Whole30 Journey

[jknolmed21]

Hi everyone! I started the Whole30 on July 27th and (tentatively) "end" on August 25th. I've got a lot of things going on health-wise. I am in remission from Lyme (yay!), I have dysautonomia (dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, where it doesn't regulate itself like it should), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), peripheral neuropathy, estrogen dominance, depression, and anxiety.

 

My main symptoms are/have been fatigue, tiredness, exercise intolerance, headaches, and the anxiety. I really hope I can have a change in these symptoms through Whole30 nutrition!

 

And also, although I know Whole30 is definitely not a weight loss program by any means, I am hoping it can kickstart my hormones and metabolism, and propel me into a lifelong eating difference to help take off the excess weight I gained from Lyme and from the treatment of it (I'm pretty overweight now, which is incredibly difficult because I used to have an eating disorder). I'm  days in to the program, now starting my log.

 

 

[jknolmed21]

·      August 3^rd

o   Meal 1: Frittata with potato “crust” (two palm sizes or so, but pretty thick) and salad with mushroom slices, red onions, pepper pieces, arugula, spinach, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil

o   “Snack”: iced coffee with compliant almond milk

o   Meal 2: 8 small carrot sticks, 5 oz tuna with olive oil, and lemon juice. (I need to make homemade mayo at some point), Epic pork and pineapple bar.

o   Meal 3: vegetable mix (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, 10 oz), 2 (compliant) hotdogs, a (closed) handful and a quarter of raw almonds. Tea with almond milk.  

[jknolmed21]

·      August 4^th

o   Meal 1: 10 baby carrots, apple, two tablespoons of almond butter. Coffee with almond milk

o   Meal 2: Salad with roast veggies (in olive oil) with an egg (8 oz altogether) and balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 28g      uncured EPIC bacon (6 pieces)

o   Meal 3: 2 hotdogs, ½ cup dried apples. Tea and almond milk.

I definitely dropped the ball on veggies for dinner, but I got a bit overwhelmed after so many at lunch. 

[jknolmed21]

·      August 5^th

o   Meal 1: 2 fried eggs with ghee, half a tomato, basil, and some red onion pieces

o   Meal 2: Lara bar, 28g uncured EPIC bacon (6 pieces), open handful of raw almonds

o   Meal 3: Salad with pecans, mandarin oranges, cranberries, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing

[jknolmed21]

·      August 7^th

o   Meal 1: sweet potato chili

o   Meal 2: forgot/ended up skipping

o   Meal 3: pork broth with pork and veggies (at a restaurant-I later found out that the broth actually had miso in it, so I feel bad about that, but I did get to eat out with my friends for one of their birthdays)

[Shawie]

Good luck with the rest of your journey on the Whole30!  You've got to try harder not to miss ANY meals.  It's important for your body to get on a schedule.  I'm on Day 13 and I find myself throwing things together last minute because I am THAT hungry. lol  The worst combination I've done so far is mixed salads, pecans, a banana, and sardines.  I just think back on that day to remind myself to prepare my foods early.

[jknolmed21]

Good luck with the rest of your journey on the Whole30!  You've got to try harder not to miss ANY meals.  It's important for your body to get on a schedule.  I'm on Day 13 and I find myself throwing things together last minute because I am THAT hungry. lol  The worst combination I've done so far is mixed salads, pecans, a banana, and sardines.  I just think back on that day to remind myself to prepare my foods early.

Thank you! And you are definitely right! Today, I almost blacked out while shopping, and I think it was from the missing the meal yesterday, and I can't say I did wonderful this morning either. My heart rate is usually really high when standing because of my medical stuff, but it was only 98 this morning, but I was still very, very faint. I think my blood pressure was way too low or something. Definitely need to work harder on getting enough in!

[jknolmed21]

·      August 8^th

o   Meal 1: lara bar, almonds, 8 EPIC bacon pieces

o   Meal 2: 3 pieces turkey breast (thin slices, packaged), guacamole, lettuce

o   Meal 3: bowl of sweet potato chili, mango pieces, 3 dates

[jknolmed21]

·      August 9^th

o   Meal 1: Bowl of chili

o   Meal 2: veggies with guacamole, 3 meat sticks (this was not enough protein, but I messed up, got distracted, and didn’t have time)

o   Meal3: 1.5 cups veggies, 3 eggs with ghee, apple and almond butter, 12 pieces uncured bacon pieces (EPIC)

[ladyshanny]

August 3 – breakfast looks great, nice job!  Highly recommend that you stop weighing and counting your food because it gives you an incorrect sense of “enough and not enough”.  8 carrot sticks is negligible.  When we say “fill your plate with veggies” we actually mean that.  Around 1-3 cups (1 cup is sufficient, 3+ cups is excellent).  How does 5 oz tuna relate to the palm of your hand?  Were you satisfied between each of these meals and made it 4-5 hours until you felt ready to eat again?  My guess is no if you were using the almond milk coffee as a go-between.

 

August 4^th – where the heck is the protein? Nuts and bacon are fat sources, not protein.  And eggs as a serving are as many as you can hold in one hand without dropping.  More than one….and again, stop weighing your food.  Keep those dried fruits to a minimum in order to dull down sugar cravings.  Go for a fresh fruit source before dried.

 

August 5^th – more eggs at breakfast (as above, as many as you can hold in your hand….more like 3-4).  Larabars are approved only in the event of an emergency, not as a regular food source.  If you can plan for a larabar you can plan for proper food.  Further, larabars only allow cravings and desires for sugar to stay strong within you.  Trash the L-bars and go for protein, veggies and fat.  (no protein in that lunch either, remembering that bacon is a fat source).  No protein in your dinner either.  L

 

August 7^th – given your fairly serious list of health concerns, the accidental ingestion of the miso (soy) is a pretty big deal and should call for at least an extension of your Whole30 so that you have the full 30 clean days.  Overall, not nearly enough food this day for one meal let alone three.

 

August 8^th – larabar, nuts and bacon is not breakfast.  Three deli slices of turkey breast is not lunch.  Finishing your last meal of the day with dates & mangoes (the two sweetest things you can eat) does not provide you with extra nutrition or fuel, it mimics dessert.

 

My friend…………you need to get eating.  Three full template meals every day around 4-5 hours apart is where the magic of this program is.  You will not lose weight, balance hormones, correct sleep, gain energy, moderate mood or heal health issues if you continue on this way but you may make them worse.  Whole30 is not a diet and it’s not like any plan that you have done before.  We want you to eat.  Whole, real, nutrient dense foods.  Push aside the Epic bacon, nuts and dried fruits and bars and replace it with chicken, fish, pork, beef and all the veggies.  Add some good fat from avocado, olives, coconut or properly raised meats.  If it comes in a package with an ingredient list and it’s not being used to make a recipe (ie, canned tomatoes/mushrooms etc), put it away and eat real food.

[jknolmed21]

My friend…………you need to get eating.  Three full template meals every day around 4-5 hours apart is where the magic of this program is.  You will not lose weight, balance hormones, correct sleep, gain energy, moderate mood or heal health issues if you continue on this way but you may make them worse.  Whole30 is not a diet and it’s not like any plan that you have done before.  We want you to eat.  Whole, real, nutrient dense foods.  Push aside the Epic bacon, nuts and dried fruits and bars and replace it with chicken, fish, pork, beef and all the veggies.  Add some good fat from avocado, olives, coconut or properly raised meats.  If it comes in a package with an ingredient list and it’s not being used to make a recipe (ie, canned tomatoes/mushrooms etc), put it away and eat real food.

 

Thank you for your help and for looking through my log. Do you have a log that I could look at? Or just an example of a good meal or two? I feel like I just don't know what is enough. I've had eating problems since 13, so I am just bad at eating enough I guess. I always thought I was overeating when I'd relay what I would eat to my therapist actually. I guess I'm still scared of gaining more weight, because I gained so much from Lyme and treatment that I just don't want to gain more or something.

[ladyshanny]

I don't have a log, personally, no. It wouldn't really help you anyway though because I'm not you and you're not me. I mean to say that you need to take a look at the template and then your own palms and thumbs and create meals. So the bear minimum would be one palm (length, width and depth of your own palm) protein, 1 thumb fat (or half to whole avocado or heaping handfuls olives) and 1-3 cups of veggies. Eat that meal and then see how you feel 4-5 hours after. Are you starved? Eat more at the next meal. If you are just appropriately ready to eat around the 4-5 hour mark, your meals are the right size.

You can also mess around with composition to some degree. Using the template but assessing for yourself if you feel better with one or more servings (fist sized) of starchy veggie per day (one is the minimum recommendation per day) or if you find avocado isn't a long-satiating fat for you but avocado combined with olive oil cooking fat works fine. This is as much about figuring out what your body needs as it is the "no" list of foods we eliminate.

On the weight note. If you have a long history of undereating, you may actually experience a brief period of regain while your body takes up every nutrient you are giving it. If you are eating protein, veggies and good fats in template quantities, 4-5 hours apart, this will be a temporary uptick while your body learns to trust that food is inbound on a regular basis. While you may temporarily gain weight be assured that your body is also using every molecule of those nutrients in order to start healing itself. To me, healing is worth a temporary upswing if that upswing is a result of eating healthy, whole foods.

Also, weight loss occurs when hormones are balanced and the body is feeling safe. Undereating is the opposite of balanced hormones and safe body so while you could lose bodyweight by restricting your intake, you are not doing something that is a long term solution. JERF - just eat real food. In quantities that are respectful of you as a human.