LA_Cam_Op Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Hey there Whole30 Community! I want to stay accountable and also have a log of where I was at a certain point in time, so I am saying hello and telling a little about myself. I'm 37, M, live in Los Angeles, and work in the film industry. I have an incredibly physical career and I also tend to do physically-oriented things on my days off. Given these facts you may think I was in good health and probably looked the part. Not so. Even though I was working out like an animal and had my macros down, I was bloated, overweight, becoming increasingly and more frequently ill, and was just barely recovering from a flurry of injuries. Something had to give. And it did. Well, it wasn't one thing, it was three. I tore my left hamstring, on a separate incident I tore my left IT band (yes, just the IT band ), and then about 10 days ago my asthma went absolutely nuts. My asthma -- up until that point -- was quite well controlled and really only exacerbated by cats and extended-stays in Las Vegas (cheap perfume and cigarette smoke/ash. . . never a good combo). I was up in The Bay Area visiting my mother for Mother's Day and felt as close to death as I've felt in a while. I was using a nebulizer to inhale asthma medication; I could barely walk; struggled to talk; couldn't get any real amount or quality of sleep. My sister, from even further up north, called down to wish my mother her best and we ended up on the phone together. In the course of our conversation I disclosed how terrible my condition was, and how quickly the symptoms appeared. We chatted for a bit longer, my sister asking me a series of questions about what showed up when. Now, I must disclose that I've known for a long time that I have issues with refined sugars/processed carbs, but that for dang sure didn't stop me from eating them! My sister had her own issues with the same nasty processed carbs, and also struggled with some pretty serious weight gain. She revealed to me that the crazy diet I had seen her using a few months prior (we saw each other at a funeral) was called Whole30. She told me of her unbelievable health and body change. She went on to spend a good 10-15 minutes explaining to me some very rudimentary rules and guidelines of the program and then said something kinda shocking. "You know it's how you already eat, but minus all the junk." This pis*ed me off to no end. If there's one thing I hate getting called out on, it's the truth. I don't know what happened in that moment but I felt a wall come down. "Tell me the name of the website." "Whole30.com" The next day I was back in L.A. and I had read both books by the end of the night. There was something visceral about what I was reading. I'd like to say it was a nudge, or a gentle leading by the elbow, but in reality it was a hard slap to the face. I was sick, fat, bloated, and injured. And it was my own doing, through my choices. My sister's right. I already handled the protein-consumption part just fine. It was everything else that pretty much had to go. And in Its place, I loaded up my plate with "them": unprocessed, straight out of the ground, no sugar/stevia added, veggies. I just finished my 7th day/1st week, today, and I feel after that incredibly-verbose-intro I owe a status update to whomever may still be reading this. I feel like a champ. Tired, but like a champ. Tired because I've been awake since 0415. Tired because I made it to the gym for the second day in a row. My pain and asthma are gone for the most part. Yep. I know this is hard to swallow. But it's not a story. It's not the thing I've told myself over and over in the past to cover up for my poor choices; this isn't that story, or any story at all. I feel great and that's a fact. The ritual of prepping and cooking has become quite meditative for me. Knowing I am making good choices is confidence-inspiring. Seeing results in such a short time-period is massively motivating. I know I've lost weight. As in: a lot. At a pre-pro meeting today, the other guys around the table pointed that out to me. Repeatedly. If I can point out the vital piece of my personal-program, it is of my shift into viewing food as just that, food. I have disassociated it with emotion. Be that guilt, remorse, or drug-like-euphoria. Food is an input. What it allows my body and mind to do is the output. And, quite clearly, whatever I choose to put inside of me plays a big factor in me and my output. This does not mean that the change I've made fails to elicit emotion. Hell, I have a big, big smile on my face right now. Gonna keep going strong; I can't believe how powerful this has been for me. Life is good, life is great, I'm incredibly blessed to be able to breathe again, and use that breath to make smart decisions. Until next Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 Will digitize handwritten food log and upload here, tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 Food Log Day 1 Coffee -- 2 cups TJ's Power to the Greens -- 1 Plate Bear & Wolf Salmon -- 1 can TJ's Mixed Fancy Nuts -- 1 thumb TJ's Power to the Greens -- 1 Plate 1/2 Avocado Tuna -- 1 can 3 Eggs, hardboiled Broccoli -- 1/2 plate Chicken Breast Day 2 Cup Coffee 4 Eggs, hardboiled 1 Small Apple 1 chicken breast 1/2 avocado TJ's Power to the Greens -- 1 Plate 1 small sweet potato Broccoli drizzled with 1 tsp ghee 1 small apple Ribeye steak Asparagus spears Day3 1 can salmon Plate of broccoli w/ 1 tsp ghee 1 small sweet potato TJ's fancy nuts -- 1 thumb Chicken breast broccoli 1/2 plate TJ's greens Chicken Breast 1 avocado Cuban salad -- cabbage, cilantro, carrots Day 4 Chicken breast Kale and avocado salad Chicken breast Kale and avocado salad 2 large beef patties wrapped in lettuce Yellow and green squash sautéed in mix ghee/olive oil Day 5 3 hardboiled eggs Chicken breast Kale and avocado salad Chicken breast Kale and avocado salad Ribeye steak Sweet Potato TJ's greens Avocado Day 6 Ribeye steak Squash Asparagus Chicken Breast Kale Salad Chicken Breast Ribeye Kale salad 1 thumb mixed nuts Day 7 Ribeye steak Chicken breast Asparagus Squash Chicken Breast 3 hardboiled eggs TJ's mixed greens + extra kale Chicken Breast Kale 1 avocado EDIT: I may have left coffee off some days/meals of the food log but I for sure have 1-2 cups of black Kona coffee every morning Also, drinking at least 1 gallon of fresh water in addition to a whole bunch of non-caffeinated tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 Day 10 started out quite rough. I was up at 0445 for a phone call. After a cup of coffee I got quite lightheaded. Did not feel hungry at all, so I went for a quick climb of The Culver City Stairs. Almost euphorically high/light-headed after the second circuit (total of about 3 miles including stair-climb and descent). Called it a day and headed back home. Just ate 5 hardboiled eggs and a large plate of Cuban salad and feeling a bit better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Present4Life Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Congratulations on finding the Whole30 program and welcome to the Community! It IS amazing how quickly the body can recuperate even after a few days on the program. I too was hit with some crazy symptoms - allergies, asthma, bronchitis, poor sleep, chronic fatigue - and I did everything else my doctor and allergist suggested to modify my living environment. All that was left was.... the food. Refined sugars and processed carbs are my Demon and I know that now. Thank you so much for sharing your story of discovery and I wish you the best on your journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 Thank you, MommaGem, and I wish you continued success on your journey This program is really fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 So I've unwisely poo-pooed the notion of nuts being an allergen. Silly me. I ate them twice yesterday and today my asthma has shown up slightly. Not bad symptoms, just a minor tightening where I believe the two major bronchiole stems combine. I'll be removing nuts from my diet for at least 3 days to see how I respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 Incredibly low on energy. Went down about 60lbs on my deadlift. Going to add carbs in my pre-workout meal and many more carbs in post-workout meal. Also, my skin is freaking out. I, unfortunately, have no idea if this is the Prednisone I was on for a few days because of the asthma attack, or something else. Anybody else have skin issues arise around day 13? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted May 22, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 22, 2016 Incredibly low on energy. Went down about 60lbs on my deadlift. Going to add carbs in my pre-workout meal and many more carbs in post-workout meal. Also, my skin is freaking out. I, unfortunately, have no idea if this is the Prednisone I was on for a few days because of the asthma attack, or something else. Anybody else have skin issues arise around day 13? Pre-workout, go for protein and fat. Post-workout, lean protein and carbs. The first couple of weeks, people often find their workouts suffer some, as their body is becoming fat adapted. It will get better. If you're low on energy, the first thing to check is, are you eating enough food in general? The meal template, linked in my signature below, specifies the minimum range an adult needs to eat at each meal: 1-2 palm-size portions of protein (or if eggs are your only protein, as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand); 1-2 thumb-sized portions of fat (or a heaping handful of olives or coconut flakes, half to a whole avocado, half a can of coconut milk, or a small handful of nuts/seeds) -- this is typically in addition to the fat you cook in, as much of that stays in the pan and isn't consumed; fill the plate with vegetables -- 1-3 cups, more if you're eating raw leafy greens. You can have fruit if you want it, with meals, try to limit it to no more than two fist-sized servings a day. Most people do well with a fist-sized serving of starchy vegetable each day, people who are more active may want more. Also be sure you're salting your food -- getting too little salt can actually cause symptoms of fatigue and generally not feeling well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Thanks for the response, Shannon. According to my food logs I am doing all of the above. I think I need to suck it up and just keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 Feeling a ton better. I switched to boneless, skinless chicken thighs and added more avocado and olive oil into everything except post-workout. My PWO is still a giant hunk of chicken breast and 2 medium sized sweet potatoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 Day 19 check-in. For the past two days I've been doing some pretty long takes in the Steadicam. Legs feel a bit shaky after about 2 hours in the rig. Going to supp with bananas and egg whites (from hardboiled eggs) when I'm doing heavy days like this. I'm starting to see quite clearly that, based on the intensity of my job, my re-introduction should try and focus on foods/food subs that I can use while I am working/working out. According to my Jawbone fitness tracker I moved 15,XXX steps, on average, both days and burned through somewhere around 4600 calories per day. I know I'm not supposed to be focused on caloric intake, but my caloric expenditure on days like the past two have been quite high. Has anybody tried Paleo Protein (either the egg-white-based, or the grass-fed beef-based ones)? I really like the portability of sweet potatoes/yams! I've been able to use those -- and hardboiled eggs -- very effectively for road trips and while working. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 Okay, before I could screw up my Whole30 (phew), a paleo-athlete friend urged me to stay put and not add any additional bananas and eggs, as I was thinking of doing. In a moment of serendipity, I tuned into FaceBook and I saw a link to an interview w/ Laird Hamilton. Here's a quote from the article (full article here: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-0521-laird-hamilton-20160521-snap-story.html): Be a fat-burning monster: I don’t eat energy bars when I’m out on the water all day. In fact, I don’t need to eat anything. My body runs off its body fat. That’s because I’m Paleo. I consume hardly any refined sugar (only if it’s in a salad dressing), a few raw dairy products and almost no wheat or grains. I eat plants and animals. I actually grew up that way in Hawaii. [Paleo researcher-kineseologist] Paul Chek taught me that your body has enough fat on it to run for days ... and that sugar fouls up your machinery. So after I cut alcohol, I began eliminating sugar and sugary fruit. I refined it over the last two years listening to [Primal lifestyle guru] Mark Sisson and other Paleo people. If you’re eating right, a triathlete can go for hours and hours on a couple tablespoons of almond butter and your own body fat. But if you eat refined carbs, your blood sugar spikes up and down and you’re sucking down gel packs to get it back up. I love espresso. … You could give me five shots of espresso, a quarter stick of butter, a quarter stick of coconut oil and other fat, and I’ll drink that. I could go for five or six hours and not even be hungry at the end. Because I’m burning fat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 Day 22! My girlfriend is off working, so I have a big old tri-tip, baked chicken thighs, and a very large bag of chopped cabbage salad, avocados, and 5 eggs -- fresh from our chickens -- to make some delicious meals from Already hit the weights at 0530. Doing my very first sprint workout (strideouts, really) since the hamstring tear at 1400. Going to keep the speed at maybe 60%. Plus, spending 35 mins doing dynamic warmups and stretching, 20 mins of "sprints", 15 mins of dynamic stretching focusing on hip girdle and 'strings. Seeing how much appetite (if any) a sprint workout generates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 Day 24. Not incredibly hungry. Noticed that the skin around my cheekbones had gotten quite smooth and the bags that have been under my eyes for about 15 years have reduced quite a bit. Muscle bellies are starting to taken on actual shape with a peak. Going to take the day off from working out, aside from an extended stretch and foam/ball rolling session. EDIT: The sprint session I mentioned before made me hungry to the point that I was pacing around the kitchen after I had eaten a sweet potato, a large bowl of cabbage salad, and a sizable piece of tri-tip. I had to extricate myself from the house and went to a StarSchmucks to get some work done on the laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 3, 2016 Author Share Posted June 3, 2016 Day 26. On the road for a week of feature-film work. I brought a cooler full of food Already hit the gym at 0500. Doing some footwork drills in a bit and also putting the Steadicam on for a few hours. Going to have a few hard-boiled eggs about a half hour before and then force myself to stick to just water for the three hour block of work. Here's my survival kit for the next week: Canned Tuna Canned Salmon Chicken breasts -- grilled and then vacuum sealed Hardboiled eggs Bags of kale salad and power greens from TJ's Avocados Mixed nuts Ghee Bananas TONS of water (it'll be 102-104 where I'm at for a few days) Anything else that anybody thinks may be a good idea for me to keep around? EDIT: one of my favorite sources of veggies that is both delicious and nutritious is my veggie medley: squash (both yellow and green) and onion, sautéed in a mix of ghee, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. After the sauté I chuck the veggies onto a veggie grill tray and get some caramelizing via open-flame. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 3, 2016 Author Share Posted June 3, 2016 Oh, and this does mean my Whole30 will not be a Whole30, it'll be a Whole34! I think it's a terrible idea for me to start adding things back into my diet while I'm on the road and at work. When I get back home and have a bathroom within 15 steps I'll start with black beans as part of my PWO meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Present4Life Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Good luck on your travel week! It sounds like you are super prepared and your cooler seems well thought out. Will you be taking any oil/vinegar/dressing for your greens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 Oil and vinegar for sure!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 Day 29 Having to sup with sweet potatoes and eggs to stop from bonking Didn't want to, but can't let my on-set performance suffer. Felt the bonk coming on pretty suddenly. Ate an SP and I was fine within 30 mins. Looks like my diet was in such disarray for such a long time that my body hasn't managed to make the switch over to truly metabolizing fat for most needs. So, I'm going to extend my Whole30 into a Whole60 and fine-tune so that I am actually choosing low-carb veggies most always, and only choosing high-carb veggies for PWO and for when I need to sneak them in for anaerobic work. I'll make sure I keep a much more detailed record on the second Whole30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 Day 30 Wow. This has been an amazing journey that is going to keep on trucking for another 30 days! I have lost a bunch of weight, added muscle (somehow!), cleared up my asthma dramatically, lost many of the aches and pains that were a constant nag, and most importantly: I have totally changed my relationship with food There are still moments when I think, "Damn that donut smells good!" But after that, I take no action/don't shove it into my facehole! I'm looking forward to the next 30 day cycle, which will be a real fine-tuning of what I have learned and experienced on my first Whole30. Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing this program/experiment out for the public to benefit from. I have 2 people that have seen my journey that are interested in pursuing a Whole30 journey of their own. p.s. My sensitivity to caffeine skyrocketed in the past week. Going to scale back the coffee and caffeinated tea intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 Day 1 weigh-in: 204.6 lbs Day 30 weigh-in: 191.1 lbs 13.5lbs lost and I really wish I had done something like a Dexa scan to see how much muscle I gained and fat I lost. All of my lifts have gone up, as of last week, while I am now able to see my abs peeking through. They'll be in full-effect after the next go-around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 The low and high carb differentiation is working like a charm! Two days in and seeing more abs and the scale is verifying what my eyes are telling me! Down to 187.3lbs My weigh-ins are always right after my first trip to el baño in the morning, but before food and coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 Weighed-in this AM and I am 185 on-the-button. I've gotten visibly leaner in the past 5 days. Starting to see my cephalic veins coming in. The lard around my midsection has been significantly reduced and what remains on me is no longer the dense type of mass it used to be. It's now a very thin sloshy type of fat and I can feel little nodules of fat when I roll my belly fat through my fingers (I have gotten a little compulsive with this, I must admit). I believe I am now fat-adapted. I say this as I haven't really been getting that hungry. It's not like I'm force-feeding myself (not even close!), but I don't get the huger pangs and I'm not pacing around like a caged animal after I've already eaten. Also, I have a very even energy-level throughout the day, and I can simply go for hours on workouts. I used to have real issues with cramping (especially hamstrings) and that has been massively reduced. I had a few small twinges of cramps in my hammies, but this was after 4 working sets of 405lb deadlifts with reps in the 6-8 range. Really, really happy. Oh, I posted a pic (on FB) of my scale/bodyweight and that pic inspired a few people to ask me about my journey and how to take the first steps toward their own Whole30 Journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Cam_Op Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Unintentionally ate some gluten. Good god that was not fun about an hour and a half later Sitting at 180 even. All lifts are up and speed has improved markedly. Rode about 40ish miles on the bike today and just knocked it out at a pace of 15mph and an avg cadence of 73. Great program. I've been recommending it to everybody that comments on my transformation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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