Carmen's 2nd Whole 30

[CarmenS]

Day One

Just a quick post to start off my 2nd Whole 30. I had a very successful W30 in April and learned so much from it.

For example, I no longer buy any bottled salad dressing. The best dressing is a little olive oil, some good vinegar, and a spoonful of good mustard.

I know what foods are going to make me miserable and I avoid them. No gluten grains. In fact, while I have found that rice works for me, I have probably had it once a month, if that often. No beans. Ever. No dairy. Ever. Cheese is just not worth the pain. (This does not include butter; it seems to be okay)

So I learned a lot and the Whole 30 was a great experience. But as the summer passed, I found myself eating more sugar than I should. Dark chocolate turned into not-so-dark chocolate, and Coca Cola became a not-so-infrequent treat. Now I'm ready to clean things up again.

Hardest things to give up will probably be the evening glass of wine and square of dark chocolate. And the occasional stick of chewing gum. Honestly, the rest of it will be for the best and I already know that.

I can anticipate the benefits because of my successful Whole 30 earlier this year, so while I realize the next couple of days might be kind of awful, it's my own fault for eating so much sugar and carbs (yeah, those potato chips and M&Ms were probably a bad idea) over the past couple of days. After this week passes, I know I'm going to be glowing. I'll just have to tough it out.

Looking forward to a great Whole 30! Wish me luck!

***

Editing to add food log

Breakfast: Local, pastured bacon and three eggs scrambled in bacon fat. Lemon Ginseng tea, no sugar. (This is a tough one as I have been drinking black tea with sugar in the mornings)

Lunch: A tin of sardines, cup of homemade chicken soup, lots of raw vegetables (green pepper, cucumber, carrots, cherry tomatoes), and a handful of olives

Snack (at 4:00 pm): Banana and 12 almonds

Dinner: 2 chicken thighs, small sweet potato with cinnamon (no butter--sniff!), broccoli.

[Derval]

Welcome back and good luck on round 2

[CarmenS]

DAY TWO

Had the MIGRAINE OF MONSTROUS PROPORTIONS last night. Seriously, what was that about? Was that all my Sugar Demons coming back to bite me? Good Lord. I hope that is the end of that.

Yesterday was no picnic. And tonight my Endurance group meets. Endurance is the 5K/10K/half-marathon/marathon/triathlon group that meets at the YMCA here in town. I just started it a couple of weeks ago. I am seeing improvement already (go, me!) but I am still getting my legs under me (as it were). So I'm a little concerned about it given how crappy I felt yesterday--and ended the workday with a splitting headache.

I am going to do what I did yesterday as far as food goes--just start in and come back and edit as I go. Otherwise, if I wait until the end of the day, I'll either not do it at all or I'll forget something. So I'll start it now.

Food Log

6:45 am (pre-yoga): handful of macademia nuts, small banana, herb tea (no sugar) [Note: I have to eat bananas for the potassium--it's a blood pressure thing]

9:30 am (post-yoga): local, pastured bacon, 2 eggs scrambled in bacon grease, black tea (no sugar)

1:00 pm (Lunch): Sauteed a small onion, green pepper, small zucchini, and small tomato in coconut oil Added a diced, cooked chicken thigh and seasoned with garlic powder, basil, and oregano. Yummy!

4:00 pm (pre-running): chicken thigh and handful of black olives

8:00 pm (Dinner/post-running): green beans cooked with ham--Oh My God! This was so good! I also had two small, peeled, white potatoes as I am of the mind that they are not the devil. I will continue to believe I am on a Whole 30 as I am part of the Paleo 2.0 mindset and don't do anything just because we have always done it. I don't have issues with potatoes. I *do* have issues with sugar, so I'm not eating Lara Bars or dried fruit right now. I know myself. I also know after working out for nearly 2 hours I needed some carbohydrates.

[CarmenS]

DAY THREE

Went to Endurance last night. We did our short run. Then we did sprint ladders. Then we did strength training. Then we did stretching. For nearly 2 hours. Needless to say I was tired.

I almost didn't go because I still had a headache, or the last of a headache, and the thought of pounding my feet into the ground was just not going over so well. But I went. And when I finished, the headache was gone. It hasn't come back, either. So I think I am past The Hangover phase. Yay!

Food Log

7:00 am (Breakfast): chicken thigh, 2 eggs scrambled in coconut oil, black tea (no sugar--it's becoming tolerable)

10:30 am (snack/"coffee break"): handful of macademias + small banana, herb tea (no sugar)

12:00 pm (Lunch): Green beans w/ ham (lots of it)--and I couldn't eat anything else

5:00 pm (Dinner): 1/4 pound hamburger patty w/ avocado and aioli (olive oil, egg, garlic); salad with olive oil/balsamic vinegar; tomato; dill pickle spear; couple bites of mandarin oranges (not so tasty)--we ate out and this was actually Whole 30 compliant. I made sure before we went.

[Carie Skeahan]

Welcome back Carmen! Looking good...just be sure to get all your nutrients in all your meals, including snacks...protein, veggies and fat.

[Derval]

Wow it's called Endurance for a reason huh? !

[CarmenS]

DAY FOUR

Derval--I never in a million years would have thought I would do something like this Endurance class. But I am really enjoying it. I think the key for me was getting a trainer in May (when I turned 50) and working with her over the summer, so when I started this class I had a solid base of fitness. Even though I wasn't running, I built strength and I had been walking a lot, so I skipped that step and went straight to running 1 minute/walking 1 minute. Now I'm up to running 3 or 4 minutes and walking 1 minute. I can do sprints and hills, too--or my version of them.

I'm noticing a decrease in hunger. I just don't want to eat as much. Which is good considering I have decided to once again try to go off of my proton pump inhibitor (Prilosec). Last time it was a disaster, but I'm hoping that with better eating habits, more exercise, more weight lost, and plain-old dertermination, I'll kick it this time. I know it may take up to 6 months for my body to adjust, and I plan to use Zantac during the adjustment period, but an H2 is better than a ppi, which could cause me to break bones (!) and, from what I have read, possibly get pneumonia.

Food Log

6:00 am (Breakfast--trying to eat earlier to keep from getting nauseated at yoga): 3 tiny little slivers of pastured bacon (they were so little--WTH?) and 2 eggs scrambled in the bacon grease; black tea (no sugar)

11:30 am (Lunch): the last of the green beans w/ a tiny bit of ham (what is it with the tiny bits of pork today?), a small chicken thigh. small apple, handful of macademias.

4:30-ish pm (pre-run): chicken thigh, handful of black olives (this is the suggested "protein + fat" pre-workout snack suggested on the W30 website. It seems to be working out okay as long as I eat it at least 75 to 90 minutes before I run.

8:00 pm (Dinner/post-run): 2 chicken sausages, 2 small white potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli w/ ghee.

***

I hate having dinner so late, but I didn't get back from Endurance until 7:30, so getting supper on the table in 30 minutes was pretty impressive.

My run/walk is up to 4 minutes running/1 minute walking, and living where there are hills makes that pretty impressive. Tonight we did 4.5 miles--the longest distance yet. I'm getting concerned that we will add distance every week. The first week was 2.5 miles, last week was a 5K (3.1 miles), and this week was 4.5 miles. Seriously? I really don't have any intention of running more than 5 or 6 miles EVER--I like to run, but I also believe there is a limit to what is good for your body. After that, it just becomes stressful.

[CarmenS]

DAY FIVE

I'm doing this Whole 30 with a friend (she was planning on doing it and I thought I would jump on board). Today she asked me on Facebook how things were going. I had to reply that physically they are going great (the run last night was good--lots of energy) but psychologically not so great. In fact, while I was walking the dog before bed, I thought, "Maybe a Whole Four isn't too bad."

I think I'm bored. I'm not hungry, but I'm bored with what I can eat. Which is weird, considering I'm not really eating that much differently than I usually do. I have been paleo/primal since January 2011. So I guess I miss my Sugar Monkey. That has to be it. Sugar and potato chips? I have had rice very, very rarely with Chinese food and in the form of pancakes. And a slice of sourdough bread (real sourdough is tolerable). An almond flour cake I make once or twice a year. Almond flour cookies I buy once a month or so.

Okay. I see that my "treats" were getting to be pretty much once or twice a day. And that was why I needed to do the Whole 30. Because if it becomes an everyday thing, then it's pretty much not a treat anymore. When you start having sugar in your tea every morning, an almond cookie every afternoon, a Coca-Cola as a pick-me-up every time you get a little headache, rice flour pancakes a couple times a month (with mape syrup)--things are getting out of control.

Yeah, I need to move beyond the Whole 4. I'll stick around a while longer.

Food Log

7:00 am (Breakfast): 4 tiny strips of pastured bacon (these are so tiny, seriously) + 2 eggs scrambled in the bacon grease + black tea (no sugar).

[CarmenS]

DAY EIGHT

Oops. I skipped a bunch of days of logging. But they were busy, busy days. And I did remain Whole 30 compliant, I just didn't record what I ate. We even went out to eat and I managed to stay faithful--ordered a steak, steamed brocolli, and a sweet potato without butter or brown sugar. The server told me that would "dry," but it was plenty sweet and moist to me.

Stopped taking Prilosec on Saturday. This is the second time I have tried to quit it. I have been taking it for so long I don't know how long, but it has been at least 6 years. I know it is so bad for you--osteoporosis, pneumonia, all kind of things have been linked to it. So I want to get off it. And so far, with the help of Aloe Vera juice and some stop-gap Zantac, I'm not dying from GERD. Seriously, it was impossible to quit the last time. I know I have a struggle ahead of me, but I think no grains and no sugar are making it possible to quit. I intentionally chose to quit while on a Whole 30, knowing a clean diet would make it easier.

Talked my husband into joining Endurance, so now we will both be out till late o'clock in the evenings. This means I may be running on Saturdays, too, since he will no doubt want to run then once he gets into it. I have a feeling he's going to get pretty psyched about it and insist we go to the Saturday group.

I don't know if I am going to continue the food log. I'm doing fine with the food. Today I did have something interesting for breakfast. Along with my 2 eggs, I had banana "oatmeal." I saw it on the Paleo/Nonpaleo website. I wanted something warm and comforting and it hit the spot. Easy to make, too.

One food issue I've had lately is not having something quick and easy around. As the weather has gotten cooler, I just don't want to grab cold veggies for a snack or to round out a meal. So yesterday I made a HUGE pot of hamburger vegetable soup. We had it for supper last night, lunch today, and put 12 1-cup servings in the freezer for future enjoyment. Now I have a grab-and-go lunch or an easy breakfast/snack/light supper at hand. I think I'll make soup every (or at least every other) weekend just to make sure we always have something handy.

[CarmenS]

DAY TEN

I think the reason I have stopped logging is that I am not struggling. I am still sort of "taste bud bored" but I am not craving things.

The reasons I am doing this are clear to me. I have been off Prilosec for 5 days (took the last one last Friday) and I have not had one--NOT ONE--incident of acid reflux. I am NOT doing this cold turkey. I am taking Zantac every morning and evening, drinking 1 oz. of Aloe Vera Juice before every meal, sipping water, doing deep breathing exercises--anything and everything that could help. My plan is to step-down the Zantac in a month after I'm sure the ppi has stopped it's nastiness.

So while some people do a Whole 30 to lose weight or feel great or whatever, I just want to get off this awful medicine and, maybe, shake my Sugar Monkey. And I've done that.

20 more days. And then the rest of my life. I don't know how I'l do when I add sugar back in, so maybe this time I will realize that sugar (and excess carbs) are what causes my GERD and my inflammation. A burning gut and an aching shoulder will probably straighten me right up!

[CarmenS]

DAY (um?) FIFTEEN

Yes, I really had to go look at a calendar and figure out how many days I have been on this Whole 30. I just do it, day after day. The past few days I have told my husband I might quit because I want this or that (mostly butter) and I think I know why--CALORIES! I have been running a lot and I think i want more to eat. Sometimes I just don't feel like eating any more, but I probably need calories.

Made it to Texas and back last Thursday through Saturday. Airports, planes, staying with relatives who don't cook or have any real food in their houses (seriously--pantries full of granola bars, Jenny Craig meals, candy, cookies, wine...refrigerators full of soda, flavored waters, beer, juice), a funeral, more airports, more planes.

I packed food (thank goodness!) and made the best of it. Found an apple. Someone brought over bagged salad one night. There were trays of vegetables and sliced meat after the funeral. It was only 3 days.

Back to real food, my own cooking, and a normal schedule. It feels great!

[Derval]

Welcome home Carmen

[hollywynne]

Thanks for posting about Prilosec. I came to the forum looking for information about how to quit it because I want to get away from superfluous meds, but I had no idea it was so dangerous!