. In fact I might say that they were my first real cravings in the whole time that I have been doing W30. Then low and behold day 21's W30 daily suggested that I might get such cravings so it's good to know that I am on track and that others have experienced similiar feelings.

I am, as aforementioned on day 21 now and my friend's wedding in Sweden is in 12 days so I think I'll stay on plan until then, and then I'll enjoy some wine and the like with them. On my return on the Monday I will start another W30. Just so that I can formulate a real and deep habit. I feel that I can make the right food choices now, and don't think that I necessarily need to have the daily's or anything like that. I may get them just to make sure that I can cement myself in to a real life change.

I don't think I could ever go back to where I was before though, and I feel that even at the wedding I will be very concious of what I eat.

How is everyone else doing? I haven't heard from any new Whole30ers in a while, nor have I heard from a couple of the people that have posted in here before.

I hope that everyone is on track and that they are loving life they way that it was intended.

[maggyk]

Day 17 just about done. Hope we haven't lost anyone along the way. I spent all day cooking again - roasted my first chicken, among other feats. Even without the health benefits, this may turn out to have been worth it just for finding out I actually like cooking. I have an appointment on this coming Thursday with my naturopath to figure out where we go from here. My recent changes in eating all started with what turns out to be gall stones. Six weeks of healthy eating definitely has me feeling better, but I suspect there's a gall bladder purge in my not-too-distant future. *shudder* Meanwhile, we'll see if she wants me to keep doing a Whole 90 or just go to basic Paleo after my 30 days are up. 90 might be tricky, since that starts to involve things like my birthday and Thanksgiving. Not sure my discipline is quite up to that. Spending day 29 in Chicago, the motherland of deep dish pizza, will be a test of nerves as it is.

[stubz706]

@maggyk I wholeheartedly agree, the cooking and eating fresh meals is an amazing bonus isn't it? Our bodies and minds are getting healthier and so are our cooking skills. I'm loving every minute of it!!

Normally I sleep very well anyway, and last night was no exception. The only thing with last night is that I got so much sleep, it was amazing! I went to sleep around 22.30 maybe 23.00 at the very latest but I'm certain it wasn't that late. I also forgot to set one or two alarms on my phone and only had the back up alarm on which was set for 07.50. So that means that I got almost 9 hours! Incredible! Albeit that I always sleep well this was un-interupted sleep straight through until my alarm went off. One thing I read on my journey and I can't remember where, but the article was talking about sleep. In any case it stated that you should (as we know) always sleep in pitch dark which i now do, i cover up my alarm clock and have no blinking lights etc, no tv in my room and my windows open behind my blinds because you are supposed to be a little cold. The one thing that i did differently though, and this was the bit that I had read about, was to and is to, sleep naked. Completely naked. In the past I slept with just boxers on, but I think this naked gig is something that I am going to emply more of. :-)

I'm hoping that we haven't lost anyone along the way too. :-S

You all set your your appointment today? Hopefully gall stones and the like get sorted. Sorry to hear that. Sometimes we need a catalyst to get us to change. And if this is yours, perhaps it's a blessing in disguise. :-D Especially as you are on day 19 now and rocking your new life. I'm up to day 24 now, not long until W30 is through, and as you know I'll carry on a little until this wedding I'm going to.

I'm sure that you will manage day 29. Especially know that you are one day away from completing your whole30. I had a bit of a challenge last night but only for a few seconds. I went to the cinema with a couple of my friends and one of them wanted to go to Burger King before. We duly went and as he sat down at the table with his tray I had an urge to pinch one of his chips (sorry; fries) It was a fleeting thought and fortunately I didn't. In the cinema he and his girlfriend had popcorn, sweets (candy), some chocolate and a soft drink. All of which they offered me. I politely declined, and on these foods I wasn't even tempted in the slightest. That one frie I did want, until I said to myself no, but the others I didn't fancy at all. :-D So if I can do it, you most certainly can. You can ignore pizza for the day that you are there!

Keep up the awesome work, and hopefully we can hear from someone else. See that some of the others are still going strong and perhaps some September newbies?!?

[maggyk]

Day 22 checked off the list. I'm getting so close! Did another 5K tonight - there wasn't an official clock, and my cell phone stopwatch turned off somewhere during mile 3, but my time for the first 2 miles was really good. Lots of silliness - the race started after sunset, everyone wore glow-in-the-dark gear, and there were tents with strobe lights and black lights set up along the course. Got to the end of the race and discovered they had no bananas or other safe snacks - all kinds of pretzels and cookies and such. Boo!

I've started to really notice food smells recently. Chocolate chip cookies, fried food...a bunch of other verboten stuff...good news is that while the food really smells amazing, if I think about it a moment I really don't want to eat it - I just like the smell. As the one sandwich place around here advertises, "Smells are free," so I'm doing OK.

My doctor appointment was pretty good - she's really impressed with how much I've improved in the 7 weeks since I started seeing her. Sadly, a gall bladder flush is still in my future, but I'm putting it off until after my 30 days are up, since it involves even more food restrictions. And as much as I've come to appreciate olive oil over the past few weeks, I'm definitely not looking forward to drinking a cup of it mixed with lemon juice. Ewwww.

Hope everyone else is still going strong. (And since you're a few days ahead of me, Christian, you must be very nearly finished! Yay!)