Blessed but stressed...Starting January 19

[GigiBraun]

Hello!  I am a 'young' 67.  I battled obesity all my life but had bariatric surgery 15 years ago and I have maintained a 200 lb weight loss all that time. My life is 180 degrees different than the first 3/4 of my life.  And......I have stayed about 220 for the past 15 years.  I do realize that is not a healthy weight for me, but I think I felt SO different from when I was  420 pounds that I just dove into life as best I could.  I saw my ND last week and she suggested I do the Whole30 as a reboot for a healthier life.  I have Type 2 diabetes, in my earlier years had PCOS, my liver enzymes are a bit high and a I have psoriatic arthritis...the pain from the PsA has been really bad.  The doctor who helps with the PsA wants me to go on another biologic medicine but that scares me as it messes with the immune system.  My ND has talked to me about sugar being such an increaser of inflammation and all the conditions I deal with have the inflammation component.  So...here I am.  I do hope to lose weight over the next year or so...but more than anything I really want to FEEL better, and get this inflammation to calm down.  

My Mom passed on 2 years ago and I miss her so much, but I was so blessed she made it to 95.  Tomorrow is the 97th anniversary of her birth, and I could give her no better birthday gift than to take better care of her baby girl...me!  Here I go. 

[Morgie1920]

I am also starting today! I’d love to help support you through this journey. So sorry about your mother. 

[Michele B.]

Hello, GigiBraun and Morgie1920!  I'm starting today, so I'd love to join you guys on here.  This is my second time through.  My first was this past fall.  It went very, very well, and I found it easier than I thought it would be.  However, I did not do so well with "maintenance".  So I'm hitting the reset button and will be really focusing on how to keep things going in a healthy way after this second round. GigiBraun, great job with the progress you've already made, and I did find that this process helped me to feel better and to pinpoint the foods that were problematic for me.  I had already done a lot of work with that, but I was able to refine it even more. Sugar is my biggest issue - the dreaded sugar dragon!

I have not used many forums in my lifetime, but I did find this one to be very helpful while going through the 30 days.  Looking forward to chatting with you all!

 

[GigiBraun]

Hello Margie and Michelle!  Thank you so much for welcoming me.  I am glad to have some pals to go on this journey with.  Day 1 was just great, and Day 2 has been as well.  I have tried several of the recipes in the books and our house is stocked with healthy stuff. 

The Sugar Dragon has been snapping at my heels all my life as well!  I do not miss his pesky-self at all.  I imagine he will try to nip at me again sooner or later, but I am grateful not to be trapped by him.  I love that there is HOPE!  (I love this meaning for HOPE...Hold On, Pain Ends).

Keep taking good care of yourselves!

 

Gigi 

[Lorna from Canada]

@GigiBraun

This does seem to be a younger person's space - I'm almost 59 and have only seen a couple of young oldies doing this W30. I've just finished Day 18 and, despite also being an obesity survivor (I lost 85lbs 15 years ago), I've learned a lot about my food and eating habits while on this plan - way more than I expected to learn! Like, how many times I go for food when I am bored or having an emotional reaction. How often I eat without even noticing that I am eating! How much I eat - a LOT and how hard it is to stop once I've started. I have a ferocious sugar dragon and I quite willingly feed it. It's been really educational and I am already thinking about post W30 and what I am going to do differently.

At this point, I am full more and longer and have no cravings. I haven't any magical health changes to report but I do, generally, feel better. I find that decades of faulty nutritional science information has messed with me - it's hard not to cringe at the healthy fat in my saute pan or to reach for a sugar free candy on offer! I am doing so well though - got through a crazy weekend surrounded by every manner of super good bad stuff and survived intact.

Good luck - it seems like it's going to last forever but, it really doesn't. I can see the end already!

Lorna

[Michele B.]

@GigiBraun  How special that you are honoring your mom's memory with this process!  And I'm so impressed with your success at maintaining your weight loss over 15 years. I find maintenance more difficult than loss, so that's impressive. 

@Lorna from Canada Hello!  I'm fairly close to your age   I can so relate to your comments about eating when bored, emotional, etc.  I suspect those habits started for me many decades ago, without notice.  They are deeply ingrained.  Especially sugar.  I will be in the process of eating something sweet and think, "I'm not really enjoying this. What is it that I really want?", and then EAT IT ANYWAY!  My last Whole 30 was very freeing, so I'm happy to be doing it again. I just need to learn how to approach the after part. Once I have a little (sugar, french fries, etc), it just runs away from me. I also relate to your comment about fauly nutritional science, including the current trends.  There is so much fear mongering around.  That's what caught my attention about this program. I heard the founder speaking on a podcast and the way this program inherently builds self awareness and respects that everyone's body is different was truly refreshing for me. 

Things got more out of control around the holidays, despite my best efforts to be reasonable. Since then, I kept playing around with doing this again, but I kept making exceptions. Like, it's ok to have a little bit of cream in my coffee if I just do everything else right.  Nope.  That did NOT work. The 20th looked like a good day to start - at the beginning of a week - and it feels quite comfortable to me, even after my sputtering false starts this past month. 

I will also pass this along, from my last whole30.  It was critical for me to find some food options that were satisfying, but that didn't trigger cravings, and would even calm cravings.  Foods with fat help me with that a lot, such as avocado and nut butters.  I struggle with wanting to snack at night. I do not snack now if I discern that it truly isn't hunger. However, if I've exercised during the day, sometimes I do feel like I need a bit more after dinner.  I don't want to disrupt my sleep with hunger. One snack I have enjoyed is banana slices in a bowl, topped with almond butter, a few compliant nuts (crunchy!), almond milk (or whatever compliant milk you like), and cinnamon. This is satisfying, enjoyable, nutritious, and for me, trigger free. I would love to hear about any recipes/ideas you all find helpful!

Have a wonderful, healthy day!

[GigiBraun]

Ladies, I feel encouraged by your insights and experiences! Thank you. We have recently moved and now travel to our old place getting ready to put it on the market.  Our healthy food is with us so no need to ‘have’ to stop somewhere to eat. Looking forward to a healthy day.

Gigi

[Lorna from Canada]

Thanks for your comments @Michele B. I have not been triggered while on this program but your banana's sound, well, BANANAS!! Definitely going to have that for breakfast tomorrow. I have cooked all our meals from scratch for many, many years and I think that really helps with this program - glad I didn't have to learn that and be compliant too.

Have a healthy day!

[MzMaddnezz]

Hello! I started January 19th as well! Day 7 is here! 1/4 of the way through this 30days! how are you all doing with this?

I am finding it hard not to snack between meals.  My office constantly has food in every nook and cranny and I find the smells wafting towards me make me want to eat constantly! the 10hr days I put in are making the in between meal times extremely difficult.  How do you combat the snack attacks?

 

[ShannonM816]

13 hours ago, MzMaddnezz said:

Hello! I started January 19th as well! Day 7 is here! 1/4 of the way through this 30days! how are you all doing with this?

I am finding it hard not to snack between meals.  My office constantly has food in every nook and cranny and I find the smells wafting towards me make me want to eat constantly! the 10hr days I put in are making the in between meal times extremely difficult.  How do you combat the snack attacks?

 

If you have longer than average days, you may need more than three meals a day. That is fine. That doesn't mean graze, but plan to have an extra meal or mini-meal at some point in the day.

Your regular meals should be keeping you satisfied 4-5 hours at a time, so plan enough food to eat that often. Each time you eat, have a combo of protein, fat, and vegetables. At least three meals a day should match the meal template in size. Extra meals can either be full sized meals, or scaled down some if you don't feel you need a full meal.

Do try to distinguish between actually being hungry and just wanting food because it's there, or you have a habit of eating at certain times. If you would eat something plain, like steamed fish and broccoli, you're truly hungry. If you wouldn't eat that, but those donuts are really calling your name, that's probably just a craving, and you need to distract yourself for a little while and it'll go away.

You might try having a cup of tea, especially an herbal one that you like the smell of, when the smell of food around you is hard to deal with. Or if you can get up an walk around away from the office and the food, that could be an option.