Post-Labor day start

[jesstaylor616]

Hi all -- starting my first Whole 30 today after spending Labor Day laboring away in the kitchen. It was kind of cathartic actually -- knowing I have everything cooked for the week and when I get home from work I only need to pop it in the microwave. 

 

Made an egg with ghee and dill this morning along with roasted sweet potatoes. I'm not a big breakfast person and I couldn't even finish it all -- is this normal? I ate as much as I could but I couldn't eat anymore without getting sick. I feel like I should be eating more for breakfast. Snacking on some grapes now. The sugar I usually have for breakfast is real and was already getting a headache, so grabbed the fruit. 

 

Had my lunch all planned out too -- a salad with veggies, roasted chicken and balsamic vinegar/olive oil/lemon dressing. Then my boss emailed me saying we have to go to a lunch to meet some clients. I think I found a steak salad I can have there, minus the cheese, but I might sneak in my own dressing in my bag. I kind of just want to bring my salad with me that I made though, because I"m worried whatever might be on the steak might not be compliant. Any suggestions? Are restraurant steaks usually ok? 

[Karen46]

I have no advice for restaurants, just support and well wishes.  I'm starting my first W30 today, too.

[QuilterInVA]

You need more than 1 egg for breakfast. You should be aiming for at least 3 (the amount you can fit in one hand, which might be more than 3) and the fact you snacked on grapes means your breakfast was too small. The sweet potato might be too many carbs first thing in the morning. How about some sauteed spinach and poached eggs or egg muffins? Having the grapes feeds the sugar dragon. You can take an OTC for your headache. You will definitely have to experience the withdrawal from sugar if you want to do this right. When I first started, I had a hard time with breakfast but I just made it a bit bigger and in 3 days I was getting up hungry and eating right on point. I'm now on day 8. Good luck!

[ladyshanny]

Hi all -- starting my first Whole 30 today after spending Labor Day laboring away in the kitchen. It was kind of cathartic actually -- knowing I have everything cooked for the week and when I get home from work I only need to pop it in the microwave. 

 

Made an egg with ghee and dill this morning along with roasted sweet potatoes. I'm not a big breakfast person and I couldn't even finish it all -- is this normal? I ate as much as I could but I couldn't eat anymore without getting sick. I feel like I should be eating more for breakfast. Snacking on some grapes now. The sugar I usually have for breakfast is real and was already getting a headache, so grabbed the fruit. 

 

Had my lunch all planned out too -- a salad with veggies, roasted chicken and balsamic vinegar/olive oil/lemon dressing. Then my boss emailed me saying we have to go to a lunch to meet some clients. I think I found a steak salad I can have there, minus the cheese, but I might sneak in my own dressing in my bag. I kind of just want to bring my salad with me that I made though, because I"m worried whatever might be on the steak might not be compliant. Any suggestions? Are restraurant steaks usually ok? 

Hi Jess,

 

When you get to the restaurant, make sure that you tell them you want your steak dry grilled and seasoned only with salt and pepper.  And as far as I'm concerned, bringing your own dressing to a restaurant is pretty common now!

 

The fact that you are unable to have a proper breakfast within an hour of waking is a huge signal that your hormones are out of balance.  This is quite common in the beginning.  We recommend you make a meal that fits the template (linked below) and eat evenly from the protein, fat and veggies. Wrap the rest and take it with you to eat again as soon as you are able.  Snacking on fruit alone just serves to mess with your blood sugar which is going against what you actually are trying to achieve.  As you progress you'll be able to eat a proper full meal that should keep you going for 4-5 hours until your next one.  If, during the time you are working on this process, you find that you need something to eat, make it protein, fat and veggies.  If you can't have all three make sure you have at least two (eg, carrots & canned tuna or olives and a chicken thigh).

 

Some other things that you can do to help those hormones rebalance is to get proper full night of sleep (8 hours or so in a darkened, cool room), stop eating after your dinner meal and avoid blue lit electronics within a couple hours of bedtime (think no ipad/phone, tv, backlit ereader).

 

The best way to deal with the sugar withdrawal and associated headache is to eat enough real food at meal times...which you are going to work on....and drink lots of water. Take an advil/tylenol if the suffering is really bad.  Unfortunately subbing one sugar for another (fruit) is not going to help.  It's one of those things that sucks and hurts but you just need to get through.  You can also try giving yourself at least one serving per day of starchy veggies...more if you are suffering through the withdrawal, more if you are prone to anxiety/depression, more if you are near your period, more if you are tired/cranky.  Some people put their starchy veggie servings towards the end of the day to assist with sleep.