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Katy's 2nd W30 - starting 6/20/16


katyroq

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I'm starting on my 2nd Whole30. The first was 3.5 years ago, and went pretty well. I have really enjoyed reading through my old log as I have prepared for this one, so I'm going to try to be very detailed for future reference.

 

My main takeaways from last time were:

  1. Vegetables are delicious!!! :)
  2. Lots of great new recipes that I continue to make because they are *that* good
  3. Making a week's worth of food ahead of time is a great way to ensure eating healthy
  4. I am very sensitive to sugar and basically all grains - causing blood sugar fluctuations & anxiety, not stomach issues
  5. I don't do well on a low carb diet

I started a PhD program a few months after finishing my whole30, eating mainly compliant but adding back in rice, soy, and noncompliant sauces for convenience's sake.  For the last 2 years I have been extremely busy and take all 3 meals with me to the lab. Often I'll get home at 11pm or later, and I've developed a habit of eating a snack then, which really turns into stress eating too many potato chips or other simple carb (usually salty for some reason...sugar makes me wired). I honestly like how the carbs make me really sleepy right before bed (though I have no trouble sleeping without them). I have also started eating more simple carbs in general, and they make me feel emotionally good in the short term but overall crummy.

 

My goals for this Whole30:

  1. Break the night snacking habit
  2. See whether W30 helps my postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which some have found is better on a gluten and dairy free diet.

 

DAY 1

 

Food Log

B @ 10am (woke at 8): 3 eggs, sweet potato hash (SO YUMMY!!!), sauteed spinach with garlic (garlic was too much for the morning!), Iced matcha green tea with lemon.

L @ 3pm: Sweet potato stuffed with ground turkey & vegetables (3 small halves), handful of cherries

D @ 7:45pm: Steak, asparagus, spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts & dressing of balsamic vinegar + olive oil

 

Feeling log

Overall I felt completely normal today except one weird craving. Tonight I kept opening the freezer and seeing some greek frozen yogurt and craving it. I don't even like it (too sweet), that's why I didn't throw it away before starting. But the sugar dragon knew there was sugar in it!

 

Breakfast was a lot of food. My appetite isn't big in the morning, and as I cooked breakfast, I could hardly think about eating it. But once I started eating, the hash and eggs really hit the spot (not so much the spinach/garlic). I wasn't hungry at all but forced myself to eat lunch at 3...which lasted til 4:30 with interruptions. I was hungry for dinner by 6 but didnt' have it ready until close to 8. And now it's midnight and I'm getting hungry again...or am I just in the habit of eating now? Either way, I'll just go to bed.

 

 

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All your meals sound fantastic and super well balanced. I struggle with my snack/sugar demon around the 3pm range, between lunch and dinner. Yesterday I was cocky and over confident. I wasn't hungry for lunch until 1 so I was able to refrain from snacking until dinner. Today it's only 11 ish and I'm starving! I ate breakfast way earlier than normal. I guess I'm going to have to try to set more rigid meal times. Great job on your first day :)

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DAY 2

Food Log

B @ 10am: 3 eggs, sweet potato hash, 1/4 avocado

L @ 3pm: Thai red chicken curry with red potatoes & carrots over cauliflower rice

D @ 8pm: Steak, asparagus, spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts & dressing of half a mashed avocado

Had a little trouble getting to sleep last night which is unusual for me. Extremely tired in the morning but only got 7 hrs of sleep (normal 8-10). Also nauseous and could barely get my breakfast down. Part of it was i overcooked the eggs so they weren't as runny so everything was a bit dry. Part was that I had to wake up too quickly and woke to an alarm clock which is unusual for me. Slightly nauseous and not hungry all day until I forced myself to eat lunch. It and dinner were fine. I am pretty hungry now. Maybe I need to eat more for dinner because I know I have trouble eating in the morning if I go to bed hungry.

I've had a few cravings like seeing an ad or people eating junk food. I know I don't want it and it only bothers me because I know I can't have it and may find out that I never want to eat things like pizza again. :(

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DAY 3

 

Exact same foods as Day 2, except I swapped lunch and dinner. I think the steak meal is a bit lighter than the curry, so I was trying to avoid the hunger before bed and waking up super hungry.

 

B @ 11am: 3 eggs, sweet potato hash, slice of avocado

L @ 2:30pm: steak, asparagus, spinach salad with strawberries, walnuts, avocado and balsamic vinegar.

D @ 8pm: Thai red chicken curry w/veggies, handful of cashews and a few bites of avocado since there wasn't much chicken in my portion.

 

I had trouble falling asleep last night again, which is not something I'm used to. I had so much mental energy that I got up and started brainstorming for a project at work (and got some good work done!). I didn't fall asleep until 2am, and was quite hungry by that time but didn't want to snack. I woke up hungry and nauseous at 10am and dealing with heart racing and feeling faint when I stand (symptoms of a medical condition) so I took my time until I thought I could stomach breakfast. Overall not feeling well this morning, which is due to the medical condition as well as hormones and maybe whole30 detox as well ;-)

 

The day went fine, but I get extremely exhausted due to my condition (and whole30? that will forever be the question) and today I did some physical work cleaning, so by dinner time I hit a wall and wnated to crawl in bed. But I was still at work and had to finish a couple things so I pushed through. That's when the Kill All of the Things hit me! I was trying to do something on the computer and it wasn't working and I just got extremely angry and frustrated and had to leave.  I know Kill all of the Things is supposed to start on Day 4, but I guess Day 4 came early. That or it really is day 4 since I tried to ease into the Whole30 and I ate almost completely compliant the day before the official start...

 

I'm feeling calmer now, but lets hope tomorrow too bad because I have an important meeting with a senior advisor to discuss a difficult, downright angering situation, which is hard to do even on a good day. I hope I can keep my cool!

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Day 4

Meals same as Day 3. I mixed it up by cutting up steak on my salad and it was yummy. I also had a few cherries with each meal because they were on sale and are my favorite fruit. But I'm afraid they are feeding my sugar dragon... Grr. Next week there will be no fruit. For now I'm going to make sure to eat it with meals. B@11am,L@4:30pm, D@10pm

Night of D3 i did have trouble falling asleep and was up until 3am, but there were also storms and severe weather alerts keeping me up.

But no real morning nausea to speak of! The rest of the day was pretty normal s well though I did get very impatient with a coworker which is uncharacteristic.

Overall a good day!

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Day 5

Meals the same as day 4 (and 3). I'm so glad I'm used to eating the same things all the time... It makes this whole30 a bit easier on me.

Overall a normal day, maybe slightly higher energy than I've had lately. Fell asleep no problem on D4 and woke earlier than normal without as much sleep but didn't feel sick :) . I kept busy all day without feeling as exhausted as normal. Also was out in the heat and spent about 45 minutes standing around waiting for an experiment and talking without any POTS symptoms flare-up.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this is a real result, mainly bc this is not a time of the month I normally have energy. Maybe my POTS is caused by a food sensitivity, and a few days without whatever that is is helping! I don't think this could ever completely explain or cure my POTS but if a way of eating can help my symptoms enough that I can function more normally, then that would be awesome!

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Day 6

 

B: 3 eggs, sweet potato hash, 1/4 avocado

L: spinach salad with steak, walnuts, strawberries and avocado

D: out to eat. Burger with veggie toppings, side of steamed broccoli. Had some cashews later since I didn't get my fats in.

 

Felt great today! More energy and was not exhausted by normal activities. I even cleaned and was standing almost all day without needing to take too many breaks and I went to a concert afterward and stayed out late. I haven't felt this normal in months...not energetic but not sleepy and exhausted constantly. I guess some food sensitivity must have been causing my issues? we shall see. For now I am so motivated to continue, hoping to feel better and better.

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Day 7

 

B: same eggs, sweet potato hash, avocado

L: salad with steak, walnuts, strawberries, avocado

D: steak, asparagus, leftover thai curry with cashews added

 

Today I felt good considering only 7 hours of sleep last night. Toward the end of the day I started feeling a bit of the old fatigue. Hopefully nothing a good night's sleep won't remedy.

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Day 8

B:same

L:Thai chicken curry over cauliflower rice

D:steak, asparagus and blueberries

Slept 9 hours between D7 and D8. The day felt good but after a 3 hour cooking session this evening, I'm pretty exhausted. Interestingly my heart rate stayed around 100 the whole time I was on my feet cooking which is low for me. I think this whole30 is curing my racing heart and fatigue... :)

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Day 9

B@10am:same except 2 eggs instead of 3 since I thought I would have an earlier lunch

L@2pm:taco salad with avocado, meat,salsa

D@6:30 in the middle of an experiment and only had 15 minutes but needed to eat. Leftover Thai curry... Mostly coconut milk sauce & cauliflower rice.

D@10pm: done with experiment. 2 hard boiled eggs, half avocado, raw carrot sticks with salsa, cashews.

I am still feeling very good. My energy is good in the morning and my heart rate has not been so easily raised. I don't even know what day 9 is supposed to be like in terms of side effects . I feel very free to eat what I truly want... Healthy food that doesn't spike my blood sugar.

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Day 10

B: same

Iced coffee

L:taco salad

D:Thai curry with veggies and cashews in coconut milk over cauliflower rice

Today I felt very sleepy and unmotivated but not sick like I often feel when tired. It may just be that it was a frustrating long day at work. I think i need to eat a little more, as i got pretty hungry between meals today which always increases the temptation to snack and possibility of craving something bad.

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Day 14

All meals the same. Tomorrow is cooking day...getting excited for some new recipes (or old favorites). At the almost halfway point, nothing has changed in the last week, which is fine/good. I've definitely had more energy than I'm used to, but still not that much compared to those around me. I still need 9+ hours of sleep. Nothing like Tiger blood, and from past experience I don't expect it. However, the major difference is my heart rate is so much more steady and I don't feel sick and have a racing heart in the morning. That's what I am doing a whole30 to try to help, and help it has. Now I just need to finish out the last half of the month and then work on some very careful reintroductions. I'm content eating this way and I am not counting down the days at all. It helps that I make all my meals on the weekend so I never have to make food decisions during the week. The only difficult part is cooking enough, which takes time.  I also usually make 5-6 days worth of food and then eat out or eat cereal or other more junk foods on the weekend whenever I finish that. I find that one recipe of 4-6 servings is great for me for an almost-week like that. But now it's important to get a full 7 days in, which is more than 1 recipe but definitely not 2...

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Day 16

B @ 11am:leftover egg & potato with salsa, handful of cashews

L @ 4pm:turkey burger topped with coleslaw with improvised homemade red pepper mayo, roasted cauliflower, cucumbers

D @ 9pm: out to eat. Burger with mushrooms, side of broccoli

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Today is the end of the 3rd week. I'm feeling good and even worked two 14 hour days Friday and Saturday with less sleep than normal. I was tired but not fatigued like usual. Excited for the final week... I've got some good food planned! But I'm getting nervous about reintroductions...

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Day 27

 

A quick recap of week 4.

 

Food was basically the same except I substituted a couple meals while I was traveling with hardboiled eggs, raw cucumber & carrots, and nuts for fat.

 

B: 3 eggs, roasted red potatoes with Trader Joe's 21 seasoning salute (fave!), 1/4-1/2 avocado depending on how long until lunch

L: chicken with ginger/garlic/turmeric and green pepper & tomato curry sauce, steamed broccoli

D: Zoodles with shrimp and thai cocounut curry sauce with carrots and potatoes

 

Overall I felt very normal! I normally sleep 9 hours minimum per night, but this week was busy and I got 6-7 most nights. I felt tired but was able to function and did not have any fainting spells or racing heartbeat in the mornings. That is a HUGE step for me with my POTS. I did sleep 11 hours Friday night, and Saturday (today) was not the best. I was so sleepy all day that I had to come home from work and take a nap at 6 pm. Then I thought maybe I'm hungry so I ate my chicken and broccoli but was still so hungry I ate some potatoes in case I needed carbs, some almonds and cashews, and a banana. I still wasn't satisfied and couldn't really figure out what it was that I needed because everything sounded good (or is this a craving at this time in teh whole30??). I also got extremely anxious. Finally I realized that it's about time for PMS which for me does always include extreme hunger! I read a bit on the forums and saw that some people eat up to 6 meals at that time. So around 10 pm I decided to go for meal 4 of the day...hardboiled eggs with spicy mustard, pickles, and banana chia coconut milk pudding. I'm feeling a bit more satisfied now. I guess it was food I needed afterall.

 

Whew! I hope I have enough food planned for the week. Also, the next 2 days I will spend at my parents house, which will be challenge. My mom is trying to be very accommodating (and my sister is gluten and dairy free), so I'm mostly worreid about the volume of food I'll need to eat, especially as we will spend a day out where there aren't options besides fast food. I obviously will bring some food with me from home and add to it compliant foods from my parents house.

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Day 30 is in the books!

I survived the weekend at home very well and had enough food. Still eating the same food from last week. This week since I didn't have much time to cook I'm planning to eat from the freezer and reintroduce rice for the next couple days.

Talking to my sister I found out her gluten and dairy free diet is due to heart rate so i have a feeling those may be my trouble foods too.

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