#SeptemberWhole30

[NoneOtherThanAmy]

Day 31!!!! WOOHOO!

Made it all the way through. There were a few tough days in there, but I finished it.  I did some measurements this morning and I'm right about where I'd expect to be, I think I'm down about an inch to a half an inch most places. Since starting the Whole30 back in April, I've lost about 4-4.5" off my hips, so that's pretty amazing. 

I'm not weighing myself this time. I'd guess I'd maybe be down a few pounds (like 2-3), but nothing crazy.

The Good:

Treating food as a reward: This Whole30 was not so much focused on body changes, but on getting my habits back on track. I was starting to stray (takeout) on weekends and I wanted to get back to reminding myself that I CAN eat healthy food on a Friday night after a long week of work. Yes, it takes some extra thought and effort, but it is definitely worth it. I had at least one "KILL ALL THE THINGS" day, which just served as a reminder that I still have some work to do on not using food as a reward. I think I made progress during this Whole30. I realized that I still "treat" myself with food, even if it is compliant and that can lead to me taking that same attitude to my food freedom, where the food treat is not always compliant. I've been working on developing non-food treats and rewards for myself. Friday evenings = relaxing walk or run in the park, shopping with a friend, Netflix + knitting, etc. I really think I'm making progress here and I want to continue developing these non-food rewards and self-care.

Food cravings: Sugar cravings were virtually non-existent. Pretty amazing, considering I was a sugar junkie just 4 short months ago!

Alcohol: I learned I don't even LIKE to drink while I'm out with friends. Who knew?  

The Not-So-Good:

Digestion: I don't know what happened, but this entire Whole30 I've been dealing with digestive issues. The first few days I was completely "blocked up" and uncomfortable all day, then the TOM happened and I've had the opposite problem the entire rest of the Whole30. Things are moving too quickly and my stool is too loose. I actually had much better digestion right before my Whole30, so I'm not sure what has been going on. I can't seem to pinpoint it to anything. I thought maybe tomatoes and/or nightshades in general, but I cut out tomatoes for a week and it didn't seem to help. The only thing I can think is that I REALLY screwed up my digestive system with all the corn I ate the night before starting my Whole30 and it still needs more time to heal. Seems unlikely, but who knows?

Food cravings: I've been getting some odd cravings here and there. My cravings seem to be especially for fast food, which is something I hadn't craved in the 3 months prior to this Whole30. Strange. I'm also starting to crave snacks while writing, again something that hadn't happened to me between my Whole30s. I did this Whole30 specifically because I knew snacking could be a temptation for me as I start my dissertation writing, but I was somewhat surprised by the cravings. 

Sleep: I think this was non-Whole30 related and more related to dissertation writing stress, but my sleep was off track for the last 1.5-2 weeks of the Whole30. I got a glimpse of Tiger blood right before the sleep issues, but I'm sad I wasn't able to maintain it.

 

I'm not sure if I'll start reintroductions today or not. Since I've been extra tired and still have digestive issues, I'm not sure if I'd learn much by doing reintroductions right now. I may keep going and do the slow roll option.  

How's everyone else doing?

[vizep]

18 hours ago, NoneOtherThanAmy said:

Day 31!!!! WOOHOO!

Made it all the way through. There were a few tough days in there, but I finished it.  I did some measurements this morning and I'm right about where I'd expect to be, I think I'm down about an inch to a half an inch most places. Since starting the Whole30 back in April, I've lost about 4-4.5" off my hips, so that's pretty amazing. 

I'm not weighing myself this time. I'd guess I'd maybe be down a few pounds (like 2-3), but nothing crazy.

The Good:

Treating food as a reward: This Whole30 was not so much focused on body changes, but on getting my habits back on track. I was starting to stray (takeout) on weekends and I wanted to get back to reminding myself that I CAN eat healthy food on a Friday night after a long week of work. Yes, it takes some extra thought and effort, but it is definitely worth it. I had at least one "KILL ALL THE THINGS" day, which just served as a reminder that I still have some work to do on not using food as a reward. I think I made progress during this Whole30. I realized that I still "treat" myself with food, even if it is compliant and that can lead to me taking that same attitude to my food freedom, where the food treat is not always compliant. I've been working on developing non-food treats and rewards for myself. Friday evenings = relaxing walk or run in the park, shopping with a friend, Netflix + knitting, etc. I really think I'm making progress here and I want to continue developing these non-food rewards and self-care.

Food cravings: Sugar cravings were virtually non-existent. Pretty amazing, considering I was a sugar junkie just 4 short months ago!

Alcohol: I learned I don't even LIKE to drink while I'm out with friends. Who knew?  

The Not-So-Good:

Digestion: I don't know what happened, but this entire Whole30 I've been dealing with digestive issues. The first few days I was completely "blocked up" and uncomfortable all day, then the TOM happened and I've had the opposite problem the entire rest of the Whole30. Things are moving too quickly and my stool is too loose. I actually had much better digestion right before my Whole30, so I'm not sure what has been going on. I can't seem to pinpoint it to anything. I thought maybe tomatoes and/or nightshades in general, but I cut out tomatoes for a week and it didn't seem to help. The only thing I can think is that I REALLY screwed up my digestive system with all the corn I ate the night before starting my Whole30 and it still needs more time to heal. Seems unlikely, but who knows?

Food cravings: I've been getting some odd cravings here and there. My cravings seem to be especially for fast food, which is something I hadn't craved in the 3 months prior to this Whole30. Strange. I'm also starting to crave snacks while writing, again something that hadn't happened to me between my Whole30s. I did this Whole30 specifically because I knew snacking could be a temptation for me as I start my dissertation writing, but I was somewhat surprised by the cravings. 

Sleep: I think this was non-Whole30 related and more related to dissertation writing stress, but my sleep was off track for the last 1.5-2 weeks of the Whole30. I got a glimpse of Tiger blood right before the sleep issues, but I'm sad I wasn't able to maintain it.

 

I'm not sure if I'll start reintroductions today or not. Since I've been extra tired and still have digestive issues, I'm not sure if I'd learn much by doing reintroductions right now. I may keep going and do the slow roll option.  

How's everyone else doing?

Had some similar results, on day 27 now

No Sugar cravings... can't believe this

Alcohol - Was strange having a night out on sparkling water. Do all alcohol conversations get that loud and repeated :-)

Tiger Blood - never really saw this but now I'm back training I hope to

Sleep - improved beyond measure

3pm slump and need for sugar fix - gone

Cravings - possibly the only one has been milk in Tea but thats all

The BIGGEST change is physiological, food as a reward has all but gone.

So nervous now about the reintroduction's. Going to have to read up carefully on this

 

 

[NoneOtherThanAmy]

On 10/2/2017 at 5:09 AM, vizep said:

Had some similar results, on day 27 now

No Sugar cravings... can't believe this

Alcohol - Was strange having a night out on sparkling water. Do all alcohol conversations get that loud and repeated :-)

Tiger Blood - never really saw this but now I'm back training I hope to

Sleep - improved beyond measure

3pm slump and need for sugar fix - gone

Cravings - possibly the only one has been milk in Tea but thats all

The BIGGEST change is physiological, food as a reward has all but gone.

So nervous now about the reintroduction's. Going to have to read up carefully on this

 

 

Awesome! Those are all great NSVs!! Have you read the articles on this site to do with reintroductions and riding your own bike? I found them to be very helpful and soothing when I was nervous about reintroductions.

[Bookgrrl]

On 9/21/2017 at 6:11 PM, NoneOtherThanAmy said:

Ugh! That sucks. Glad you've got a plan moving forward and I hope things get better. Let us know how things work out. 

I made it to Day 30! While removing the nuts did minimize the joint pain, I never really saw any of the other possible benefits. To the last, I'm a worn down kind of tired and in a bad mood ALL THE TIME. It's felt like I've been PMS-ing for several weeks. My endo pain remains unchanged and still very present, but my doctor is hopeful reintroduction will give me some clues as to foods I should be avoiding/ limiting in the long term. I am positive that I can use this as a jumping off point to overall better eating and minimizing sugar, and giving myself a better mindset on what is really a treat. 

 

First thing to enjoy- a glass of organic wine! 

[SnowflakeVT]

I started my Whole30 on Sept. 4th (Labor Day) and just finished.

Today I weighed myself for the first time in a month, knowing that my pants were looser and my bras had to be tightened a notch ... 7.7 pounds gone! That was 5.5% of my weight. While I didn't want to focus on the number, it is nice to know that I believed I looked healthier before I saw the numeric result on the scale.

Here are my actions and observations:

• I ate all meals and occasionally had snacks (3 full meals a day, nuts, an apple, a homemade nut bar)
• I did not count calories or use MyFitnessPal to track nutrients/fat/carbs/protein.
• I used the RealPlans.com for planing and shopping list and made 2-3 full new meals a week. (I also talked to RealPlans consultant to learn all the tricks of the app. 20 minutes well spent!)
• I ate more eggs than ever, ate more protein than ever, and enjoyed ghee, olive oil and other healthy fats thoroughly.
• I ate much more veggies than fruits.
• I suffered through the first week while transitioning to fat burning. Yes, this was hard. Bad habits prior were revealed.
• I DID NOT increase my exercise, but I did increase the time I spent cooking, cleaning the kitchen. No shortcuts.
• I bought "the Whole30 book" and the Whole30 recipe book. Also found many "whole30 favorite food" recipes online. Looking at buying Whole Smith for post whole30.
• I did it with my husband in the same house, and long distance with my daughter. We inspired each other with photo's of healthy foods we made from scratch.

Other positives:

• strange rash near my eye healed up
• my face is less ruddy, and generally clearer. (less makeup needed, yay!)
• my sleep is amazing, except the one day when I had coffee too late in the day
• I made my own mayo, ghee and spaghetti squash and it was much easier than I thought.
• My focus is better (I am high energy naturally, so needed better focus)
• I look great in my clothes that were way too tight a month ago.
• I am feeling great and will start ramping up exercise.

Tomorrow I will go out to dinner at a healthy restaurant, and will enjoy my first glass of wine in a week.  I will do slow intro of other foods over the next 2-3 weeks.

Thanks all for your inspiration. I am impressed.

[SnowflakeVT]

@stacie66 and @NoneOtherThanAmy and @Bookgrrl and @vizep Congrats to you all for making it through your Whole30. I've read your posts and just not am getting caught up and posting for the first time in month.

@stacie66 @vizepMy organic wine starts tomorrow. I don't miss it, but but I miss the relaxing while out socializing.

@NoneOtherThanAmy How is your digestive system doing?

@Bookgrrl I hope I can stay away from sugar a while longer. I used to love popping a treat of Skittles this summer when no one was looking. Now I can't imagine doing that with all the food coloring and inflammation potential.

[NoneOtherThanAmy]

On 10/4/2017 at 1:58 PM, Bookgrrl said:

I made it to Day 30! While removing the nuts did minimize the joint pain, I never really saw any of the other possible benefits. To the last, I'm a worn down kind of tired and in a bad mood ALL THE TIME. It's felt like I've been PMS-ing for several weeks. My endo pain remains unchanged and still very present, but my doctor is hopeful reintroduction will give me some clues as to foods I should be avoiding/ limiting in the long term. I am positive that I can use this as a jumping off point to overall better eating and minimizing sugar, and giving myself a better mindset on what is really a treat. 

 

First thing to enjoy- a glass of organic wine! 

I'm glad you made it all the way through, but sorry to hear that you didn't have many NSVs. Hopefully reintroductions will help sort out some things. Maybe you'll even find something that you do better with in your diet. 

[NoneOtherThanAmy]

@SnowflakeVT My digestion is maybe a smidge better right now, but it's the week before my TOM, so those silly hormones always screw with things. It's not really that bothersome and if I compare to pre-whole30, it's much better. It's just that between Whole30s I had what I would consider nearly ideal digestion and this is a little worse than that.

You had a bunch of great NSVs as well as a nice scale victory! Congratulations! Are you planning to keep up with Whole30-ish eating in your food freedom?

[alw289]

Just checking in to say I finished on Tuesday!  I'm eating mostly compliant meals (but normal butter and not worrying about added sugar).  I've decided that moving forward I'm going to allow myself 4 out of 21 meals a week that are not paleo/whole30.  At those meals though, I still need to have protein, fat and veg.  I'm going to try this for a few weeks/months and see if it helps with my FFF.  I think a little more structure for the first few weeks will hopefully help.

I'm happy to say I lost 7 lbs which is just unbelievable to me.  I ate four template meals a day and snacked as needed and STILL lost weight. I fall asleep faster and sleep deeper, which after 9 months of pregnancy and then 6 months of having a baby were WONDERFUL NSVs.  My energy is more consistent and when I do get hungry, it's something I can manage and I don't feel light headed and nauseous.  I'm very pleased with how this round went! 

 I restarted the couch to 5k to keep this fitness/health journey going.  I'm excited to slowly build up my strength and endurance!

[SnowflakeVT]

Congrats, @alw289! Sounds like you are well on your way.

@NoneOtherThanAmy I introduced wine on Friday but didn’t really get the joy I recalled, so am backing off that. I also am going to keep going Whole30 as much as possible because I still need to get in better shape for Nordic ski season here in VT. I have started to slowly ramp up my exercise, so hope to get a little more fit too.

The other things I learned is:

1) I love ghee so made a new batch with grass fed butter. It really is amazing with free range scrambled eggs. Yes, those eggs cost more, but they really taste better and I like knowing there are more nutrients and omega 3 fats in this version. I have a crush on ghee for my favorite cooking fat.

2) Because I already had them, I used ketone strips to see my ketone state pre- and post- wine evening. The Friday morning measurement showed I was halfway up on the strip legend, the Saturday morning after consuming two glasses of white wine in the evening reading said “no trace.” My conclusion is, if I drink wine, my fat burning stops. Since I prefer to be a little leaner,I will choose to delay wine in the evening for a while longer.