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Let's get ready to Ruuuuuuuuuuumble! (A Log)


Janette

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Day 1: Choosing a Patron Saint

Did anyone else watch far too much Hulk Hogan growing up? I think I'm going to need a certain attitude of chair-smashing and bouncing off the ropes to make it through this thing. Hulk will be my patron saint of this Whole30.

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(I chucked my TV out the window years ago, so his image is still fuzzy and untarnished for me. But looking back at it, my GOD, what was that man ON?!?)

So this is day 1. WAAAAANT chocolate!!! But otherwise I'm good. This isn't too different from the way I usually eat, except that it's completely strict and leaves out two of my favorite things: wine and chocolate.

Thirty days seems like a really long time from now.

Also bummed about giving up chia seeds. They were my go-to when I wanted something creamy. And they give such a nice texture to green smoothies.

I think I'm going to miss the scale as well.

Food

Breakfast: 4 eggs, tbsp coconut oil, 2 chorizo little sausages, fresh salsa, green smoothie (1 1/2 c kale, 1/8 cup berries, 1 tbsp cocoa powder)

Lunch: Grassfed ground beef and apple hash, with lots of cinnamon

Snack: Chocolate coconut manna, cashews, rooibos chai with coconut milk

Dinner: Homemade meatballs, Zucchini, Eggplant, Bell pepper in pasta sauce, over spaghetti squash

Activity

4 km walk to/from preschool

'Ultimate Butt Workout' (wow, that's kind of embarassing.)

Sleep

9:30 - 7:45 with wake ups at 10, 1, 4-5

I have a baby. He doesn't sleep well. Last night was considered a good night.

Mood

Mostly good. Feeling awfully sleepy with this weather and with my crappy nights. Wanting to sit outside where it's quiet. Except that my neighborhood is NEVER quiet!

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I love the idea of a Patron Saint for your Whole30 and can't stop chuckling now because I'm picturing a mini-Hulk Hogan on your shoulder, ready to body slam any off plan foods you might be tempted by :D Thanks and good luck!

OMG I LOVE that visual!!! That will become an integral part of the plan.

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Day 2: CocoNUTTY!

Woke up very dizzy today. It's probably from disturbed sleep, though my husband worked out that if it's diet-related, since the only thing I've changed is giving up chocolate and wine, and I generally don't drink much wine, it must be a chocolate withdrawal.

Blending the two nicely, my 3 year old woke me at midnight to tell me about the river of chocolate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And this was in the middle of the only 5 hour stretch of sleep the baby has had for many, many weeks. Thanks, kid.

Look what I got today!

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Now the food cupboard is 85% coconut products! Hubby is not amused. By the way, if anyone's looking to stock up on coconut oil, Vitacost has the best deal I've found: 54oz of organic, extra virgin for $22! It's unrefined, and slightly coconutty. I like the flavor better than Spectrum's. The only thing I don't like about it is that it comes in a plastic jar. But I guess it would be super heavy if it were in glass. If you're new to Vitacost, you can get $10 off with this link: http://www.vitacost....rralCode=644464

I was buttering a piece of bread for my kid today and my mouth literally started to water. This is particularly ridiculous because I haven't had either bread or butter for months and haven't missed them at all. The mind does not like the idea of deprivation!

So, since nobody can feel deprived eating fried chicken, I made that delicious looking fried chicken on the cover of "Paleo Comfort Foods." And yes, it's as good as it looks!

Been rethinking my relationship with chocolate. I've found ways to incorporate it without added sugar or soy lecithin (pure cocoa powder in my smoothie or 100% cocoa bars melted into chocolate manna), but the fact that I'm so resistant to giving it up makes me think I probably should.

Chocolate, I just love you too much. We're breaking up for now.

Food

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 tbsp coconut oil, green smoothie (collard greens, fresh mint, berries, cocoa powder)

Snack: Beef, apple, and spinach hash, 2 perfectly ripe blackberries straight from the bush

Lunch: Smoked salmon, Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado

Dinner: Fried chicken, garlicky green beans with pumpkin seeds

Activity:

Carrying heavy boxes up 3 flights of stairs.

Sleep:

9:15 - 7 with wake ups at 10, 12, 3, 4

Mood:

Not bad, considering the dizziness. Got a lot of things done today without feeling stressed at all.

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Day 3: First symptom! First craving! First near-collapse!

Baby was up rather a lot last night, so I was all woooooozy in the morning. I think I also hit the "Natural Calm" too hard. I love how it makes me melt into a mindless puddle, but I think it's bothering my stomach. I've been super bloated and gassy all day, and adding Natural Calm to my routine is the only real change. But still, I thought, "Oh! My first symptom! Exciting!"

I also had a real craving for something sweet mid-morning. I just happened to be chopping apples for my son's snack and apples are healthy, right? BUT I remembered my Whole30 training to not reinforce the 'crave sweet - eat sweet' habit, so I made some chai instead. Hulk kick yo butt, sweet craving!

By the time we got home from preschool, I seriously felt on the verge of collapse. It's my usual 4km, but I think between the bad nights and the stage of the whole30, I might need to take the car for a few days instead. When I got home, I had to have some emergency cashew butter (now there's a statistically unlikely phrase) before I could even throw lunch together.

Food

Breakfast: 3 eggs, mini chorizo, green smoothie (kale, dulse, berries)

Snack: Cashew butter

Lunch: Smoked Salmon, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado

Snack: bite of peach but I threw it out because it was too old

Dinner: Meatballs, veg in marinara, spaghetti squash

Sleep

9:15 - 7:30 with wakeups at 12:15, 1:30 - 3:30; 6:30

Activity

4km walk

lots of stairs (laundry day)

Mood

Too tired to be cranky. The kid was a mess today, and I was too tired to even get annoyed when he got stroppy. Bummed to miss writing group again this week.

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Day 4: Kale & Cordyceps - Just Like Chocolate

The bloating's gone. That's a relief. May have been helped along by an inadvertent 15 hour fast. I got to sleep in this morning (hurray!) but just as I was going to cook breakfast, the baby wanted to be nursed to sleep, so breakfast didn't happen until 9:30. I don't think I've ever felt so ravenous!

Was feeling weak and shaky even after digesting, and told hubby a hot chocolate would be such a nice pick-me-up but I'd have to think of something else for a natural boost. "Kale and cordyceps!" I said triumphantly.

"Yeah, kale and cordyceps, sounds just like chocolate," he says.

Sigh

Walking to preschool was out of the question today. I can't believe how weak I feel. For a while there, I wasn't sure I could remain standing, so I ate a banana. I'm sure that will lengthen my transitional period and delay the 'magic', but I really did need to do something. My life refuses to slow down any more than it has. Maybe I should have timed this better.

I'm also noticing that I'm much more hungry in the afternoon than the evening. Today at lunch I ate, then ate some more, then ate some more. At dinner I only ate half of what was on my plate. I think I'll make lunch my main meal.

I was walking back from the butcher's today, reflecting on what an amazing life I have right now, and sad that I just can't manage to enjoy it when I'm this sleep-deprived. I'll try not to hold it against myself, but it really does seem a shame.

Food

Breakfast: 4 eggs, beef/apple/spinach hash, green smoothie (kale, dulse, berries)

Snack: banana

Lunch: Smoked turkey leg, spinach & rocket, tomatoes, avocado, cashew butter, cherries, coconut manna

Dinner: Tri-tip roast, butternut squash, kohlrabi

Activity

As little as possible! More stairs for the laundry.

Sleep

9:15 - 8:40 with wake ups at 11:15, 1:15, 3:15, 5, 6:30

Mood

Not cranky, but a little concerned about the total lack of energy. Think I need to add in some sweet potatoes and more squash.

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Day 5: Unquenchable Thirst

Last night I got a headache just before dinnertime, and at bedtime noticed I was really thirsty. I drank a pint of water and went to bed. When the baby woke me an hour later, I was still really thirsty, so I peed and drank a liter of water. This pattern repeated itself all night long, so that every hour I was either nursing, peeing, refilling my water bottle, or all 3. I think I drank at least 4 liters of water before the thirst was quenched! I have no idea what that was about. Did my liver just go into detox mode? Was there some sort of gut bacteria die off? Did my body need to flush something? It was crazy and it left me seriously tired. But at least it washed away the headache.

So, I didn't feel so great this morning. I fried up some sweet potatoes to have with my breakfast and they made me feel SO MUCH BETTER! So good, in fact, that I put on bad music and danced around the living room with baby! I wanted to just keep eating more and more, but I stopped myself. But it did put the idea into my head that carbs make me feel better...Uh oh.

Lunch was totally unprepared and uninspired. And then I may have had just a bit of fruit spread with cashew butter. It's all fruit, mind you, but it's wonderfully sweet. And maybe it was two spoonfuls. I REALLY didn't want to stop. But I found the brakes by heading for fat and protein. I made myself a sausage and coconut creamed spinach. But then later I had...chocolate. Dang it. No sugar, just the pure stuff, but still. Dang it.

So, today was a wash. I didn't technically go off-plan, but I certainly violated the spirit of it. And here's the kicker - I feel so much better! I think the lesson I'm going to take from this is, I need more carbs, but I need to eat them with plenty of protein so I don't get so binge-y.

Food

Breakfast: 3 eggs, salsa, beef/appl/spinach hash, green smoothie (collared greens, dulse, berries), sweet potatoes fried in coconut oil

Lunch: Smoked salmon, avocado, spinach & rocket, fruit spread, cashew butter, pork sausage, coconut creamed spinach, pear

Snack: chocolate coconut manna

Dinner: meatballs in marinara over spaghetti squash

Activity

Dance around the living room

10 Push Ups

Dead bugs

Sleep

9 - 9, hourly wake-ups (literally)

Mood

I'm a bit down today. I miss having fun. But I'm just too sleep-deprived to go out in the evening or do any endorphin-inducing exercise or hikes or take any fun drop in classes. And the baby is at a stage where he wants mommy, mommy, mommy. Maybe this is nature's way of keeping mom close to baby at this point - she's too tired to venture off!

I'm also feeling weak, weak-willed, and mildly disappointed in my chocolate lapse. Still, I'm grateful that I could manage to get such a mellow day. Also noticed that I never feel resentful toward this baby, like I occasionally did with my first when he wouldn't let me sleep. But this is only day 5. Dun-dun-DUN!

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Derval, I try to doze when I put my baby down for a nap, but sleep never comes. Perhaps because part of my mind is wondering what my unattended 3 year is up to? I try to meditate instead, though I'm not so good at it when I'm this tired!

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Day 6: Breakthrough or Square One?

This was the first morning in ages that I didn't feel dizzy, woozy, or daunted by the day ahead. And as the day progressed, I just got more and more energy! There was some dancing, there was some silliness, there was a lot of catch-up cleaning and even some cooking ahead! And I finally got to enjoy my wonderful life.

So I'm wondering, have I made it past the hard phase and into the energetic phase on the other side? Or did I put myself back to square one with all the carbs yesterday? I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Maybe it's just the sweet potatoes!

Food

Breakfast: 3 eggs, pork sausage, green smoothie (kale, dulse, mint, berries), sweet potatoes

Lunch: Smoked salmon, spinach and rocket, avocado, cherry tomatoes, coconut manna

Snack: Shrimp in red thai curry sauce

Dinner: Tri-tip with green beans

Dessert: Coconut Manna

Activity

Heavy Cleaning

3 Km walk

Might do the butt workout if the baby doesn't wake up

Sleep

10 - 8:30, with about 4-5 wake-ups in between (it's all a bit blurry)

Mood

Great! I love all this energy! My kids love it too! That's a lot of exclamation marks!

This made me happy - who needs fancy toys when you've got a box?!?

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Derval, I try to doze when I put my baby down for a nap, but sleep never comes. Perhaps because part of my mind is wondering what my unattended 3 year is up to? I try to meditate instead, though I'm not so good at it when I'm this tired!

Yeah not such a good option! could a friend/neighbour take your 3yo out for a walk/play for an hour for you?

Love the box pic, I have cute ones of my 2 putting each other in a box too :)

Great you are feeling good, how could carbs be a set-back if they make you feel better? W30 is not a low-carb "diet", you're supposed to eat starchy veg to fuel activity.

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l love reading your entries! I can't imagine doing this Whole 30 with a baby, a three year old, sleep deprivation and breast feeding! You are a Rock Star (I don't think they sleep much either, partying and all).

Maybe when you snack in the morning, add some fat? A banana and some nuts? I've felt better when snack if it's squash with ghee or coconut butter, or a hard boiled egg and apple.

Stay strong, Hulk Hogan strong:)

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Derval, I'm actually really lucky in that we have a girl who comes and takes my 3 year old out for a couple of hours every day. He's like a puppy - he needs to run, run, run! Unfortunately his hyper time comes when the baby needs to nap and I hit the wall and need to get dinner going, so we made some arrangements.

How old are your two? it's hilarious so often how kids prefer the box to the contents.

Regarding carbs being a setback, I was just thinking the sugary carbs (jam) may have slowed the process of my body switching from sugar burning mode to fat burning mode. But the awesome energy is here again today. Hurray!

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Thanks Gin! I think the sweet potatoes were the missing ingredient. And incidentally, they were directly inspired by YOU! Your breakfasts sound amazing! Your sister and husband are so lucky.

I really like the hard-boiled egg and apple idea.

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Day 7: Muted magic

Bad night again - 6 wake ups. But here's the confusing part - at 6:30am I felt just fine and got up and did the morning shift so my husband could sleep in (he went out last night). I had a lively conversation with my kid and did a lot of cleaning up. That's never happened before!

And then, when I put the baby down for his morning nap, I fell asleep and slept a solid 2 hours! I can nap again! Hallelujah!!!

I was in a great mood all day and did some more cooking ahead. And my husband was so glad that I was "kind" and didn't give him a hard time for being hung over like I usually do.

So is this the magic, muted by sleep disruption? I can't imagine how good I'd feel on a good night's sleep!

It's funny, as my sleep gets deeper, the wake-ups get more frequent because I don't wake up properly to check the time to see whether I should feed the baby. (We're trying to cut him back to eating only every 3 hours so his appetite doesn't keep waking him up.) Instead, I only half-way wake up and nurse him and fall right back asleep. I don't know which approach is better, but suddenly 6 wake ups a night seems a lot more bearable.

Food

Breakfast: 3 eggs with salsa, pork sausage, sweet potatoes, green smoothie (kale, dulse, berries)

Lunch: Salmon sashimi, Bell pepper, Well fed's "The best chicken you ever ate. Ever"

Snack: Coconut Manna

Dinner: "The best chicken you ever ate. Ever" , cauliflower rice, butternut squash

Activity

Walked 3 km

Sleep

10:45 - 6:30, with 6 wake-ups, nap from 10am - 12

Mood

Great! And steady. And not even that annoyed when I had a conversation with my mom that would normally really bother me.

I just got around to taking my "before" photos this evening. I hadn't realized I was so very thick around the middle.

The only positive thing I can say about them is there is a lot of room for improvement! It's a good thing I didn't take those pics when I was feeling down.

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Day 8: Ho Hum

How quickly I get blase about feeling close to normal! I didn't get to sleep in or take a morning nap this morning, and still felt fine enough to walk to preschool (and push 2 kids home in a stroller). But somehow I felt cheated that I didn't feel super energetic like I did this weekend! How quickly I get spoiled.

Loving all the ready-to-eat food in the fridge, though it's encouraging snacking. Made roasted butternut squash soup for dinner - turned out to be the perfect foil for well fed's "the best chicken..." which I still find over-spiced but I made a ton of it so I'll be eating all week!

Got very excited about a big order I put in for a bunch of free-range, grass-fed, hormone-free, drug-free meats. And sushi-grade sashimi!!! They'll be coming my way in about 10 days. Yay! And it will save me 100 miles of driving and a border crossing to go down to Trader Joe's, which is my only other alternative for stocking the freezer with good-value, high quality meat.

Food

Breakfast: 3 eggs, green smoothie (collard greens, dulse, berries), sweet potatoes

Snack: Thai curry shrimp

Lunch: Smoked salmon, more shrimp, mixed greens

Snack: Cashews, strawberries, coconut manna

Dinner: "Best chicken...", roasted butternut squash soup

Activity

4 km walk

Sleep

10 - 6, 4 wake ups

Mood

Ok. Bit down in the morning over the horrible 'before' photos I took last night. Bit cranky in the evening after hubby was harsh. Going to bed early tonight.

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Hope today is more of an up day. I didn't take a "before" photo for this. I pondered it, sort of struggled with it and decided not to. Maybe about a month earlier I'd taken a photo to track progress. And I spent way too much time feeling bad about that photo and judging myself. So, the only Whole30 advice I haven't followed was taking the before photo. I do have measurements to compare, but those don't make me feel as bad about myself. I'm way harder on myself than I would be to another person. So try to be kind to your before self, you're already 8 Whole30 days different than her!

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