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Day 22 and Still Experiencing Cravings


mmarmstrong

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Hey all,

 

Here I sit on Day 22, and I'm still really experiencing cravings, especially for carbs, Coke, and Halloween Oreo's, specifically Halloween Oreo's. Something about the orange cream calls changes the taste and calls to me, even when I'm not staring at them in the grocery store.

 

One of the big reasons I decided to do the Whole30, was to regain control of my eating. I started medical school in early August and quickly lost whatever semblance of eating control I had. I started ordering pizza and Jimmy John's almost every day and not only is that unsustainable for my health, but also for my wallet. I was craving sweets and chips and Coke and I had had enough. Unfortunately, I still am craving all those things. I'm fantasizing about the end of the Whole30 when I can drink again, and eat the cupcakes someone brought in to work, and eat chips and drink Coke (I occasionally need the caffeine to get through study sessions and I HATE coffee, not even cream and ample amounts of sugar can make it better) and eat the super limited edition Halloween Oreo's. Is this normal? I was really expecting this program to help me deal with my cravings, and I had heard that most people leave the program not even wanting to order pizza, etc. Will I ever rid myself of these cravings?

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It would definitely help if you posted a couple of days' worth of food (including approximate serving sizes), water intake, exercise, and sleep, to see if there's anything that stands out.

 

In general, make sure you're adding fat to every meal, having at least one serving of starchy vegetable each day, drinking plenty of water, and eating pre- and post-workout meals on days you workout.

 

Also keep in mind that there's more at play than just food here. If you're stressed out, you will crave carby stuff. That's just one way stress affects people. You might find this video on the stress-craving connection helpful. I mention this because I would imagine med school might be a wee bit stressful at times. :)  That doesn't make Whole30 impossible, it's just something you need to keep in mind to help explain what might be going on.

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My food intake usually goes something like this.

 

Breakfast:

Two Eggs

Tablespoon of Ghee or Olive Oil

An Apple

 

Lunch:

A Serving of Protein (i.e. Chicken or Salmon)

Half a Squash OR Half a Bag of Frozen Veggies

Tablespoon of Ghee or Olive Oil

 

Dinner:

A serving of Protein (i.e. Chicken or Salmon or Ground Beef)

One Sweet Potato with Salt and Cinnamon OR Half a Spaghetti Squash

Sauce (One Tomato, One Onion, One Clove of Garlic, One Tablespoon of Olive Oil)

 

I have a real love of sweet potatoes, so I do eat them often, but never more than one a day, and they aren't a "no holds barred" food for me. I do sometimes snack on grapes and almonds throughout the day, or especially after dinner if I eat early. I really enjoy grapes, but a big bag of them can last me a while. I don't really pay attention to my water intake, even though I know I should. It was really important to me to drink a gallon of water a day at one point, but I've drastically cut down, or at least stopped paying attention since starting school. I do run around two miles three days a week, with some very minimal strength training. I don't eat anything special before or after; it's just been too inconvenient to go home before the gym and then back after.

 

I try and make a point of including at least one tablespoon of ghee or olive oil into each meal, usually a little more, and also including some protein. I feel like I'm doing the whole Whole30 wrong somehow...

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Here are a few opportunities I see:
- make breakfast bigger.  When eggs are you sole protein, the serving size is the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand with out dropping them. For most folks, that's 3-4 eggs.   Add 1-3 cups of vegetables. Don't let fruit push veggies off your plate.

 

- increase the fat. The 1 tbsp of fat at a meal is a minimum.

 

- snacking throughout the day is a huge red flag, and is an indication that your meals aren't big enough. For optimal hormonal balance, you want to create meals of protein, veg and fat that satiate you for 4-5 hours, starting within 1 hour of waking.  Play with your portion sizes to get to that place. Until you get there, if you're genuinely hungry between meals (litmus test: you could eat something bland like steamed fish and broccoli), have a mini-meal of protein, carb and fat or at least two of those components.   

 

- snacking on something like fruit feeds your sugar dragon. Instead, ditch the fruit and have at least protein and fat for your mini meals. 

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What are some good mini-meal proteins? I don't really like hard boiled eggs, and I can't think of anything else that would be good to take with me to school? Do you think making these changes will help me kick the cravings before the end of my Whole30? Or will I have to extend. Honestly, I can't imagine extending right now. Maintaining a Whole3-esque diet, absolutely, but I'm not sure about extending. I'm not planning on keeping bread or dairy or any added sugars etc. in the house, and on planning eating Whole30 at home, but I miss going out with my friends and having a beer after exams, and those Halloween Oreo's are only available this month, haha.

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Honestly, no, I don't think you'll be craving-free in 8 days.

I recommend checking in with yourself and ask if now is the time for you to commit to regaining control of your eating, no matter how long it takes. Maybe start with working on ways to eliminate snacking throughout the day, using my suggestions above?

The Whole30 and this forum will be here for you whenever you're ready.

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Apples, grapes, sweet potatoes all have a lot of natural sugar and keep the Sugar Dragon alive. Not enough protein and fat also allow cravings to come up again as does a small breakfast contribute to snacking. You need vegetables for breakfast. No fruit until you eat 1-3 cups of vegetables, with closer to 3 cups being optimum. You can eat anything for Meal 1. I had half a sweet potato with Ghee, roasted pork and green beans for my Meal 1 today. Also, you need to eat your Meal 1 within 1 hour of getting up in the morning,

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  • 1 year later...
On 9/29/2015 at 4:08 PM, GFChris said:

Honestly, no, I don't think you'll be craving-free in 8 days.

I recommend checking in with yourself and ask if now is the time for you to commit to regaining control of your eating, no matter how long it takes. Maybe start with working on ways to eliminate snacking throughout the day, using my suggestions above?

The Whole30 and this forum will be here for you whenever you're ready.

Found this thread because I am on Day 22 and would like to eat chocolate.  Not a strong craving but I am beginning to wonder if my cravings will go away.  If I know that they will not be gone in 8 days, can I just eat the chocolate now?  (I mean I know I'm an adult and I can if I choose.)  What are the benefits of sticking it out?  

I keep re-reading ISWF and FFF to get my head back in the game.  One hour it works, the next my brain is telling me to just eat the chocolate.  Also read about extinction burst.  Recognizing that it really may just be my brain throwing a tantrum I purchased La Croix sparkling water (first time La Croix buyer) to get me through the "burst."  Am I feeding the tantrum with sparkling water?

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