Ina's first Whole30 - May 23 Start

[22twelve]

Hi all! Or rather, hi future Ina who will be reading this in a desperate attempt to remember why this ever seemed like a good idea.

 

This is my first Whole30, I'm on day 4, and seriously - this is fun! No kidding! I am loving it so far! Can you already see that I'm not following the timeline and am not in the mood to Kill All The Things?

 

To be fair, my circumstances are pretty much perfect at the moment: I live alone, with nothing to do until I start my new job next Monday, apart from watching Netflix. That means lots of time to plan and prepare meals, hunt for previously unknown ingredients, let shop owners make calls to suppliers to determine what on earth they put in their sausage (I love that they all offered to do this), no late nights, no unforeseen events, no drink-after-work and every opportunity to have an afternoon nap. Or two. Won't last past Sunday though, as I'll start said job with a two day work trip to Italy (poor me, I know), but looking through some of the forum entries has helped heaps and I'm currently feeling confident. After all, it's the new normal (I want to stick with a more generous paleo diet afterwards) and I better get used to it. Seeing how this changed the life of some of my friends is a pretty good motivation. Well, we'll see how my willpower holds up when I get offered pizza and red wine. I've failed spectacularly before, after all.

 

And to make myself even more unpopular, I didn't even suffer much from the carb flu. I've done low carb diets before, and with every detox I had fewer symptoms so that, by now, I only get a bit tired and a light headache. Don't ask about the first time though. I sleep longer at the moment but I feel that I sleep better, I begin to feel more energetic although I'm still far from jumping up and declaring that I'll go for a run, and the cravings are kind of ok for now. Which is good, because I definitely can't afford any more extra food. Or anything else for that matter

 

I'm struggling with breakfast a little. You'll tell me it's just a matter of getting used to it, but the thought of veggies for breakfast puts me off food altogether, no matter how hungry I am. I'm a cupcake-for-breakfast kind of girl. I only like my eggs sunny side up, and for the past days I've only had two eggs, some bacon and my version of bulletproof coconut coffee, which, by the way, is the best invention ever! So although I have the fat covered, there's not much else there and I haven't found any appealing recipes to make breakfast more nutritious. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

Also, thanks for sharing your progress and your stories, it's great to read through it and get some inspiration!

Ina

[kimberlyxo]

Hi Ina! I skipped right over the carb flu/kill all the things stage too, and it was wonderful  I keep waiting for it to sneak up on me (I'm on day 15)

[22twelve]

High five! Let's hope it won't catch up with us eventually  - I don't know enough about how the body actually works to tell what other side effects may be due at some later stage.

[22twelve]

Hi all, hi future Ina!

 

Now, all is still great and I've already clicked 'I did it' in my Whole30 daily email. Got rewarded with a cat video and subsequently spent 20 minutes watching further cat videos. You know how this happens. But although good, today was also interesting.

 

I had to get up very early and spent most of my day in the car. I had a 4.30am breakfast which I really didn't want but made myself eat, and then snacked on a banana when I got a bit too tired around 8am. You want to be very alert when driving on a German highway without speed limits. For lunch I packed a pineapple tuna salad which I have loved in the past, but throughout the whole day I a) wasn't hungry and b ) really really did not want to eat that damn tuna salad. At all. I kept on drinking my bulletproof coffee to keep me going, got home early evening, put the salad on a plate, took two bites, threw it out and replaced it with a pineapple burger and sweet potato fries. Which was better, but I didn't finish it either. Hoping this phase will pass soon, because I prefer to enjoy my food instead of just shoveling something in to make it through the day. Did this happen to anyone before? How long may this last? When I lose my appetite something is usually very wrong 

 

Also, a question on food traps. Assume I eat something that I'm sure is Whole30 compliant, but later suspect that it might not be, based on a reaction which might or might not be related to said food (I know, not much to go on but paranoia). Do I assume the worst and start all over again, or do I pretend it never happened and do a more reliable check once I hit reintroduction? I'm guessing/hoping the first option might be overkill, but hey, I'm not the expert here. Thanks for your help!

 

Cheers,

Ina

[AllisonS]

Hi Ina,

 

Not sure about the food trap question as I am a newbie, just on day 2.  But I wanted to write you a note regarding not feeling hungry or wanting what you made.  I am experiencing that today and also hope that it passes.  I am a bit jealous of how you breezed over the carb flu as my head is not happy right now and all I want is a nap. 

 

Great job and keep it up!

Alli

[22twelve]

Thanks for your comments Alli! I've seen that your carb flu has improved, so hopefully your appetite's back too?

 

It is day 7, and so far it's been really easy! Luckily I've had the luxury to avoid temptations and risky situations, but I'm really impressed with how few cravings I've had and how easy it was to stop snacking in the afternoons and in front of the TV in the evenings. I admit, during the first two days I had a piece of fruit in the afternoons or a dried date in the evening, just for a sweeter taste. I know, I know, it's not the plan, it's not recommended, but it made things a lot easier for me. I know myself, and not giving in to this would have made me far more likely to fall off the wagon, and where's the good in that. But now it's gone, and at the moment no snacking and no sweets aren't even an issue! 

 

What else has changed over the last week? I'm definitely more calm and relaxed, as evidenced by cursing less at other drivers (a hobby of mine I enjoy immensely), I sleep much better and longer which actually takes a good chunk of time out of my day, my stomach is flatter, there's not been any bloating at all (so wonderful), and of course more energy. Still not going for a run though. But at least I'm looking at the gyms in town, I just moved and haven't joined one yet. I had a case of food boredom for a couple of days and didn't really want anything, but I've now switched to more raw and crunchy veggies as opposed to cooked and roasted stuff with oils or fats, and that seems to help. 

 

The first big test is coming up on Monday. A two day work trip to Italy with a bunch of colleagues and students, from early Monday morning to late Tuesday night. According to the program meals are not planned, and apart from a possible dinner on Monday I may not even find myself in a situation where I have no say in where I eat or what is ordered. I spent the last couple of hours reading through the forum on how to survive situations where you can't refrigerate your own food. Preparation is key, and I assume that I will be able to eat my own food for every single meal just so I won't be caught off guard.

I'll now prepare some snack packs with nuts, hard boiled eggs, carrots and apples on Sunday and will fix a non-leafy salad for Monday's lunch. For Monday's dinner and Tuesday's lunch I'm thinking roasted potatoes, hard boiled eggs and some compliant air-dried/smoked sausages that don't need to be refrigerated, this should survive quite well until then. Well, for Tuesday's dinner, which will happen on the road, I'll just have to hope for the best and will rely on the snack packs if there are no other options. Breakfast in the hotel should be fine, although I'll do some more research on this scrambled-egg-mix that the hospitality industry loves to use.

If anyone has other ideas on how to incorporate some more veggies into this, please let me know! But no celery, I beg you! This trip better work out, because I promised myself the print version of the Whole30 book as a reward if I make it to day 12. It's not at all hard to eat this way and I'm not missing much yet, but I really think what might do me in is the temptation and inconvenience of eating this way outside your own home.

[jmcbn]

"Breakfast in the hotel should be fine, although I'll do some more research on this scrambled-egg-mix that the hospitality industry loves to use."

 

I'd probably opt for poached - or fried if I was sure of the oil they were using... As for more veg options can you get anything like tinned artichokes? Or any type of compliant pickled cucumbers or the like?

[22twelve]

Thanks jmcbn, I'd much prefer poached or fried too but am not sure if that will be available. Tripadvisor information only confirmed that there are scrambled eggs, so I'm obsessing a bit over the worst case scenario. I love your artichoke and pickled cucumbers suggestion, especially the latter should be easy to find. It's on the list! I'm wondering why I didn't think of that.

[22twelve]

It is day 8 and I just discovered that I'm the proud owner of an avocado intolerance. I was so happy with my delicious, wonderful guacamole and how well it went with my pineapple bacon burger, only to feel horribly bloated 30 minutes later. Not that I've eaten crazy amounts of avocado before the Whole30, but I honestly would have never suspected. Just goes to show that there really is a point in eliminating everything, regardless of how convinced you are that your body handles it just fine.

 

Funnily enough this happened while I was skyping with my mom and had to explain the Whole30 to her. I'm sure that I'm not the only one here who's proudly announced several life-changing dietary plans to her family while cleaning out the pantry, insisting that THIS time they will work, only to crash and burn spectacularly a week later. Therefore I'm a little bit apprehensive in talking to others about what I'm doing, but mom asked so I had to explain. To her credit she always pretended to take me seriously anyway, and this time around found it all very sensible, logical and interesting. Obviously! It Starts With Food will finally be released in German this August, and I can't wait to send it to a family member who was recently diagnosed with MS and Hashimoto. I'd love to send it to everyone else as well, but no one likes the annoying cousin who's trying to be the food missionary...

 

I also had a horrible dream tonight about my bike being stolen and the policeman offering me a Dextro Energy (one of these sports candies made of 85% dextrose), which I ate. And then I woke up and felt awful because a) my bike was gone and b ) I failed and had to start all over. So silly! Not like me at all! I'm blaming this on self-fulfilling prophecy based on reading all about these dreams in the book and the timeline. So there! On the plus side, food boredom seems to be gone and my thirst has returned. For the last few days I struggled to drink enough because I just wasn't feeling thirsty. A very strange experience for the girl who doesn't go anywhere without a bottle of water. I also felt strangely happily smug at the supermarket this morning, looking at everyone else's shopping carts, thinking 'Do you even realize what you're doing to yourself?'. This is awful. I should be the very last person to judge others for their food intake. I hope it passes. But I do have some avocados to give to them.

[22twelve]

It is day 12 and I wouldn't even know this without the daily emails. Achievement of the week: I've managed to stay compliant during two days in Italy! I packed all my food in advance, and in the evening we luckily ended up at a bar/restaurant that had lots of Whole30-friendly dishes on the menu. We went to visit the Expo 2015, with has food and nutrition as its theme. So. Much. Food. Delicious stuff. Wonderful stuff. Free chocolate. None of which I touched, and I found it far easier than I expected. The only thing I found that might have worked for me was a kale salad with nuts and cranberries in the American Food Truck Section, but they couldn't tell me the exact ingredients of their dressing so I passed. The long drive back to Austria on Tuesday and the fact that I got kind of sick of hard boiled eggs meant that I skipped dinner altogether, which in turn meant that I wasn't hungry at all this morning and only managed to eat half of my breakfast. Not good, but I'd rather eat less than the wrong thing and was hungry but not hangry-lightheaded-hungry. I'll make sure to not skip any more meals though.

 

Today was the first day that I actually spent at work, and everyone  - well, everyone from my office - went for lunch at the cafeteria in the building. Apparently they cook quite well and we get meal discounts, so it's basically a full three course meal for 2,50 Euros. Which would be fantastic, but I had a look through their menus of the past few weeks and it's all full of carbs, cream, wheat, meat and delicious desserts, so this won't happen for me. Then of course I had to explain why I wasn't coming along so as not to appear completely anti-social, and a colleague actually got really excited! She's been working there for two months and can already feel that these regular unhealthy lunches make her feel worse physically, and asked to borrow It Starts With Food. Which I in turn got very excited about, because even if she doesn't jump on the Whole30 train, it's great to know that someone actually understands your way of eating and the restrictions that come with it. 

 

Tomorrow's a public holiday and my very best friend (who, unfortunately, lives in Australia) is coming for brunch with her husband. Since I want to offer them a bit more than eggs, I stocked up on fresh fruit, compliant juice and bacon, and also threw in some cheeses, bread, croissants, butter, milk and jam. I'm feeling confident enough not to get tempted by all that, and will just pack them the leftovers for the road. Also, they know Whole30 and will probably tackle me before I'd reach the bread basket. But the thought of a warm croissant with strawberry jam does sound freaking delicious right now, so I better go and throw Nom Nom Paleo's Cracklin' Chicken in the pan before I drive myself nuts.

[22twelve]

Day 13. On the plus side I stayed compliant, but on the other hand I've really messed up the recommendations! My friends were supposed to come for brunch, and since I slept late I thought I'd wait with breakfast until they arrive. Unfortunately they got stuck in holiday traffic and it took them 3 extra hours to arrive, and by the time they told me it was already closer to lunch than brunch. I made myself my usual breakfast but wasn't really hungry because I kept myself going with bulletproof coffee beforehand. I then changed the menu from brunch to lunch, threw together a massive compliant salad, served with the bread rolls, cheese and ham/salami/sausage that was already prepared. It also meant that I had Meal 2 three hours after a very late Meal 1, and finished it off with a dessert of fruit and nuts in coconut milk. I know, that was silly and unnecessary, but it was really hot today and it was just absolutely perfect. Now it's 7.30pm, I really should have Meal 3, but am not hungry at all. But something needs to be done with the meat in the fridge anyway, so I'll make meatballs (they're better the day after anyway and will be perfect for lunch tomorrow) and have it with some more salad. But what bugs me most is that I've had to throw away some perfectly good food that wasn't eaten because of the change of plans. I don't like doing this, and I think for future occasions I'll plan a bit differently to minimize waste. Less choice but better food for example.

 

Looking back on the last two weeks, I found it really easy to adapt to this way of eating, and while I very much miss the freedom that comes with eating on the go or while socializing (Ice cream while strolling through town? Not for me!), I'm generally doing ok and can easily keep my cravings in check. What I'm having problems with is keeping regular meal times when my routine is interrupted and following the meal template regardless of whether I'm hungry or simply feel like it. I'll use my second half of the Whole30 to figure out how to handle this and make sure that these things will become habits. 

 

The most positive change that I've felt so far is not that I've more energy, feel happier or just generally better physically, but it's the fact that food starts to be my friend. The rule of not stepping on the scale, not taking measurements, not counting calories is the one that has made the most significant impact on me, and is probably the one that makes it possible for me to stick with the program so easily. Before, it was a constant struggle, and every food related decision put pressure on me. What I thought of as healthy wasn't so healthy after all, and when I made 'bad' choices I went completely overboard (hung for a sheep...) and felt not only physically but also emotionally bad about it. I'm just now realizing how much stress this actually caused me, now that I don't have to make these decisions, don't have to feel bad about what I'm eating, and don't have these decisions dominating my life. True, food still is something I think about way more than other people probably do, but the focus has changed and the more familiar I get with the program and what works for me, the less I think about it and the more I feel at peace with what's on my plate. Which is a pretty nice change. Now, if the not-so-talented singer/guitar player in the neighbor's garden would stop singing Hotel California, I'd really be happy!

[22twelve]

It is day 16 and where on earth are these cravings coming from?!?! Yeah, don't answer, I know where they're coming from, but I'm still not happy! And that on the day where I'm making cantuccini... Well, willpower. Let's see what you're made of. At least I'm somewhat following the timeline now. Actually I had the cravings yesterday as well, but it was a really hot and humid day and I spent all day sleeping on the balcony. Obviously not much in terms of tiger blood either, but weather like this makes everyone drowsy. I also had to order another set of 18 Lock&Lock containers because I've been running out, especially on the smaller ones for dips, dressings, spices, leftovers etc. I considered it my two week reward. They have lids in all colours and now everything is not only neatly stacked but also colour-coded. I'm the queen of organizing. It makes me happy.

 

If I'm not craving cookies, I'm finding it fascinating that I'm getting 'I'm full, stop eating' signals from my body during meals. That's a pretty new thing, usually I don't get these until there's literally no more room for food. Which in turn makes things a bit complicated, because the program tells me to keep eating whereas I'm just excited about being able to stop. I've asked this question in another section of the forum - when to start making your own food related decisions based on your body's signals - but somehow that didn't turn out to be too helpful and I feel it went a bit off-topic. Or maybe I was just expecting a magic formula where there isn't one. I get it, most people are surprised by the amount of food they are allowed and encouraged to eat on the Whole30, as it's far more than they're used to. Well, I don't care how much food you put on your plate and call it a massive portion, chances are I'd have previously looked at it and thought 'That might do, but I hope there are seconds just in case'. So telling me to finish template meals because I need to get used to eating, regardless of what my body is telling or will ever tell me, is very much pointless, because trust me, I am very much used to eating. I'm worried about keeping on overeating because technically, the program lets me. But I'll just figure it out, starting in two weeks. Unless I eat one of those cantuccini. I'll just go and smell them. Does that help?

[22twelve]

From day 16 straight to 34. Nice work!

 

I've officially finished the Whole30 on Sunday, and am more than happy with the progress I've made. Weight came off, my pants are looser, my watch is looser, my face looks thinner and my skin is much better. I sleep really well and usually wake up a short time before the alarm goes off, and the lack of bloating and stomach aches combined with more energy and a general feeling of being more 'awake' or 'present' is wonderful. I managed to make it through 28 days without slipping once, but then my cousin's wedding came along. I already knew that I'd wait with reintroduction and keep going for a while longer, so I decided not to be too picky when it came to the preparation of my food. Technically all my choices were compliant, but I'm absolutely sure that they were prepared with a good amount of butter and sugar, because the two days after I felt tired, cranky, my skin broke out a little bit and the cravings came back. And this just from the way that compliant food was prepared, quite an eye opener to be honest. I'm afraid to find out what bread with butter will do to me...

 

On the last day of the Whole30 I finally started feeling better, but obviously this wasn't quite the right time for reintroduction. There's also a lot more work to be done in terms of weight loss, portion sizes, my general relationship with food, and the occasional sugar dragon attack. I find it easy and surprisingly not overly expensive to cook and eat this way, especially since I've bought a proper freezer and am not limited to the tiny box in the fridge. I swear, a man must have chosen that kitchen... I am not missing anything in particular (apart from cake and cookies, but as long as it's not sitting in front of me I'm good). I'll be using the next week to eat simply according to hunger and satiety as opposed to strictly following meal template regulations, and will start, or continue on to, the official Whole30 in July with more knowledge about whether or not I can start to trust the signals I'm getting from my body.

 

I've splurged on Nom Nom Paleo and the official Whole30 book which will hopefully be delivered soon, and if I successfully complete July I'll place an order for Well Fed and Well Fed 2. These books are far more expensive here than on the US Amazon website (okay, admittedly, the income varies too...), but ordering from the somewhat cheaper UK makes it a little less painful. My parents are impressed (so am I to be honest), and my colleagues don't quite get it. But no one is making any weird comments about my behaviour like demonstrated in this 'Stuff people say' thread (that one makes my day, every day) and just leave me to my own devices, which I very much appreciate. We had a big celebratory dinner with the whole team yesterday and even though I would have allowed myself some wonderful, typical Tyrolean, very much noncompliant food if I felt that I really, really wanted it - I didn't want it that badly. Everyone felt sorry for me with my salad and water, and found it hard to believe that I, in fact, wasn't feeling sorry for myself at all. And guess what, this morning I was the only one who showed up on time and wasn't feeilng tired, cranky or lacked motivation

 

So this is how it is, and how it will continue to be for at least another 5 weeks. I'm not feeling confident enough about reintroduction and sticking to my new, good, healthy habits, and while I'm curious to know how much weight I lost, I'm afraid that the actual number will not be what I expect. But why ruin something good by a number no one knows and no one cares about? So I'm not stepping on the scale anytime soon. I have a pair of hiking trousers that eventually I want to fit into, and maybe then I'll think about it again.