Doing it right this time!

[LMCwhole30]

I started my first whole 30 on January 29th (a random date, I know). I had borrowed the book from my colleague and was so excited to start I couldn't wait for an even date! Overall, it went well - I struggled with the usual issues - headaches on the first couple days, anger on day 8, feeling more energized and sleeping better as the days went on, and then having to stay strong in the end! However, during those 30 days, my best friend left for the Peace Corps, and I had a National Conference for work in Florida (coming from Boston... The warm weather was a welcome vacation). Needless to say, I indulged in a few celebratory drinks during those events. I wasn't proud, but as a 23-year-old in Boston, I just didn't have the strength to resist!

At the end of the 30 days I was in Florida again, this time chaperoning a group of high school students at all of Florida's biggest attractions (Disney, Universal, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale). So of course... My reintroduction consisted of amusement park food and beach-side tacos and sangria.

Naturally, I felt like CRAP all week and still do. I'm planning on starting whole30 round 2 tomorrow (March 1st) and really want to do it right this time. I guess I'm looking for advice on how to stay compliant during those life events where you have limited control over what you're eating. Similarly, how do you turn away from peer pressure and social-environments with foods you already KNOW are bad for you? (Cough, alcohol, cough). I know I ultimately need to be an "adult" and stick up for my plan, but I'm just curious to see if there are any specific phrases or actions you take in these situations!

Thanks in advance!

[Xandra]

Yep. These are the exact situations that derail us, a combination of limited choices in what is served, combined with a social environment that encourages our old habits.

The way out of it is to plan as best you can and forgive yourself for what you can't control, without letting those off-plan items give you permission to dive in and eat that box of donuts because "Who cares? I can do another Whole30 whenever I want! Ha ha!"

Your lifestyle retraining has to include handling all these situations, and because this is unfamiliar territory, you have to plan your events until it becomes more automatic.

Some things you can do: map out your day. Where will you be? What is likely to be available? What will you eat? What treat will you plan? How will you answer if people offer you something?

I've posted this on several threads, but here is an example of how I handled a dinner a few weeks ago, where we had no idea what would be served except that it was certain to include alcohol.

I went to a dinner party the other night with some wine drinkers. Gave myself permission to have one glass of wine and had to make it last the whole evening. They served wine with cheese & crackers before dinner. I accepted the glass, took one sip and set it down. Said no thanks to cheese & crackers. Took one more sip of wine before dinner. Left my glass full all through dinner so they wouldn't refill it. Drank water instead. Then at the end of the meal, I finished my wine while everyone had dessert (brownies & sugar-free ice cream, they have diabetics in the family and this is what they eat ).

So that's how I got through a social event without running off the rails. It wasn't particularly difficult, it just took a liittle bit of planning.