Jessicasian's Whole30 captain's log

[jessicasianx]

(I sit here fairly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on the morning of day two and my black coffee somehow doesn't taste as offensive as it did this time yesterday.)

To recap, I think I got off to a pretty decent start on day one. I ate four meals (because I went on a brisk 45-minute morning walk), three of which were nice and meaty. However, I'm a little conflicted about one of them in terms of the sugar craving issue. After an 8am breakfast of two eggs + four rashers bacon + quarter avo + handful of basic leaves, I ate a mashed up banana, warmed with some nuts and coconut at about 11. I was scouting about the place here online and saw someone discuss this combination along the lines of "eating thus when craving sugar is just as much of a no-no as pouring the stuff from the sugar jar into your mouth". My question is: what if you don't crave sugar (I almost exclusively crave salty things), and you eat a meal like I did? Are there any benefits to eating fruit and nuts rather than vegetables and meat for an extra meal in this scenario? Your advice would be appreciated 'cos I am a novice at this. And I am being honest (unless I somehow have a sugar craving in disguise?).

The rest of the day went like this. Lunch was thinly sliced savoy cabbage + a generous handful of chopped cilantro (I love this stuff) + red onion + cucumber + smoked tuna + more of my homemade mayo and some baked sweet potato chips on the side (small handful). I only photographed the coleslaw as the chips were not yet out of the oven.

Dinner was all about experimentation. Chopped up five tomatoes + three cloves garlic + half an onion and simmered them on the stove with smoked paprika and mixed herbs. Added a cup of vegetable stock (the stock I used was strong and next time I would water it down a bit) and let that boil away. Then I blended it all into a yummy soup. Had an organic pork sausage on the side with half a roasted pepper (poached from dad's barbeque dinner).

As per the guidance on day zero, I set three SMART goals for my Whole30:

1. Exercise: I will reconnect with my body by working out (anything from brisk walking up) twenty times during my Whole30.
   
2. Personal growth: I will develop my language skills by learning Japanese for twenty minutes, twenty times during my Whole 30 (hoping to go to Japan on the JET Programme this year).
   
3. Stress management: I will reintroduce music to my life by giving each day it's own unique song during my Whole30.
   

On Jan 4 (day one), I worked out (one/twenty), completed more than twenty minutes of Japanese, but I'll count it as one lesson (one/twenty). I downloaded Taylor Swift's RED (don't judge, I'm 25 and it's the only "modern music" I've purchased in the last five years) and day one's theme had to be We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (yes, junk food, hopefully we are never getting back together).

Right. Sorry for the mahoosive entry guys, I work best when I write lots

js

[kb0426]

Hello and welcome .

This recent whole9 blog post may (or may not) answer your banana and nut question.

http://whole9life.com/2012/12/dessert-demons-in-disguise/

[jessicasianx]

I imagine when someone doesn't check-in here for oh, nine days (!), the usual suspect is the old falling off the wagon, but I'm stoked to say that I am 100% on track on Day 9 and have hit the magic zone of energy. I've been back at work and too busy to post here, but I have completely embraced this lifestyle and am doing well with my 3 goals (although I have missed a few days in terms of music).

The Whole30 is doing phenomenal things for me so far - I'm sleeping in seven hour long spells through the night (I never, ever sleep through the night), all gastric discomfort has disappeared, the bloating has gone, I've lost an appreciable amount of weight (how much I do not know but my stomach has flattened out completely and is about to start going the other way), and I have my glow on. My energy levels are through the roof and I feel very positive. I cannot imagine going back to how I was eating and living before after feeling this good.