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Un-doing my Peace Corps service


Aguinaya

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Technically, this is day 7 of my first Whole30, but I figured logging this today is better late than never.

 

From July 2011 to September 2013 I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines.  It was an incredible experience and I miss my friends and family there everyday.  What I don't miss, especially after reading It Starts With Food, is my diet there.  While reading the book, I was haunted by all the sugary cereals, peanut butter and Nutella, cookies, and MSG-filled foods I soothed myself with throughout my service.  I was sick a lot--flu, typhoid fever, German measles, countless colds and sinus infections, and was diagnosed with hyperprolactinemia and PCOS.  Plus I gained 20 lbs.  I was so mad at my body by the time I got home, and have been...until I read that book and realized I probably did this all to myself.

 

I was never taught to consider 1) what was really in the food I was eating and 2) what it was doing to my body.  I turn 30 at the end of November, and I am determined to go into this next decade as the best version of me as I can be.  

 

So here we are.

 

I knew having a July 1st start date was going to bring on some difficulties with the 4th of July, but I managed to get through it pretty well.  I read more food labels than ever before, and was shocked to find things like dextrose hiding in things like frozen hamburger patties.   Gross.  I might have leaned on watermelon too much, but I avoided 4 dozen cookies, 2 pans of brownies, a homemade cheesecake (all made by Grandma), and 2 packages of cookies.  It was exhausting.

 

But it was also a great learning experience.  I realized that I can do this!  Hell, anyone can do this.

 

Day 7

M1: 2 homemade sausage patties, 3 eggs cooked in ghee, 1 cup steamed spinach

M2: leftover plaintain nachos (from Well Fed 2)

M3: Pad Thai, with spaghetti squash, baked chicken, snap peas, green onions, and sunshine sauce

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Day 7 felt too easy.  I was exhausted all day from waking up at 5am to get to a 7am physical therapy appointment, but otherwise I felt fine, I ate to the book (literally...my meals were from the books...) and I don't remember craving anything.  I somehow even had enough energy to make Well Fed's version of pad thai (another must make, by the way), do up a big sink-full of dishes, do my PT exercises, and get to sleep by 9pm.

 

Then this morning I kept smelling cookies.  It's possible my coworker has some stashed in his office, where I was sitting having a 2 hour meeting while smelling and craving chocolate chip cookies.  But no cookies were consumed.  

 

I have a feeling weekends are going to be the most difficult, because I'm not on the same schedule, and living in Milwaukee, there are festivals every single weekend.  This weekend is Bastille Days.  My boyfriend was kind enough to suggest we not go because it could be hard for me, but I told him I'd just eat beforehand get suck it up.  I'm a big girl and can say no.  

 

Today I am too busy to stray from my plan, and I have all my meals with me, so it should be another victorious day!  Next step is to re-introduce working out.  I've been feeling too tired to do it lately, but I'm thinking that it's about time I get moving again.

 

Day 8

M1: 2 homemade sausage patties, sauted spinach, 3 eggs

M2: ground turkey, spaghetti squash, leftover Sunshine Sauce

M3: leftover pad thai  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:

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Congrats on making it do Day 8!  I am on Day 8, as well.  So far so good. Yesterday and today have not been too bad for me.  So, I am probably going to start re-introducing working out as well. Don't know if it will be tonight, because I need to do a refresh at the grocery store! Good luck on your journey! 

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Day 14 and still eating very well.  I have taken the mindset that I have no other choice but to finish the 30 days.  I've left no room for excuses not to take the time to cook a bunch of food on Sunday so that I always have meals at the ready.  

 

That's not to say that the past two weeks hasn't had its share of difficulties.  I just perused the Troubleshooting your Whole30 forum and discovered lots of people having the same issues as me: irritability, occasional headache, angry bowels, spotting, and Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms getting worse.  I've had some days where all of these issues have occurred and I wonder what the heck am I doing this for again?  But I just keep on trucking.  The potential benefits far outweigh a bit of discomfort for a few weeks.  

 

But to be on the safe side, I want to be better at logging and most specific when I log my meals, just in case there is anything I'm eating (or not eating) that could be making these issues worse.  

 

Day 14

M1: 3 eggs fried in ghee; Perfect Sausage patties from the Whole30 book; generous handful of spinach, sauted in ghee and seasoned with a couple dashes of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder; guacamole made with avocado, tomato, jalapeno, and garlic

M2: Stuffed peppers from the Whole30 book; beet salad from Well Fed 2 (another recipe I HIGHLY recommend: roasted beets, roasted pistachios, mixed with a dressing made of juice of half an orange, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, red wine vinegar, and olive oil)

M3: Chicken hash from the Whole30 book and some pineapple 

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I subscribed to the daily Whole30 emails, and am SO glad I did.  I love how they incorporate Whole9 lifestyle things, like sleep and exercise.  Sleep has always been a fickle B with me.  My regular sleep habits were to take forever to fall asleep, wake up a bunch throughout the night, and wake up super groggy.  While I'm not sleeping like a baby just yet, with a few exceptions, I notice that I've been falling asleep faster, waking up less, and having no grogginess when I wake up.  My alarm goes off and I'm up.  I don't have tremendous energy throughout the day, but I also don't feel like I'm going to fall asleep at my desk anymore.  I'm still struggling with turning off my electronics at least an hour before going to sleep, though.  I'll try to focus more on that for the second half of this.

 

Day 15: Happy halfway point!!!

M1: 3 eggs fried in ghee; Perfect Sausage patties from the Whole30 book; generous handful of spinach, sauted in ghee and seasoned with a couple dashes of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder; guacamole made with avocado, tomato, jalapeno, and garlic (need to change this up because I'm getting kinda sick of it), 2 cups of coffee with coconut oil 

M2: Chicken hash from the Whole30 book, rest of my amazing beet salad, coconut La Croix

M3: Stuffed pepper from the Whole30 book, coconut La Croix

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