tiller_girl Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I started my W30 on a whim. I had never eaten paleo or primal before. A typical day for me was a fried egg sandwich for breakfast (sometimes followed by some chocolate if I could sneak it in the kitchen), a cheese and tuna toasted sandwich, a bag of crisps and a diet coke for lunch, pasta pesto and veg for dinner, and usually 2 or 3 glasses of wine. In between I ate a lot. Kids leftovers, biscuits, chocolate, crackers and butter, toast, jam sandwich. I pretty much grazed all day, loathing myself while I did so. I've been an emotional eater for many years, and it was getting worse and worse. I heard about paleo on a forum I'm on. I'd been pretty resistant to it, fighting the idea. I wasn't ready to give up my usual food yet - how would I cope with stress, anger, sadness if I couldn't eat? But one day in July I realised I'd had enough, and that my coping strategy (eating) wasn't working. So I googled paleo, found the Whole30, and started the next day. I felt very nervous initially. How would I manage without toast? Without wine? Chocolate? Could I put the leftovers in the bin? I have a long history of making commitments to myself and breaking them. But here I am, on day 30, with not a single slip-up the whole month! It's gone so much more smoothly than I ever imagined. The benefits. - More energy over the day, and way fewer dips. - FInding other ways to manage stress/frustration (taking deep breaths has really helped!) - Noticing those flashpoints have been less frequent. - Feeling in control of what I eat, for the first time in years. That this can happen in such a short period of time astounds me. - Feeling more trust in myself, I did what I set out to do - weight loss. I am 11 pounds lighter, and lost 7.5 inches (chest, waist, hips and thigh combined). My BMI has gone from 32 to 30. I am in a size smaller clothes. The helpers - weekly meal planning. I planned every meal. It really helped. - making a big batch of roasted cherry tomatoes to keep in a jar in the fridge. Great to have on the side with breakfast, or to liven up a salad. - trying food I thought I wouldn't like, e.g. cauli 'rice'. Loved it! - I wrote down why I decided to start W30. I read it from time to time, to remind me if I was feeling wobbly. - I didn't weigh myself after day 1. - I didn't have carb flu (which surprised me as I ate *a lot* of sugar and wheat) The problems - mayo fail! Attempted to make it twice, failed twice. - I nearly lost it in week 3, when I didn't have enough variety (tuna salad for lunch 4 days in a row - doh!) - I haven't broken my habit of staying up very late. So what next? Well, I have no plans to go back to what I was doing before. I will continue to meal plan, and stay committed to my goal of improved physical and mental health. I will buy Well Fed to celebrate my completed W30, and start another W30 sometime in the next month or so. I'm still a bit nervous - this isn't effortless yet, I still have to think about what I'm doing and plan ahead. What happens if I eat something 'off plan' and I turn into the Cookie Monster or something?! I guess this is still the beginning of my journey, but I'm feeling pretty good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereiam Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Good job! What a great list of accomplishments. I'm on day 29 and have seen a lot of the same benefits. I think the most exciting for me is that I am not obsessed with food anymore. I can eat my W30 meal and be satisfied. Anyway, way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aberrantatavia Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Good for you tiller girl! Sounds like the first 30 days was a great success, and the accomplishments list is fantastic. Just keep going in the journey and don't focus too much on the what ifs. I know that I completely agree that for the first it in my life I'm not obsessed with food. Its so freeing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningforme82 Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Reading through some of the success stories and came across yours. I can so relate to the emotional eating! Congrats on a great Whole30!! Did you get the Well Fed cookbook like you mentioned? I love cooking from that book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kew Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Good for you! Thanks for sharing your story: it resonated with me in a lot of ways. (Grazing on the kids' food, in particular!) By the way, where'd you get that roasted cherry tomato idea -- sounds lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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