Attempt 2?

[SarahUlm]

Day Two of my Attempt #2

 

I know I will receive negative feedback on this one  but last time I attempted I made it 14 days, this time I am going for a Whole24. 10 more days than last time, puts me right up to Thanksgiving. And gets me that much closer to my plan of a perfect Whole30 January challenge!

 

Day One went really well. Since my last attempt (about 1.5 months ago) I have been drinking only black coffee. So that wasn't a struggle like it was last time. (R.I.P. coffeemate), but I did get back into drinking Diet Coke. Surprisingly though I have grown to love seltzer so much that I don't miss it when I don't drink it - it is just the bubbles I love. 

B - Scrambled eggs (ghee) with ground turkey

L - Chicken, swt potato, apple, walnut, and raisin chicken salad

D - Steak, roasted brussel sprouts, potato with ghee

Instead of my usual glass (or two)........or three.....while watching T.V. at night I had a yummy bubbly glass of sour kombucha!  I'm obsessed! I am getting more after work today for sure!

 

Day Two so far is going pretty well, trying to avoid the Halloween candy jar at the front desk. Have a but of a headache but only 1 cup of coffee so far. I'm remembering how nice and full I was after each meal last time and am enjoying not wanting to snack/graze all day like I did on other programs. 

B - scrambled eggs with ground turkey

L - perfect burger with pan sauteed sweet potato and delicious mayo!!!

D - (probably chicken curry with cauliflower rice)

 

Challenge coming up, my Day 5 is a roadtrip to the Boston area for a college football game, staying at a hotel, and driving home the next day. I plan on making breakfast for myself in the morning, packing some chicken salad for lunch, emergency Larabar and almonds, but it is the during the game & next morning breakfast that has me worried. Any suggestions would be really appreciated!

 

Getting closer to feel better,

 

Sarah

[Rhona]

Hi Sarah, I'm on the 2nd day of my second W30, as well.  The first one I made it about half-way through.  This time I feel pretty motivated to make it through Thanksgiving and 2 weddings in November.

I use unsweetened coconut milk in my coffee.  I buy the organic lite version, but it's still creamy.    Do you have a Sprouts Market near you?  I noticed yesterday that they have individual packets of almond butter that you could keep some in your bag with celery sticks for a snack.  Breakfast at the hotel /restaurant could be hardboiled or poached eggs over slices of tomato and cucumber and some fruit.   Good luck!!

Rhona

[Jager07]

Hi Sarah and welcome back!

It's  great to see that you're being very honest with yourself and the challenges ahead.  It sounds like you're really committed to making your Whole24 work. 

Game time (is it a noon game?):  if you eat your chicken salad for lunch (don't forget veggies), will that sustain you until post-game/dinner?  If yes, tell yourself that it's just 24 days and that 5 days into this you're not going to let anything stop you from succeeding.   That will help fortify you to resist the temptations at the game. 

Breakfast:  Will you have a mini fridge in your hotel room?  What could you make ahead of time that needs little/no refrigeration?  Try one of these that you could make ahead of time to make sure you're covered:  http://whole30.com/2016/01/best-of-whole30-recipes-egg-less-breakfasts/

Is your emergency Larabar W30 compliant and if not, what about celery, broccoli, cauliflower...etc.? 

You've got this and I look forward to seeing your success!

 

[SarahUlm]

Thank you guys for the tips, I crushed this weekend!

We left at 6 am, I got up early and made myself eggs with turkey and avocado and packed it in a container to eat on the car ride! I also had apples with almond butter (the kids ate that), almonds, and my chicken salad tucked away in my diaper bag. I had a bowl that you can freeze because it has water built in and it held the chicken salad cold til lunch. Even when everyone was eating popcor and burgers and hotdogs I just ate my chicken salad totally happy.

At dinner I was really temped, but went with a roasted veggie salad with olive oil and acv dressing. I asked for no corn and added steak (checked no marinade or butter). While every one was drinking I had seltzer with lime.

Breakfast was at the hotel. I got an omelette (no butter) with all of the veggies they had! I even sent it back because it came out with cheese. (which I would have never done)

On the car ride home it was a little harder. when everyone had fast food lunch I ate a compliant larabar and almonds. 

Dinner time and everyone is ordering chinese. I am getting steamed chicken and veggies, adding coconut aminos! 

 

I feel more determined this time around! Day 6 and feeling like nothing is stopping me!

[SarahUlm]

After reading a lot of other forums I realized that I do not think I am eating enough vegetables during the work week. So this morning instead of eggs with turkey like I usually have, I made an egg, kale, sweet potato stir fry (delish!). And for lunch I am having a burger, sweet potatoes, and mini wholly guacamole! Dinner will be roasted chicken and salad, maybe some broccoli and throwing in a baked potato for my husband and son to make it more filling!

 

I ALMOST BLEW IT!  I went to Walgreens this morning to get Seltzer because I forgot to put it in my ShopRite order and grabbed "Nice! Sparkling Water Raspberry" and went to work. When I opened it I could immediately smell how sweet it was and luckily checked the ingredients before I drank it! Totally non-compliant!  (Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate, Natural Flavor, Aspartame, Potassium Benzoate, Acesulfame Potassium, Malic Acid) I put it straight in the work fridge with no post-it which means someone will drink it! And went back out to the store to get something compliant!

 

I am not quite sure what is so different this time around. Last time I was plagued with temptation, even anger  over having to make food all of the time (even though I love to cook) and having to make different choices as everyone else. I have been reflecting on this today (Day 7) and I think it has to do with my recent losses. Since Labor Day I have lost both of my remaining grandparents. My grandmother, who I was extremely close with hit me the hardest. There are so many of her attributes that I will strive to embody, but her struggles with food and weight are ones that I would like to avoid. She was extremely overweight, and in a long story essentially died from complications because of her weight and food addiction. This terrifies me. I am about 50 pounds overweight, I have had horrible anxiety and stress and I feed those issues with wine and chicken tenders. I feel an intense need to stop looking at food as comfort, I want to view food as fuel, with an occasional indulgence. Not that good food can't taste great, I have loved everything I have been eating so far. But I am hoping to learn a happy medium!

[SarahUlm]

Day 8 of 24

Feeling really good today. Got up early, WALKED to the voting booth and voted right when it opened at 6 AM. Came home made my husband and son pancakes and made myself some tea and egg stir fry (kale, tomato, ground turkey, and eggs). Last night I had an awful headache, I had to lay down. I am not sure if it is still lack of usual caffeine or if I was dehydrated, but it was not fun! 

 

Remember and get out to vote today! No matter who you are voting for, your vote matters! 

[SarahUlm]

Day 9 - not feeling myself today. Obviously I know I am feeling extremely emotional after yesterdays election results but in order to avoid any politics I won't go any further. The past three days I have been getting awful (and I mean it) AWFUL headaches. I can't keep my eyes open at night because it hurts too much. I am drinking water (maybe not enough I am trying to step it up), having 2 cups of coffee a day, and I am already on Day 9 - could I just still be feeling the effects of removing items from my diet? no more diet coke still hurting me this bad? 

 

I had a great breakfast this morning - kale, tomato, ground turkey egg stir fry. But I am not even hungry for lunch yet. I feel a headache coming on so i'll probably eat soon anyway.....

 

Anyway I know from the timeline the next few days are the easiest to quit....I'm going to push through. 

[ShannonM816]

Are you salting your food? We do need some salt, and when you go to eating more whole, natural foods and not processed/premade/restaurant foods, it can be easy to not have enough salt. For water, aim for 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so if you weighed 120 lbs, you'd need at least 60 oz. It might still be the diet coke withdrawals, but you're still getting caffeine, which is usually the biggest thing that causes symptoms, so I'm not really sure -- if it is, though, it shouldn't last too much longer, so hang in there.

Other than that, it is possible that it could be stress -- I think the election has had everybody, regardless of who they were voting for, worried and stressed, and for some that manifests as headaches. If you think that's it, probably try to avoid news and social media stuff as much as possible, and do something fun and relaxing. Maybe try meditation or yoga or even just some activity that keeps your mind busy with other stuff so you can't dwell on the stressful stuff -- coloring books are something I like to do for that, but going for a walk, cleaning something, playing with pets or kids, reading a book, working on a hobby -- just pick something like that.

 

[Jager07]

Wow Sarah!  You are doing an awesome job and love hearing your positive attitude!

Thank you for inspiring the rest of us!

 

[SarahUlm]

I really wanted to get through last night (concert) on plan, but I gave in. I told myself "one bite wouldn't really hurt" - "you aren't even doing a full 30 days" - "what's one drink gonna do" - well 12 hours later and I am on a spiral out of control! We got back from the concert so late I didn't prep any meals for today....

So, alas no more counting days for me. I am going to have a compliant dinner. Wake up tomorrow and continue to eat compliant up to my Thanksgiving goal, but I need to remember for my next attempt that I cannot give in to those thoughts in my head. Part of why I struggle with my weight is that balance is not my thing - there is no such thing as one bite. And I hope when I commit - with support from my family now! (my parents have decided to join) - for #JanuaryWhole30 that I can plan enough ahead and honestly, just have a little more respect for myself to get the 30 days completed!

I think I am going to keep writing about my journey with food for the next month and a half, but I will be more prepared for Attempt # 3! Maybe third time will be a charm????

[Jager07]

I'm super glad you're not throwing in the towel on this run.  Good for you being as compliant as possible for the remainder of your Whole24.

Your next Whole30 will be a success.  Since you're planning a January start, why not list the challenges you see ahead....mental, emotional, schedule, prepping, etc.  The better prepared we are for possible road blocks, the greater our chance of success.

You deserve this and just keep telling yourself that while you get ready for January.

cheering you from Austin,

Jager