Day one down

[TheDuchess]

 HI,

  I am starting this first whole 30 with the hope of imporved health and (don't tell) to get in shape before my class reunion in 7 months.In the past I was always very slim until I was diagnosed with an autoimmue disease 17 years ago and then 6 years ago I had our first child and then 3 years later a second child.  One of them has special needs (autism) and I am an emotional eater- he has a fit and all I can think of is how fast I can escape to my room and eat a bowl of ice cream- I just shove some food ontop of it.  We have always eaten organic and avoided processed foods, soda, etc so I'm not totally shocked but giving up sugar and grains will be new.  I did eat paleo (I eventually added jasmine rice) for about 60 days and saw a marked imporvement with my energy and my autoimmune pain so I have hope that this will be even better. : )  Thank you for reading and if you just started I would love to support each other : )

 

, I started today- a little behind the eight ball becasue I wasn't set up yet but I didn't want to eat anything off the program and don't have the book yet- so I figure if I am doing anything wrong I can always just call it an onramp and start over when I get things right.

  today I had

two over easy eggs cooked in coconut oil, a heap of sugar snap peas, and a mug of homemade bone broth

 

restaurant- this was a bit tricky, seared ahi (canola oil) crusted with sesame seeds, half an avocado, salad greens (no dressing) a couple of strawberries

 

mug of bone broth, chicken thighs (pink sea salt, pepper, granulated garlic-no additives), half a sweet potatoe (becasue I didn't think the squash was going to work out), a big heap of spaghetti squash when it turned out ok with a little coconut aminos ontop

 

sliced apple dotted with coconut butter and baked to yumminess

plenty of water

 

As I am typing this I realized that I am not supposed to eat within several hours of going to sleep- hmmmm the apples are about to come out of the oven.  I don't want to waste them and I'm not really hungry per se.  I take some medications at night that make me very hungry and are famous for making people crave sugar- I just took them and am feeling fine right now but I hate to waste such a yummy pink lady apple. hmmm

  I also think dinner was a little top heavy in that I wish I had, had the opportunity to eat bigger meals during the day but time and food was not available till I got home and cooked the food I had waiting for this journey so- tomorrow I'll do better (hopefully).  I intended the sweet potatoes for post workout snacks but hey you win some you lose some.  Was I way off base?

[missmary]

Was I way off base?

 

nope. It sounds like you did just fine for your first day.

 

Tomorrow: try adding more protein, and more veggies to breakfast. If you are only having eggs, the serving size is how many you can hold in one hand. 3 or 4 for most people. I like to have 2 and add some other protein source.

 

When you have starchy veggies (and you should!), the recommended serving is a "fist" size. Add other veggies (greens, etc.) on top of this until you get to 2-3 cups worth.

 

Now that baked apple. You already figured out that it encouraged you to eat when you weren't actually hungry, but the whole idea of making a dessert replacement with fruit is discouraged. Better to get to a place where you don't "need" a sweet taste/dessert and eat that fruit as a component of a meal instead. Apple is nice cut up in green salads or chicken salads. Avoid having fruit as a snack.

[TheDuchess]

 Thank you for talking me thru it and I'm Glad to hear I did ok- and that I can have a little sweet potato without feeling like I upturned the apple cart (uh oh am I thinking about apples now).

  Today I had a deck of cards worth (maybe more) chicken thighs and a big pile of broccoli warmed up with coconut oil for breakfast with a big mug of bone broth (I love the stuff)

I had breakfast so late (I slept till 12) I didn't really have lunch- just some hearts of palm and another piece of chicken with some broth- actually that doesn't sound too far off from lunch.

  I'm not hungry at all but of course I would love to pick at something and I just realized that Purim is coming up at my kid's school- there are special once a year cookies (that I missed last year) involved- booooooo.  Oh well, maybe I can freeze a couple and tell myself that if I really still want them I can have one after 30 days.  Is that a bad idea?  At least I won't eat them now and I probably won't want them by the time I can, but I won't feel like I am missing out on them.

  Or I could just go back to my college diet plan which was to repeat the manta- only fat people eat that- every time I saw a doughnut/cookie/etc.  Super healthy- I know.

  Just put some flank steak in for dinner (salt, pepper, garlic)and I think I'll have some avocado, mushrooms in ghee, and raw sugar snap peas (I tend to eat alot of them bc the whole family likes them and they don't have to be cooked- I know they are permissable by the skin of their legumes so to speak- do you think eating them often is a bad idea?)with it.

  Looking at my day I'm not having fruit at all- and fruit is allowed (encouraged in reasonable amounts I think).  I just want my apple with coconut butter at the end of the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Or roasted dates with coconut butter- oh the deliciousness- I used to eat 4 dates roasted with coconut butter every night after the kids went to sleep- at least I quit that : )

  I know, I know its the way I am eating it- the purpose I am attaching to the apple that is wrong.  So I guess I am ontrack physically but not mentally.  When I did weight watchers I replaced ice cream with watermelon and started eating half a watermelon every night instead of a bowl of ice cream since fruit is "free".  I'm totally aware this is just replacing one emotional snack with another.  What if I eat it when I am still hungry- right after I finish dinner?  Part of the problem is that I want to eat it without my kids so I have to wait till they go to sleep- is that twisted to want to get away from the kids and have an apple(or something I enjoy) while I read or watch tv- jeez I sound insane. I can't believe I am admitting this.

[ladyshanny]

It sounds like the "wait till they go to sleep" eating is a pretty emotional component...maybe reward at the end of the day, wanting that serotonin hit of "feel good"? I would suggest making sure your meals are satisfying and then power through that emotional part or have a cup of tea or read a book.  There is no one food that is going to properly stand in that area, it's part of the slogging, hard work of the Whole30 to heal your relationship with food.  

 

The only other thing I saw stand out was your sugar peas.  This might be getting slightly nitpicky however you may consider trying without them.  The snow and sugar and snap peas are all very high in phytoestrogens and depending on how many of them you are eating and what your autoimmune conditions/hormonal balance is like, your body could be reading them as estrogens.  This is not a Whole30 recommendation, just somethign I noticed in myself...too many veggies containing high levels of phytoestrogens, for me, kept me from really achieving proper sex-hormone balance.

[TheDuchess]

Hi LadyShanny, I appreciate your thoughtful reply.  I definitely eat a ton of sugar snap peas and the reason is that I can eat them raw- they are truly just wash and eat.  Plus the kids like them.  I have wondered many times if I am damaging my whole30 since there is a legume component (even though I know they are permitted I doubt that they are meant to be a daily choice). For that reason I try to be mindful to make other choices when I can and just polished off the spaghetti squash that I (ok my husband) premade and put in ther fridge- I love to fry an egg and put it ontop of a peice of flank steak and a pile of spaghetti squash- yummy. If I have it available I will always choose the squash or other pre made veggie but when it comes to packing lunch for instance I just can't face cold squash- I could do cold raw carrots if that would be better?  They are still quite sweet but maybe they don't have the hormonal component?  Do you have any other ideas for packable veggies (raw cruciferous veggies like broccoli are not palatable for me)?  I'm going to make a pot of Clothes make the Girl silky zucchini soup which I could throw in a thermos- don't get angry but it's hot here in Southern California so hot soup isn't always a welcome meal.  Other ideas? 

  My autoimmune condition is Interstitial Cystitis which is an inflammation (and holes in) of the lining of the bladder.  It is definitely affected by my lady cycle so I guess that phytoestrogens could affect it.   I have a very very significant family history of breast cancer so I try to go easy on estrogenic things like soy and have done my best to cut parabens out of my life etc (obvi I am not eating soy at all right now).  Do you have any ideas for tweaking? 

  Also I know I am supposed to stop eating two hours before bed but that isn't working for me.  Yesterday was the first day of my cycle and no matter how many times I piled my plate with protein and veggies (I was eating spaghetti squash with flank steak and a fried egg as well as a plate with short ribs and ate several helpings) I could not tame the beast.  My medication makes me hungry and then the cycle ontop of it- I felt like I saw starving.  Do I just keep going forward and hope that I get batter at this and stop feeling the need for those late night meals or do I call a hard stop and refuse to eat even if the hunger is keeping me from sleeping (because it does interfere with my sleep- it is that strong)?  Thank you for the help and support, The Duchess

[missmary]

Ladyshanny has been at this for a while, and has the experience to notice sugar snap peas have an effect on her, but officially, by the whole30 rules, sugar snap peas are fine. Personally I would not worry about that (sorry Ladyshanny!) Instead I would focus on getting a variety of veggies including the snap peas and carrots and squash and everything else. Once you have finished a "regular" whole30 you will have plenty of time to tweak and fine tune and see if one veggie or another should be limited more.

 

On packable veggies, I have had great luck with cut up red and yellow bell peppers, lightly steamed broccoli and green beans and roasted cubed sweet potatoes (all prepared in advance and eaten cold). This is my breakfast 5 days out of 7, typically eaten with hard boiled eggs and some sort of protein on the side (roast beef, smoked or roasted chicken breast, ground turkey meatballs, etc.)

[ladyshanny]

I had initially hesitated to even make the suggestion but then thought it was really no different than when we recommend that people who think they might have troubles with nuts or eggs or peppers/onions, try a week without them and see how they go.