Day 1

[slpowers]

This is my first day on the program an so far, so good - I think!  Mid morning I had an omelette with green onion, mushrooms & zucchin; I was out over the lunch period so only had some nuts - probably too many and dinner was baked chicken thighs with broccoli & sugar snap peas and a green salad with homemade balsamic dressing. Dessert was strawberries, blackberries & raspberries.

 

I always thought I cooked & ate healthy although I usually had grains, dairy & sugar included somewhere in the day's diet.  I am not having so much trouble with the sugar dragon but feel hungry almost immediately after eating!  I'm sure that will pass soon.

 

I suffer from chronic pain and have IBS so very hopeful this diet will help with those conditions... it would be so liberating not to have the pain,  I'm also over weight and within the last year have started on both thyroid & cholesterol medications.

 

So much of the science-y stuff in the book actually explains why I am feeling the way I do so this just makes sense!

[jmcbn]

Hi there & welcome to whole30ville.

 

You say you ate an omelette mid-morning - you really need to be eating meal one within an hour of wakening so as to get your hormones back in to check. How many eggs were in your omelette? When eggs are your sole source of protein you should be eating the number you can hold in one hand, which is 3-4 for most people. And if you replace an egg or two for another source of protein you may find you'll feel fuller for longer. It can be hard to bounce back from a small breakfast.

The nuts, although they are compliant, weren't really an ideal meal two - where are the veggies & protein - again a full template meal will keep you feeling fuller for longer... You may be surprised as to how much food you'll be able to take on board as your body adjusts.

Meal three sounds better, although you need to break away from the idea that you need a dessert.

 

Stick with it. It takes most folk a day or two of tweaking to get their meals right before they start to feel better.

[slpowers]

Took me a while to find my way back here - thanks for your feedback!  

 

I know my day was sketchy as far as compliance is concerned but basically the food was ok and it was a start.  I've managed to do a better job of regulating meal time and generally breakfast is within an hour of rising but as I'm retired, my rising time is usually around 8 am.  

 

I finished week 1 and I've been on track.  To be honest, I don't know how people who work and have a family do this... I feel like I barely finish one meal and it's time to start working on the next!  I also know I'm not likely eating enough... I'm just not that hungry.  I have been eating a few berries every few days just because I bought them and don't want to throw them away.  I'm not a dessert eater generally so the fruit was not a replacement for dessert - it actually took me a few days to figure out where fruit fit into the program!

 

On approximately Day 4 I noticed I was sleeping longer through the night before having to get up to go to the bathroom... I also was feeling really good (emotionally) - and it was described in today's email as 'strangely happy'!  Seems maybe it was too much of a good thing a last night I had a restless sleep; had a lot pain today and generally felt blah!  

 

Overall, I feel this is going to be a life plan for me.... my body is 'telling' me this is right for me and aside from trying to figure out the W30 site, learn a little more about reading labels and seeking out good recipes, this program has been easy!  I haven't been tempted to eat any non-compliant foods - although I have been tempted to pop on the scale - but I didn't.

 

I'm looking forward to end of this week as I'm sure those 'strangely happy' feelings will return and then some.

[ShannonM816]

 To be honest, I don't know how people who work and have a family do this... I feel like I barely finish one meal and it's time to start working on the next!  

 

A lot of people find it helpful to do a weekly cookup to get most of their meat and vegetables prepped, so they don't have to do as much actual cooking during the week. You can read examples of how this might work here, or in a more detailed weekly meal plan here. The basic idea is to have a bunch of stuff mostly ready to go in the fridge so you can just mix and match your meat and vegetables. Even if you don't want to do a whole week's worth of cooking at once, you might pick up some tips that would be helpful for prepping a few things. Even if you cook dinner from scratch most nights, it might be helpful to have your breakfast and lunch already prepped and ready to go, for instance.

[slpowers]

Thanks for your comment shannon - it's not necessarily an issue for me since I am retired but I do remember when I was run off my feet in the role of 'supermom', wife & employee role'!

 

Admittedly it is getting easier as the days goes by and I become more and more intuitive on how & what meals will look like.

[slpowers]

Well today is Day 30 for me!  I made it through the program with little difficulty.  As time went on I got more organized making meal prep easier and less time-consuming.

 

One of the hardest things for me was not weighing myself but today I succumbed to find I lost 5.9 lbs.  Given the amount of food I'm eating, I'd say that's pretty good.  On all other counts I'm not where I want to be.  I still have issues with inflammation, headaches and such but I have come to realize that every journey is different and I'm just not one of the lucky ones to see great progress in the 30 day program.

 

I will continue with Whole30 as it is laid out - I don't plan to reintroduce any food in the foreseeable future - I know I need more time to see the results I'm certain will come.

 

In any event, this program with or without new foods just feels right to me - it's what I need for my health and this as now become my lifestyle of eating.

 

Thanks for the introduction to this way of eating... I will continue to update my continued progress!