Seafarer Day 30

[Seafarer]

“I’m a ninja-cat holding a light saber riding a unicorn breathing fire in a field of rainbows. “

 

Not so much (yet) although I sure do wish I could find a non-Microsoft version of that graphic. My journey will take a little longer, but I am making solid progress. To date:

GENERAL WELL-BEING: PRE W30: meh NOW: Hopeful
ENERGY: PRE: On waking: pretty good. Mid-afternoon: slump or crash. All evening: “I can’t wait to go to bed” NOW: On waking: beginning to see glimmers of “Let’s GO!” Occasional slumps have a cause that I can trace & fix. No crashes. No evening lethargy. Steady energy through the day
STRESS EVENTS: PRE: Avoidance…“I don’t want to think about that now” or “Let’s have wine”. NOW: “Let’s tackle this thing and get it gone” which is related to the better energy levels.
DAILY ACTIVITY LEVEL: PRE: Frequent breaks throughout the day, usually with snacks. NOW: Far fewer breaks and never with snacks. Sometimes with water.   (Hello moderators!)
DOWN TIME: PRE: lots of social media. NOW: lots of reading about W30 type topics (ie. feeding my knowledge level)
 

SLEEP: PRE: If I wanted several hours of uninterrupted sleep I needed pain meds & at least melatonin. Usually 7 hours. NOW: No melatonin. Seldom need pain meds. When I wake up I am usually done with sleeping; I’m actually awake.
MOOD: PRE: General malaise. Cheeriness was not the norm. NOW: steady as she goes. Usually happy -  life is generally amusing. Funny things are often “laugh out loud” funny.
JOINT PAIN: PRE: stairs & hills are the enemy NOW: mild twinges, easily ignored
TINNITUS: PRE: often loud & always constant NOW: one day it was clear, so hopefully there will be more of those clear days to come

 

COOKING: PRE: meh NOW: New flavours. New ways to combine old flavors. New ways to avoid food boredom.   
CRAVINGS: PRE: My *life* was a craving! NOW: fleeting at best. When they occur I grab hold & really examine them, trying to figure out where they came from and who invited them to the party. I use them to tweak my results.
DIGESTION: PRE: needed probiotics to stay regulated. Frequent diarrhea. Occasional constipation. NOW: No probiotics. No diarrhea. Always regular. (insert cartwheels graphic here)

MEAL PLANNING: PRE: mindless. Lots of boredom. Lots of snacking. Lots of off-road choices to deal with meat-induced boredom. Well aware of the need for vegs, but didn’t always get them in. NOW: At first I looked for new recipes, which quickly led to not wanting to spend so much time in the kitchen. Now I don’t use recipes (thank you moderators). I just cook. And I watch for yummy ideas from others (thank you forum members). And I have a “Go To” booklet where I write down the things that turned out well, especially the ones that made my tummy happy. Sometimes, when I am stumped, I actually refer to it.     Having that little reference book has been a wonderful thing. Cooking is once again mindless.

HUNGER: PRE: Hungry or over full or “needing something, but what? Oh look… chips that don’t need to be cooked or prepped!” NOW: I was hungry once this month and I believe that was caused by a stress bomb, not by hunger. Prior to meals I am comfortably & mildly hungry, but I am never “hangryneedfoodnow”.  If I am a bit hungry but want to make something that takes a bit of time, I don’t need (or want) to snack while I am cooking.

 

FORUMS: PRE: Just read the rules & follow the program, right?  NOW: Can’t say enough good about the forums. The moderators are great! I often find answers to questions that I didn’t even know I had. And when I try to figure out a solution for someone else’s problem, I often have a eureka moment of something new that will work for me.
SCALE: PRE: Weight’s up? Eat something for comfort. Weight’s down? Eat something to celebrate. NOW: I think I am a little afraid of my reaction, so the scale is being ignored for now.

HEALTHY LIVING COMMITMENT: PRE: “TODAY I am going to start eating mindfully & healthfully and while I’m at it I’m going to start walking & swimming, and going to bed early, and connecting socially, and, and, and…."  NOW:  “One thing at a time, grasshopper. One thing at a time.”

 

WHAT I LEARNED:
- Some of my “healthy” choices (yogurt) and some of my “healthy in moderation” choices (coffee) may not be healthy for me, but I can continue to work out those answers. 30 days isn’t the end of n=1.
- I am learning new ways to use my abundant garden produce. For example, my husband loves powdered onion soup mix to punch up the flavour of soups. I learned I can dehydrate onions and then turn them into powder, to which I can add the seasonings of my choice. Better for me (us) without depriving him. Win/win.
- I learned that I can navigate restaurant meals, and that I can easily anticipate, and cover for, potential problems without resorting to snacks (or nuts). At the same time, I learned that I don’t have to be “nice” (knuckle under) but that I can be “polite” (non-confrontational) and still stay true to myself.
- I learned that what I eat for breakfast can, and does, affect the rest of my day, and not just the next few hours. That breakfast fruity spike just might hang out until mid afternoon before socking me between the eyes.
- Stress: I do not do well with stress. I thought I did, but no. I do not. I will seek to improve my sleep & my energy levels so I can commit to handling stress better.

 

WHAT COULD HAVE GONE BETTER:
WATER! And… water. And did I mention water?
SLEEP: Sleep would probably be fine if I would stop chugging my water late in the day. 

 

NEXT STEPS:
1. Continue for another 2 weeks, for three reasons:
- Hubby has been away, working, for 3 ½ months. He arrived home today, Day 30, and he loves to cook. The off-road temptations will be huge and I want a couple more weeks of “don’t have to think about it” while we settle in.
- My garden will be wrapping up for the season, so there will be a change in readily-available food. I want a couple of weeks of “don’t need to think about it” while I learn how to navigate not being able to go out in the garden and pick whatever is ready to eat.
- I don’t yet have quite the results I was looking for (Tinnitus. Sleep. Energy). Another two weeks will get me closer.
2. Plan for my re-introduction strategy. This is where I screwed up on W30.1, leaving me with no clear idea of what triggers what reactions, and what is worth it vs what isn’t. I will not make that mistake again. (Thinking back & connecting the dots… I finished my last W30 on Aug 31st. By the end of the following Feb I had diarrhea steadily for the next 4 months. I am only now making the connection, but at least I’m making it. And this has also given a truly fantastic response to “Oh you can have just a little bit of that”……  Me-> “I could. But I’d also have to go home immediately due to the diarrhea it would give me.” People respect your bowels, even when they don’t respect your food choices.  )
3. Read the book It Starts with Food. I have been discovering the "why it works" of this program, and I'm now curious enough to delve further.

 

HOW I FOUND WHOLE30 (since you asked):
Several years ago, I received a gift of: “The World’s 150 Healthiest Foods” by Jonny Bowden. I subscribed to his newsletter which led to sporadic reading on healthy eating from a large number of sources, and eventually that led to here. Here is better for the very simple (& infinitely complex) reason that I have to do the work to figure out my own optimum fuel intake, and nobody else’s diet will ever do that for me.

 

Onward...

[Seafarer]

Update..... "What if," I thought to myself, "someone, someday, asks me how much I lost (if anything) on my second Whole 30?" Especially in comparison to my first Whole 30. I wouldn't know. I could only guess. Gasp! So I caved & weighed myself. A little over 10 pounds off, which pleases me a lot. As predicted, I celebrated.... with Melissa Joulwan's Belly Dance Beet Salad. 

 

I'm sure that thought was an excuse.....

[Mistyfire]

This is such a great reminder of why we do what we are doing. Thanks for taking the time to really get all this down. Onward, indeed!

[jmcbn]

Terrific write-up & awesome results - so glad to see you ditched that morning smoothie, and that it's all starting to 'click' - now you just have to keep on keepin' on, 'cos every day's a school day!