Alrighty Then

[Intrepid4]

Day Minus Two 

I will start my W30 on April 29th, Sunday. Have to get to the grocery store, plan meals, etc. I've done one complete W30 and several false starts. No reason I can't do it 100% this time. There was no reason I couldn't do it 100% all the other times, either, but... I'm human. 

Here's to being human AND compliant for 30 days! 

[Intrepid4]

Day 1

Slight delay, but this is the start. 

Meal 1: broccoli sauted in ghee, 2 eggs cooked in coconut oil, coffee. Not too exciting, but I need to get to the grocery store this morning, so I can stock up on real food. 

 

[Intrepid4]

Day 2 

I decided to track my meals in a spreadsheet, and not be redundant here.

I mowed the back yard today, despite having back pain for over a week now. Part of my reason for doing the W30 now.  I feel like my body is falling apart, aging faster than it needs to. Partly too much weight, partly inflammation. Tons of other reasons, but this is one of them. 

Tonight I am craving sweets. I've been hungry today. Think I need bigger servings. I'm working my way through the W30 book (30 day guide), and was looking ahead at recipes. Saw several I might like to try. I roasted a chicken yesterday, and have been predominantly eating that today in varying combinations. An issue about living alone and doing the W30 alone: I'm only cooking for one. Don't like to cook and don't like going to grocery stores, so last time I did w30, I just cooked large meals and ate the same thing for 3 or 4 days in a row. Might have to rethink that plan. 

I'm also going to have to figure out ready-made or fast prep meals for breakfast. Was going to make an omelette this morning, but then it seemed like a huge hassle, so I just had leftover roast chicken and veggies from last night. Which is fine (and compliant). But if I don't happen to have leftovers some morning when I don't feel motivated to cook, I need a plan b so I'm not tempted to chuck it and head for Starbucks. I'll think on that. 

Two days down! 

[GoJo09]

I live alone as well, so totally get you on eating the same meal on repeat! I tend to cook at least 2 or 3 proteins up on the weekend (Scotch eggs, slow cooked pork, roast chicken, meatballs, etc) to last the week, and then I can alternate them along with eggs and tinned tuna, so I don't get too bored. Also, mayo makes all things exciting and edible! I'm not really a fan of cooking for one, so this works for me.

[Intrepid4]

Day 4

Thank you GoJo09 for the suggestions. That sounds doable. It would likely help to think farther ahead, so I can cook multiple proteins as you do. Good ideas!

Today I pushed myself to make breakfast first thing (okay, second thing after feeding all the furballs). My pre-W30 habit was to make coffee, sit down and drink that while I ran through my internet obsessions: emails, facebook and blogs. Then, when my stomach started burning from the acid, or when I started getting light-headed or jittery from the caffeine, THEN I would go fix breakfast. Breakfast varied, depending on the season. I am particularly fond of cinnamon roll season, but bagel season is good, too. So, obviously W30 is a big change. 

The rest of the day went well. I didn't get hungry, as I did the first couple of days. My new issue is a gut ache. Not constipation, just a low-level ache. And bloaty feeling. I read on the forums that it might help to make sure I'm eating some starchy veggies, more cooked veggies than raw for now, and maybe try a probiotic and/or fermented foods to help get my gut happy. I'll work with those ideas. 

Mowed the front lawn today, and pulled some weeds. My back was not amused. Two for two on the not happy side: my gut and my back. On the happy side: my pets are loving the occasional "real food" treats. 

[Intrepid4]

On second thought: 

It might help to have my meals posted in the same place as my complaints. Might help to connect the dots. So I will do that from now on. 

Day 4 meals:

#1 - 2 egg omelette w/spinach, onion, shrooms; 1/2 avo, coffee.

#2 - salad: greens, tuna, 1/2 avo, 1 tomato, dressing, blueberries.  (Near emergency when I couldn't find my can opener for the tuna, but I finally found it.)

#3 - spaghetti squash w/ground beef and marinara sauce. 1 date. (Store-bought marinara sauce tasted so good, I checked the label twice to make sure it was compliant. It is!) 

In surfing the forums, I was also reminded of the notion of drinking tons of water. I'll keep tabs on that from now on, too. What is it? 1/2 oz per pound of weight? I might as well just fill the bath tub and find a long straw. 

[Intrepid4]

Day 6 

Woke up with a horrific headache this a.m., but it was gone by the time I had breakfast. Today's whining session: I feel totally bloated, no appetite at all. I had a lot of energy yesterday morning, and maybe (okay, totally) overdid it with yard work. Today my back is paying the price. I feel like I'm eating too much. I'll double-check what the book says about quantities. I already read the part about some people having no appetite because the body hasn't yet figured out what all this real food stuff is. Well, that's roughly paraphrased... maybe I should reread that part, too. 

Okay, on to the less whiny part: I'm not tempted to give up because I figure I could be eating crappy food and still feel this way. And it's supposed to get better, right? Also, I've been sleeping well; and cooking real food encourages me to take more care in enjoying it. I've been taking my meals out on the deck and leaving the laptop inside. I usually bring a book, but at least it's a start in the direction of paying attention to what I'm eating. Right? 

I'm still putting off grocery shopping, but I'll absolutely have to go tomorrow. I'm having trouble motivating myself to plan meals so I can make a comprehensive shopping list. it would be to my benefit if I'm trying to shop as seldom as possible, but... who knows. Does W30 exacerbate social anxiety? 

Today: 

Meal 1 - 2 egg omelet w/spinach, onion, shrooms. 1/2 avo. Coffee

Meal 2 - left over ground beef with marinara sauce, steamed sugar snap peas.

Dinner will be a tuna salad, with tons of veggies and lemon garlic dressing; and some berries. 

 

 

 

 

.

[ShannonM816]

You're definitely not eating too much. You can download the meal template and other things here: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/

When eggs are your only protein, a serving is as many whole eggs as you can hold in one hand -- so probably 3-4. You should pick one or two of the fat servings listed on the meal template, and generally that should be in addition to any oil you cook in, since some of that usually stays in the pan and isn't actually consumed. For vegetables, aim for 2-3 cups at every meal. Most people do best with at least one fist-sized serving of starchy vegetables each day, and some people -- including those prone to anxiety and depression -- need more. Those would include potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, plantains, or winter squashes like butternut or acorn squash.

If you truly don't like grocery shopping, you could try stocking up on frozen vegetables, frozen meats, and canned items like tuna and olives to help extend the time between shopping trips. Eggs should last a couple of weeks, just check the date on the carton when you buy them and buy enough to last a while. Buy the bigger packages of meats and bring them home and freeze them, or some things work well to cook and freeze, like stew, chili, or ground beef. Root vegetables, stored correctly, will last more than a week for sure -- google something like "best way to store (whatever vegetable you want to store)" to find out how to make them last the longest. For things that just don't last as long, you'll have to decide whether to go to the store to restock, or just sub other vegetables for a week until you go back to the store. There are also sites out there like Once A Month Meals that have tips on basically prepping/cooking a month's worth of food at a time and freezing it -- they used to have some Whole30 meals, but I haven't looked at it in a while. Basically, figure out how to make this work for you, so that the habit changes you decide to keep from this experience are more likely to stick. 

[Intrepid4]

Day 7 

Made it a week! 

I'm not doing well with fixing proper meals, but I have been sticking with compliant foods only.  I'm stressing about my dog's health issues right now, and have pretty much no appetite at all. I did make it to the grocery store. I'll do some cooking tomorrow. 

Meal 1 - 2 scrambled eggs, 1 whole sweet potato with coconut cream, coffee. 

Meal 2 - salad: greens, pickle, tomato, blueberries, tuna, avo, dressing and mayo mixed.

Meal 3 - a handful of almonds, part of an orange, 2 boiled eggs and 2 dates. It was more of a "what's here that I can eat?" situation, rather than an actual meal. 

Only exercise today was a half-mile dog walk. 

[Intrepid4]

Day 9

Hanging in there. Barely.  I don't crave the "can't haves," but stress is making it tough to focus on planning, shopping, cooking, eating. And I've had zero appetite for the past few days. I made pork carnitas, boiled some eggs and roasted some chicken thighs, so I have easy proteins on hand. That helps.  And lots of easy to prepare veggies in the fridge. So at least sticking to the compliant foods is no problem. 

I'll try to do better on making complete meals. 
 

[Intrepid4]

Day 10

I'm a third of the way through!!

It's been going fairly well. I admit, I feel the drool starting down my chin when I pass a coffee shop. But I'm hanging in there. Still having trouble with the quantities, but I am feeling better, I think. Sleeping well, good energy, and I even think my clothes are fitting better. Oh, and no heartburn!  

Apparently this is the time most likely for giving up on the W30, so I'm not ready to run any victory laps, but I am more confident than not that I'll last the whole 30 days. 

 

[Intrepid4]

Day 12

Had to turn down the Mothers Day offers of pizza and iced lattes, ... but it's worth it to see this through. (it is, right??)  I'm starting to get lazy about making sure there's something easy to prep for a meal. Probably time to go back to the grocery store. Seems like I was just there.  I feel like I have more energy, but with my frickin' back pain, I still can't do the things I want to. Extremely frustrating. Finally made a chiropractic appt. It can only help that I'm eating better and rearranging -- if not losing -- weight (I'm being good and not weighing myself).  But I'm just too old to get old. 

 

[Intrepid4]

Day 14

Really wanted to give in today. I feel bloated all the time. I was tempted to weigh myself today to make sure I'm not gaining tons of weight.  I've made it two weeks, but I'm suddenly not as confident as I was four days ago that I'll make it to the end. I guess I was hoping to see more change by now. More energy, less waist. [Sigh.]

[GoJo09]

This is so common! You've seen the timeline right? Nearly everyone wants to give up at some point in this week. But honestly, it's only 2 more weeks, what's that in the grand scheme of things? 

[kellyfoss]

You can do it, you're already halfway there! To be honest this is usually the time where I also feel the most like "why the heck isn't this working", but then in week 3 the Tiger Blood typically starts to kick in and I remember why I'm doing it in the first place! Hang in there.

[Intrepid4]

Day 17

Thanks for the notes of support! It really helps.

Still making a go of it. I'm not feeling bloated ALL of the time, now, but I do feel that way after almost every meal. I don't think my portions are out of line. I can tell that I must be losing weight; my clothes are fitting better. I've kind of quit paying attention to how much water I'm drinking... maybe I'll focus on that more and see if that helps. Pretty sure I'm not drinking enough. 

Two more weeks to go! 

[Intrepid4]

Day 18

Started on a medication today that makes me feel nauseous, so that's a new twist. Not sure what foods might help with that. I've grown up with the notion that non-sour dairy coats the stomach to help (like milk or ice cream), or that something like bread absorbs excess acid in the stomach. Obviously none of those items are options.  I'll have to do some research. 

Lawn mowing and dog walk for exercise.  

[ShannonM816]

For the medication, maybe try having some sweet potato with it, or regular potato. Something kind of starchy. Assuming it's okay to take it with food, anyway. If the nausea is really bad, it might be worth talking to your doctor about a different med, especially if it's something you're going to need to take for a while. 

[Intrepid4]

Day 21 -- Not

Well, I managed a Whole20. Other health issues have made it a struggle that -- for me -- just isn't worth it at this time. But I'm good with that. I broke some unhealthy routines, and while I may not have changed a "habit," it has reminded me of how it feels to be fueled with real food. We'll see how that translates. I lost some weight, my clothes fit better, my self-image has improved...  I'd say that's a win for now. 

I might try it again when there are fewer competing issues. Or I might do another Whole20 or even less. I know it doesn't provide a total "reset," but there are many valuable benefits to eating so ultra consciously and clean for any length of time. 

So, I'm good. And pleased. And it's time to go prepare my spinach-mushroom-onion omelet cooked in ghee, with some avocado on the side for fat.

Cheers!