Start date June 1

[MeGA"gardener"]

Ruby

Your question

Question - we aren't supposed to step on the scale - if we do, do we have to start over??

I did but I'm not sure if it's correct

Rhonda

You can always pack mini meals of Protien fat and add a carb ( root veg or zucchini like that)

4 hour intervals that way it's not too much but enough to keep you satiated

[ShannonM816]

 

Question - we aren't supposed to step on the scale - if we do, do we have to start over??

 

Here's an article that talks about when to start over.  But if you haven't already stepped on the scale, I'd strongly encourage you not to. It's not going to provide you any useful information. Instead, pay attention to how you're feeling, how your clothes are fitting, how much energy you have. 

 

Day 5! so far so good, I am feeling a little nervous about the weekend. It is my first one since I started that I will be working. I work the midnight shift at a hospital every weekend. I usually work 3 nights in a row. This weekend I am split, Work 1, off 1, work 1. This not only messes with sleep, but is usually my hardest time with eating healthy. Can anyone relate? Does anyone have any helpful suggestions?

 

I don't know how helpful it will be, since it's not exactly the same situation, but you might find this blog post from Michelle Tam at Nom Nom Paleo helpful -- she used to work the overnight shift as a pharmacist at a hospital, and she talks about how she dealt with that.

[Maggie2015]

Hello Magie! I found a whole 30 recipe   that I made last night with ground turkey and it was very good. I tweeked the recipe somewhat, using ground turkey and italian spices instead if italian sausage..
 

Rhonda:

 

I would love the recipe!  Thanks so much.

[Elle09]

Hello Maggie! I found a whole 30 recipe   that I made last night with ground turkey and it was very good. I tweeked the recipe somewhat, using ground turkey and italian spices instead if italian sausage..I will send it to you if you want. It is for Zuppa Toscana, but I tweeeked the recipe a little by using more greens , subbing baby potaoes for parsnips and leaving out water and using chicken broth. My husband liked it and even took leftovers to work today for his lunch!

 

I would love that recipe as well if you're willing to share! 

[Elle09]

Day 5 (technically 6) for me. I gotta say I must be coming up on the back side of feeling pretty crappy the past couple of days. I didn't feel too groggy waking up at 4:00am for my 5:00am gym class like I usually do. Headache is practically gone. I had a serious splitting headache Wednesday and Thursday. Today it's minimal but still there. No tiger blood yet, but I think its coming up on the horizon.   

 

I'm also nervous/not really looking forward to the weekend. They're usually where my family and I are on the go; practically eating out the whole weekend. I don't have any Primal Pacs or Rx Bars for any potential emergency situations, but hopefully, I can get a good, big breakfast in each morning and find something complaint while we're out. 

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay strong 

[mollycase]

Maggie -

 

ground turkey mixed with mashed up sweet potato and some coconut oil on top is about the most delicious thing you can eat.

 

it kinda has the same mouth feel as some nice gooey baked and mac cheese.

 

i've eaten for any meal.

[DonnaB]

Looking forward to camping this weekend, but a bit concerned because in addition to the outdoor activities, we usually eat more when we're outside all day. I checked the Epic bars at the Co-op when I shopped last night, but the only kind available was the bison, and it listed brown sugar in the ingredients, and ALL of the jerky listed some sort of sweetener in the ingredients. Then checked the Larabars, and felt that it wouldn't be much different that eating a sweet treat for us so didn't buy them. I'm still working on ideas for snacks if we actually need them. Was thinking of veggies with homemade ranch dressing. Would that work?

 

BTW - I came across another brand of W30 bacon - it is Garrett Valley - sugar-free and list every single ingredient (including the exact spices) on the label. It's pricey, so it won't be an everyday thing, but we will definitely have some while we're camping. 

[nsaprof]

I started on June 1st as well. This is my second attempt at Whole 30. I started on May 1st but found I was not able to stay 100% compliant. So instead of completely throwing in the towel I decided to try to be as compliant as possible. I was not  prepared to give my evening glass of wine, or cheese, or bread or butter or my weekly latte with 3 teaspoons of sugar.  . On the positive side I had only four slices of bread the entire month and cheese on  6 or 7 occasions. I spent the month preparing  myself to start again on June 1st. So far so good. My worst cravings have been for the wine and sugar. Although I do not add  a lot of sugar to my food I spent the month reading food labels and discovered how many foods I ate had added sugar of one form or another in them. I have not experienced a dip in  energy and I am actually sleeping better that before (probably because I eliminated alcohol). I have kept my meal planning simple and since I don't mind eating the same thing day after day it works.  I cook separate side dishes for my husband's dinner and I keep bread and other non-compliant food in the house for him but it hasn't bothered me. 

 

I will say that I have less joint pain and stiffness since I started modifying my eating habits in May. 

[mollycase]

nsaprof - i've noticed that my body feels better even though i'm not doing much in the way of exercise.

i think that doing it gradually, the way you did, can help alleviate some of the major issues people have.

i was quasi-paleo for a bit so this hasn't been as hard for me. but i was still eating carbs when dining out with friends and drinking wine or whisky in the evenings.

 

i think it's a lot harder to go from a regular american diet to whole 30 right away. it's such a huge change.

[Maggie2015]

Maggie -

 

ground turkey mixed with mashed up sweet potato and some coconut oil on top is about the most delicious thing you can eat.

 

it kinda has the same mouth feel as some nice gooey baked and mac cheese.

 

i've eaten for any meal.

 

OMG.  How easy can that be?  It's Friday night and I just don't have it in me to make something elaborate.  I have all three ingredients!!!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[mollycase]

if you sprinkle some cinnamon or nutmeg or similar type spices, it's very nice also.

 

i put about a tablespoon or so of coconut oil on it. yum yum!

 

glad i could help

[Jomyke]

Happy Friday, day 5!

Ground turkey and sweet potato sounds really good! Thanks for the suggestion.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

[JMT1127]

Yes JMT

I'd think you may be hungry firstly

Because there's not enough Protien in M1

Those spinach muffins are de slush but you need eggs too Are you hands small? lol how many you hold on one hand should be your breakfast eggs

Portion

Add compliant fat it'll satieate you

M2 have fat olive oil and or more Avacado too

You can have a whole one!

M3 you'll need carbs starchy veg or yam and cooked greens or raw kale salad broccoli pea pods etc

Sounds like you're ok

 

Hi,

 

Those muffins are made with eggs...actually 10 eggs.  But each one probably only has one egg or so...so I eat 3 at a time I can hold 3 or 4 eggs.  Thanks for your help!! I will definitely eat more fat, too...it helps to fill fuller.

[stravajunkie]

Hi Everybody! What an awesome thread. I'm really excited that it's this lively. I've missed several days of posting, but still here. My kids got out of school for the summer, so it has been JUST A LITTLE CRAZY in my world But this has led me to do some soul searching. I'm a classic type A, quasi endurance athlete (cyclist), my husband and I own our own business, which is blessed to be very successful, but that also equals constant stress and always being 'on call', volunteer at church, you name it...plus the houseful of kids under the age of 12.

 

I've been doing some reading on the Whole9 website, and really thinking about the concept of balance in life-I know how much I NEED to eat healthy in order to have the energy I need for life. But I CAN'T seem to stick to it long term. But I'm not a person with super weak will power, I just suck in this area especially. What gives?

 

One thing that really struck me in my reading is sleep. I know the W30 talks a lot about sleep. I know I need to sleep more. But I'm totally the 4-6 hours a night, always trying to catch up person. I've just gotten to the point where I feel like I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING different. I'm white knuckling it through this W30, barely able to hang on and probably on track to crash sooner rather than later.

 

So I've decided to do a 7 day sleep challenge: I started yesterday, and no matter what, I am going to get 8-9 hours of sleep a night, for 7 days, and see what happens. This has made for some REALLY interesting schedule juggling, and robbed me of my quiet early morning time that I love. But it was very interesting yesterday to see the change in both impulse control (how much easier it was to stay away from food I shouldn't be eating) and emotional control (how much easier it was to be patient with my kids during the chaos of the day). So I'm on to day 5 of the W30 and day 2 of the Sleep Challenge we'll see where this goes..

[JMT1127]

Hello everyone!! Happy Friday!

 

So....today is my day 4 because of my mess up (I ate cheese on accident on day 1) but happy day 5 to all of you.  Today I am TIRED.  I slept THROUGH my alarm. I never do that.  As a result, I'm craving crap. AND today is NATIONAL DOUGHNUT DAY so they are EVERYWHERE at work I have not caved...I will NOT cave.  They just make me feel sick after anyways...but everyone is eating them in front of me and smiling gleefully.  Oh well, I will continue to eat my hearts of palm and snap peas as a small snack.  I know we are not supposed to snack but I'd rather eat these healthy things then cave and eat a doughnut.  I feel a tiny bit like Kill All the Things today...but I gotta stay positive.

 

Hope everyone has a good day!

[mollycase]

this is my day 7 (start may 30).

 

one thing i have learned is that i need a LOT MORE protein and starchy veg in my basket from market and the store.

 

i ended up having a snack yet again today, because i am about out of food... i had some bell pepper strips with mayo and an avocado.

 

i don't drive so i can't just pop over to the store if i run out, so this has been hard yesterday and today as i was really down to not a lot!

 

at least i've been able to stay compliant in terms of food, if not in terms of sticking to 3 meals a day.

 

i have some nick's sticks that will arrive from amazon tomorrow and i'm going to make extra hardboiled eggs this week.

 

my goal is 3 meals a day and NO SNACKS next week.

[misshannah]

Everyone's posts are so inspiring!! I'm trying a W60 in June and July because I'm off for the summer and don't have to work, so I can focus on self-care in the best way possible. 

 

I had the headache and the tired, but I'm also feeling some benefits already in terms of less bloating. I'm lucky enough to be able to go to the pool for water aerobics 4x/wk after being completely sedentary for far too long. These changes feel great, but I'm nervous about sustaining them, and nervous about the weekend for sure. Weekends have really been a stumbling block in my past attempts. 

 

I started June 1, and I have done one complete W30 before. 

[WholeSue]

Day 5!! Is anyone feeling proud that they are sticking to this? I was having a conversation with my husband about the Whole30 and how when I was initially talking about it, I was focused on the "just 30 days" piece. But now that I'm here, the 30 days seems inconsequential. Instead I'm looking ahead to my vacation in July and trying to figure out how best to stay as close to Whole30 compliant as possible. I don't feel compelled to indulge. I've had fleeting thoughts of ice cream but even then it's not enough for me to feel like I'm "missing" anything, if that makes sense. I'm also on track to hit my water intake today so I'm hoping that helps with energy, etc. All in, I'm still doing good.

 

The only thing I've been dealing with is a pinched nerve type of pain in my neck and pain in the muscles around my hips BUT I can definitely attribute that to working out this week. I'm doing modified workouts due to my achilles tendon injury so I'm working other areas much harder than usual. Other than that, I'm fine! 

 

Oh and as an update to planning with the wedding on day 28 - my husband reached out to the groom (his friend) for me to find out info about the meals that night. He also suggested we talk to the catering company and wasn't put off at all about needing to make some special requests. I'm so so glad that didn't turn into an awkward situation!

[mollycase]

awesome news wholesue!  catering companies have to work with all sorts of allergies so i'm sure it will continue to be an extremely easy problem to solve

 

good for you

[Crimsann]

These changes feel great, but I'm nervous about sustaining them, and nervous about the weekend for sure. Weekends have really been a stumbling block in my past attempts. 

 

 

Oh no.  No one posting here is going down THIS weekend.  If I can complete my meal plan/grocery list before noon on Friday and feel really good about it?!?  I think it's clear the stars are aligned for us June 1 babies.

 

Huh.  Saying that makes me want to check and see what our sign is...though once I looked, I'm not sure what to make of being a Gemini, I'm more used to being Taurus-headed.  I actually don't pay much attention to that, hence not even knowing what sign early July is under, but it could be fun to try and check our W30 horoscope every day.  See how we can twist it into a message of total success each day.  LOL!

 

Probably I'm better off reading food labels.

 

Actually I'm nervous about the weekend too.  I know my greatest chances at looking a restart in the face are either eating something and THEN reading the label and realizing I've gone off plan....or skipping a meal rather than finding something compliant.  I know myself, and my greatest weakness won't be caving into a craving while on plan...I'm too stubborn...it will be not eating because the only thing I had with me or that I could find sounded terrible.  Not eating a meal may or may not be technically wrong if it doesn't lead you to bad food choices to make up for it, I'm unclear on that, but for me it definitely violates the spirit of the plan because eating regularly is one of the problem areas I'm trying to correct. 

 

I do want to share what I started doing to vanquish the occasional poor food thought, which I as suspected earlier tended to pop up while looking for recipes and making my list (and during the unfortunate meeting of the planning committee for our department pancake breakfast that I've been dragooned into.)  If my brain said "hey how about some gouda for that burger you just planned?" and I started to imagine what that would taste like, I immediately looked around and tried to seriously imagine the taste and texture of eating the first thing my eyes landed on instead.  Since I was at my desk for most of this, I ended up trying to conceptualize eating; a red ink pen, a drawer pull, and my neighbors potted plant. 

 

You may be shocked to learn this worked brilliantly because at no time did I involuntarily reach for any of those items and it helped me get back to my list in peace though the disgusted faces I was making might have alarmed anyone passing by. 

[coffeeshopgeek]

Not sure where you are going, but how about ordering a HUGE steak with steamed vegetables.  It is okay to ask for only salt and pepper seasoning and no sauce/butter on the veggies.  I usually say I have an allergy.  That way, they are more careful in preparation.

That is a great idea. Thanks! I will ask, he wants to go for Mexican food.

[mollycase]

i don't think it's a good idea to say that you have an allergy when you don't. 

 

kitchens have to take anaphylatic shock very seriously and have to take many precautions when preparing food for legitimate allergies. 

 

i know everyone wants to remain as compliant as possible, but i have friends in the service industry and it creates a lot of work for them when they get requests for "allergen free" stuff in the kitchen... they're making a ton of meals at one time and using utensils and bowls all together, just like you do in the kitchen. if someone truly has a shellfish or other serious allergy, they must clean and use NOT ONLY different utensils but different parts of the grill or other prep areas. a true food allergy can cause a lot more than discomfort later or the next day. people with peanut and shellfish allergies can die, within minutes.

 

say no butter, if it comes with butter, say that you ordered no butter. 

 

do not say you have a dairy allergy because that means you may just end with whatever their butter/dairy sub is. 

 

just say no butter. if you can't be sure it will be compliant then order something you can be sure of or tell friends and family you're going for a dr procedure and can't eat the night before. but don't put extra work on the kitchen staff for something non-life threatening like this. 

[rachelmaria33]

stravajunkie  I think the reason many of us cave in the food area of life, even if we have strong will in other areas is the planning or lack of it.  Think back on the last 3-4 times you ate something junky for dinner.  You were probably grabbing something last minute right?  Working (albeit only 3 days a week) has really changed this area of life for me.  I know that if I don't have a plan, something in the crock pot or something defrosting, or a quick meal in mind I'm going to be in trouble.  Ponder that, maybe it'll click for you too?

 

On that note, it was nice to get some foods prepped and ready today!  I threw a couple of pork roasts in the crock pot this morning before heading off to grocery shop with the kids.  Got home and made a family pot of chili and tried a new recipe for me called "chocolate chili".  It was spicier than I'd like to sit down to a bowl of, but with it being so meaty (of course it is, no beans, LOL) I used it as a topping to a baked potato.  It was delish for that purpose, and will last for 4-5 more meals like that, even though I only made a half recipe.  I'll probably freeze at least one serving.  Once I shredded up the pork I also bagged up 4 single serving size portions to freeze for those situations where I'm needing a quick protein to throw in my lunch bag with my veggies, or when something unplanned happens and I don't have dinner a-go.  Feeling more confident every day, and with each new planned fall back in place. 

 

I'm glad so many of you are feeling like you/we can do this now!  I saw some homemade butterfinger bars in the freezer yesterday and had to sigh and felt a little sad, but true to form, a few minutes later it was already out of sight and out of mind.   

 

Tomorrow is my first long run on plan.  12 miles.  I have dates for mid run if I need them, but I am really trying to up my eating a little tonight and then just protein and fat up tomorrow AM and see if I can hold out! 

[Sunflour]

Day 6 for me and feeling great. I LOVE the feeling of energy and satiety that this gives me. Plus, zero emotional baggage accompanying the food I'm eating (as opposed to vague feelings of guilt about the SWYPO or gluten-free baked goods or wine or whatever that I'd be having if I wasn't doing this). 

 

I had a food dream last night though, really vivid! I found myself eating a handful of candy, which is not something I'd normally do anyway, then got really upset once I'd remembered I wasn't supposed to be eating it. I felt quite discombobulated even when I woke up. 

 

A question - for those of you with young children, how do you explain the W30 to them? I have two young daughters and I feel a great deal of responsibility to demonstrate a healthy relationship with my body and body image. While we have the same meals, they're not W30ing and still have bread, milk, etc, for snacks. I just want to give them an explanation for why Mumma's not eating the cracker they're offering to share with me, and do it in a way that sounds positive, rather than restrictive, or negative. Any thoughts will be very gratefully received!

[abiswarbrick]

I'm also on day 6 and feeling great! I haven't experienced the cravings or headaches and feel full of energy. In fact I used to get headaches a few times a week and not had one this week! 

 

I did dream I ate a chocolate accidentally though and when I woke up I wasn't sure if I'd actually done it or not! I had to tell myself if was just a dream!!

 

I don't have young children myself but I am a teacher, I tell my students that it is important to try and make good choices with food so that they can live life to the full, I try and avoid talk about about appearance and concentrate on how they feel inside. You could explain that while they are growing they need a different type of food than you need as an adult.