Muse_of_Fire Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Hi all. I'm a first-time W30-er, currently on day 15. Prior to this my diet was kind of my own creation, based on research I've done on all sorts of nutritional stuff. As a semi-professional athlete I am constantly monitoring my food and trying to stay up on research and seeing how my body feels and how my food affects my performance. So my typical diet has been paleo-ish mostly, with some tweaks to support my athletic training and what makes my body feel good. This past year I went through a divorce so I was more focused on that than anything else, and the stress from that meant I stopped all physical training and was stress eating and just eating what was convenient (i.e. mostly garbage), just to get through the divorce and the life change. Now I am settled into my new life and started W30 to reset my body back to the food it was used to, after almost a year of eating garbage and almost no physical activity (what an unpleasant spiral). During the last part of the transition into my new life, I allowed myself a couple of weeks of "Whole 30 Lite," recognizing that I'd probably have slip-ups but I was still not in a position to fully plan/prep 100% compliant meals, etc. I considered it sort of like the Reintroduction phase, but in reverse -- just to remind my body what good food was, get used to some of the recipes, get back in the habit of cooking good stuff gradually, even though a lot of my cooking stuff was still in boxes from moving, etc. Also I have a history of disordered eating so I wanted to be sure I did not take the "compliance" mentality too far inside my own head, to avoid the cycle of thinking about being "good" or "bad" on a diet, which is highly destructive for me. I know the idea is to pick a date, commit, and start, but that seemed really scary to me given my history so I wanted to ease in and build good habits around food over the course of a few weeks, gradually "stacking" more and more compliance into my routine until I got there. In any case 2 weeks ago I was in a position to officially start and I did. I am on Day 15 with no problems: fully compliant, I feel great, I had a few days of "Kill all the things" and "I just want a nap" early on but it has been Tiger Blood, or at least a sense of "feeling like The Real Me," most of the time. I plan to get back to my athletic training program soon -- in the next week or two. I want to be sure I'm doing it right, so here is a sample of what/how I've been eating: Morning: Black coffee blended with ghee and unflavored collagen protein powder (I get up at 5:30 and am on the road for a 45 minute commute by 6 so I am not able to eat breakfast while driving). Also fish oil capsule & CoQ10 supplement. Mid-morning (around 9:00): Breakfast -- usually a "hash" with protein + veggies cooked in coconut or avocado oil, or today it was a plain ground beef patty + riced cauliflower, riced sweet potato, & 1/2 avocado. Also B-complex supplement. Lunch: leftovers from dinner or a salad with shrimp or chicken, shredded cabbage, kale, carrots, and vinegar or lime juice + oil (sometimes also with Thai red paste or Costco no-salt seasoning mixed in) Afternoon snack: almonds, sometimes a little dried fruit, but not usually. Also fish oil capsule. & 2nd B-complex supplement Dinner: Something from the Whole 30 cookbooks (I like a lot of variety) Before Bed: herbal/chamomile tea (unflavored, just herbs) to help me sleep, magnesium supplement, vitamin D supplement in oil (I live in a winter climate so I use the Vitamin D only in fall/winter; magnesium is for sleep, muscle cramps, menstrual cramps). My primary beverage is water, sometimes with lemon, usually plain. I sip from a huge water bottle throughout the day. Juice is a once-in-a-while treat and I usually dilute it with some plain sparkling water. I know the supplements are kind of discouraged because the idea is to get everything from food, however before W30, during my athletic training (especially during season), I found the supplements to be extremely helpful, even with my mostly paleo diet. (I was training about 20-30 hours per week and therefore putting really heavy demands on my body). Also when I do not supplement magnesium my menstrual cramps are debilitating. So the mag at least is here to stay. It *feels* good in my body so I imagine this is working for me, but I do find I miss some grains (brown rice, oats, corn, etc.) -- mostly for how they seem to aid my digestion. My poops have been weird since I started. :/ But aside from that, energy is good, sleep is good, my body feels ready to get back to training, etc. Feedback, thoughts, comments, questions please??? Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted February 22, 2018 Administrators Share Posted February 22, 2018 Sounds like you're doing fine, why are you worried about missing something if you're doing well? If you're feeling good, sleep is good, energy is good and you're ready to start exercising then I don't see any issues. The only thing I would suggest is to try and eat within an hour of waking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse_of_Fire Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Thanks. Maybe I just wanted some external reassurance. This is new to me, and I want to be sure I didn't miss some important detail, or wasn't barking up the wrong tree. I cannot wait to get back into the gym and the training hall... my body is *dying* to work out, but I have a few post-divorce schedule bugs to work out first. Sometimes I do eat my breakfast right away at 7:00 (a little over an hour from when I wake up) -- I am a teacher, I get to school around 7 and if there are kids in my room needing help I either have to wait until my 9:00 prep to eat my breakfast, or I sort of nibble while helping them, which doesn't count really as "breakfast" since I'm distracted. Sometimes I am not hungry until 9 though. But, good to know I am on the right track and I can trust what my body seems to be telling me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse_of_Fire Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 OK another breakfast concern. Although things are going super great I am starting to feel the "not having breakfast until hours after I wake up" thing. I definitely would like to add in breakfast right away but it's a struggle. I cannot eat right away when I wake up because of medication that has to be taken on an empty stomach and needs 30 minutes to absorb, and by then I am commuting on the interstate. I can either get up 30 minutes earlier (no way -- 5am is early enough). Since it's early morning, my commute is not the congested stop-and-start slowness that makes it somewhat easier to eat... although eating + driving is not ideal. I am cruising along at 85 (um, I mean 70 if any police officers are reading this...) so the best option would be a handheld bar or some such that I can eat on the road. Once I get to work I am not in a position to eat until my prep which is 4-5 hours after I wake up. Last time I was training for competition and on my training diet I made egg bakes in advance and just had a big handheld frittata piece every day, but I will probably do a murder if I have to eat eggs ever again (seriously -- it was 3 months of eggs every morning, every day... I can't do it any more). I have been researching W30 approved bars. I know the Larabars and such are too sugary to be a good choice for a daily breakfast option so I'm not looking at those (although I do want some carbs in the morning so will probably do some kind of sweet potato whatever if I can figure it out, sweet potato toast maybe?). However I am checking out the Epic bars & bites that are approved, since they are so protein dense. My question is... since most compliant bars are usually in the category of "technically OK but not great since there is the potential to over-rely on them and not learn from your body," would these Epic bars be an issue, since I plan to use them for breakfast every day (except weekends)? I'm thinking of maybe making a "sandwich" with an Epic bar between two pieces of sweet potato toast, glued together with some almond butter or something. Will this screw me up? I ask because last week I was suddenly having terrible afternoon brain fog/crashing and discovered that the dried cherries I was using in my homemade trail mix had added sugar, so that was 3 days that threw me off, woke up the sugar dragon, messed me up. I don't want to make this mistake again by substituting "convenience" foods and making it harder for me to sort out what my body needs. So is my proposed "quick and easy breakfast" solution workable or is it more in the line of over-relying on "snacky" kinds of foods? I welcome your advice, TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted March 8, 2018 Moderators Share Posted March 8, 2018 15 minutes ago, Muse_of_Fire said: OK another breakfast concern. Although things are going super great I am starting to feel the "not having breakfast until hours after I wake up" thing. I definitely would like to add in breakfast right away but it's a struggle. I cannot eat right away when I wake up because of medication that has to be taken on an empty stomach and needs 30 minutes to absorb, and by then I am commuting on the interstate. I can either get up 30 minutes earlier (no way -- 5am is early enough). Since it's early morning, my commute is not the congested stop-and-start slowness that makes it somewhat easier to eat... although eating + driving is not ideal. I am cruising along at 85 (um, I mean 70 if any police officers are reading this...) so the best option would be a handheld bar or some such that I can eat on the road. Once I get to work I am not in a position to eat until my prep which is 4-5 hours after I wake up. Last time I was training for competition and on my training diet I made egg bakes in advance and just had a big handheld frittata piece every day, but I will probably do a murder if I have to eat eggs ever again (seriously -- it was 3 months of eggs every morning, every day... I can't do it any more). I have been researching W30 approved bars. I know the Larabars and such are too sugary to be a good choice for a daily breakfast option so I'm not looking at those (although I do want some carbs in the morning so will probably do some kind of sweet potato whatever if I can figure it out, sweet potato toast maybe?). However I am checking out the Epic bars & bites that are approved, since they are so protein dense. My question is... since most compliant bars are usually in the category of "technically OK but not great since there is the potential to over-rely on them and not learn from your body," would these Epic bars be an issue, since I plan to use them for breakfast every day (except weekends)? I'm thinking of maybe making a "sandwich" with an Epic bar between two pieces of sweet potato toast, glued together with some almond butter or something. Will this screw me up? I ask because last week I was suddenly having terrible afternoon brain fog/crashing and discovered that the dried cherries I was using in my homemade trail mix had added sugar, so that was 3 days that threw me off, woke up the sugar dragon, messed me up. I don't want to make this mistake again by substituting "convenience" foods and making it harder for me to sort out what my body needs. So is my proposed "quick and easy breakfast" solution workable or is it more in the line of over-relying on "snacky" kinds of foods? I welcome your advice, TIA. You would be better off trying to think of things that you could eat that are not epic bars - partly because eating an epic bar everyday would bankrupt most people and partly because processed meat bars aren't the best choice to be eating every day. Why not make pork sausage patties or hamburger patties and put them between sweet potato glued together with mayo or guac instead of almond butter. What about meatballs and crudite with guac or mayo? We have lots of people who have to eat in the car on the way to work... What about getting up not 30 min earlier but ten min earlier so you can eat your breakfast when you arrive at work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted March 8, 2018 Administrators Share Posted March 8, 2018 11 minutes ago, Muse_of_Fire said: OK another breakfast concern. Although things are going super great I am starting to feel the "not having breakfast until hours after I wake up" thing. I definitely would like to add in breakfast right away but it's a struggle. I cannot eat right away when I wake up because of medication that has to be taken on an empty stomach and needs 30 minutes to absorb, and by then I am commuting on the interstate. I can either get up 30 minutes earlier (no way -- 5am is early enough). Since it's early morning, my commute is not the congested stop-and-start slowness that makes it somewhat easier to eat... although eating + driving is not ideal. I am cruising along at 85 (um, I mean 70 if any police officers are reading this...) so the best option would be a handheld bar or some such that I can eat on the road. Once I get to work I am not in a position to eat until my prep which is 4-5 hours after I wake up. Last time I was training for competition and on my training diet I made egg bakes in advance and just had a big handheld frittata piece every day, but I will probably do a murder if I have to eat eggs ever again (seriously -- it was 3 months of eggs every morning, every day... I can't do it any more). I have been researching W30 approved bars. I know the Larabars and such are too sugary to be a good choice for a daily breakfast option so I'm not looking at those (although I do want some carbs in the morning so will probably do some kind of sweet potato whatever if I can figure it out, sweet potato toast maybe?). However I am checking out the Epic bars & bites that are approved, since they are so protein dense. My question is... since most compliant bars are usually in the category of "technically OK but not great since there is the potential to over-rely on them and not learn from your body," would these Epic bars be an issue, since I plan to use them for breakfast every day (except weekends)? I'm thinking of maybe making a "sandwich" with an Epic bar between two pieces of sweet potato toast, glued together with some almond butter or something. Will this screw me up? I ask because last week I was suddenly having terrible afternoon brain fog/crashing and discovered that the dried cherries I was using in my homemade trail mix had added sugar, so that was 3 days that threw me off, woke up the sugar dragon, messed me up. I don't want to make this mistake again by substituting "convenience" foods and making it harder for me to sort out what my body needs. So is my proposed "quick and easy breakfast" solution workable or is it more in the line of over-relying on "snacky" kinds of foods? I welcome your advice, TIA. Can you take your meds the second you wake (like leave them on your night stand w/ a glass of water) and then shower/hair/makeup/get dressed and then eat? What if you do that and also prep breakfast the night before? We would not condone the daily use of any sort of bar and also SO expensive, not enough for a meal and no veggies, no fat. But maybe you could make something similar to egg muffins but without eggs. Meat muffins? Patties? Balls? Roast sweet potato spears. Steam brocoli. You could easily finger-eat some meatballs, sweet potato fries and steamed brocoli out of a container on the console while speeeeeeeeeding down the interstate. In fact, most things besides stirfries and soups/chili can be eaten with your fingers. When my husband and I travel long distances we pack all our food in a cooler and then eat while driving. Two pictures below were from our last trip and we're planning the same for our upcoming trip this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse_of_Fire Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 Great suggestions, thanks. I do take my meds 1st thing upon waking, then spend the 30 minutes getting dressed, etc. then I am out the door. I feel silly for not thinking to change the "shape" of my breakfast so I can eat it earlier in the car. Sundays I usually meal prep breakfasts for the week in containers, to eat at my desk during my prep period (some 4 hours after I've woken up), same thing for lunches. Breakfast is usually some kind of meat and veggie hash but I just realized thanks to your suggestions I could change the "shape" of the hash into a wrap -- putting all the meat and veggies into a cabbage leaf instead of mixing the shredded cabbage in. I usually buy a big thing of grass-fed hamburger patties for the freezer. If I prep those and pre-make a bunch of sweet potato buns during my Sunday prep, I can easily do a breakfast sandwich each morning. I was so stuck on the idea of hashes I couldn't think outside the box. >.< Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted March 8, 2018 Administrators Share Posted March 8, 2018 Haha, ya, we get stuck on what we are used to or what we think it has to look like that it sometimes takes another perspective. Good stuff, commute on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slc_melissa Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 I've made little meatloaf muffins similar to this: http://www.tazandbelly.com/2017/01/paleo-meatloaf-muffins.html but added like sweet potatos and other veggies. Very portable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetcee Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 Maybe you could try doing soups in the morning as well, as they could be easily portable? Easier to manage while you cruise down the highway as well. Just don’t mix up your coffee and soup thermoses, lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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