Post whole 30 anxiety

[UCslug]

Hello all,

I tried searching for this and apologize if it's out there and I just couldn't find it. I did a whole30 Feb/March of last year and have eaten pretty much compliant since then (except for a hiatus this summer when I got married and had family in town and wanted to share foods with them/ate out and on our honeymoon in Brazil - too much delicious food, not to try everything, even if it's not Whole30 approved  ). I eat all regular meals based on the whole30 approach, however do have a glass of wine here or there, and maybe "dessert" - which always consists of 3-4 thin slices of sweet potato, 1/4 apple, cinnamon and maple syrup heated up in the oven (and a small bowl full). Otherwise I stick pretty much to the program, even though I wouldn't say I am on a strict whole30 if I were asked. Here is where it would be great to get your opinions. How much/how strict is too much?? I am starting to feel that I have gone overboard and am doing more harm than good. I have somehow managed to make controlling my food my one and only number one priority, to the point where it gives me panic attacks if my husband makes anything (we have thrown out all non-compliant foods, spices, etc. so it's unreasonable to panic because he couldn't have done anything wrong. I no longer want to meet with friends or visit at people houses out of fear of things that could be contaminated or even eating "regular" meat that I didn't buy - and we don't even do perfect meat (grassfed) but at least organic/ as natural as possible. The list goes on, but I think the anxiety of eating anything I didn't prepare myself or watched being made is no longer "rational". Even if I eat out and stick to seafood or burgers, I wonder what possibly could have have into it (when more often than not the answer probably is nothing - eat it, it's fine!!). I've been thinking about this for a while and then last week I saw Melissa's post about why Men lose weight quicker than women and the whole idea of women stressing more than they should and having the stress do more harm than good. Which was great to read, because at least I felt I wasn't alone in this, however I am wondering how others are dealing with this? I know the rational/easy answer is "just eat compliant as often as you can and enjoy non-compliant food if in a social situation as long as it's in moderation and still the best choice". But is anyone else out there whole feels this is becoming debilitating and that controlling food has become to much and it's actually not you controlling the food, but the food controlling you? What have you done/are you doing to deal with this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[MeadowLily]

It all depends by what you mean by restriction.   Reasonable restriction doesn't lead to binging or cravings..  It's rather a way of managing and coping with cravings/feelings but over-restriction absolutely contributes to anxiety. 

 

Over-restriction is forcing ourselves to deal with chronic hunger over too long a period of time or massive thoughts about being compliant.

 

After 30 days, you don't have to be compliant or follow any rules.   Self-inflicted rule following to the point panic attacks is setting ourselves up for another cycle.     We don't need to be brutally strict with ourselves.   This is the Shock and Awe approach that leads to over-restriction.

 

I believe in pulling what we need from lots of different sources.

[sabillin1]

While I am still finishing my first Whole 30, and have not experienced severe anxiety, I just wanted to say you're awesome for eating so well for so long!!    

 

On no authority or personal experience, I would say there is clearly a deeper issue here that you need to explore.  Ask yourself why you did your first Whole 30?  If it was to simply lose weight, maybe that's the real issue.  If it was to feel good, have more energy, etc. I would say, look at your life before the Whole 30.  Didn't going out with your friends and being social make you happy before?  You can't become a hermit for the sake of eating compliant. 

 

I would try yoga and meditation. Meditation saved me almost a year ago when I thought I would loose my mind from stress.  Although I don't have severe anxiety, several people close to be experience your feelings....just for different reasons.  Stay in the present, deep breathing, writing out your fears on papers and saying them out loud helps take the fear out of your thoughts (my boyfriend has OCD, and this works best for him).  You aren't alone with your fears, and if you take a deeper look into them and address the issues head on, you will be okay! 

 

I hope you find some peace!

[ladyshanny]

Hi UCSlug, I realize you mention that you are not currently on a Whole30 but you might find some use in reading this article: http://whole30.com/2012/02/whole30-gone-bad/

 

You might want to sit down and clear your mind and heart and decide how you want to go forward.  Sometimes we get wrapped up in the minutia of life and let little decisions weigh too heavily on us.

 

If you feel that you need further help, I would encourage you to seek out someone that can counsel you.

[Justine0207]

Hi UCSlug,

 

Your story really hit home with me. When I was 16, I struggled with an unintentional eating disorder. I say "unintentional" because it started as what I had hoped to be a lifestyle change. I was dedicated to eating clean and healthy and making (what I thought were) good choices for my body. After about a month, it turned into an unhealthy obsession. I had anxiety about eating at restaurants or anywhere that I couldn't watch or contribute to how the food was being prepared. I would go out for family dinners at restaurants and order a piece of grilled chicken with steamed veggies every time. It seemed like the safest option. I remember once at a restaurant, my chicken came to me with a teriyaki glaze and I cried at the table. It got a little ugly. I ended up at 98lbs (I'm 5' tall) and lost my period for 6 months. In my attempt to get healthy, I got very unhealthy.

 

I'm not saying that your situation is like mine in any way, but the stress and anxiety about eating "non-compliant" is all too familiar, so I thought I'd share with you. 

 

Please take care of yourself. And if you feel that your stress and anxiety are unwarranted, I wouldn't rule out talking to a professional about it whether that be a nutritionist, counselor, etc. 

 

I hope this helped in a positive way rather than a negative!

 

Best,

Justine

[Maggiedoll]

Anything that you do for health that you start in order to improve your quality of life that starts to do the opposite is a problem.

You do this to feel better. To be healthier, have more energy, to feel better (even if every moment isn't easy or enjoyable) overall.

If that ceases to be the case, if you feel worse and have more anxiety and are afraid to do things that are lart of life, it's no longer functioning in its intended purpose.

Your food restrictions/avoidances should not interfere with your life. Unless there's a very specific and severe allergy or illness that requires extreme vigillance (certainly, you should be a bit obsessive if there's a chance that there's something in the food that will send you into anaphylactic shock. Anaphylactic shock would interfere with your life more) your food choices should enhance your life. You want to be healthy, to have energy to do things, to have balanced hormones and neurotransmitters. If your diet assists with that, then it's healthy. If it causes anxiety and decreases your ability to do things, that's not healthy eating. That's orthorexia.