My Log - Starting Day 7

[TryingOver]

I am new to whole30 and the website so I just discovered the logs on Day 7 of my Whole30. I'm here because I'm struggling with severe fatigue and have been for months. My doctor has ruled out most physiological causes, so I'm using Whole30 to try to eliminate diet and food allergies as a possible cause of my fatigue. I also have gained almost 100 pounds in the last 3 years between health issues and changes in my career and I want to get my health and body back! I want to have the energy to work out and take care of myself again! 

 

I'll include a brief from-memory summary of days 1-6. 

 

Day 1: Breakfast: Almond Milk latte and fruit, Lunch: Guacamole Greens salad without tortillas from Sweet Greens Dinner: Same as Lunch

Day 2: Breakfast Almond Milk latte, fruit, and pecans, Lunch: pesto and chicken salad from Sweet Greens Dinner: Guacamole Greens Salad w/o tortillas 

Day 3: Breakfast: fruit smoothie and almond milk latte, lunch: nicoise salad from sweet greens, dinner: almonds and pistachios from airport (no compliant Epic or larabars). 

 

Days 1-3 I was travelling for work and did the best that I could. My energy levels were extremely low, I had a severe headache, and I could tell that I was definitely being affected by the lack of sugar and change in diet. 

 

Day 4: Breakfast: prosciutto egg muffins, lunch: tuna and sweet potato cakes, dinner: citrus fennel salad with Salmon

Day 5: Breakfast: eggs with microgreen salad, lunch: leftovers, dinner: steak with apples and salad

Day 6: Breakfast: sweet potato and brussels sprouts hash with eggs, lunch: madras chicken salad in lettuce wraps, snack: mini tuna cakes, dinner: 4 hard boiled eggs w/ homemade mayo and pistachios. 

Days 4-6 I was irritable, fatigued, and by day 6 dinner I didn't want to eat any of the food I had. It was difficult to find something I could stomach for dinner. 

 

Today is day 7: Breakfast: leftover hash with compliant sausage, lunch: 2 lettuce wraps with avocado, bell pepper, green onion, and smoked salmon. 3 hard boiled eggs, dinner: doro wat and cabbage stew (2-3 cups cabbage and carrot stew and 2 chicken legs). 

 

NSV: Today is the first day in months that I came home from work and did not go straight to bed. I helped my husband cook dinner and worked on meal planning. Hoping that my energy levels continue to gradually increase! 

[TryingOver]

Day 8: 

I am reaching new levels of tired. I started this to try to combat fatigue, but it seems like each day I get more and more run down. This morning it took all of my will power to open my eyes and then I struggled to stay focused though the work day. I know that in the long run I will feel better, but today I just wanted "normal" food (read: coffee with dairy and sugar and quick, grain-filled convenience food for lunch). For me, part of this journey will be redefining what a "normal" meal and "normal" food is. 

 

Breakfast: 3 mini salmon cakes and 1 cup of coffee with coconut cream (I overslept and just grabbed leftovers out of the fridge so that I would have something to eat). 

 

Lunch: leftover doro wat (2 cups of cabbage/carrot stew plus two chicken drumsticks and onion sauce). 

 

Snack: Nectarine 

 

Dinner: Enchilada stuffed sweet potato - sweet potato with ground beef, peppers, onions, mushrooms, homemade compliant enchilada sauce, 1/4 avocado and 1 drizzle homemade garlic mayo. 

 

I've noticed that I'm not snacking as much (hard to snack when you don't have chips, popcorn, nuts, cheese, crackers, cookies, ice cream, and sweetened coffee drinks) and I'm not feeling as hungry throughout the day. Normally I never feel full, but if I eat a template meal, I'm finding that I don't need a lot of extra food to get me through the day. 

 

[TryingOver]

Day 9: 

Today was generally a rough day. I struggled to get out of bed. I struggled to get to work. By 9 am (I start work at 7) I knew I was sick. I've been in pain from passing kidney stones, tired from the diet changes and the fatigue before Whole30 that led to me being here, and I felt queasy and feverish. I took half a sick day and left at 1 pm. Despite feeling miserable, I managed to get closer to the meal template today! 

 

Meal 1: Leftover cabbage stew (about 2 cups) and 1 compliant apple chicken sausage for protein. Coffee with coconut milk. 

Meal 2: Leftover stuffed sweet potato - 1/2 sweet potato, peppers, onions, ground beef, compliant enchilada sauce and homemade garlic mayo drizzle. Nectarine

Meal 3: Shrimp curry - 1/4 head of cauliflower pulsed into "rice" with cumin and cilantro, portabella mushroom, red bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, red curry paste, coconut milk, and shrimp. Easily 3 cups of vegetables to 1 cup of broth and shrimp. 3 apricots and a teaspoon of coconut cream while waiting for dinner to finish cooking. 

 

NSV: Not seeing much today with how tired and sick I've been feeling. But, I did realize at dinner that my husband and I have probably eaten more vegetables in a week than we had eaten in an entire month before Whole30. That alone I'm sure is going to do wonders.

 

However, I was feeling down and not seeing NSV this morning, so *queue scale discussion* 

 

I needed to know that this was worth it. Last night I found myself longing for any "normal" treat, a sweet coffee drink, a cookie, some ice cream, Indian food with buttery naan and rice. The cravings hit hard, the fatigue that I've been battling feels worse, not better, and I started to feel discouraged. So, I pulled the scale out from where my husband dutifully put it away for our Whole30. I completely understand the value of not weighing yourself and I know that I should be working on changing my relationship with food and my health, not just relying on the scale. But, today, I stepped on the scale, and I have lost 5 pounds. It isn't much, but it was enough to say "give it time. Put the scale back away, trust that this is working, your body is changing, it just isn't going to happen on your schedule." 

 

I will work on focusing on the non-scale victories and putting my trust in the process that eating healthier food will lead to a healthier me no matter what the scale says. 

[TryingOver]

It has been a while since I posted in the log. I'm actually doing great and have been working on getting more template meals in. My energy levels have been better than they have been in months, but because of that I've been out living life instead of tracking everything (Memorial Day weekend with my family, a trip for work, and then this morning a day with my husband at the Farmer's Market to stock up on lots of tasty vegetables and local grass fed meat. 

 

I have lots of non-scale victories, less pain (although still some), more energy, and my pants that were tight are now loose! I bought a swim suit today to start swimming at the gym and bought a size smaller than expected!