Day 6! Need a place to just dump all of this stuff right now :)

[Lorna from Canada]

My name is Lorna and I am 58. I describe myself as an obesity survivor as I lost more than 85lb between 2004 and 2009 and maintained it for many years. Menopause started 2 1/2 years ago and really snuck up on me - I regained 30lbs in 2 years and had so many different injuries and so much joint pain from working out (I'm a marathon runner, long distance backpacker) that I decided to take a break from it at the end of October 2018 and figure this out. I tried to return to Weight Watchers which had helped me lose the weight originally but it was not gelling this time - making Greek Yogurt a "free food" ended up with me eating a 500 ml tub every. single. day.

I've had to deal with anxiety around this weight gain and pain. I generally eat clean but realize sugar was creeping back in big time - the sugar addiction is real. I also love wine - have studied wine and am quite knowledgable - I'm the one people want to order the wine when we're out together - but, I also realize I was drinking too much - 2 glasses everyday - sometimes a whole bottle over the course of a Saturday! This was partly because I love it but also, full admission, because I was anxious and sad about my chronic pain issues and inability to workout without feeling crippled immediately afterwards.

I had never heard of Whole 30 before I went to visit my daughter in Colorado at Christmas and saw the label on one of her Thrive Market products. I had just had a colonoscopy done a few weeks prior and, during the prep days for that, I was thinking how easy it was to be told exactly what you could and couldn't eat - no cheating for your colonoscopy prep! It was easy for me not to eat for 24 hours during that process so, I was thinking about how to replicate that in my diet.  I do believe the universe colludes to give you answers - within a couple of weeks - I had mine - Whole 30.

I thought I'd be doing it alone but, within minutes of telling my husband and youngest daughter (29) about it, they said "I'm in" so we're doing it as a family - that does make it easier.

We are on Day 6 and are 100% compliant although not perfect  We're fortunate that there is no financial burden to keep us from buying all the good food we need. I am sharing prepped food with my daughter who lives 6 km away as she has some disabilities left over from an autoimmune disorder and would find the food prep taxing.

SO FAR:

None of us reports any hard challenges - I miss my wine and my husband misses his beer but, we're grown ups, we can manage it. We're not craving it like we thought we would. I'm an excellent cook so the meal prep is no problem at all - being creative has interjected some fun into our meals. All 3 of us have been very hungry a lot of the time despite our substantial meals. We know this is normal so we are powering through it with appropriate snack as necessary. My daughter has discovered that unsweetened almond milk in her coffee is excellent and has grown to like the flavour of coffee without sugar so, I think that is a permanent change for her.

I feel less bloated and my face is thinner. I have been reading a lot of posts from people my age who report less pain from inflammation after 2 weeks so I have my fingers crossed that happens for me. I am putting a lot of stock on that happening actually - this is something that I am already aware of as being a potential emotional problem for me - if I don't get reduced pain... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

If you've read this far - thank you. I'll be checking in daily for the next little while  

 

[hollysmokes]

Hi @Lorna from Canada! It sounds like your family is off to a good start! I am 58 also and I wish I could say I was a long distance backpacker . I did my first W30 in 2014 and just finished my 3rd one at the end of December. I had no major pain/inflammation issues but was achy (and sedentary). I have found that combining W30 with Katy Bowman's Nutritious Movement has been amazing. If you have never heard of her, you should check her out! She's a biomechanist and is all about movement vs exercise. Every time I do one of her video classes, I feel like I've had an amazing physical therapy session.  I still have a very long way to go but I'm feeling great and look forward to improving my movement, alignment and strength. Properly fueling myself by staying mostly W30 has so many NSV's but, like you, I also need to release some weight. It will come; trust the program!

[Lorna from Canada]

Hi @hollysmokes - Thank you for stopping by and for the recommendation of Katy Bowman - I am not aware of her. I have an amazing physiotherapist who specializes in biomechanics and manual therapy but I can only see her once a week - this sounds like it would be an awesome addition! I plan to start exercising again next week so I will definitely check her out.

We're really enjoying our W30 program so far - no crankiness or KATT. I absolutely do trust the program and am excited to see what every week releals.

Lorna