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Day 23 and I'm not feeling all that many NSVs


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Hi whole30 family - looking for some guidance on my whole30. This is round 2, day 23 (my first round was last July, I've done a few mostly whole30 months in the middle but not another strict one until now). I’m not feeling any *big* NSV, which has been quite disappointing - I sleep a *bit* better, my skin is a *bit* clearer, and I have a *tiny bit* more energy (though I’m currently on my surgery rotation as a medical student working/studying 16+ hour days in the operating room/library so I’m not expecting much energy). My clothes aren’t fitting any looser really. And I do have much weight/inches to lose even though I know this isn’t a weight loss program (I’m 5’0” and weighed 144 lbs prior to starting this round, I have a family history of type 2 diabetes and have PCOS so am at risk, along with having high cholesterol, asthma, and recently elevated blood pressures in the past year or two).

Here’s an example of what I’ve been eating, these are my meals for this week (same meals all week mostly since I meal prep on Sunday for the whole week):

Breakfast (around 7 am before I go to the OR): baked eggs with broccoli/onions, spiralized one small potato to make the base of the entire pan of baked eggs for the week so probably 1/5th of a potato?, 1.5 oz compliant smoked salmon, fruit (this week it’s been a handful of raspberries)
Lunch (ranges from 11:30 AM to 4 PM depending on the OR schedule, but usually it's around 11:30 to 1:30, on a good day I get about 15 minutes to eat): red cabbage cole slaw with carrots/scallions (dressing made with primal kitchen mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, mustard, and some spices), chicken tenders (baked with an almond flour crust), roasted carrots
Dinner (around 6-7 PM depending on when I get home): coconut cauliflower rice, beef stir fry (with bell peppers, scallions, onions) OR tuna/avocado salad with baked plantain “chips” and raw bell pepper strips for dipping
Snacks: sometimes between breakfast and lunch if I’m the OR for a long time without a real break and just have <5 minutes to run out to my white coat in the pre-op area - chomp bar, almonds, banana (I keep all three in my white coat, that’s about all that fits) 

I have to be up at 5 am to get to the hospital on time to see my surgery patients from the day before prior to the new surgeries so I’m usually asleep by 9. I realize this doesn’t give me the 3 hours without eating before bed but that’s just not always possible with my schedule.
 
I've also been very constipated this round, which is something I always struggle with but seems especially worse during this round. My surgery schedule doesn't help for sure as I prefer to go in the morning and just don't have enough time in the morning to feel relaxed enough to go. 

Any advice on tweaks I could make to maximize this round and future Whole30s/food freedom is much appreciated! Thank you!! 
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Not as much as I would like. I keep a 16 oz bottle in my white coat that I take sips from between surgeries. We can’t scrub out to use the restroom during a procedure so I try not to drink too much if I know I’ll be in there for a long surgery (some are up to 11 hours straight!). I probably drink about 3 of those bottles throughout the day (I drink a lot after work at dinner and in the morning). My normal is 64+ oz so 48 is a big reduction but I’m doing the best I can. 

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Wow, you certainly have lots going on right now! You're amazing for committing to and sticking with Whole30 with such a hectic schedule! 

My gut says you aren't eating enough in general. You don't provide a ton of information about portions but make sure you're following the meal template in terms of portion sizes. If you haven't seen the meal template, here it is: https://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf. It might be worth trying to eat on the upper end of the template for a few days and see how that makes you feel. 

I'd also encourage you to really focus on having at least one serving of plated fat with each meal, especially since you're likely on your feet all day. Fat is so, so important to achieving pretty much any of those NSVs we're looking for! It looks like a couple of your meals don't have any plated fat. So perhaps give that a try? It might even be worth having some fat as a snack. I love snack packs of olives (Oloves is a brand that is mostly compliant) and snack packs of coconut butter (Artisana Organics is fabulous). Those would be super easy to carry around in your white coat. 

Anyway, best of luck to you!! 

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Does the mayonnaise in the cabbage cole slaw count as a plated fat? there's probably 1.5-2 tablespoons per serving.d 

my proteins are definitely following the meal template. my veggies at some meals could be more - like breakfast is definitely not 2 cups. my lunch/dinner is usually about 2 cups of vegetables and 4 oz of chicken/beef/turkey/etc. i usually add some avocado to my eggs in the morning, just forgot them this week. but the smoked salmon is pretty fatty so I thought that'd be ok? i'll be more conscious of including more plated fats the next few days. 

thanks for the snack suggestions! i do love olives so will look into the olive snack packs or just put some in a ziplock. 

and thanks! it's definitely an insane schedule but I figure if my schedule isn't going to be the healthiest I should at least be good about what I'm putting in my body. 

1 hour ago, kirbz said:

Wow, you certainly have lots going on right now! You're amazing for committing to and sticking with Whole30 with such a hectic schedule! 

My gut says you aren't eating enough in general. You don't provide a ton of information about portions but make sure you're following the meal template in terms of portion sizes. If you haven't seen the meal template, here it is: https://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf. It might be worth trying to eat on the upper end of the template for a few days and see how that makes you feel. 

I'd also encourage you to really focus on having at least one serving of plated fat with each meal, especially since you're likely on your feet all day. Fat is so, so important to achieving pretty much any of those NSVs we're looking for! It looks like a couple of your meals don't have any plated fat. So perhaps give that a try? It might even be worth having some fat as a snack. I love snack packs of olives (Oloves is a brand that is mostly compliant) and snack packs of coconut butter (Artisana Organics is fabulous). Those would be super easy to carry around in your white coat. 

Anyway, best of luck to you!! 

 

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1 minute ago, SchrodingersCat said:

Yup, the mayo counts as a plated fat :)

ok, great, so my lunches are fine. i'll add the avocado to my eggs once i can get to the store this weekend. my dinner has coconut milk in the cauliflower rice, which I figured was also a plated fat. i'll try to think of another fat to add to my beef basil stir fry with the cauliflower rice. thank you! 

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