ANFHardin Whole30 log - starting Day 8

[Derval]

Hope you are back to form, everyone has an off day every now & then. But you didn't break your W30 and that is brilliantly commendable

And as for the mayo, I found this for you

[anfhardin]

Oh, Derval. Yes. THAT. Today will be better, if only because I know Gerard has my back.

I'm chuffed to start Day 19 on a better foot. (I don't know any Irish slang, but I have Welsh relatives.)

[anfhardin]

DAY 19

Crabby patty days are over. Lovely day today, even though I didn't plan for meals very well. Will definitely go to the store tomorrow. Lollygagged around too long this morning and had to run out the door for church. Went to grab a larabar (this was a legitimate emergency) and they. were. gone. The husband took the whole box with him to his parents. So, I grabbed more trail mix and a banana. Terrible planning, but oh well. I went to lunch with friends at a Greek restaurant that has tons of clean things on the menu, so that was easy. I spent the afternoon glued to the ACL Music Festival live feed on my computer (Civil Wars *and* Avett Brothers - yes, please) while we cleaned out the garage, and dinner snuck up on me. I threw some chicken thighs with BBQ sauce in the oven, then realized I couldn't have the sauce. Just ate the veggies, which turned out to be plenty. So, all in all, a happy, productive day with friends and family and music.

FOOD:

B: coffee, banana, trail mix (I pick the cranberries out of the Central Market harvest mix - lots of good nuts)

L: huge greek salad, no feta, with a chicken breast the size of my face and compliant greek dressing. Ate the whole thing.

D: sweet potatoes and spinach with ghee.

MOOD:

Happy, not stressed out, doldrums vanquished.

MOVE:

cleaned out the garage a tiny bit?

SLEEP:

I usually sleep terribly when I'm home alone, and won't get up and go to bed until 1 or 2, but I was asleep by 1:00 and slept soundly until 8:30. Not bad.

[anfhardin]

DAY 20

Typical Monday. Kids in school, grocery shopping, a few errands. Ran into a friend who is doing a different 30 day thing, but close to Whole 30. She got glutened at a restaurant and was terribly sick last night. She made a comment about needing to be much more protective about where they ate, much more protective of her health. That really stuck with me; so often I just feel high maintenence about our food "stuff", but I need to reframe how I think of it. My family's health is precious, and that includes mine. And we cannot have good health without good food. It is my responsibility, my right, and my privilege to control what my family eats. I know we are an extreme case, in that a crumb can tear up my little one for days, or that a shred of cheese can send another into what looks like morphine withdrawal. I hate this for them, but at the same time, I'm grateful that it is so clear cut. Food really can be life-giving, or it can be literal poison. Just because I don't see those extreme external results in myself doesn't mean it's not happening on a smaller scale. A slow poisoning still ends badly. All that said, I think I realized these 30 days cannot just be a "challenge" for me. If I want to NOT feel like crap, I can't eat like crap. Period. Forever. I've tested this theory (unintentionally) for my whole adult life. I have proven it over and over. If I eat things that aren't real food, I don't feel like my real self. I'm an exhausted, achy, foggy-brained version of who I maybe could be. I'm not saying I'll eat perfect from now on- that would only be setting myself up for failure. But I do have to own up to the fact that I officially know better, and I've seen the results of eating this way. I've tested both sides, and this way is better. Way. Way. Better.

FOOD:

B: coffee, 3 eggs

L: chicken, sweet potato, small apple

D: chicken posole/calabacita soup (I picked out the hominy in mine), avocado, spring greens, blueberries

MOOD:

Calm, reflective

MOVE:

Not sure why I still include this category.

SLEEP:

Not enough, as usual, but slept well for 7.5 hours. Just heard that ragweed pollen count is literally 8x higher than last year, so that explains the nighttime misery around me.

Disclaimer: I feel like I used some strong words up there. I want to be clear that I will certainly enjoy chips and salsa, and GFCF sweet yummies, and beer (mmmmm, beer) occasionally. But I am confident I will never, ever, put another Pop Tart in my mouth. And I will not apologize for handing out raisins at Halloween.

[anfhardin]

DAY 21

Stayed home, watched the baby, played with my little one, did housework. It rained some and was cool. A very quiet day, but I was not overwhelmed by the drudgery of homemaking. It helps if you're not thinking of taking a nap every second of the day. And if the baby's mama comes and gets them at 3:15!

I thought a lot today about not only needing to change WHAT I eat, but HOW I eat it. I am a snacker. I come from a long line of "sinkies" (eating out of the cottage cheese container standing at the sink.) The combination of having poor time management skills and wonkity blood sugar only cemented my sinkie habits. Today was a perfect example of why I always revert to my grazing ways. Two kids on different schedules, trying to get chores done, making some phone calls during the overlapping nap times, and all of a sudden it was way past lunch. I just don't think much about a well planned meal on these types of days. I wonder how much it matters. If breakfast and dinner are intentional and healthy and shared with family, does lunch really have to be? I think for most moms, it's LESS stressful to just cram some turkey slices and avocado in your mouth and keep on trucking. If I convince myself I am entitled to three pleasant meals a day, that will only end badly for the children-who-are-not-on-board-with-that-plan. I may never leave my sinkie ways, at least when it comes to lunch, but I know I can still find healthy food to eat standing up.

FOOD:

B: coffee, 2 eggs (I'm really not eating enough for breakfast, but I'm just not that hungry)

Snack: larabar

L: cajun turkey breast with mustard, carrots, prunes, pistachios

Snack: apple with sunbutter

D: picadillo, strawberries

MOOD:

Happy, steady

MOVE:

vacuumed, dusted and polished wood while holding 2 month old. Surely this is equivalent to someone's bicep WOD.

SLEEP:

Fairly wretched 7 hours, but far worse for the husband, so I'm not complaining. He was the one sleeping upright in a chair holding a mouth-breathing three year old with a smoker's cough.

[anfhardin]

DAY 22

Forgot to write this last night. Had a bad day. Headache, sore throat, fatigue. Mold count was really high, and those are my usual mold allergy symptoms, but I wonder if something else was at play. Sadly, I suspect sugar.

I wanted another cup of coffee mid-morning, and was feeling lazy, so I dug around and found a Via packet in my husband's hiking stash. No box, just a loose packet thrown in with the Clif shots and jerky. I'm telling you now, IT WAS THE MOST DELICIOUS COFFEE EVER. Vanilla-y, creamy, aromatherapy heaven. I kept thinking, "holy crap! Instant coffee is ah-ma-zing!"

And then I felt even more terrible as the day wore on. Eventually, I remembered. Some Via packets have sugar already in them. The wrapper was buried under gross stuff in the trash, the box had long been recycled, but I'm pretty sure.

I broke my Whole30.

Maybe it was just the mold. Maybe? But, all day, I felt "off." I ate too many nuts. I was crabby when the boys got off the bus. I didn't want to make dinner. The only benefit was that I went to bed 30 minutes earlier. And today, I look a little worse for the wear.

I would hate (HATE) to think that one scrumptious cup of sweetened coffee could wield this much power. Could be *this* evil. It seems ridiculous. I can't be this fragile. That's just stupid.

Oh well. We shall see what today holds.

FOOD:

B: coffee (black), 3 eggs, spinach & salsa in ghee

S: coffee (not black?)

S: trail mix, lemon larabar (and so it begins)

S: prunes, mixed nuts

L: posole

S: apple, spoonful almond butter

S: trail mix cleaned up off coffee table and from couch cushions (maybe the low point)

D: salmon, sweet potato, salad

S: blueberries w/ coconut milk (anyone see a pattern here? Anyone?)

MOOD:

Agitated

MOVE:

Strained to get every last morsel of scattered trail mix. Sad.

SLEEP:

8.5 hours, slept hard.

[anfhardin]

DAY 25

Still trucking! Had the boys' school carnival last nIght, weekend road trip to Ft Worth this morning, to Dallas and back home tomorrow. I've had a good few days- just so tired at night and keep forgetting to write. After feeling so bad on Wednesday, I made a bunch of roasted veggie and have been eatIng on those for a few days. Have tons of sautéed spinach in my eggs each mornIng, chicken and turkey for lunch and dinner. It's been nice just heatIng up leftovers, especially being so busy.

I don't know how I feel about the (probably) sweetened coffee this week. I guess if there were referees involved, there would be flag on my Whole 30, but I don't feel I totally fell off the wagon, so I'm going to see it through.

I made it through the school carnival and my niece's birthday party today with no problem. Just made my plate of rotisserie chicken and veggies while everyone else had pizza and cupcakes. I truly didn't want to eat any of it because I knew I would feel terrible tomorrow. I even worked the cotton candy machine for an hour and had nary a lick of my finger. That in and of itself is Whole 30 success.

[anfhardin]

DAY 27!

I made it through the busy, road trip weekend. My sister is super supportive, and didn't mind that I was constantly eating different food. Had a birthday party with pizza and GFCF chocolate cupcakes and a candy filled piñata, and lick a finger. Sunday, I went with my mom to the Chihuly exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum. We didn't realize how long we'd be there, and didn't pack a lunch. I was able to find chicken salad with no dressing, and my mom asked lots of questions about Whole 30, wondering if she would/could ever attempt it. Even after a long weekend, I was able to drive everyone home without crashing. Never saw that coming!

FOOD:

B: black coffee, 3 eggs, bacon, avocado, escabeche carrots

L: larabar, grapes, carrots, turkey slice (all eaten between various grocery store trips)

D: flank steak, spinach, salad, strawberries, blueberries

MOOD:

Fine. Not too crabby this morning, even after a big weekend.

MOVE: this space intentionally left blank

SLEEP: slept great, but only 6.5 hours. However, went to bed at 9:30 on Saturday night and got 10 hours - so nice,

Off to try the new slack line! This could end badly.....

[anfhardin]

DAY 34

Just spent Days 30-33 in San Francisco and the Bay Area. My word, the amount of delicious, scrumptious, decadent awfulness I put in my body. It was awesome. And terrible. I shall not rehash every artisan cheese, wine tasting, spinach casserole, cocktail, birthday dessert, etc that I got down and dirty with, but suffice it to say, I went *slightly* off plan. Well, not really, because I stayed compliant through the airport, plane ride, and PCH drive, but starting with a late dinner on Day 30 (Thursday night), it was all debauchery, all the time.

That said, I ate smaller portions, was mindful of everything I ate, and took the consequences like a big girl. And I know, as I've said before, this has to be a lifestyle. 30 days is awesome, but it can't undo 30 years. And it doesn't have to be complicated and burdensome. My family of six needs to eat as clean as POSSIBLE at home, all the time, forever.

I will likely start a new Whole 30 this week. First I want to do a complete wrap-up of the first one- how I felt at different intervals, what I learned, etc. I actually knew how much weight I lost because of my stint in outpatient surgery, but that wasn't "real life." Of course you loose 10 pounds in a week if you do three colonoscopy preps. I didn't weigh before our trip, but at this point (in the aftermath) I'm down five pounds for the month. Not too shabby. Especially considering the fried chicken at Wayfare Tavern. Worth it, people.

[anfhardin]

January 1, 2013.

Thought about starting the January Whole 30, but I have a pantry full of brown rice and Tasty Bite and BBQ sauce that I want to eat, and I really want to wean off caffeine completely before attempting another 30.

Reread my entire blog from October. I'm certainly a chatty one, eh? Had forgotten so many of the details of that month, and am excited to attempt it again. I think I shall read ISWF again. May use this forum to chart future progress, but will attempt to not emote so much. Good grief.

[Derval]

Emotions are good. Emote!

[anfhardin]

Whole30, Part Deux. Last entry said "thinking of starting a January Whole30." And since I always follow through, here we are two years later, starting again. After reading my previous posts (for hours) I realize I am actually a lot healthier now than I was then. I don't have the crushing fatigue or the crashes anymore. General fatigue, yes; soul crushing, no. However, my IBS is a bastard and never completely leaves, and I have developed Fibromyalgia. That's what really made me come back. Pain sucks. So, here we go! I'll see you in 30 days, craft beer and tacos.

[anfhardin]

Look at me! Day 2 of my third W30, two years later. I finished that W30 in January 2015. And I did two weeks of one in 2016. And I've "started a W30" every Monday the month of April. How do you know you NEED another W30? You bail on day 2, three weeks in a row. So, I'm in an Austin W30 FB group, I told my husband to hold me accountable, and I'm all in. I do not feel the need to journal this one like the original. Because I used ALL THE WORDS in 2012. However, I did reread the whole thing, and again am grateful at how much better I am in general. Still have fatigue, some IBS, fissures and fibro pain, but overall, holistically better. Through genetic testing have discovered some significant problems, and most likely have a histamine intolerance or mast cell issues. Considering the fibro, I would likely benefit from an AIP/low histamine W30. But OMG, no. How? Seems impossible. Will see how it shakes out.....

[YM0321]

Hey there! What's this Austin W30 group you mentioned?