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much needed w30


Beets

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Day 20

M1: 1/2 sweet pot, ghee, ground beef, jicama, grapes, black coffee

M2: jicama, bit of salmon, tangelos

Snack: half handful of cashews (getting smaller every day)

M3: chicken, broccoli, 1/2 sweet pot with ghee

Still in Nh. Was 7 degrees out this am when I went to pick up my car from the dealership. Got my heater fixed! Just in time. I had no way to get groceries and I was down to one wilted piece of chard and cans of tuna.

M1 was late. Force feeding myself a heartier breakfast and lunch (not today but previous days) is definitely helping. Even though I ate later I was ok with snackiness today. Cashews were more of a post snow play "my kids are having hot chocolate and I want a snack too!" than any real disre to eat food. I stopped eating afre a few bc I didn't really want the nuts. I wanted to participate. So I tried to participate in the *moment* vs the eating.

I'm on Day 7 of yoga. Skipped last Sat. Been meditating though I haven't been able to get a good stretch of time. Should wake super early but still wiped from the late drive and crappy sleeping on a squashy mattress.

I drive home Monday for the last week, which will be strong in these areas:

- sleep 8 hours

- meditate 20 mins

- early large breakfast

- green leafy veg

Definitely good cardio--trudging through deep snow. Phew! Also started some new exercises as well as my old Ballet online vids. Butt is sore. Ramping up for more serious working out.

Snowing again. Really is amazing, all this snow. Especially clean snow.

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Day 24

Exhausted but don't want to totally lose track of tracking.

Meals were off schedule again. That trip really knocked me off my trajectory. So tired. Drinking too much coffee. Eating mostly template but at odd times--mostly waiting too long for breakfast and then rest of meals follow suit.

Adding a few more days of strict wholing next week to get in a longer regular string of three template meals eaten at regular intervals.

M1 10am: kale mango banana smoothie. Terrible I know but this super cute Israeli veg place opened around the corner. I love the vibe in there (and the coffee) and I got carried away. Also I was hungry bc I hadn't eaten. :(

Came home from dropping kids with unusual # of hours in front of me to get stuff done (daughter had play date after school and son gets picked for up lego class on Wed). Had grand plans to do bills, edit photos, respond to emails, etc., only to realize the kids must have shorted out my keyboard when they spilled water on my desk last week. Grrrrrrr.

Wasted a ton of time trying to fix and more time transferring an exercise vid to iTunes. Was worth it. Good work out. (Tonique Energy Mat.) Tough.

M2: 2pm dogs, kraut, sweet pot

M3 10:30pm ! Ack. Ground beef and sweet pot.

Got groceries (lots of greens) and a new totally disappointing keyboard I have to return tomorrow.

Lots of action today: I walked in the park, did a mat workout, bit of yoga, but of foam roller pilates. Wiped. Butt sore in a good way.

--

Day 23

-black coffee, sweet pot, salmon w parsley garlic gremolata. (?)

- Yummy collards w curry and CB. Sore body.

- perfect chicken thighs and another sweet pot. Need to food shop!

One thing I've gotten out of this whole is an easy reliable fast and delicious new veg: sautéed greens.

Started Tonique today. Sore. Tired. Zzzzzz.

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Want to log on and write a bunch on other people's threads but my keyboard is still not resolved. Spent four hours driving back and forth to Best Buy twice and came home empty handed. Grrrrr. Typing this out on a touch screen is as much as I can do right now. Still exhausted. Will write more soon--I promise.

Day 25

M1: vegan curried kale coconut milk soup with root veg, black coffee

Cute Israeli restaurant again. Yesterday she was playing Grisman & Garcia and today she had on old standards. It was freezing out. I didn't have a neck gaiter or balaclava required for a long walk in the cloudy frigid air. Took short walk and was starving when I got my coffee (out at home).

Why can't she serve a little plain meat? Then things would be perfect. She uses all fresh organic homemade simple stuff, fresh spices, coconut oil! This was made w homemade veg broth, no sugar or soy. It was good, but the jalapeño used to season made me itch a little. Prob should have jammed some meat in my mouth when I got home but I didn't have anything handy.

Took some time to read, which was self indulgent and much needed. My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard--brilliant, amazing, a new favorite, a book I've been waiting to read my whole life, want to eat it. yestreday he was writing about his father's death, and how the father ruined his elderly mother's house. The book father was a raging alcoholic but I could relate. I was weeping and snotting on myself yesterday in the brightly lit shop. (White subway tiles, nice art, lots of plants, I know I keep on about this place but it is transportive to a happy European-feeling sunny place.)

Feeling depressed and anxious after all the sleep disruption and anxiety and excessive coffee drinking of trip. Maybe something else. Meditation has things a little stirred up, which I guess is normal. My vipassana podcast guy says some people spend their whole first retreat crying.

Knee was a little weird so I took it easy. This is when I always go gung-ho with exercise and hurt myself. Take it slow! I kept telling myself. I did some myofascial release pilates foam roller ab work and a couple Ballet Beautiful vids. A little yoga. Rolled my piriformis. Yay for the foam roller being pulled from the back of the closet.

Gotta make my gyoza meatballs.

M2: ground beef and sweet pot

M3: jicama and pears while food cooked (hungry!), chicken thighs (pan fried to render skin and then cooked in their own fat like confit), collards with curry and CB (loving this combo)

Feels good to be sore.

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I just finished eating a double batch of gyoza. So good.

 

I am both happy and jealous about your reading. Makes me want to clear some time and get lost in a book. It's been a while.

 

Wonderful about the exercise and soreness! I'm in the same boat with needing to be more self-aware and responsive with exercise, not go balls to the wall and get hurt. We're getting there! I'm thinking I need to get out the foam roller, too. Thanks for the reminder!

 

Have you asked the Israeli about meat?

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I haven't gotten lost in a book in awhile. I've read in snippets but haven't had a good long stretch by myself when I've allowed myself to just read fiction. (Been reading about kids and ADHD, behavior and other not quite pleasurable topics. Meditation in Plain English more pleasurable but not that swept away feeling of great fiction.)

Love this book. And there are five, I think, more volumes. Three have been translated from Norweigian so far. I love a hideously long multi-volume reading experience.

Balls to the wall, exactly. Then non functioning back/knee for a month. Not this time!

Foam roller: thumbs up. I traveled down a deep Google exercise fanatic gotta-do-all-the-exercise-today!! hole and read about how the roller can mimic the results of the pilates reformer. And also about how myofascial release can help with lingering belly pooch.

If you can ignore that this is on GOOP you might enjoy: http://goop.com/how-to-get-a-slimmer-waist/.

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Thanks Physibeth. Seriously digging your new pic. 

 

Lady M, I realized I never answered your question (think it was yours) about the 20 min yoga audio files. I found them on iTunes in podcast form but you can also go to the Yoga Dowload site and sort by media format, level, etc. 

 

I plugged in the keyboard I need to return to Staples (too loud to use in a coffee shop or quiet place) because I needed to use the computer. Now I'm drunk with the power of being able to type. 

 

Gotta sign off now to make those gyozi, as my son calls the actual dumplings. I have all the ingreds and plan to throw the cabbage and water chestnuts in the mini processor instead of chopping. Hope that doesn't create too much moisture. ≈

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I have an amazing vegetarian restaurant near my gym, their salads are simply amazing. I am going there now and then because it's just too good. The problem is the people there. They are all snobish orthorexic vegetarian crowd. Once I brought some chicken with me and planned to dump it quickly into the bowl of goodness. Not only I received dirty looks but a girl came up to me and said "you know you can get ALL of your protein from being vegetarian? They have tempeh here, how rude of you". I am still undecided if it was actually rude or not on my part. I assumed it's not a closed vegetarian supper club to be so rigid however I see how it can be offensive to the strict gals who chose to to come to a meat-free environment. Needless to say that I have never repeated my meat smuggling attempts again. Your place sounds more open-minded, maybe you will achieve some mutual understanding with the owners. 

 

Thanks for the goop sequence. I love my foam roller, I actually have two. One is super spikey and another one is on the softer side. Lats stretch is the worst/best pain in the world. It is the greatest injury prevention tool out there, for sure. I can also recommend a lacrosse ball, amazing if you need to get to the tight knot in the shoulders/hips. Costs nothing, but works wonders. Examples here.

 

James Joyce Ulysses must be your fav book - hideously long reading experience. I am so inspired by people who find time to read, you made me pull out my beloved Kafka from the shelf. Thank you.    

 

Congrats on 25 days!

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Let us know how the gyozi turn out with the food processor. I didn't mind the tedious chopping as much when I made the double batch. Seemed more worth it. They'll be tasty regardless, but I found that the water chestnuts, especially, needed to be in tiny pieces to not be annoying. Although it matters less with patties than with tiny meatballs, imho.

 

Thank you so much for the links! That goop one is wonderful! I'm totally doing that today. Love the idea that I can elongate my short waist and help out my organs, too. Will check out the yoga podcasts, too. You're a wealth of great info, Beets!

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Glad to be of use! I had to find a vid of someone doing swan on a roller because the instructions are a little tricky to follow. Little vids or even GIFs would've been helpful for the last few. Feels good though!

Gyoza: ate half a pound with sautéed cabbage and feel stuffed. Oops! Delicious. I chopped everything in the processor and the whole process was simple. Discovered my sesame oil expired in 2011. No wonder it tasted a little dusty.

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Great news! Food processor to the rescue yet again! This means I'll be making and eating a lot more of those tasty little suckers. . . . 

 

Still haven't hopped on that foam roller, but it's on my to-do list today. Thanks again!

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Completed the foam rolling and liked it! Think I'll keep it up for a week and see how I feel. I'm a little skeptical of all the promised benefits, but hey, it can't hurt, right? 

 

ETA: OK, so I've done the series a few times now and have realized, as with all things, one can do them slowly, with breath and intention; or one can simply go through the motions. I did it after an asana practice and found the foam roller series to build more heat and muscle shaking than my yoga practice! Really great stuff. Adding it to my March challenge. Thanks again, Beets!

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All this talk about foam rolling, I hate foam rolling.  I think because to do it right it takes time, and I just don't want to spend the time.  Ugh!

 

I'm a serious reading addict.  I am always reading something, typically three things (almost finished The Interestings, which LadyM recommended, I think).  And I am so with you on the hideously long reading series - I'm currently on book 13 of a 14 book series, almost all of the books in the thousand page range.  So while you are all foam rolling, I'm hiding in a book.

 

Need to do more with my food processor, might need to try these little balls that are getting so much attention...

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Day 28 (written yesterday)

Rabbit rabbit.

Can't believe it's March.

Feel like I'm *finally* recovering from the week at my MIL's. That really threw me off my game. I've done w30 while at her house before but maybe I just didn't realize how tiring a trip like that can be. Also I got my period on Fri.

Last week and even yesterday I was still struggling to get back to template rhythm. As I mentioned the other day, I'm going to tack on some extra days to feel the full effects of the whole.

This morning I woke up starving. I think I'm underestimating, also, the extent to which increased movement is increasing requirements for food.

So I'm going to go back to logging meal times and will try to play with actually eating a pre or post WO meal.

Woke up and did some mat work and then a glute vid.

M1 (AT FAMILY BREAKFAST TIME! NOT WHEN I FINALLY WAS TOO STARVING TO MOVE MID-DAY! YAY!) sausages, sauteed kale, cup of broth, black coffee

M2 1ish pm: salmon, sauteed cabbage, more coffee in the ski "lodge" (picture the world's least health conscious school cafeteria with a two log fire in the middle of the room and a too loud but not awful 70s cover band--nice woodland scenery of falling snow though).

It was snowing and the kids didn't last long. But we only have a couple weeks left of the season.

Brutal drive home. It should take us 45 mins to an hour and 20 mins to get home from the ski place. We left at three and I walked in at 6:30 after dropping husband at his office and grabbing some meat from the grassfed butcher place. The streets were awful, snow and ice accumulating and making driving very difficult in my non-4WD car.

People were walking in the streets, stopping in the middle of narrow steep one way streets, my wheels spinning, people honking, I could barely see, my car skidded out when I braked for some pedestrians. Stress.

Last night I was thinking how I wasn't really missing wine anymore. But tonight I am. I walked in the ravenous (a small piece of salmon isn't cutting it) and ate some plantain chips I'd sealed away in the cupboard. Stopped myself (bad old psychological crutch! me and my salty crunchy things!) and ate half a sweet pot. HAve no protein handy.

HAve a chicken in the oven and will get some greens tomorrow.

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Yes, I also found the foam roller series to build heat if done slowly. Definitely. But, yeah, the claims are a bit dubious ("smaller waist! it's easy!") though I figure like you said they can't hurt. And I can always use core work. I'm way more into pilates type core work than just about any other type of ab work.

I wish this woman had a DVD or more videos on her site. I'd be curious to try a longer session or at least one where I can really see all of the moves.

Sara, wow that is certainly a long series! I'm in my typical gung-ho exercise phase. I'm sure I'll hide myself in something else at some point...

The gyoza meatballs are definitely tasty, if a little dangerous for me. I don't normally eat a 1/2 pound of meat at a sitting. I'm hoping that with round two the novelty will have worn off and I can have some control. I'm sure a bigger pile of veg will help.

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Yep. The gyoza meatballs can be like that for me, too. I swear, any tasty hand-to-mouth food can trigger that old demon. It helps me to portion them out, put them on a plate with other food, sit down and eat like a civilized person. But what I had a double batch sitting the fridge, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to standing in front of the fridge and popping a few meatballs down my gullet when I got home starved. 

 

So happy you're getting in a timely and proper M1. That's HUGE!

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Day 33

Been eating on template. Making it a priority to eat breakfast early when kids eat instead of after. I was mostly successful. Also been working out a lot more and really hungry. Been eating four template meals at least. Today I had a second lunch in addition to a post WO mini meal of tuna plus sweet pot, which I scarfed plain, cold, standing at the counter, with my hands, out of the can and in its burned skin, like an animal.

I haven't been tracking my meals at all, contrary to my plan to fastidiously track for the last week. But I've been feeling calm and even-keeled, with the exception of bursts of hunger.

I've been doing a new workout called Tonique, which is super hard (for me). First, I've barely been exercising at all in the last few months with the exception of walking. Second, my exercise on the last year has usually consists of my ballet workout. Before that I did yoga and Tracy Anderson (repulsive personality, great results). I'm not used to a workout that really makes me sweat. Or requires a post WO meal!

To top it off I've been carting my daughter around the last day or so. The streets were filled with snow so I couldn't push my stroller. She refused to walk so I carried her, through fresh snow in my farcically giant snowboots, to and from co-op school which was this week at the furthest home. I was WIPED OUT yesterday and ravenous today.

But the exercise is invigorating. And the instructor is so upbeat and positive, without any hint of annoying cheerleaderyness. It's a lot of squats and lunges, which is hard on my knees. But I hope to build up to more of it. The matwork is excellent and hard. I'm seeing results (higher butt, smaller waist) after a week.

Chowing my double batch of gyoza meatballs--lovely with sauteed cabbage and a sprinkling of aminos. And chicken thighs and sauteed greens. The other night I made my crispy Chinese style green beans, cooked in chicken schmaltz and CO.

My meditation is still going. I have had some moments this week of really feeling in the moment, feeling like I can get some distance between me and my thoughts or my anxiety. It feels freeing and wonderful. The other morning I woke in a panic, meditated and felt much better. Yay. I cannot enumerate all the ways it feels helpful to me.

On another note, I went out with my husband tonight. We had a strip steak for two with smashed potatoes and salt. (Thought of the Little House book we are reading now, they are living on potatoes with salt and tea.) I had a half glass of wine so my whole is done. Was pissed for having the wine bc it thought it woul taste amazing and it just didn't! It tasted like altar wine, too sweet and musty.

Anyway. Back on the bike tomorrow in post w30 land. Trying to let my feelings of disappointment in the worthiness of the wine or myself be ok and move past them. More attention to timely template meals coming up.

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I say the wine was nothing. Just keep going with your Whole!

So glad the movement is good and effective. I bought a Tonique dvd after you recommended it last round, but I never tried it. Maybe I will now.

Hooray for meditation. Isn't it an amazing revelation time and time again that we can control our minds?

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Haha! That's what my husband said when I was so disappointed last night. He was like "keep going" and I said "but my log--" and he was like, "oh! the forum!" He was joking but I tried to explain that my log keeps me honest.

I got some Tonique DVDs last year and despite my enthusiasm only tried them a couple times. They were very repetitive with a ton of squats and lunges. Apparently the newer ones are where it's at. (Still squats and lunges but more creative variations, combined with lots of planks and upper body work.) I have Energy Mat and a couple downloads that are supposed to be like the new DVDs (Born to Move, Addicted to Movement and Royale). Her newest DVD, Royale, is supposed to be very difficult but amazing.

I can't do half the moves--burpees and side squat jumps--because of my knee but I've been obsessively reading the forum at videofitness.com and a few women report knee rebab results--but many warn you have to build up very slowly. It does have an addictive quality to it--she is so happy and good willed that you want to finish it. I also like the idea of being able to do something hard. It gives me the feeling of finishing a run that I miss so much.

I also found another workout, Yin the Zone. She is a former TA teacher but also a classically trained dancer. She has VOD (video on demand) on Vimeo. She does a lot of cardio dance--which I've always felt too spastic to follow--and toning work similar moves to Tonique (squats with side kicks, curtsy squats combined with arms and core moves) but uses different props. Yesterday I did one with a hand towel. Tracy Anderson without Tracy Anderson is a good thing. The workouts are great for my body but I don't have to feel bad as a woman and a feminist when I do them. :)

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Tonique Premier is the one I have still wrapped in plastic. And I just found another unopened yoga dvd, Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, that promises total belly transformation. Wonder who tipped me off to that one. . . . 

 

What's TA? I'm wary of cardio dance stuff, too. And so many of those squats, lunges, jumps, etc. can be downright damaging if not done with good form. I've had so much training in so many physical disciplines and worked with trainers who were meticulous about form as well as physical therapists, etc., I can pretty much self regulate in that area. But I worry about all the ladies at home starting an exercise routine for the first time in their lives going at these things like madwomen without anyone there to spot or correct their form. I'm not talking about you, Beets. My sense is you're very self aware and these are doing you good. Though I do want to remind you that the last time you were on a Tonique streak and posting here, you had an SI mishap. That' s why I never took the thing out of the box. From one overdoer to another, I'm just saying be careful. You're getting great visible results and that's when it's tempting to overdo it. If some is good, more is better, right? WRONG. More (more often that not) leads to injury which leads to pain and no exercise at all and utter misery. OK. Well-meaning lecture over.

 

Seriously, Beets. Listen to hubs and me. Your log is keeping you honest. You're being honest. But just keep going. Yes, you offroaded with the wine and so therefore technically ended the Whole30; but I say keep posting here and finish out the 30 days at least. If memory serves, it's the mind games and guilt and all that jazz that tends to utterly derail you at the end of Whole30s. I say just don't end it yet. End it when you have a plan in place and truly feel ready to ride your own bike.

 

Sorry for being so heavy handed. I'm especially bossy today. And I really want the best for you!

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I think I need LadyM to be the boss of me!  ;)

 

I hope you decided to keep on keepin' on, despite the wine.  Funny about your husband.  My husband thinks I'm crazy with some of my logging, but I try to keep him mostly out of it.  He's aware of the strange bonds internet forums can bond from my time on another forum and some friendships that have merged into IRL meetings and have lasted over a decade!

 

Glad the meditation is doing you good!

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Thanks M and Sara.

M, I did finish the 30 days. :) I was adding more time to make up for an un-template-y week in NH and upon my return. I never ate off plan in terms of items but I didnt do amazingly in terms of three well-times meals and wanted to give myself the full effects.

The benefit of continuing to log here is that I contine eating whole and don't think, "I'm off, I can have this mouthful of popcorn." Of course that's the shaky ground on which everyone else tries to find their footing. So it feels like cheating but I have to not twist myself in can't make up my mind land. I guess I'll just asterisk it. Makes total sense about not stopping till I have a plan.

You're right about taking it easy with exercise. I know enough about my form to know I can't get deep enough in a squat right now bc of my knee to do the exercise the ways it's meant, which is supposed to be mostly using the glutes. I probably did hurt myself last time after using it once or twice! (I think that Tonique "streak" was mainly getting worked up about doing it versus actually doing it!) But I'm trying to be restrained and use mostly the matwork and to stop if I feel any pain or even straining. I appreciate the tough love. I do.

TA is Tracy Anderson.

Sara, I really never talk about the forum to my husband. I'll be like, "I have to log my food," but that's it. He knows how crazy other forums (um, babycenter?) have made me. But he knows how much better I feel when I eat this way so he takes my typing as par for the course.

Day 35*

Continuing. Yesterday was template. After basketball we always get bagels and eat at home. Getting easier to not feel left out of the family eating rituals. Thursday we made banana bread and I've been home and starving standing next to that. I smelled it and thought of how sometimes or even often the smell can satisfy a craving. The banana bread did smell amazing and the baking was fun, but I don't have to eat it.

M1 9am: fried sardines and kraut, kale mango banana smoothie, weird impulse banana fried in ghee (very fruit heavy but no workout so I didn't feel too awful about it)

M2: thermos of ground beef and sweet pot with ghee and salt (ski lodge meAl)

Before I forget I just want to note that my skin is way better than it was last yeAr. I even haven't seen the crazy flaky itchy scalp I've had my last two wholes. Not sure what this means but it's good.

Also thinking, as has been creeping into meditation, that maybe I shouldn't drink so much anyway. I feel horrible and it interferes with the benefits I'm feeling. Dropping wine is always the hRdest part of he whole for me. And staying off, clearly. Maybe it's time to address that.

Day 36*

M1: chicken thigh, beets, pear slices, green tea

M2: ground beef, sweet pots, coffee

M3: hot dogs, kraut, raisins

Was so hungry when I came in with kids. Clearly my single chicken thigh wasn't enough. I figured I'd eat again post WO but te WO was relatively mild and it didn't happen. I had that mid afternoon sugar craving and I ate some raisins. Then ate the hot dog.

M4: more ground beef, sweet pot

Need to food shop! Time change was brutal today. But it was sunny and warm. Did 40 mins of a mat workout in the am and spent a few hours outside with the kids. Zzzzz.

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