Amy's Second Whole30

[Amy]

So . . . I finished my Whole30 on September 19th. I did perfectly. I didn't cheat once with food (only with weighing), I lost 15 pounds, I was working out 5 days a week, I bought new clothes, I was sleeping better about half the time, and I was just starting to feel better. I never really hit 'the magic' and would have extended it to 45 days, except that 3 days after it ended I was going to Mexico for a 5 day vacation.

In the three days between finishing and vacation, I reintroduced dairy and learned that dairy is not my friend. It gives me a very specific pain in my lower center abdomen. But since I didn't really miss dairy that much during my Whole30, I just wanted to see how it affected me before giving it up again.

Now, I would have thought that Mexico would have been completely off the rails crazy as far as my food. And I didn't try to stick to Paleo, but I really didn't go overboard. But since I've come back . . . It has been so terrible. I didn't have any food in the house from being away. My car was in the shop and I couldn't get the store. I got sick and stayed home from work and laid around the house eating junk food and watching TV. I went for dinner and margaritas with a friend and ate and ate and ate. I had my niece over and we ordered pizza and ate M&M's . . . Then all it took was one diet mountain dew in the cafeteria and then I'm drinking them every other day. Actually, I had two today.

Warning: TMI time My stomach has hurt CONSTANTLY since vacation. It has never stopped hurting. I have the worst gas. And I'm pretty sure I threw my hormones out of whack going from one extreme to the other and messed my cycle up. Because of the type of birth control I'm on, I have a cycle but not usually an actual period, so I can't be 100% sure, but I think I had two cycles that were 2 weeks apart instead of 4.

So I am starting my 2nd Whole30 tomorrow. I am not at the point where I can let my brain choose 'moderation' or what's ok right now and what's not. I need to stick to a defined set of rules so the decision is already made for my brain and it won't choose the path of least resistance.

Oh, and I threw away my scale. This is HUGE for me. During the first Whole30, I kept it in an unused room. When that didn't work, I took it to work because I knew I wouldn't weigh myself there. That still didn't work. I brought it home and weighed myself every day, several times a day. But I've decided that this is just going to be my life now. There's no end point, no final goal that I can reach, no magic number on the scale that will make it ok to go to McDonald's, then stop and get a candy bar, then go to the store and buy a case of Cokes, or get rid of the elliptical and throw away the workout DVD's. So it really doesn't matter what I weigh, because this is how I'm going to eat now and I'm always going to keep active and work out.

I won't always eat as strict as Whole30, but I do want to stick to Paleo. I've eaten so much crap today and feel so awful, I haven't done a cookathon today, but I've got enough foods to get me through tomorrow just fine, and I can cook a lot tomorrow night.

So this was a longer entry than I had planned, but I needed to put it all in text and offically commit to starting this up again. And if I start to stray,I can read this and remember why I'm doing a second one, because my fear is that in a week or two, I'll say to myself "OK, I"m back on track after that post-vacation mess. But I don't really need to do this 100% for the entire 30 days. I can go back to 90% now." And I know that's not the case.

Ugh. I feel so sick right now. Today I've had McDonalds. Twice. And Doritos. And diet Mountain Dews. And M&M's. And goldfish crackers. Ugh. Oh, and I lied,I actually had 3 diet Mountain Dews today.

See how much I need help? haha. Wish me luck!

[kb0426]

You don't need luck. You've got this!

[Nancy H.]

Oh Amy.....I am so very proud of you. You went on vacation and ate all the things you wanted and unfortunately suffered for it. But you learned do much in the process. You know what works for your body and what definitely does not. I have no doubt that you will do just fine this time around. Sometimes it takes a slap in the face to get us on the right path.

[kew]

There's no end point, no final goal that I can reach, no magic number on the scale that will make it ok to go to McDonald's, then stop and get a candy bar, then go to the store and buy a case of Cokes, or get rid of the elliptical and throw away the workout DVD's. So it really doesn't matter what I weigh, because this is how I'm going to eat now and I'm always going to keep active and work out.

Amy.....that sounds so smart, so realistic, so practical -- I think you earned some valuable wisdom through your experience. Like Nancy H. suggested, sometimes it's the slap in the face that finally gets our attention. (I haven't had my definitive 'slap' yet, but I hope that this was yours and that you are now heading in your right direction from here on out!)

[Derval]

Well done ditching the scales for good!

You'll be feeling better in no time

[Amy]

Day 1

I am not off to the best start, but I was completely compliant today, so it's not horrible. Without being fully stocked up and not doing a cookathon yesterday, and oversleeping today, I struggled a little. But I'll be okay!

breakfast - banana, almonds. I did not wake up early enough to cook, but also I was so full from all of the junk yesterday, at least I wasn't starving this morning

lunch - salad: spring mix, walnuts, raspberries and oil and pomengranate vinegar. strawberries. So at this point I've had no meat, very little protein today and 2 servings of fruit. But I'm hanging in there.

"preworkout" snack - spoonful of coconut butter. But then the elliptical was acting up and squealing so loudly, I couldn't even do it. I did find some vaseline and think I fixed it, so I'll try again tomorrow

dinner - half pound grass fed hamburger, asparagus with ghee, homemade mayo. I figured it was ok to have 2 quarter pound patties since I hadn't eaten that much today.

My stomach has just felt so miserable today. I wonder if it always felt kind of like this and I just didn't notice because I was so used to it. I have had bad gas today, too. I can't wait to get these first several days under my belt so my stomach will start feeling better!

[splash883]

Good for you! You know...I wondering the same thing about myself!

I wonder if it always felt kind of like this and I just didn't notice because I was so used to it.

[Amy]

Day 2

PRIMAL PACS SAVED MY LIFE

haha. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I was glad to have them today! I bought some a few months ago, but they came with about 3 days left on my Whole30, so I stuck one in my car and the rest in my pantry and kind of forgot about them. Today, training at work ran over and I forgot how hungry I get in the first week of Whole30, so I felt like I was dying by the timne we got out of training. I was thinking how hungry I was and if I could stop at Mc D's and get a McChicken sandwich . . . then I remembered I had the primal pac in my car. I ate it on the way home and not only did it save me, it was actually really good!

Stomach is feeling much better today! Not 100%, but much better.

Another challenge faced - at my work training today, they had it catered with sandwiches and chips and pasta salad, but I stuck to the lunch I brought

breakfast - sausage patty, 2 eggs

lunch - salad: spring mix, walnuts, raspberries and oil and pomengranate vinegar, grapes, kombucha

snack - large Primal Pac (4 servings per pac?? 480 calories??? grrrr....)

dinner - taco salad: iceburg lettuce, ground beef, salsa, tomatoes, wholly guacamole

I need to get into an exercise routine again. It's so hard to get back into it after not doing it for awhile.

Slight headache today. Probably caffeine/sugar withdrawal. Not too bad, though.