What Have I Gotten Myself Into

[Mousebrat]

First post is always the longest post. 

Hello, W30 world. Today is day 2, so I'll get caught up. I have struggled with a healthy gut for years but probably only realized it last year when I started doing some reading on bacteria and how they impact your body's ability to properly digest the food you eat. More recently, I've been exploring just how to tackle that "sugar dragon" as the more I dig into the sugar topic, the more I realize it's probably a root cause for a lot of the issues I am dealing with currently. There's also a history of cancer in my family and sugar is thought to be a major contributor along with stress and a plethora of toxins. But tackling the sugar issue has always seemed to be a major disruptor to daily life and rarely is presented in a plan that is sustainable. Whole30 continues to impress me the more I read, so we're going to dive right in to this commitment. 

At the start of my 30 days, these are the ailments that are the most obvious: 

• uneven skin tone, thankfully with very few breakouts
• low energy even when going to the gym regularly
• an average "sleep score" of 60% using the sleep tracking app, Pillow
• innability to lose inches even with diet and regular exercise
• sinus congestion - nothing serious, but definitely a constant state with rare days of clear breathing
• inability to focus for long periods of time even using the pomodoro technique
• low testosterone levels

I've tried making these goals S.M.A.R.T. as possible:

• improve sleep overall, land an average of 80% on tracker
• commit to something tough for a full month
• speed up my meal prep and cooking to under an hour
• adapt to healthy choices as more attractive than unhealthy junk food
• eliminate any foods that my body cannot handle completely
• have fun every day by continuing to educate myself on nutrition and enjoying the little things

Day 0

Spent the day almost like it was day 1 but with a lot more reading, setting goals, throwing out the sugar, and eating the last of a bag of tortila chips with some guac. 

Day 1

Started with eggs, salsa, guac, and a lot of water. This was tricky for me as I've been on a 16 off/8 on IF eating schedule for the last six months. I know you're not recommended to do IF while doing W30 since it adds one more thing to complicate your schedule, but I think it might actually complicate things more to have to worry about remembering to eat first thing in the morning. My body isn't usually even ready for food until 12/1pm, so we'll see how this week goes. 

Lunch was a custom Chopt salad with all the good bits and an added hard boiled egg with green goddess dressing. I followed that up with a snack of mixed fruit later on for a little sweetness. 

Dinner was a quick affair of jerky, carrots, guac, pinapple, melon, strawberries, and a Lara bar to just have eaten something despite not being all that hungry. 

I know it was the change in food I was eating, but I seemed a lot less hungry all day and wasn't a slave to having lunch or dinner at exact times like I usually am. I am doing more "grazing" than scheduled mealtimes. 

 

Day 2 has started off with very few hunger cravings, so I'm going to tackle some salad later and we'll see how the day goes with an update tomorrow. 

[jmcbn]

52 minutes ago, Mousebrat said:

Lara bar

Sorry, but the larabars are aboout as close as you can get to candy on a Whole30 and are for emergency use only.

"...to just have eaten something..." is not an emergency. Had you pushed Rose off of the iceberg & been floating in the Atlantic awaiting rescue from the ill-fated Titanic, then yeah, that might have been an emergency.

Just eat real food

[jaxster]

Sounds like you are doing great... I think the first few days are hard just on the amount of food prep. I would definitely prep some organic chicken or beef so you have some on hand. As for the Lara bars... you are allowed them (In emergencies apparently lol) so just make sure you get yourself some handy snacks on the ready. I honestly think its all in the mind... mind over matter type thing. Veg/Fruit/Meat/Fish/Olive Oil and Avocado Oil. If you stick to that with some balsamic vinegar dressing for salads you will do fine. I live off of Organic ground Turkey from Costco, Organic Ground Beef from Costco and their wild salmon. I cook the ground Turkey in batches... I make Turkey Sausage Patties for breakfast and leave them in the fridge and I heat them up and have a couple of eggs with them. I eat the ground turkey with spices kind of taco like with veg or over a salad.. and the fish I cook also in batches and have that also cold with salads. I think its as hard as you make it. I seriously would go mental cooking meals every night with elaborate sauces.. I keep it simple and maybe once boredom kicks in I will make myself some meals from the cookbooks.

I would stick with your eating schedule if it works for you.. you can always tweek it. I don't think its as important as to when you eat as to what you eat. Remember some people work nights or weird shifts.. we don't all have the luxury of a 9-5 so I think do what works for you.. good luck with your 30 days.