Primal Ballerina Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I am not new to the Whole30, and much to my surprise, my first attempt back in August 2012 was 100% compliant, in spite of travelling 70% of the time. I even inspired 3 family members to start the Whole30 (just before Thanksgiving), and they also recently completed the program with incredible results. They're sticking with it, without reintroductions! I have been about 95% Paleo post Whole30, but somehow, over the holidays, sugar and alcohol have snuck back into my diet with a vengance, and I am feeling like my old pre-Whole30 self again. I figured January 1st would be a great time to get back on track, kick sugar and EtOH for good, and regain the energy levels I experienced last August. 5 addictions that I currently face: Sugar Chocolate Alcohol (mostly wine, which leads to compulsive over eating and bad food choices) Weighing myself too frequently Obsessive calorie counting (but I am not sure I will want to lose this habit, since it has helped me keep my weight in check). Starting today, I thought I would start with some 'quick wins' and cumulatively cut out one major forbidden food group each day leading up to the Whole30: December 28th - Dairy December 29th - Legumes December 30th - Grains December 31st - Sugar January 1st - Showtime! Hopefully, I'll be able to commit 100% like I did a few months ago, without reverting to some of my old habits this time. I will document the progress in this thread, as my Twitter followers are probably tired of hearing about my Whole30 escapades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted December 28, 2012 Moderators Share Posted December 28, 2012 Weighing yourself and counting calories make you nuts and keep you from learning to listen to and trust your body when it comes to food. I'd love to see you add these behaviors to your quick wins by stopping them today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Please give up the calorie counting and weighing. Just try it for 30 days. You really aren't doing a Whole 30 unless you do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 During my first Whole30, I did not weigh myself during the entirety of the program, but I did continue to count calories. Perhaps as a compromise, this time, I will count calories on the following day for the prior day's consumption, or maybe count at the end of the week? You can tell this will be a tough one to break for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 During my first Whole30, I did not weigh myself during the entirety of the program, but I did continue to count calories. Perhaps as a compromise, this time, I will count calories on the following day for the prior day's consumption, or maybe count at the end of the week? You can tell this will be a tough one to break for me! Clearly, you will make your own decision but you are missing out on the true magic of a Whole 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb0426 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 During my first Whole30, I did not weigh myself during the entirety of the program, but I did continue to count calories. Perhaps as a compromise, this time, I will count calories on the following day for the prior day's consumption, or maybe count at the end of the week? You can tell this will be a tough one to break for me! I feel like a broken record here, but...I religiously recorded my food and tracked calories for 4 years. In the last two years I gained 10 pounds. I was *within* my calorie limits yet gained. It was so damned frustrating. I did my whole30 in Sept-Oct, stopped counting and lost those 10 pounds plus 2 more after my whole30. I now eat when I am hungry, and stop when I am full, as I listen to my body now, not an arbitrary number from an app. Put down the calorie counter and back away. Seriously! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb0426 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 One more thing for me to add, I think the sugar/chocolate/alcohol goal is one big one, actually fueled by a sugar dragon. I love that you identified your challenges and have a clear plan to tackle as you gear up for 1/1! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Stopping weighing & counting calories is like taking your bra off at the end of a long day - aaaaaah....that feels better.... Tom, I don't know what the male equivalent is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 One more thing for me to add, I think the sugar/chocolate/alcohol goal is one big one, actually fueled by a sugar dragon. I love that you identified your challenges and have a clear plan to tackle as you gear up for 1/1! Thank you ... ok.. ok... you guys have convinced me. No calorie counting during Whole30! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Thank you ... ok.. ok... you guys have convinced me. No calorie counting during Whole30! Add no weighing to that and you will truly be experiencing the magic that is a Whole 30-60-90... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aberrantatavia Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Good for you!!! You won't miss it, I promise. Just let it go and enjoy something else. Buy a nice lotion and give yourself a mini-massage every time you want to weigh yourself or count calories. It's a physical demonstration of self-love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn2 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I'm also a big sugar addict. ...,and the not weighing thing is always really hard for me too! On my last whole 30, that was the only thing I cheated with. Not food, the scales! Will do better this time. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Pre-Whole 30 - Day -3 - December 28th - Cutting out Dairy. Today, I was supposed to start by cutting out Dairy, but unfortunately, that plan did not work out quite as cleanly as I anticipated. Contrary to my prior paleo lifestyle, now that I am 'allowing' certain foods prior to 1/1, I am going out of my way to try them one last time. In retrospect, this is actually a terrible idea. Apparently, if the other 'forbidden foods' are still in my diet, it is very easy for dairy to sneak in when I least expect it. For example, certain crackers contain wheat, soy, and MILK (really?!). I don't see this as a failure, but a reminder of the criticality of reading labels come 1/1. Once I realized this minor setback, I committed to baking a raspberry chocolate cake for my in-laws. You know how that train of thought goes -- "I've already messed up today, so I might as well continue." Another terrible idea. Anyway, I had a couple of licks of buttercream. *sigh* Here is the new plan: December 29th - Grains & Dairy (continued) December 30th - Legumes December 31st - Sugar January 1st - Showtime! Thank you all for your support so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJam Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 My suggestion based on the setbacks you are having already is to just do the whole hog approach on 1/1 instead of this piecemeal elimination approach and not to binge like crazy before your W30 because that will just make it that much more difficult. Wheat, soy and dairy are in EVERYTHING thus one needs to be hypervigilant of this, better yet just eat real foods. You also seems to have other issues that you will need to overcome like counting calories and weighing yourself. Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 My suggestion based on the setbacks you are having already is to just do the whole hog approach on 1/1 instead of this piecemeal elimination approach and not to binge like crazy before your W30 because that will just make it that much more difficult. Wheat, soy and dairy are in EVERYTHING thus one needs to be hypervigilant of this, better yet just eat real foods. You also seems to have other issues that you will need to overcome like counting calories and weighing yourself. Best of luck Thanks - I am heeding your advice. Cannot wait to start tomorrow! I even subscribed to the Whole30 Daily, and publicly announced my intentions to my family, to keep me motivated. I am back home from my visit with the in-laws, so at least the temptations of grains, et al, are out the window. Time to clean out the pantry and stock up on some real food now...and convince my husband to join me on this quest, for real! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Whole 30 - Day 1 So far, so good! Yesterday, my husband and I went nuts at Farmer's Market and stocked up on all kinds of fresh foods prior to the NYE celebrations, so we wouldn't be caught without options on our first day. I had to bribe him to do the Whole30 with me -- if he is fully compliant over the 30 day period, he gets a puppy. Hey, gotta do what you gotta do to get 'em motivated... Today, we woke up ridiculously late, and took our 'before' photos and weigh-ins. I actually own two scales (don't ask why), so my old scale come up to 103.8 and new scale was 105.6. My husband weighed in at 175.6 on the new scale. I then proceeded to hide the scales away in a dusty closet. As promised, I did *not* count my calories. It was tough, psychologically, as I have been counting for 9 years now; however, going back to 'food with brakes' after a couple of weeks of 'food with no brakes,' was a welcomed feeling. Here is what I ate: Meal 1 - "Breakfast" (at lunchtime): - 2 eggs - 2 handfuls of Kale - EVOO - 1 large mango - a few almonds Snack (I know I'm not supposed to...but couldn't help it) - Banana - a few almonds Meal 2 - Dinner - Chicken Curry - Steamed cauliflower - Date (for dessert) Late night Snacks - walnuts - cashews - apple I feel pretty satiated. Also, to get the kitchen organized, we bought a dry-erase board to keep an inventory of all Whole30 approved options, so neither of us can say "there is nothing to eat in this house!" (which is a common phrase, unfortunately, although usually not true). I wish I could post a photo of my fridge board, but I cannot figure out how to upload any media to this forum. (help?) As far as cravings go, the only thing I missed the most was chocolate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 You have a smart phone? take a pic on instagram go on laptop and open a webstagram account - the you can paste the img code in to your post here using the pic icon above your post Or you could use photobucket insteaf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terez Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I love your screen name, Primal Ballerina! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 You have a smart phone? take a pic on instagram go on laptop and open a webstagram account - the you can paste the img code in to your post here using the pic icon above your post Or you could use photobucket insteaf. I could do that....I was hoping I could upload directly to this site. Maybe next time I have a photo. I'm on day 2, so supreme lethargy has taken effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 I love your screen name, Primal Ballerina! Thanks! It's Punny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Whole 30 - Day 2 I am still hanging in there... Unfortunately, I was not able to sleep the prior night, so the entire day was very slow for me. It felt like a day 3 or 4 would typically feel. For that reason, my meals were had at very unusual hours, and I had too many snacks sprinkled throughout the day Here is what I ate: Meal 2 - 9 am - chicken curry - steamed cauliflower - date - cashews Meal 3 - 1 pm - chicken curry and cauliflower again Meal 4 - 7 pm - two eggs, scrambled - 2 oz chicken breasts - a few grapes Snacks (all day, 2am to 10pm): - mango - date - almonds - cashews - grapes - apple Hypoglycemia was definitely at play today, hence the reason I ate a lot of high sugar content fruits. I have also been feeling unusually dehydrated, and I am urinating more frequently than I am accustomed to (TMI?). This is probably because I am expunging my body of all the added salt consumed over the last couple of weeks, and to maintain an isotonic state of affairs, with salt, so goes the water. Today's big cravings included chocolate and cookies. I don't even like cookies that much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 Whole 30 - Day 3 Day 3 was actually not that bad, probably because I finally started a day with a full nights rest! I didn't take any naps (contrary to day 3 guidance), and I probably ate too much fruit. I think I classify as a serial snacker. I just cannot break my consumption up into 3 square meals. Here is what I ate: 12am - Midnight Snack: Mango & Cashews 8am - Banana 9 am - Eggs, cashews, kale sauteed in coconut oil 10 am - Date 11:30-12: Cashews, almonds, apple 2pm - kale sauteed in coconut oil, beef patty, date 4 pm - cashews, walnuts 6:30 pm - mango, almonds 8:30 pm - eggs in EVOO Once again, cravings included chocolate and cookies. Unusually frequent urination has subsided. My salt balance must be back to normal. I remember this took a lot longer than just 3 days during my first Whole30. I must be whole-r than I initially thought! Also, to be able to continue with a good sleep pattern, I avoided coffee and stuck to tea. Much to my disappointment, my husband hid away my two food scales, because he knows that if I weigh everything I eat, I will be subconsciously counting calories. Smart cookie, that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Love that your hubby is helping you to break the calorie counting! Best kind of sneakery there is, if you ask me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 Yup.... thats the hardest part of this whole30 so far - no measuring and no calorie counting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Ballerina Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 Whole 30 - Day 4 Today, I woke up to a flatter stomach, so that was a pleasant surprise. Twas however another day of grazing, without any semblance of square meals. Here is what I ate: 12am - big black grapes 9am - Banana, ground beef patty, cashews, date 10:30am - almonds 12:30pm - cashews, almonds, mango, date 2:30pm - ground beef patty, cashews 3:40pm - almonds, small apple, date 7pm - Kale sauteed in EVOO, very little bit of chicken breast, and steamed broccoli 9pm - almonds I had a heavy dependence on nuts and dates today because my kitchen was in such bad shape, that I was completely dissuaded from cooking. I just did not have the energy to clean until the end of the day (when we finally made some chicken). Once again, cravings included chocolate, and this time, a McDonald's vanilla ice cream cone. I am coming to realize that the chocolate cravings come on soon after I consume dates or other dried fruits. Coincidence? I think not. The lack of a kitchen scale and calorie counting is killing me, but overall, I feel healthier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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