Starting my log on Day 4

[ultrafighter]

I just don't have anywhere else to hammer out these frustrations except with some fellow Whole30ers.  I'm sorry for unloading without one of those happy "rah rah" posts first. 

 

My husband and I are doing this together and kind of bringing along our toddler.  We're not being as strict with him as we are with ourselves, but we're not making special meals for him.  -sigh-  He hates veggies.  Won't eat any anymore.  I can sneak stuff into smoothies and sauces and whatnot, but I want him to eat vegetables of his own volition.  I don't want him to hate healthy food his whole life.  I feel like I failed him in that because we started out great, and then I got pregnant with his little brother and grew too tired and lazy to keep it up.  I know people say kids won't starve themselves, but really?  Are we sure?  Or will the approach of just letting him get hungry enough to eat it actually end up damaging his relationship with food?  That's my other fear.  A big one.  I can't just let him survive on fruit.  That's also not healthy so we are refusing to do that.  He's eating more fruit than we are, but we still have to cut him off at some point.  So that leaves only a couple of protein sources that he will eat (eggs and chicken, mainly) and... fruit.  I'm just so terrified of ruining his health and/or his relationship with food.  I can't stress that enough.

 

Days 1 and 2 were actually really good.  We started on a Saturday and had the off time of the weekend to get into things so I think that helped.  But yesterday and today have just..... hoovered.  My toddler actually tried a couple of new foods, and that went well thankfully.  We decided to follow the sample meal plan for the first 7 days (with some substitutions for things we don't eat), and OMG has that been tough.  Like I said, the weekend was a good start for us because we had more time to prep and stuff, but so far this week it has not gone well.  Yesterday, we didn't have lunch until 3 because even though we're both home during the day, I'm actually working and my husband is watching the kids.  Which are a handful, you can imagine.  So It's just not working well to get food prepped and cooked because as soon as I log off from work, he goes to his job and I take over with the boys.  Then there's dinner that needs to be prepared.  Even if stuff is prepped ahead of time, it's still a challenge.  A big one.  Last night, dinner didn't happen until 8-something when my boys should have been getting ready for bed.  Lunch today didn't happen until almost 2.

 

Did anyone else find the sample meal plan to just be cumbersome?  I don't know.  I kinda feel like a weirdo for thinking that to begin with...  I tend to fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to food, but that's also how I ended up in a junk food lifestyle.  I'm just waiting for things to click.  Please tell me things will click!!  Physically, my body is doing well.  I don't feel like I'm detoxing (I didn't have any headaches and only a little tiredness yesterday afternoon), and I'm not majorly craving things.  It's the fitting all of this extra work into my life that's the problem today.

 

I'm sorry to be a bummer.  Really.  I promise I'm a fun and witty person usually. 

[ultrafighter]

It's the beginning of day 7, and I'm happy to report that things are better!  My son tried another new food last night!!  The salmon cakes are a win.  I had a bit of a snafu with them and had to improvise, but they really did turn out well.  My husband couldn't find any canned sweet potatoes that didn't have added sugar so he roasted some actual sweet potato to soften it up.  Except he didn't peel them first (because normally we just eat everything with the skin).  Peel your sweet potatoes for this recipe! haha

 

I haven't had but two of the symptoms on the timeline, and I know the book said not to worry that it means I'm doing this wrong... but I can't help but wonder if I'm doing this wrong.  I think the afternoon of day 3 I was ex-haus-ted more than normal, and the night before last I had a terrifying dream that I ate most of a cheeseburger before realizing that I had just killed my Whole30.  My husband has two nasty zits since starting.  He knows that's just his body figuring all this out, but he still hates them.  We were talking yesterday about everything, and he said that even just a couple of days into this thing he already was enjoying eating veggies.  This is huge because he's always been a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  I'm so proud of him!     I didn't ask him to do this with me; I only asked for support by keeping his non-compliant foods in the garage so I couldn't see and be tempted by them everyday.  He's doing most of the cooking since he's home all day with our boys, and he is totally kicking the W30 booty!!

 

I've been wondering if I should take a digestive enzyme because my tummy has been unhappy the last couple of days, and I wonder if it's from all the cooking fat we're suddenly using.  I wasn't living a low-fat lifestyle before, but these amounts of cooking fat are like whoa.  If anyone has any insight, I'd love to hear it.  Aside from that, nothing feels bad.  Nothing feels great either, though, and I can't wait for this amazing energy and clarity and sleep that the book talks about.  We are keeping the faith that it's coming!  Have a great day, folks. 

[ultrafighter]

Alright, week one is done!!  woohoo

 

Today is day 8, and I'm absolutely terrified of accidentally going off plan.  My husband is very relaxed about an accidental slip-up (some hidden ingredient that we didn't see or whatever, not a cheat) and is like "eh if it happens it happens".  I'm very "but we would have to start over!"  And he's all "I guess if you really thought you needed to..."  Well, yeah!  That's the program and those are the rules.  But then I have to tell myself to take a step back and relax.  He can do whatever he wants to with HIS Whole30.  I don't like failure, and I do not want to have to start over.  I made clarified butter early on, but I'm utterly paranoid that I didn't make it right and I've killed this Whole 30 the handful of times I've used it.  I'm still having a bit of digestive distress, even more than I did pre-program.  What is up with that??  It's distracting me from noticing any other positive changes.

 

So I guess long story short is I'm proud of myself for hanging in this long, but I'm disappointed because I feel no better than I did a week ago.  

[youngann]

 

So I guess long story short is I'm proud of myself for hanging in this long, but I'm disappointed because I feel no better than I did a week ago.  

Don't worry  about not noticing a difference from week to week. I'm just finishing day 14 and have patiently been waiting to feel different than before. It dawned on me today that I don't feel quite as old and tired. yay!!

[ultrafighter]

Don't worry  about not noticing a difference from week to week. I'm just finishing day 14 and have patiently been waiting to feel different than before. It dawned on me today that I don't feel quite as old and tired. yay!!

That's awesome!!!

 

I'm pretty mad at myself.  I put some marinated artichoke hearts on my salad without looking today, and in the ingredients it lists "vegetable oil (soy or sunflower oil)".  I've already called the company to ask if they can look up by lot or batch number which was used, and they can't.  I feel like the chances are high enough that they would have used soy, at least in part, that I need to start over.  Today was supposed to be day 11.     

[Puckertoe]

Have you tried the sweet potatoes mashed then adding pineapple and baking with some ghee dabbed on the top. Kids might like it.

[ultrafighter]

That sounds awesome!