Grgtt Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I’m a 52 year old woman who was born with several congenital birth defects, including a severely deformed left hand and a right foot that has required many extensive surgeries over my lifetime just so I could keep walking. In addition to the chronic pain that I have from orthopedic deformities in my foot I’ve also developed peripheral neuropathy that causes nerve pain in all my extremities. Add two other neurological and a few other unrelated conditions that I have and it’s easy to see why I was very interested in finding out how I could get control of my eating habits in the hope of decreasing the inflammation in my body. Amazingly it took getting to a crisis point on many fronts, including being in too much pain to work for the first time since I was 16 years old (which now has me on the verge of becoming homeless and losing my health insurance) and needing to use a walker for anything longer than the shortest of distances, to finally decide to try a program like Whole 30. I started the program on May 20th. After reading about low energy concerns and sugar cravings I expected to feel awful for the first few days, but actually I had the exact opposite response. I felt great! My energy level was off the chart and the sluggish feeing that I usually got from daily, mindless junk food eating was gone. Now let me be clear; my energy levels were high but all of the chronic pain that I suffer was still present. In fact it was a little worse those first days because I was more active than usual because I had more energy. What I didn’t anticipate was that I usually used certain junk foods to distract myself when my pain levels became unbearable, so by day four I gave in to my anger and depression over my pain and ate a small amount of a favorite ice cream. (I even rationalized my foolishness by limiting the amount to a single scoop and eating it with a ton of fresh berries.) My bad choice wasn’t because I missed the sugar or because I missed that junk food in general, it was because I needed comforting for the ugliness of the pain and hadn’t been able to find another source of comfort that week. The thought that eating that scoop, or messing up the first week of my 30 days for silly reason, would bring me comfort was completely irrational. It did, however, offer an opportunity for self-reflection. Equipped with that knowledge I restarted the program on May 25th. I’m seeking support through this forum in the hope of making better choices and getting all the way through the 30 days this time. I look forward to hearing the wisdom of the experienced people on these threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Grgtt - that was a great decision to start over. You might want to join one of the groups for additional support and accountability. Some of us are way goofier than others or just a little goofier... but we still have focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyS Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi Grgtt! Your story is compelling and I wish you the VERY best in keeping your home, your health insurance, and maybe even dialing back some of the pain levels you deal with. It makes total sense that you'd be using food as pain relief, since it's way cheaper than pain medication and probably has less side effects than narcotics, for instance. Wow, that's a heavy, heavy situation. I'm sending you all good thoughts. If you'd like some specific tips on your Whole30, post a couple of days' worth of sample meals here and we can chime in with some suggestions. In general, it does occur to me that you might find some relief from including lots of starchy veggies in your meals - potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, beets, that kind of thing. Starchy carbs are not the same thing as junk food, of course, but those carbs are really important and they might (totally guessing and hoping here) help provide some of that pain relief/distraction. Also remember to add fat. Sending strength vibes your way. Keep in touch here for support, and oh how I wish we could work magic so you wouldn't have to worry about keeping your house and your insurance! Love and light to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Positive vibes, and healing wishes coming from me also - you've made a great start, and an even better re-start.... Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Hi Grrgt, You look way too stylish to use a walker and you definitely have my support! I think it often takes a crisis for us to make some kind of change, especially to lifelong habits. I suspect there are a lot of people here because they had an increase in health problems or a scary diagnosis. I have found a lot of support on the forum boards. I would not be surprised at all if there were other people who deal with chronic pain issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grgtt Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Thank you all for your encouragement. Being able to plan and prepare meals has worked out pretty well so far. I've gotten some great menu guidance by looking at the sample menus that are linked on the Whole30 website. The starchy veggie suggestions, AmyS, make perfect sense because those have always been among my favorites. In fact, with the exception of white potatoes, I'm growing all of them in my garden! It would follow that perhaps my body is actually craving something that it gets from them. I've been including healthy fats, but just today I started including coconut oil. I really like it. The problem that I created for myself was making a choice to eat something for a completely irrational reason. You are all so right in saying that I need to explore the forum boards and get some healthy support next time instead of trying to commune with a scoop of Ben and Jerry's. LOL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loulabelle Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I wish you all the best with your journey Grgtt! If you need support come here and find us, we will be here for you every step of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grgtt Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 I had a pleasant experience that touched on the section of the Whole30 rule that prohibits taking, "any body measurements for the duration of the program". (Yes, I understand and respect the rule, and yes, improving my health and resetting my nutritional behaviors are my priorities, so please don't fuss at me! I just thought this story was uplifting enough to share...) My very demanding beagle, Scooter, could have cared less that my clomping around in a walking boot was slowing down my getting ready to take him and his buddy Ben out for their walk this morning. In my haste I threw on a tank top and grabbed a skirt out of my closet, not realizing the skirt that I put on was one that I had barely been able to zip up for years. To my shock and delight the skirt not only fit, it actually bordered on being one size too big! Of course many people must experience a change in how their clothes fit pretty quickly on this program, but since I started out so overweight 9 days ago my guess is that my initial loss of water weight and related bloating was significant. Either way that skirt experience really made my day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grgtt Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 Today is my day 17 and I have one HUGE regret and I have experienced on BIG shock... My regret thus far is that I did not take body measurements on my original or at re-start of day one. I know what my starting weight was, and I know a lot about my blood work because I spend a ridiculous amount of time in doctors' offices because of my health problems, but I didn't take my tape measurements so I could compare my before and after numbers. The reason I regret not taking my measurements is that (as I mentioned earlier) it is clear that the biggest change I've experienced so far is in the fit of my clothes. The change has been so dramatic, particularly in my loss of belly fat, I would have really enjoyed seeing the difference in those numbers at the end of the 30 days. Even if I can't see the actual numbers I'll be able to see the change in my body and in my habits so I hope that momentum will keep carrying me forward to continue improving my health. My big shock is that I don't feel the level of cravings and fatigue that I see discussed in so much of the Whole 30 literature. At times I wonder if that's because I am more sedentary than many of you who are involved in this nutritional program. Since I'm disabled I do a very modified type of exercise. Clearly I am not a runner (I'm not even a walker) so my form of cardio exercise has to raise my heart rate without any impact on my legs at all. It may be, therefore, that I'm not creating quite the same level of caloric deficit on my body so that would not result in the type of fatigue and cravings that I hear other describe. My temptations around food issues have all been related to old emotional eating habits, but I'm finally working on dealing with emotional issues with emotions instead of food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted June 10, 2015 Administrators Share Posted June 10, 2015 Not everyone experiences the cravings and transition side effects, count yourself lucky! (also note that sometimes people have a delayed reaction so don't be surprised if you all of a sudden want to kill a sponge cake and kick your neighbor) I'm really glad that you're experiencing such positive results and you have such a great positive attitude. Keep it up, Grgtt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhed Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Congrats, Grgtt! It's exciting to see you having non scale victories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaPT Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Read the thread....oh I wish you the best and will be looking for more posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThyPeace Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Grgtt, I'm glad you're here and posting. Please keep telling us about your experiences. There will be, I'm sure, up days, down days, sideways days, and inside out days. That's okay! Write about them all. Keeping track of how you look and feel right now and as you continue will be really useful to you as you progress in your quest for health. Not everything you try this time will work, but then again, some of it will. And I find that I forget stuff that worked as easily as forgetting stuff that doesn't work. It's good to have a record to go back to. There is also the fact that it's fun for me to read, and I suspect for others as well. Hope you have a great day! ThyPeace, looking forward to that "7 posts" becoming "70 posts" and then "700 posts." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottagequeen Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Grgtt! Thank you for sharing you journey. So inspiring for us all. I was another one who didn't have the mad cravings. I can say that there have been some times that things have been in front of me that have been a temptation, but the whole Whole30 experience has helped me walk away from the temptation. My first Whole30 was over a year ago now. This time I have really grown and have been handling life's ups and downs a lot better. I still have work to do, this is a journey not a race, that's why it is so wonderfully effective! You've got this and we've got your back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I had major, major issues with fatigue along the way, but I never had any serious cravings either. I think it's partly because I followed the template meals and I ate enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaPT Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaPT Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Happy day to you grgtt !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grgtt Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Yesterday was the 30th day of my first Whole 30! I am tickled beyond words!! Thank you to every wonderful person out there who encouraged me to stick with it! I can’t thank you enough because I’ve learned so much about myself through this process. I don’t think I’ve ever made conscious decisions to shift not only my thinking about nutrition and food choices, but also my emotional responses to those choices, prior to now. So as I transition to the next phase I’m going through the checklist to see what has improved other than the fit of my clothes and the numbers on my scale. I cannot, however, deny that I am very happy with the change on scale! I weighed in at a doctor’s appointment on day 29 and almost kissed the nurse full on the lips when she finished nudging the balance to the left; I lost a total of 24 lbs during my first Whole 30. Not too shabby! The other great outcome is that the inflammation that was causing so much pressure on my deformed foot has been greatly reduced (I have multiple birth defects). I’m scheduled to get a new custom brace next week, and I was started on new medication this week for two of my neurological conditions, so hopefully if I stick with my newly acquired healthy eating habits, and perhaps come back for another W30 soon, my chronic pain levels will continue to fall. Now for me that would be the most fabulous Whole 30 outcome of all Battling Birth Defects For Decades, KO’d by Neurological Problems and Lupus http://bit.ly/GrgttGiveForward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loulabelle Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Wow Grgtt what wonderful results, I can't tell you how happy I feel for you reading your update!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Fantastic results Grgtt! Now please tell me you're planning a proper reintro so you can truly learn from your experience & know where you are going forward... That for me would be a fabulous outcome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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