Started May 10th, feeling strong and it takes forever to eat!

[katie goose]

Hello all, 

Day 6 today and I'm feeling awesome. Headaches, tiredness, other maladies W30 related have seemed to have passed. Don't want to jinx myself though. Knock, knock. Some of my challenges are being a single working mother and cooking two separate meals. I'm not ready to subject my kiddo to this way of eating... yet. She eats pretty well but cheese, whole grains and regular butter seem right for now. I have the Whole30 book and It Starts With Food on order from the library and I look forward to reading the section on kids. Cooking two meals takes time and so does the eating.

 

My biggest challenge is, I'm taking forever to consume my template sized meals. All the crunchy and soft veggies require endless chewing. I'm enjoying the foods but feeling like it takes two hours to eat each plate/bowl full of food. Maybe it's my multitasking while I eat? I know we're not supposed to but I haven't committed to focused eating time unless I'm dining with my child. We talk and play games while we eat and it still takes time. 

 

Today for example, I started my lunch of tuna salad, carrot sticks, apples, almond butter, kraut and sautéed greens at 12:30. I ate a bit then had to take my daughter to a birthday party where I dropped her off and came straight home. Maybe a 15 minute meal intermission. Since then I'm still eating slowly and it's 2:30. Had an hour long phone call I had to take and tried to keep eating quietly and even more slowly so she wouldn't hear me. 

 

​My big question is: Am I losing the benefit of having 4-5 hours between meals if my meal takes two hours only leaving 3 between meals? Should I eat faster for the full experience?

 

Thanks for your ideas and tips. Please say hello if you also started on May 10th and want to have a tread together of our journey. Best wishes to each of you in your process and may it be good.

 

Sincerely, Kate

[LadyM]

I wouldn't say "eat faster" exactly, but yes, sitting down and focusing on your meals without distraction when you eat rather than multitasking is important. It's not just what you eat but how you eat that matters.

 

Also, instead of preparing two separate meals, why not have your daughter eat what you eat and supplement it with whatever else she'd like that you deem appropriate? Let her have her almond butter or tuna salad on whole wheat bread, for example. Or if you have a burger, allow her to have one with cheese on a bun.

 

It sounds as if you already have the answers to your questions. It's just a matter of tweaking what you're doing to make it simpler and easier for yourself. There's really no reason why you need to cook two separate meals twice a day or take two hours to eat. Streamline. Simplify. It will be worth doing especially because you'll be feeling so good by the end of your 30 days, you'll want to keep going this way!