2nd Round aka Death of the Sugar Dragon

[Elleon]

Heya

I completed my first Whole 30 July 31st-Aug 29th and felt some significant progress was made. First off, it was probably my fourth go since attending a Whole 9 seminar May 2011. And the first time I made it past week two!! Holy smokes that took awhile... but I finished!

I found out about a serious gluten intolerance late 2010 by means of an ND. I had been exhausted and just generally messed up on a lot of health fronts since about nine months after having my second daughter (she was born August 2007, the issues started around April/May 2008). Digestive problems, weight gain, fatigue (later pegged as anemia), skin problems, emotional roller coasting (aka paralyzing depression and my intro to panic attacks), amenorrhea... basically a hot mess. It was really, truly a horrible time. In retrospect it appears that the stress of two big moves, a friend passing away, a second c-section, and other life stress all within a relatively short time period triggered celiac. And as my body broke, my brain went with it.

Fast forward to today - there have been ups and downs. When I get my nutrition locked down I feel like superwoman (and do great things dangit), but when there is gluten, sugar, and to some extent dairy involved, everything crumbles. I beat the crap out of myself for a long time for being a weak, flawed "emotional eater", but now I have learned that the foods I was compulsively hoovering were literally lighting my system up like drugs. It wasn't about weakness. Just misinformation and then the need to take the initiative to use the knowledge as I've accrued it.

So that was kind of long... but the main point here is that my first Whole 30 was hard and amazing and I saw real changes. Until I jumped off the wagon and let it run me over a few times. So now I've learned the hard way it's not just about gluten, but sugar as well. Enter round two.

My big focus is going to be not just staying "on plan" with allowed foods, but also paying attention to when and how I am eating them. I am a serious sugar fiend and after-dinner eater, so those two things have got to be starved out. We are moving again at the end of next month and I am so tired of falling apart and feeling like a liability to my family. I want my girls to see an example of a woman nourishing herself, not beating herself up on a regular basis. Also, I am super stoked about the move and want to get to our destination strong and ready to go!

So yeah. Long. But it feels good to write it out and here goes day 1 .

[Elleon]

Day one:

0830: Half a sirloin patty, about a 1/2 cup shredded crockpot beef, small yam, four lettuce leaf 'taco shells', handful black olives and lots o sauerkraut. Mug black coffee.

Take the same supplements every day: vitamin C, fish oil, biotin. Stopped taking my multi for the Whole 30 bc it has sugar in it. And Wellbutrin... conflicted about that but now's not the time to get off of it yet.

1245: bigass bowl of spinach, two clementines, one hardboiled egg, sirloin burger, tbsp each coconut oil and balsamic, sauerkraut

1700: coconut water and a hardboiled egg after Crossfit. Speaking of which, I was sucking big time. My second DNF. I miss my tiger's blood . And I have hip, shoulder, and calf tweaks (all right side) that are getting annoying. Think it's the crap I've put in my system the last few days.

1830: broccoli, cauliflower, Tarragon Cream Chicken from ISWF (so fracking good!), and a small yam. Wasn't really hungry for dinner, but it tasted good so suppose maybe I was. Reasonable portions. Not eating right now after dinner... win!

Didn't drink enough water today, maybe 3-4 glasses. Must drink more tomorrow.

[Derval]

Great opening post, don't worry you'll get your groove back soon.

[Elleon]

Day two:

Up at 0400 to take husband to work, yikes! Odd but I feel a little more clearheaded already... and big time important - only water after dinner last night. Awesome.

0630: two hardboiled eggs, okinawan sweet potato, sauerkraut, half an avocado, and some cauliflower. Coffee.

1100: coconut water after Crossfit. In need of a mass cookup to get some extra protein leftovers in the fridge. Upside, kicked ass at the WOD compared to yesterday.

1300: spinach, herring, kimchi, Tbsp olive oil, half an avocado, yam. May be light on the protein, but I'll see how I feel later this afternoon.

1600: small tin sardines/olive oil and a yam... thinking about dropping the afternoon snack. Four is pretty late, and now at six I'm not hungry for dinner.

1945: Moroccan pulled pork and roasted veggies. Relatively small portion, no food after dinner. Cool.

[Susan W]

You have done some important mental work and I congratulate you for that. I also used to be a night forager. My favorite naughty thing was a very late night PB and Honey and Butter sandwich with a couple of oreos if they happened to be hanging around shouting at me. Big glass of milk or chocolate milk if I could. Horrors. Enter a very strict diet plan...not Paleo or Whole30 by any means, but I didn't know about either at the time. I lost 84 lbs, transitioned and then another member pointed out Paleo to me and a bunch of us did Whole30 last August 1, 2011. I actually rarely go off my original Whole30, but decided to do another one Sept 1 of this year. I think I'd like to do it yearly at least. I can't tell you how my life has changed. The cravings just aren't there. I do a very strict Whole30 when I officially do it since I do a loose Whole30 the rest of the time. No snacking, no nuts, no nut butter (too much like those midnight runs), no bacon, no cooking with olive oil.

Love your term "bigass bowl of spinach" and am going to borrow it...often.

You are doing awesome!

[Elleon]

Thank you!

And OH MY GOSH... the peanut butter sandwiches. When I was first trying to figure out the crazy health stuff, I went vegan for about six months (which meant I was eating gluten-based pseudo meats. good lord.)

At least a few times a week I would go nuts on peanut butter and jelly. It was ridiculous. Like the feeling you get when you have a mosquito bite and get all twitchy because you just have to scratch it.

I am so so relieved to hear your cravings have subsided. Mine have gotten so much better but still linger... at least I am off the pb sauce (I am embarrassed to admit for quite some time the whole family would periodically get pissed at me because we were constantly out of peanut butter ).

[Elleon]

Day three:

Up crazy early again, this time 0530. Looking forward to "sleeping in" until six tomorrow! Slept really well last night, ready for bed at nine thirty.

0700: grande Americano, black.

0745: three eggs cooked in coconut oil, Okinawan sweet potato, roasted veggies, sauerkraut.

1300: three eggs cooked in coconut oil, yam, roasted veggies, kimchi, small green apple with about a 1/4 cup coconut milk.

1700: sauerkraut - read somewhere that a glass of water and some fermented food can be good for gut health before a meal, let's try it!

1800: licorice tea, yam, and a small red delicious apple (note to self, small apples are too small!)

1930: lettuce wrapped sirloin burger, eggplant and fennel salad from MDA cookbook (yum!)

Passed out for almost FOUR hours this afternoon, what the what? And I really am not a napper. Oscillating between energetic and cranky, or the third option: an awful hybrid of the two. Not very snacky today though, balanced hunger.

Haven't been doing my nighttime magnesium for a few days, but will have some prior to bed tonight.

[Aberrantatavia]

Good job on your after dinner self-care:) its really hard to break those habits... And you are well on your way!

[Elleon]

Day four:

Had to pop a Tylenol PM last night after an hour and a half of just lying there... fell asleep way too long yesterday. Still got a solid 6-7 hours, so, meh.

0700: coffee, eggs scrambled with sauteed zucchini and black olives in olive oil? (husband made it, so not sure. but he's doing the W30, too, so probably EVOO)

0900: decaf americano and a banana. job interview! banana settled stomach

1230: monster spinach, coconut oil, balsamic vinegar, kimchi, strawberries, chicken breast cooked in mac nut oil, okinawan sweet potato. sugar in the kimchi!! not going to restart, though, because a. it was a small amount of unintentional sugar and b. since it's not a lot, don't think it's worth a restart and a possible "what the hell" effect...

also discovered that the fish I ate a couple of times from Sam's Club is cooked in freaking Wesson Oil. Jerks! The label only says garlic, salt, and pepper. Jerks. Glad I found out before buying any more...

1700: before Crossfit - two hardboiled eggs and some coconut milk. Trying out the protein + fat prior to workout advice in ISWF. Felt a little teeny bit nauseous on my first couple of 400s, but the rest of WOD felt awesome (20 min AMRAP with 400s and pullups).

1900: coconut water after workout.

1945: curry (beef roast slow cooked in broth, then shredded and cooked on the stove with spinach, coconut milk, spices) and Okinawan sweet potato. Feeling snacky, but think it's just a mix of habit and dehydration. Time for some water!

[Susan W]

Thank you!

And OH MY GOSH... the peanut butter sandwiches. When I was first trying to figure out the crazy health stuff, I went vegan for about six months (which meant I was eating gluten-based pseudo meats. good lord.)

At least a few times a week I would go nuts on peanut butter and jelly. It was ridiculous. Like the feeling you get when you have a mosquito bite and get all twitchy because you just have to scratch it.

I am so so relieved to hear your cravings have subsided. Mine have gotten so much better but still linger... at least I am off the pb sauce (I am embarrassed to admit for quite some time the whole family would periodically get pissed at me because we were constantly out of peanut butter ).

Oh, my daughter used to say "where's the PB" all the time. Oops...sorrryyyy....

[Elleon]

Day five

Headacheeee this morning. And up way too early, no clue why. Boo.

0700: three eggs scrambled with spinach and coconut oil, yam, sauerkraut, coffee.

Hip started getting tweaky again, so skipping the planned run this morning. I'll save my mojo for Crossfit later today .

1000: chicken breast, Okinawan sweet potato, half an avocado, two hardboiled eggs, and some mustard. Hungry!!

1200 Crossfit WOD

1430: bigass bowl o spinach, balsamic vinegar, coconut oil, chicken strawberries, olives, sauerkraut, and yam

1830 second Crossfit WOD, went back to do it again and work on the specific skills

2000: pulled pork, broccoli, Okinawan sweet potato, and a little coconut oil

Bloated the second half of the day and kind of gassy. Also got a rash on my neck tonight... not sure if they are related or maybe I scraped it with the bar? Only thing different was the calamata olives and the strawberries. Could have sworn I had calamatas on a salad earlier this week but it's not logged... I'll have the olives tomorrow and the strawberries Thursday to see what pops up.

[Elleon]

Day six (six! yay )

0230: so weird. Woke up at 0130, no clue why. Laid there for an hour in the dark... then at around 0230 realized I was HUNGRY. Got up, ate some steamed broccoli, pulled pork (slowcooked with some salt), and a little coconut oil and coconut milk on top. Felt so much better and immediately passed back out. It is surreal being able to actually trust my body - I have never been one to eat after going to bed, but I guess for whatever reason my body needed it?

0700: eggs scrambled with sirloin, yam, coffee.

1000: half an avocado, sauerkraut, sirloin burger. Breakthrough! Had grapes on the plate, but they just looked sweet and weird. Went back for the other half of the avocado and some more sauerkraut instead.

SO fulllll... until like two.

Four hours of volunteering with Habitat (aka moving furniture), no workout today.

1800: Moroccan chicken from ISWF, holy yum, and steamed cauliflower with olive oil. Went back for another serving of chicken. Could have probably skipped it but man yum yum.

Oh - and my house is currently ridonkulously clean. Like I think to myself, I don't feel like doing dishes, lame. But by the time that thought is done I've already washed two plates. Go figure.

1930: two hardboiled eggs, sauerkraut, mustard, and some coconut milk. What the frack, way too hungry today. Seem to remember this from week one of round one, too.

[Elleon]

Day seven

Took magnesium last night, good sleep. Woke up with a light headache (like almost always lately), went away after a little while.

0700: two pieces of chicken breast, two hardboiled eggs, banana, coffee, coconut milk

1230: spinach with coconut oil, balsamic vinegar, chicken breast, olives, strawberries and a banana. Rash on the neck is almost gone, let's see what strawberries do. Drank 32 ounces of water over the course of the morning, but still very hungry for lunch. Kind of a gross, pre Whole 30 hungry. And cravings! Want to stop at Safeway or Sbux, cake and pastries ON THE BRAIN. Blech.