Momo

[momo101]

I'm addicted to eating (carbohydrates) and couch potato-ness.    I've never been able to commit to a healthy lifestyle. 

 

I can do this!   

 

I'm taking small steps.

 

STEP 1 (8-25-2015 to 9-9-2015):

 

1. Whole30 diet (with limited low GI fruit)

2. At least 10 minutes of exercise per day

3. NO WEIGHING MYSELF

 

[texasbred]

Sounds like a great plan. Yes, you can do it.

[momo101]

8-25-15

 

My sleep cycle is messed up, so I woke up around 2:30 PM. Since then, I've only had 2 boiled eggs. I feel extremely full from the 3-day binge I had going on preceding this, so I may end up not eating much today. I've been tempted multiple times by the bagels lying on the kitchen counter, but I keep telling myself that by the end of 16 days, I'll be a healthier, lighter me and my carb cravings will be gone.

 

If I don't start now and if I don't resist and struggle, it'll be another day gone to waste, another day of being unhealthy and piling on pounds, another day of fooling myself into saying 'I'll start tomorrow,' a tomorrow that never comes.

 

I did check my weight, twice. Oops. I was freaking out about how much weight and water weight I've gained in the past few days, and how much of it would be coming down today. No more of that until the 16 days are over. 

[SugarcubeOD]

Momo - 

 

Is your sleep schedule supposed to be a standard AM wake up and PM sleep time?  If so, you may want to grin and bear it and just get up when your alarm goes off tomorrow morning... it might suck but there's no way to fix a sleep schedule except for putting the parameters around the sleep that you wish to see... so go to bed at the time you wish to consistently go to bed and then get up when its' time to get up.

 

Eating a proper meal within one hour of waking will help with your sleep rhythm and will also set up your day for good eating. When you restrict your intake for whatever reason, it's harder not to give in to cravings.  

 

Please check out the template linked at the bottom of this post and fashion your meals to mirror the recommendations.  If you can't eat all of it right away, make the plate, eat around it so you're getting a balanced amount of each thing and then wrap it up and eat from it again as soon as you're hungry. It won't take long for your hormones and your body to understand your 'feeding schedule'.

 

Please, throw out, crush or otherwise disable your scale (less harsh would be giving it to a friend).  You weighed yourself twice today after you'd only eaten two hard boiled eggs?  You need to concentrate on this rule the same as all the food intake rules.  Do not step on that scale one more time in the next 30 days.  Seriously... it is not a good indicator of anything except your body's relationship to the ground (gravity).

 

Is there a specific reason (trip, birthday, event) in your future that is the reason for only doing a Whole16?  If this is your first time and your hormones (sleep, lack of appetite, cravings) are out of balance and you're stepping on the scale twice in the 90 min since you've been up, you would do well with committing to the full 30 days.

[momo101]

8-25-15 (continued)

 

The rest of my day was spent not trying to gobble down any sort of carbs and junk food. I had to keep reminding myself that it's now or never; tomorrow never comes.

 

There were 3 bunches of yummy, ripe bananas on the kitchen counter, but I knew I had to resist them, otherwise I would have gone overboard; bananas pack in a lot of sugar. Instead, I picked up a bunch of red grapes. I also had an ounce of almonds. Finally, I had 2 beef kabobs as my last meal of the day. 

 

I know that this is very little food, but I go through periods of constipation, especially after a binge, that are best dealt with by eating a little less than normal for a few days afterwards.

 

I wasn't able to exercise because... because I was lazy.   But, I am a firm believer in diet being the number one determinant of health and weight loss, and also the hardest to change. So, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Also, the obsessive weight checking must stop. That's my next goal for tomorrow onward. 

 

Day 1/16, spent wholefully. 

[momo101]

SugarcubeOD, thank you for taking out the time to offer your input. I really really appreciate it.

 

I plan to make the Whole30 a permanent lifestyle. The reason why I'm starting off with a whole16 is because I have 16 days (now 15) before I become very very busy with things. I know that the first few days are the hardest and I usually can't get past day 2 or 3, so I wanted to set myself a smaller goal, while things aren't hectic, and then take off from there. 

 

My standard sleep cycle is sleeping throughout the night and waking up in the morning. However, I've been studying into the late hours, lately, and that has messed things up for me. I really need to start on fixing my circadian rhythm; I feel so much better in every way when I've had a good night's sleep, and I'm so much more productive. 

 

I completely agree with you on the weighing scale. Unfortunately, I live with other people who possess weighing scales, so I will just have to resist stepping onto theirs.

[momo101]

8-26-15

 

Midnight snack of 1.5 ounces of almonds. I'm happy I managed to not go too overboard with them and that I resisted having any carbs/junk food. 

 

I'm not focusing on proper meals/schedule at the moment. My goal for now is getting through these 16 days without having anything non-whole30 approved go past my teeth and not going over my calorie limit. 

[Britishgal]

Are you counting calories whilst doing whole30? You really should be concentrating on 3 meals as per the template with no snacks a day...do not count calories, it is not as simple as calories in and calories out.

Stop counting, get rid of the scales, eat proper meals and get some sleep

[momo101]

Britishgal,

 

I'm not counting calories in that sense, but I know that if I let myself go and eat as much as I want (even whole30 food), I can go overboard very fast. 

 

I haven't stepped on the scale ever since. I do get enough sleep, just not when I'm supposed to. Going to start working on that next. 

[SugarcubeOD]

It is almost impossible to over eat nutrient dense whole foods.  Your body uses it's satiety signals and stops you from overeating. You do need to learn to listen to your body in this respect as well so eat until your body tells you you're full.  Guaranteed you won't eat four plates of dinner!

[momo101]

Will do! Thank you.

 

Also, I tend to eat fruit to satisfy my sugar cravings so I'm thinking about eliminating them completely for now. I would love to have your input on this. 

[SugarcubeOD]

If you think you're using fruit to prop up your sugar cravings, then I would definitely confirm your initial thought about eliminating it.  There are a LOT of whole30 veterans like myself that rarely, if ever, eat fruit, especially during a whole30.  Summer is significantly harder in the northern hemisphere because it's basically the only time we get so many different and amazing fruits but it sounds like you probably already participated in this year's bounty by now and you wouldn't be 'missing out' on the once a year fruit extravaganza.

Vegetables are far nutritionally superior to fruit in every way, so by not eating fruit, you will absolutely not be lacking nutrients.

[momo101]

That's a relief to hear! I was worried about the nutritional consequences of eliminating fruit.

 

My next goal for tomorrow will be to completely take out fruit from my meals. 

[Shawie]

Good luck Momo!  Oh here's a tip for you... track your 3 meals jot down exactly what you're eating. OR if you're like me and hate the thought of "journaling" my food intake I just take pictures with either my camera or my smartphone whenever I sit down to eat a meal. 

 

I liked this part in the book 'It Starts With Food' where they mentioned that you have to devote your time to your meal whether it's 15 minutes or 1 hour.  During that time we are supposed to really enjoy our food: the taste, the smell, the texture and ideally with someone else and enjoy each others' company (and not on our computers, phones, tvs, etc.) 

 

This is a VERY strict program no weighing, no "accidents" or "slip ups" - but you'll feel so amazing if you do it right from day 1.  This is an awesome forum too and everyone is willing to help whenever you have a question.

[momo101]

Shawie,

 

Thank you for your tips!

 

I wasn't aware that the whole30 entails having 3 meals a day, though. I tend to space my meals apart, and just have smaller portions. 

 

I'm glad I'm doing a whole16 first; it'll serve as a practice run for the actual whole30.

[SugarcubeOD]

Momo;

 

Have you checked out the resources for Whole30?  The template, rules, recommendations, Whole30 overview and other important and informative documents are included in my signature below.  They're your best resource for a successful Whole30.

[SugarcubeOD]

ideally with someone else and enjoy each others' company (and not on our computers, phones, tvs, etc.) 

I sincerely hope that the book doesn't say 'ideally with someone else'. I don't have my copy at the moment, but it sounds strange to me that they would make a proclimation like that when there are a LOT of single people out here that eat their meals in solitude. I know that 'ideally' you're not on your computer or phone or watching television but I think it's a bit much to say that 'ideally' everyone eats with others because that's just straight up not possible for a lot of people and it doesn't make their meal time any less ideal than people who eat in company. My two cents...

[momo101]

SugarcubeOD,

 

I had read up on the whole30 before starting, but the links in your signature have been immensely helpful in reinforcing everything. I've been going through them ever since you first posted here.

 

As to Shawie's 'ideally' comment, I'm guessing she was trying to say that it helps to have meals with someone to make them more enjoyable and make the whole30 change more successful?  

[SugarcubeOD]

Glad you're finding the links helpful!

I think I'm just being sensitive because I eat two of three meals alone 99.9% of the time... unless the cat counts as 'someone else'... and I know a lot of people eat alone... I think the 'ideally' was misplaced in the sentance because I know for sure that sitting and paying attention to your meal without the distraction of social media and the television is better for digestion, saiety etc... but lots of us are on our own and if I had to eat with someone to make a Whole30 more successful, that person would very quickly get a fork in the soft spots...

[momo101]

8-26-15 (Continued)

 

I had my usual 2 boiled eggs for breakfast. I also had a lot of almonds today; A total of 3.5 to 4 ounces.   4 beef kabobs (2 for lunch and 2 for dinner). I spent the day resisting ripe yummy bananas, and instead had grapes. 

 

I am happy to say that I walked by the weighing scale multiple times and successfully managed to not weigh myself. 

 

Day 2/16, spent wholefully.

[momo101]

8-27-15

 

In a few short words; I failed the whole30 today and will have to restart tomorrow. I'm currently living with other people and it's harder to get access to whole30 approved foods and cook my own meals. There's a lot of carby junky food lying around as well. I slipped up horribly, because my choices were very limited today and I was feeling extremely lethargic from lack of food.

 

I've since made arrangements and will be bouncing back into the game tomorrow.

 

I'm disappointed in myself, but at the same time, I don't want to beat myself up so much that I never get past it and never get up again. 

 

One big concern that I have is that I was never the biggest egg/meat eater. Will I learn to adapt to and actually like having eggs and meat, eventually?

[momo101]

I'm going to be shifting my daily logs over to a new thread under the same name.