Official 1/1/13 Start Group

[jtota]

Starting to plan what will happen after day 30. I have learned some good things during this challenge - gluten is bad for me, I have some specific eating triggers to watch out for, and I was eating way to much sugar. Not sure that I won't go back to beans and tempeh though. I just feel icky and have a feeling of heaviness that I don't like. I am really surprised to be feeling this way because last week I thought this would be how I would eat forever. Energy level s back up today a little which is good. I am absolutely stronger than before I started. Lots of mixed feelings to ponder . . .

[NatPatBen]

I just finished the best workout of my Whole 30. It was tough but I really hung in there.

Like many of you, I am starting to seriously plan what Day 31 and beyond will entail. I know I don't want to stop sleeping and feeling so clear and alive. And I really am happy with changes I'm seeing in my physical being. But I'm also not sure I want to commit to continuing the totally 100% compliant eating either. I wish I knew how to set new boundaries based on what I've learned during the past 20 days. On Day 31, it will all come down to choices I decide to make vs. the black and white boundaries a Whole 30 has offered.

Anyone else struggling with this?

I am. I keep wavering, but what I likely will do is still aim for non-processed food for the most part, but I won't sweat the things like a little soy in the vegetable broth in tuna, for example.

[torena]

I am thinking of extending my 30 into a 45. It is interesting how the first half seemed to crawl by but now I feel like the next week and a half is almost here which means the end of the 30.

I know, I'm almost in a panic!

For those of you that are tired of cooking, I have had success with making huge dinners and eating left overs for a day or two at lunch. Gets boring at times but it is easy. And I'm reading a lot about snacks - could be dangerous territory unless you are timing it after workouts etc. remember that we are not to snack. If you are hungry eat another small meal. Just saying. I know it's tough love but I want everyone to succeed!

There is an article on the blog about 100% compliance that explains why the rules are sooooooo important.

And the Coconut ice cream sound amazing but for me it would totally be SWYPO. Same with Larabars so they're out unless its an emergency at work.

Glad to see so many are thinking about extending, hopefully we can continue to support each other.

Thank you for saying this. I'm thinking of a recipe that I can sprinkle those coconut chips on top, but it was nice to let my kids see me eat them. They tried them and said they liked them. My 5 year old wants me to put some in her lunch box. That's worth it for me!

Confession: I cheated. I stepped on the scale. I am roughly 10 lbs down. In less than 3 weeks, without hunger.

Blows my mind. Hail to the healthy fats, for I am convinced they are the key.

Not that fat loss has been my primary incentive for doing this, but, wellll...... yea, I'll take it.

I'm sitting here listening to my chickens outside, egg-songing it up. They are so funny. Does anyone else here have chickens?

I both want to weigh myself and don't. I don't feel much of a change in the way my pants fit. I know I could be losing weight in other places, but when I did WW it was all butt/thighs. I don't have chickens but boy oh boy do I want to!

Torena, are you a leapster? My son's birthday is the 27th and my bf's birthday is the 29th. They both turned 13 last year .

Nope, I'm the 26th.

OMG!! My husband is now on the plan with me and we just spent $270 at the grocery store!!!! That's the highest grocery bill we have ever had. Finding compliant foods is expensive!!!!!

Eeek! I don't know if I mentioned this here, but my veggie delivery this week was stolen off my porch! I had to go to Wegman's today and effectively spent *double* for this week. But awesome that your husband is on board with you now!

Still tired this morning, although I am sleeping well. Maybe I am going through things in reverse and detoxing now.? My body hurts, joints are cracking and popping and my mood is just ok. Really missing the feeling I had last week. It was so motivating to feel so good. I a, committed to this for 30 days so I will stick it out. Maybe I am also just grieving food. I keep thinking about all my vegan favorites that I can't have and I miss them right now.

I went through this last week. With your restart you're a week behind right? I attributed mine to detox. For 2 1/2 to 3 days I was tired and had an excrutiating headache.

Like many of you, I am starting to seriously plan what Day 31 and beyond will entail. I know I don't want to stop sleeping and feeling so clear and alive. And I really am happy with changes I'm seeing in my physical being. But I'm also not sure I want to commit to continuing the totally 100% compliant eating either. I wish I knew how to set new boundaries based on what I've learned during the past 20 days. On Day 31, it will all come down to choices I decide to make vs. the black and white boundaries a Whole 30 has offered.

Anyone else struggling with this?

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. In reading what a few have said here, I want to have treats but nothing with sugar in it. I know there's a coconut ice cream brand that uses agave. My MIL is allergic to wheat so having a meal be appropriate won't be a challenge, but dessert will be. I might look up an almond flour/honey based cupcake recipe or something. Aside from that I am committing to eat as close to this month as possible. My daughter re-read Eat Like a Dinosaur and Paleo Pals this morning (she couldn't read as much when we first got them), so I think she's starting to understand why I want the whole family to do it. They're still having some, erm, non-compliant (wayyy non-compliant) food a couple of days during the week when I am making something for ME that I know they won't like and it doesn't require me to create this whole other meal. Paleo Parents posted a pancake recipe and I made it for them and they all liked it, so I might freeze them and serve them for breakfast. What a nice change from cereal with sugar in it (even if it IS gluten free). I've been phasing out Udi's gluten free bread with some almond flour based bread, and I let my daughter go through recipes to decide on the next "bread" to make for her sunflower butter/fruit-sweetened jelly sandwiches. She even agreed to ants on a log as part of her lunch so I might even get veggies in her.

I feel really optimistic.

[Nila]

I have been drained all day. No energy. My arms and legs feel heavy and weak. And I'm hungry. But I'm not doing anything different. What the heck? Any logical explanation?

[NatPatBen]

Eeek! I don't know if I mentioned this here, but my veggie delivery this week was stolen off my porch! I had to go to Wegman's today and effectively spent *double* for this week. But awesome that your husband is on board with you now!

That is terrible!

On the plus side, it's great that you found a CSA that delivers to you. The only one I found that delivers only does so in certain zip codes. One of the zip codes is less than a mile north of me, so I thought about asking if they could make an exception for me.... then I decided to use the $$ instead to start growing my own produce (starting with herbs).

[helen]

I have been drained all day. No energy. My arms and legs feel heavy and weak. And I'm hungry. But I'm not doing anything different. What the heck? Any logical explanation?

I was hungry all day yesterday and today I had to force myself to eat. I don't know. I'm inching into perimenopause so I know my hormones are all over the place it seems. As for energy, mine is up but mid-week it was low. It seems like a lot of the advice if you are hungry is to make sure you are eating enough fat at your meals. I feel I am most of the time so not sure. Hang in there! Do you have tomorrow off for MLK day?

[Nila]

Do you have tomorrow off for MLK day?

I wish I did. I am self-employed so those sorts of days off don't really happen. In fact, I'm presenting a proposal to a prospective client tomorrow afternoon after a check up with my doctor in the morning. AND my 12-year old daughter has 2 friends over for a sleepover tonight.

I'm sure I'm in peri-land too.

[jtota]

Glad to see I'm not the only one feeling tired and drained right now. Must just be part of the process. This is funny, but I literally tried to make myself go off plan tonight. My husband is doing this with me, along with quitting smoking (him, not me. I don't smoke) and he is also feeling kind of "gross" and suddenly tired. He is ready to be done with this and he's not even 100% on plan. Anyway, we convinced ourselves that this was clearly not for us and planned on eating whatever we wanted for dinner. Even went to Walmart and walked passed the ice cream and passed the tortilla chips. Even got the margarita mix out of the cabinet and admired it for a minute. Just couldn't do it though. I just kept thinking, " what if tomorrow is the day I start feeling better again?" I have felt the magic and I want it back. I still say I either ate something off plan a few days ago, something he may have used while cooking and I didn't know. Or it's just weird detox stuff. I now know after wearing some tall socks today that apparently I am holding a lot of water. Huge sock line when I took them off and I could even see the criss cross pattern on the sock. Probably explains the bloated feeling and I'd be happy to release that water anytime now

[jtota]

I just finished the best workout of my Whole 30. It was tough but I really hung in there.

I wish I knew how to set new boundaries based on what I've learned during the past 20 days. On Day 31, it will all come down to choices I decide to make vs. the black and white boundaries a Whole 30 has offered.

Anyone else struggling with this?

This is a good point. I learned from a nutritionist once that choice has power in it. Instead of mindlessly eating it is better to decide that your are going to eat something you want, know that it is off plan, enjoy while you eat, and then be done with it. No guilt, just get back on plan at the next meal, whatever your "plan" turns out to be. This has worked especially well for me on vacations and for birthdays.

[jtota]

I spent a LOT this week on food. But I feel totally stocked up now so next week all I will need are some fresh fruits, veggies and maybe one meal of red meat. Plus we are not eating anything outside the house. Today we did power yoga together and had to rush to a kids birthday party and we packed a lunch for all of us. Normally we would eat out and it would be $30. So I am trying to keep that in mind. But it is hard to spend that much. I figure over time we'll all 1. be eating less and 2. figure out how to make things more economical. One thing is that I am really into 'no food waste' (I worked before I had kids for years at an environmental education center and we did it there) so that really is important. I read a few months ago in a magazine about how much food we throw out in America. If you make yourself eat what you have I bet it will last longer than you think.

Okay, I hope this helps you feel better This is what I am telling myself to make myself feel better !

Thanks! I totally agree with avoiding waste. I can honestly say that we are eating what we buy instead dumping half the fridge in the trash at the end of the week. I was just a little shocked, especially since we didn't even go for everything grass fed etc. and we do still buy some boxed items for the kids, which adds a significant chunk. Someday I hope to convert them but thats a battle I have to work up to.

One issue we are having is portions on our protein. We are not big salad eaters, especially if there's no ranch dressing to be had and think we are compensating for volume we should have in a salad with meat. We do eat cooked veggies and lots of kale chips, spinach for wraps. But we are always so hungry by the time it's time eat that the portions just get bigger and bigger. Hopefully this will eventually balance out.

[helen]

I wish I did. I am self-employed so those sorts of days off don't really happen. In fact, I'm presenting a proposal to a prospective client tomorrow afternoon after a check up with my doctor in the morning. AND my 12-year old daughter has 2 friends over for a sleepover tonight.

I'm sure I'm in peri-land too.

Boo. Free days off are nice

[CraftyMary]

I think this tired, grumpy, tempted, hungry thing is normal at this point in the program. There's a whole thread http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/6391-day-16-did-i-fail/ where people are talking about hitting a speed bump these last couple of days. So to those who are having trouble today and the last couple days: don't sweat it! We're in this together.

I'm especially glad to see I'm not the only one holding water and feeling snappish. We're not doing something wrong - we're improving our relationships with our bodies and diets. And we're just going through a collective awkward phase. It will pass soon!

[Nila]

I think this tired, grumpy, tempted, hungry thing is normal at this point in the program. There's a whole thread http://forum.whole9l...-16-did-i-fail/ where people are talking about hitting a speed bump these last couple of days. So to those who are having trouble today and the last couple days: don't sweat it! We're in this together.

I'm especially glad to see I'm not the only one holding water and feeling snappish. We're not doing something wrong - we're improving our relationships with our bodies and diets. And we're just going through a collective awkward phase. It will pass soon!

Thank you for that. I will check out that other thread.

[christine19]

Thanks! I totally agree with avoiding waste. I can honestly say that we are eating what we buy instead dumping half the fridge in the trash at the end of the week. I was just a little shocked, especially since we didn't even go for everything grass fed etc. and we do still buy some boxed items for the kids, which adds a significant chunk. Someday I hope to convert them but thats a battle I have to work up to.

One issue we are having is portions on our protein. We are not big salad eaters, especially if there's no ranch dressing to be had and think we are compensating for volume we should have in a salad with meat. We do eat cooked veggies and lots of kale chips, spinach for wraps. But we are always so hungry by the time it's time eat that the portions just get bigger and bigger. Hopefully this will eventually balance out.

I was having an issue in the beginning eating raw greens. Here's an easy salad dressing to make -- I make it fresh each time while the protein is cooking. I just do it by eye. Organic Dijon mustard (no sugar), olive oil and balsamic vinegar (sometimes I add lemon juice too if I am having fish). You can adjust if you like it more oily or vinegary...I find eating like this I have to hold back on the vinegar a bit for some reason. Add whatever seasonings, salt and pepper and whisk it up! As a finishing touch, put the greens in a plastic bowl with lid, pour the dressing and shake it up so everything is coated before plating. Enjoy!

[NatPatBen]

One issue we are having is portions on our protein. We are not big salad eaters, especially if there's no ranch dressing to be had and think we are compensating for volume we should have in a salad with meat. We do eat cooked veggies and lots of kale chips, spinach for wraps. But we are always so hungry by the time it's time eat that the portions just get bigger and bigger. Hopefully this will eventually balance out.

My husband has this issue, too. He's SO picky when it comes to vegetables, definitely doesn't eat enough of them, and eats tons of meat instead.... which is EXPENSIVE. Even yesterday, I made the chocolate chili from Well Fed (but either I didn't put enough grated 100% cocoa bar or you aren't supposed to taste the chocolate) and served it to him over some roasted spaghetti squash. He didn't eat the squash in the bowl and instead got more chili.

I wasn't a big salad eater either, until I made the creamy italian dressing from Well Fed. This weekend, I bought several bags of mixed greens from Trader Joe's and brought a large container to work, along with homemade mayo (seasoned with garlic & paprika), a small bottle of apple cider vinegar, some Italian seasoning, and some roasted spaghetti squash seeds (Note: I roasted the seeds instead of throwing them away this time! Yay!). Since Well Fed author suggests not making the dressing in advance, I figured I'd bring the raw ingredients and mix when ready. So this week, that will be my breakfast: salad, dressing, boiled eggs.

[torena]

Stacy of Paleo Parents finished her 21 Day Sugar Detox today and posted some before/after pictures as well as discussing carb intake and how it affects people (specifically obese people, which I fall into). I followed a couple of links from it to read more about low carb and I think I'm falling into a moderate low carb right now but I'm not writing down in great detail what I am eating to know for sure. The post is here: http://paleoparents.com/featured/why-the-metabolically-broken-cant-eat-carbs/

What do y'all think? I, for one, have noticed a correlation between carb intake (even 1/2-1 cup roasted butternut squash) and energy levels.

[torena]

That is terrible!

On the plus side, it's great that you found a CSA that delivers to you. The only one I found that delivers only does so in certain zip codes. One of the zip codes is less than a mile north of me, so I thought about asking if they could make an exception for me.... then I decided to use the $$ instead to start growing my own produce (starting with herbs).

I have had a garden the last two years, albeit not so successful. I am a newbie. This year I am not doing a garden, though, because we might be selling our house so I need to make sure the back yard looks as "presentable" as possible. I do have some of the trough style "pots" hanging off my deck that have some herbs - thyme, mint, lemon balm and I have two HUGE rosemary plants in my front yard.

Glad to see I'm not the only one feeling tired and drained right now. Must just be part of the process.

I think this tired, grumpy, tempted, hungry thing is normal at this point in the program. There's a whole thread http://forum.whole9l...-16-did-i-fail/ where people are talking about hitting a speed bump these last couple of days. So to those who are having trouble today and the last couple days: don't sweat it! We're in this together.

I'm especially glad to see I'm not the only one holding water and feeling snappish. We're not doing something wrong - we're improving our relationships with our bodies and diets. And we're just going through a collective awkward phase. It will pass soon!

A ha! According to my charting, my period should be starting TODAY but I haven't had any of the usual spotting beforehand. I chalked my grumpiness up to PMS but maybe there is more to it than that. It is so interesting how we all have similar symptoms!

[NatPatBen]

A ha! According to my charting, my period should be starting TODAY but I haven't had any of the usual spotting beforehand. I chalked my grumpiness up to PMS but maybe there is more to it than that. It is so interesting how we all have similar symptoms!

Mine came down last week and I was surprised at the lack of "advanced notice." Usually, I only achieve NO advanced notice if I've been doing a lot of ab workouts leading up to the time, which I haven't done, so I was actually caught off guard.

[NatPatBen]

Stacy of Paleo Parents finished her 21 Day Sugar Detox today and posted some before/after pictures as well as discussing carb intake and how it affects people (specifically obese people, which I fall into). I followed a couple of links from it to read more about low carb and I think I'm falling into a moderate low carb right now but I'm not writing down in great detail what I am eating to know for sure. The post is here: http://paleoparents....cant-eat-carbs/

What do y'all think? I, for one, have noticed a correlation between carb intake (even 1/2-1 cup roasted butternut squash) and energy levels.

Thanks for sharing the link. I haven't paid enough attention to know about my energy levels after eating carby veggies/fruit, so I'll start paying more attention to the times when I feel huge energy spikes (only happened a few times on this Whole30 so far) & think about what I ate leading up to the spike. I DEFINITELY know that sleep plays a major factor in my energy levels.

Time for my confession. This weekend, I had my first (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th) Lara bar!!! They were on sale at Kroger for $1, so we tried several flavors. Now I know that my sugar dragon has not died and I will do myself well not to buy multiples. What I can see doing with the Lara bar is having it as a once/week treat on Saturday when I do the major grocery store shopping. The key will be to only buy one each weekend.

[kikiatlanta]

I don't know about y'all, but I was planning on doing a Whole45 or a Whole60, but now I'm about ready to give up.

I started with goals of weight loss and to get rid of my semi-regular migraines, but now I find myself in too-tight pants and with pretty bad headaches EVERY DAY and totally exhausted all the time. I'm on day 21, when am I supposed to see results? I haven't cheated once. Yes, I've had a Larabar in emergency situations... maybe twice a week. I'm an event planner and restaurant reviewer (I've cut down my eating out to 3x a week at risk of my job), so this diet is beyond tricky for me and I'm just not willing to stay on it without some great results. Has anyone out there completed a Whole30 "successfully" and yet been totally disappointed?

[helen]

Time for my confession. This weekend, I had my first (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th) Lara bar!!! They were on sale at Kroger for $1, so we tried several flavors. Now I know that my sugar dragon has not died and I will do myself well not to buy multiples. What I can see doing with the Lara bar is having it as a once/week treat on Saturday when I do the major grocery store shopping. The key will be to only buy one each weekend.

So funny as I bought some Larabars at the food coop today. On the days I teach in the lab I cannot stomach eating meat at work (we dissect and the smell and just the association) so having something packaged in my bag to get me through will be helpful. I did NOT feel like I was cheating at all though. I am a salt & fat lovers (I can devour a bag of potato chips or crackers) but not really a sweets person. I love veggies and salads and have to force myself to eat fruit and I don't like dried fruit. So, the larabars did not feel like anything but nutrition to get me through a long work evening when I can't eat. Interesting how we are all so different!

[helen]

I don't know about y'all, but I was planning on doing a Whole45 or a Whole60, but now I'm about ready to give up.

I started with goals of weight loss and to get rid of my semi-regular migraines, but now I find myself in too-tight pants and with pretty bad headaches EVERY DAY and totally exhausted all the time. I'm on day 21, when am I supposed to see results? I haven't cheated once. Yes, I've had a Larabar in emergency situations... maybe twice a week. I'm an event planner and restaurant reviewer (I've cut down my eating out to 3x a week at risk of my job), so this diet is beyond tricky for me and I'm just not willing to stay on it without some great results. Has anyone out there completed a Whole30 "successfully" and yet been totally disappointed?

I felt I was losing weight in the beginning but not right now. I am in the middle of my cycle though. I'm sorry you are struggling though. My biggest issue is eating so much meat. Hopefully someone else will have some more helpful advice. I do know that my first 10 days were a breeze and my struggling with cravings and such seem to have been mid week last week. I say stick it out until the 30th and then assess what worked for you. One thing is that just becoming aware of your food (all the added sugar, how attached we become to some processed foods) will be worth it in the long run. Maybe post on some of the more experienced forums of people who have done a few??

[NatPatBen]

I felt I was losing weight in the beginning but not right now. I am in the middle of my cycle though.

Helen pulled that line right out of my mouth.

Speaking of meat, I do miss the feeling of lightness I had when loosely following Dr Junger's Clean program several months ago. I'm thinking that after this I may take most of the eating recommendations of M&D and apply them to some other similar programs to see what works best for me. For example, the 21 Day Sugar Detox and Clean.

That 21 DSD will be challenging for sure, as the thing I've enjoyed about the Whole30 compared to, say, early phases of Atkins, is the inclusion of fruit & sweet potatoes/squashes.

Clean has a lot of overlaps with Whole30 eating, but also some differences:

• Okay on Clean / not Whole30: non-gluten grains, hemp/rice milk, oils like safflower & flax, stevia, legumes (except peanuts)
  
• Okay on Whole30 / not on Clean: nightshades (sweet potatoes & bell peppers!), beef & veal, ghee, coffee, certain fruit (oranges, strawberries, banana, grapefruit), coffee, pork (which I don't eat anyway)
  

If only eating what both allow, I'd mainly miss the bell peppers, but it may be worth it to have that feeling of lightness again. What I find funny: one allows for stevia but no coffee. The other allows coffee but no stevia. I'd only have them together, so I guess both are out.

[dukunbayi]

What I find funny: one allows for stevia but no coffee. The other allows coffee but no stevia. I'd only have them together, so I guess both are out.

I was just contemplating how the exclusion of coffee would have been a deal breaker for me, lol. I am habituating to drinking it black.

Today, I am utterly grateful for my coffee.... and for days off, and late-sleeping teenagers, and singing birds. It is a gorgeous day here in SoCal.

Yesterday was brutally long and arduous. I never did get the chicken in the crockpot before work as planned, so when I got home near 11pm, I didn't have a readily available meal, and no energy to prepare anything. I ate celery, carrots, almond butter, dried currants and dates. Throughout the day I had little opportunity to sit and eat, and would intermittently inhale some easy protein and fat (canned chicken, avos, Larabar) to keep me going. I really need to come up with a solution. I'm thinking of preparing some home-cooked frozen dinners to grab, go, and nuke when needed. Hot, balanced meals requiring no prep time would go a long on a day like yesterday. Divided paper trays in a large zip-lock and stacked in the freezer might work.

Have any of you experimented with such a thing?

[dukunbayi]

I'm an event planner and restaurant reviewer (I've cut down my eating out to 3x a week at risk of my job), so this diet is beyond tricky for me and I'm just not willing to stay on it without some great results.

Wow, that's hard! I have had one restaurant meal since starting this 1/1, and I ended up with grilled salmon, steamed veggies, and cut up fruit, And after being very clear about "no grains," I ended up with a pile of rice on my plate which, of course, I didn't eat. And I was hungry a few hours later because there wasn't much healthy fat in the meal. And I had a migraine the next day.

In hindsight, I realized there was a lot of elimination of contraband foods, but not the addition of compliant foods. I can see how 3+ times per week of that might bring about all sorts of badness.

Do you think that might be the problem? Elimination of the bad but not addition of the critically good? There is a section around here on whole30s not working and possible reasons why. You may want to check it out if you haven't yet. Just a thought.