Mallory Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hi everyone! I am excited to be starting my Whole30 tomorrow. I am a young professional golfer trying to make it to the LPGA and playing on the Symetra Tour (the minor leagues of the LPGA basically), but I am out with an injury to my elbow right now. I have struggled with joint pain/stiffness and an overall lack of energy and have tested positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis, even though the doctors won't definitively say that I have it because I don't have the "typical symptoms." I am really looking forward to seeing what this type of eating will do for me and looking forward to feeling better than ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanye Mercer Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Welcome, Mallory! It will be exciting for us all to follow your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Great Mallory! I will be very interested to see how your Whole30 affects your pain/stiffness,etc. I know someone else (an acquaintance - my good friend's friend) who is also young and struggles with her Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have given my friend some tools to casually share with her but she doesn't seem interested. Just curious if you don't mind me asking, what/who sent you in the direction of this nutritional plan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 Summer- When I was first "diagnosed" (I say it that way because I have not really been technically labeled as an RA patient from my rheumatologist) I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. I was having EXTREME pain in both of my pointer fingers to the point that I couldn't even button a pair of jeans. This was scary considering I was a competitive golfer with a full golf scholarship to the University of Florida. A good friend of mine who was in med school at the time suggested that I eliminate dairy from my diet and see if that helped. He suggested that dairy was thought to be something linked with inflammation/joint pain, and when I stopped drinking milk (I used to drink it every day), the pain in my fingers went away. Throughout college I had aches and pains more than "normal" college athletes, so I still felt like there was more to it. I finally figured out that nightshade veggies cause issues for me so I eliminated those too. This was after doing some research online about diet and arthritis. After this and as I continued college, I got lazy with my diet and just began to eat without so many restrictions. I never started drinking milk again, but I would have a little bit in cereal, I would eat (a lot of) cheese, and I would still eat pizza or spaghetti, just not at golf tournaments. I am now in my third year as a pro, and have a different mind set about my body as an athlete because it is my livelihood. I have done A LOT of research on diet and arthritis and just stumbled upon the Whole9 program after looking at a gluten-free recipe on pinterest! (Funny how social networks work!) I was gluten-free for a few months but was still eating non-gluten grains, dairy, and soy, and just decided that I should give this a try so that I could really figure out what exactly I am sensitive to! After emailing back and forth with Dallas, I have decided to eliminate eggs, all nightshades, and nuts for my Whole30 as well because these have been known to be problematic to people with auto-immune issues. Sorry, that was a very long answer to your question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Thanks for sharing! This should be VERY interesting to see what happens during your Whole30. It sounds like you were able to detect some of the problematic foods a while ago, and now finding out what else might be an issue (even things that are compliant during the Whole30 might be causing you some problems) will be the next steps. So glad you stumbled upon the program! I would love to hear about any findings along the way as would many on this forum. Hope that elbow heals up soon too! Keep in touch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Mallory! How cool that you actually get paid to play golf... life is good! Anxious to see how we both do on our first Whole30!.. My 21 year old niece finished her first Whole30 and said she'd never felt better.. it's worth a try.. I'm really going to try to be "in touch" with how I'm feeling... we'll see! Good luck! Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaunna Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Good luck Mallory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 A hole-in-30 LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 I am on Day 3 and I've really enjoyed the food I've had so far. I made Shrimp, Kale chips, and Mashed Cauliflower last night and it was really good! One problem I am having is that I keep thinking about all the food that I can't have! I'm not really even craving it, I just want it because I can't have it! Other than that it's going well so far. The only other problem I'm having is wanting to eat this way in the mornings. I have cut out eggs because of the auto-immune issue, and I am just not really wanting to eat any kind of meat in the mornings. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I'd make some kind of root hash. There's meat in it, but it's mostly hidden, and definitely more "breakfasty" than other options. I feel that a bunch of protein first thing in the morning is really important for me not feeling hungry the rest of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Mallory - I understand your problem about not wanting to eat meat and such in the mornings. Honestly though, I believe this is an entire mind-set change and takes work to not compartmentalize our meals into "Breakfast", "Lunch", and "Dinner". It may take some getting use to, but you will get there. All of our lives many of us only ate "breakfast type foods" at well, breakfast, and it is hard to move away from that school of thought. I know for me it was difficult too! Dervalc had a great post in another forum this today too (see below). You may want to check out the entire string called "breakfast foods" C&p'd from facebook Jason Seib Sunday Why are there such things as breakfast foods? And why are they mostly garbage? I seriously can't figure this one out. When we introduce someone new to paleo nutrition, one of the most common questions we get is an emphatic plea of "But what will I eat for breakfast??" Seriously? What do you eat the rest of the day? You could start there. This usually gets me a look of disdain. In reality, most of us don't eat breakfast foods (like pancakes, waffles, and hash browns) for lunch or dinner because we know they aren't good for us and make us feel like hot crap, yet we are totally willing to start our day with them. If given a choice, my kids will ask for tuna or leftover steak for breakfast as often as they ask for eggs, but only because we don't associate food with a specific position of the sun in the sky. If real food doesn't sound good at breakfast, weigh your options - don't eat until you are actually hungry, eat real food anyway, or eat garbage and adjust your goals accordingly. And please remember that paleo versions of garbage are still garbage and should be eaten as often as you are willing to eat non-paleo treats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Hello all, Today was day 7 of my Whole30. I am in the middle of packing up an apartment in AZ to move back to KY for the summer/golf season, and I started to get EXTREMELY stressed about the 3-5 day drive that I am going to have and trying to stick with my W30. I know that people have done cross-country road trips with coolers and such, but I will be driving long hours and staying in hotels every night along the way without really being able to plan for refrigerators and stuff. SO, that being said, I am postponing the rest of my true Whole30 until I get back home to KY where I will start fresh again and be able to have success for the whole 30 days. I just feel like I am setting myself up for failure and an unhealthy trip of eating a million bananas a day! I am planning on trying to stick with it, unofficially, but not worrying if food in a restaurant is "contaminated" with gluten, soy, etc. Thanks for the support and looking forward to letting you guys know when I am going to start my full W30! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 I am back home in KY and started my Whole30 again today! I feel much less overwhelmed now that I know I already did it for a week last time! I actually convinced my boyfriend (who drinks nothing but soda all day) to try it out for a week with me and see how he felt... hopefully he'll want to stick with it! He did say that he would give up soda for 30 days though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Welcome back, Mallory! Ditching soda is a huge step towards making healthy choices, so even if he doesn't give up everything long term, it's still a huge deal! Yay! Good luck to both of you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 So, here I am on Day (night) 18 and I am struggling! I was doing great with everything and then I had surgery on my elbow this past Tuesday (which also happened to be my 25th birthday). All of my friends, who don't know that I am on the whole30, have either dropped by or sent me things for my birthday/surgery get well such as bottles of wine and gorgeous chocolate covered strawberries. They also want to take me out to dinner or lunch because I am sitting at home bored to death recovering from surgery. I can't train, I can't practice, and I am going NUTS and it's only been 2 days. I am sitting around the house and have found myself snacking on lots of fruit and other "compliant" foods but in reality I am just trying to fill the void of wanting what I can't have. Unfortunately, I haven't felt any miraculous changes in my joint pain, or anything really, and I think this is causing me to want to give up, but being the competitive athlete that I am, I won't let myself quit. I want to prove it to myself that I can stick with this for 30 days, even though I don't see any results from it yet. Any suggestions on how to snap out of this? I'm feeling really negative, and I know this is because I can't play golf the rest of the season. I'm just kind of lost... been playing competitive golf since I was 11 and this is the first season I can't play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanye Mercer Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Mallory, Bless your heart! It's really tough to have to take a break from something that is such an important part of your life. It sounds like you have a great support system. I bet if your friends knew what to do, they'd be happy to help. If you're feeling like getting out, maybe a walk or visit with those friends would do you some good. You might even find some paleo friendly fare around town that you can introduce your friends to. The most important thing is to take good care of yourself. and be kind to yourself through this time. Reach out and let others know how they can support you! I'll be sending postive energy your way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wholehealth Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Oh no - what a blow! It can be hard enough giving up foods that were highly reinforcing and paired with doughy feel-good emotions, but having to temporarily give up one of the most (if not, the most) reinforcing activities in your life has clearly not made things any easier. I would say, look for something (outside of food) to give you pleasure and set some sort of goal around it. For example, read twenty books by the end of the Whole30 (go big with the goal!), or get involved in some other physical activity that can accommodate your injured elbow with a specific target/accomplishment in mind. Anything measurable that you can work towards really. Maybe even get your boyfriend involved to hold you accountable. I found that starting a slightly kooky gratitude blog really helped when I first kicked off my Whole30. And as soon as I became a little less consistent with that recently, suddenly food was at the forefront of my mind again, and my eating habits (including the mindless, "may as well eat it since it's here" eating, you described) took a turn for the worse. After renewing my commitment to get back to the big goal of posting daily for the next 30 days, I've already found that I'm thinking less about food and more about how on earth I'm going to keep posting daily while working, and conducting an empirical thesis at uni. Try and stay as busy as a bee and cheerful as a cricket, because we all know that idle minds are the devil's workshop. (And the devil loves chocolate.) Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Alex, I have to say, you are a wonderful addition to the community here, loving your posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 What ever happened to Mallory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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