Started April 1... and again April 14! #readlabels!

[juliekb]

Hello Everyone!

I'm Julie.  I'm new here.  I started on April 1, 2017.  I started Whole30 on the suggestion from my acupuncturist.  I'm in the process of being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and she thought it would be a good answer for my widespread pain and chronic fatigue. 

Things have been going really well, and I feel pretty great!  I didn't really experience the severe detoxing feelings I was expecting, and the first couple weeks weren't so bad at all!  I think part of it is that I'm so used to feeling so crummy all the time, that the detox feeling I WAS getting - I would trade for my "normal" fibro-feelings ANY day.  Also, I KNOW that I went into it with the right mindset to do this.  I took the suggestions from the book: I read my book, I did my homework, I chose a good time to start it, and made sure to PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE!  But my main focus that has kept me going is the hope and excitement of just feeling better!  My head is 100% in this game!

If it's OK - I would like to share my experience so that others don't make the same mistake I did.

I just want to say this ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING!!!  LABEL READ!  LABEL READ!  LABEL READ!

I'm sure you already know this, but I just want to reiterate it - because it's SUCH an easy mistake to make.

I unfortunately learned this the VERY hard way.  I was on Day 13 - feeling great - staying motivated - eating delicious healthy food.  I had gotten into a great groove with food prep and experimenting with new recipes and gaining confidence in things like making my own ghee and hollandaise sauce.  Then I made 1 fatal error.  For dinner on Day 13 - I was making sauteed shrimp, which I had done several times before.  I went to the fridge to pull out my homemade ghee - and in the door I saw this delicious "famous kream mustard" that is just to die for.  Without thinking - I took it out and mixed a dollop of it in with my shrimp.  I don't EVEN know where my head was.  Maybe I thought - I can have mustard - and that's where the thought ended.  Maybe I had gotten too confident and comfortable in my plan and just didn't even think to look at the label.  Three-quarters of the way through my wonderfully delicious meal, thinking about what a great flavor the mustard added - my stomach and my heart sunk.  I realized - I didn't read that darn label!  I have read EVERY SINGLE OTHER LABEL of everything I had eaten up to that point - but I missed one.  I sat there for several minutes because my legs felt like they were made of lead.  I didn't want to get up and read the label just to find out what I pretty much already knew - that there was something in it not allowed on the program.  I finally stood up, slowly marched into the kitchen, with a big sigh opened the refrigerator door, and painfully pulled out the jar.  There it was: cane sugar and soybean oil.

It's amazing where your mind goes in that moment.

"It was such a small amount.  Do I REALLY have to start over?  If I don't tell anyone, then nobody will know, so I didn't really make a mistake and I can just keep going.  It couldn't have affected me that bad, right?  It's not like I ate a whole pizza and drank a bunch of Pepsi!  What if I go throw it up really quick - does that count?"  OF COURSE THAT'S NOT THE ANSWER!  I was surprised my brain even took me down that path!  I would just be cheating myself.  And I wouldn't find out what I set out to learn with this plan: what foods make me feel like total crud every single day, and cause me to have so much pain and discomfort and fatigue. 

So I texted my acupuncturist - knowing I was really just confirming what I already knew:  I had to start over.  (I joked about celebrating with a Pepsi.  Might as well make my mistake worth it!  I did not have a Pepsi.)  She told me not to beat myself up, and that an extra 13 days of eating the healthiest I've ever eaten is not a bad thing.  She's right.  I also knew this deep down.  I was just more disappointed in myself for not reading that darn label like I had done 100 times before.  I had been perfect on this plan, and due to one little bitty accidental slip up - it had huge effects - and I was having to start over.  I was absolutely deflated.

I had a good cry when my husband got home from work that night - you know - the kind with the giant, hot, alligator tears that stream down your face from a faucet you can't shut off?  That kind.  I had worked so hard!  I told him what had happened and how disappointed I was in myself, but the lesson was learned, and I was starting right back up at breakfast the next morning.  He said, "Really?  You're not even going to just give yourself the weekend?"  I replied, "NOPE!  I'm just going to keep going like this never happened, but now my plan is 43 days.  It's now Whole43."  And then he did exactly what I needed him to do.  He gave me a big hug, also said to not beat myself up about it, and said he had actually gained even more respect for me, and was really impressed by my integrity, in that even with such a small, accidental mistake - I was following the rules and starting over.  He was 100% supportive, and that's what I needed.  (And thankfully it wasn't day 28!)

So April 14 became Day 1... again.

HUGE LESSON LEARNED!!!

Thank you for letting me share my story.  I just hope that it helps SOMEONE out there to not make the same mistake I did.

Happy Whole30!!!

#readlables

[SugarcubeOD]

You are absolutely AWESOME!!! 

[Bethmj]

Hello there, 

i wish I had read this post before my mistake lol! I too was going great, similar story so I won't reiterate, I made a fab curry and then realized that one of the spices had chickpea flour in it!

I actually decided to ignore said mistake, so I ploughed on for another 5 days but it was playing on my mind and annoying me, so I have decided to restart today, like you I now plan on a whole51 (maybe a whole 81) instead of a whole30. 

Non whole30 people would think we are mad lol!

Beth.

[kirkor]

@juliekb and @Bethmj good job on making that hard decision!  A lot of people "don't get" why we're such hard-asses about staying fully compliant.  But the difference between 99% and 100% is a lot more than 1% eh?

[juliekb]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

It's always good to know when you're not the only one that makes mistakes.  

And ditto @Bethmj !  Great job deciding to start over!  We can do it!!!

#nonwhole30ersunite

 

[soxmom]

Congratulations on your commitment to your health and well-being!  I am on day 19 and have chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, an unknown autoimmune disorder, etc., and am feeling much better since I started.  My previous GI issues are non-existent, I am sleeping better, and my energy level is finally improving.  Over the past week, the mid-afternoon slump has disappeared and I am actually feeling more alert and awake.  Prior to starting, I was only sleeping about 50% of the time I was in bed, maybe 3 to 4 hours total, and rarely more than 30 minutes in any given stretch.  I am now sleeping 6+ hours a night, with more sustained sleep.  I hope you continue to experience improvements as well!