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Approaching burn out


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Physically, I feel pretty good. Day 11. I'm doing my first Whole30 with my husband and he is all in; we share all the meal-planning and cooking/cleaning. He is awesome. But with:

 

-taking care of our 3 year old and 16 month old

-both of us working full time,

-doing tons of food related stuff (planning, researching, shopping, cooking, cleaning all the bazillion knives/cutting boards/frying pans)

-doing a 30Day Shred workout after the kids are in bed (started September 1, before W30)

-running around the house trying to keep things (barely) tidy (not even close to clean) and everyone in clean laundry

-putting pressure on myself to be in bed by 10 with the hopes I can sleep until 6 but always, always getting woken up 1-2 times a night by the kids and then they're up at 5:30...

 

I'm feeling burnt out and kind of hopeless. Luckily I'm not turning this pity party into a shitty party by craving any non-compliant foods, and for that I'm grateful. We're having chicken curry with cauliflower rice for dinner.

 

I don't want to Shred tonight and instead I want to lay on the couch and watch Scandal with a cup of tea. 

 

Words of advice? Is this a typical thing to have a downer at this point? The problem doesn't seem to be the plan, but more the plan+my life.

 

Thanks for this forum. I've been reading it since the beginning but have never commented.

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We bought the book and I'm familiar with the timeline. I guess I just wasn't prepared for this to feel like depression - like staring down a never ending tunnel of "ugh." (Not too undermine real depression, which is serious and important.)

 

But, if I'm to "redefine your idea of reward" maybe I DO need to take it easy tonight. Or go for a walk outside instead of Shredding. 

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Hi, Julia! 

 

Days 10-11 are the days when people are most likely to quit, so good job hanging in there and getting through this.

 

I'd encourage you to read this article and consider especially the section about stress. Exercise is good, obviously, but there's a point at which more exercise is not necessarily better.

 

I also wonder if you're sure you're eating enough, and especially if you're getting at least one fist-sized serving of starchy vegetables each day (and you'd probably be okay to have more, given that your life seems pretty active). And don't forget to have at least a post-workout meal of a little lean protein and (optional) starchy vegetable after your workouts. (This article has a little more about post-workout meals, what to have and why to have them.)

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Of your list, only 1 of them is W30 related, and know that going back to ways of eating less healthy convenience and processed foods will only make all the other things on the list worse.

Batch prepping & cooking is one way to make that easier. Reducing either the total amount of recipes you make or the complexity of those recipes can make things go quicker. Learning to love leftovers can help, so always cook extra (this is different than batch cooking).

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You really can skip all the time-consuming food prep. Frozen veggies are super-easy, cost-effective, and usually FAR more nutritious than "fresh" produce that's been sitting around in the supermarket (veggies from your garden are different). The simplest meals are perfectly fine: a serving of protein that you cooked in a batch at the beginning of the week; a couple servings of frozen veggies cooked briefly in the microwave or on the stove; and your favorite fat source. I like to make fatty sauces each week with my immersion blender: aioli (garlic mayo), tahini sauce, and anything with good olive oil will add both flavor and fat to your meals. Putting something like this together takes only a few minutes, and it will leave you plenty of time to catch your breath.

 

The oven is great for cooking lots of protein very easily and having it ready for the week. I like boneless chicken thighs--they stay much moister than boneless breasts, and they're cheaper. Sprinkled with your favorite seasonings then baked or grilled for 10 minutes, they keep for days in the fridge.

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