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Whole 30 (July 2)


Emma

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20 minutes ago, Emma said:

They can't ALL be bad. We did pick up some mini hotdogs at Costco that were totally clean and tasty. They were a little salty, but that helped me eat fewer. Now I'm trying to remember what is in Nathan's Hot Dogs or the Applegate ones which are the ones I usually get for my kids - I think they're pretty clean - maybe not Whole30, but I like them.  What are your guys' hot dog standards? Maybe I'm totally in the dark on this scene :/  

My gold standard hot dog is the Costco Cafe ones LOL!!

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I'm perfectly happy to eat an Aidell's chicken and apple sausage instead of a hot dog, personally... and those are W30 compliant (or at least were when I was on round a couple of months ago). For the kids, I've always gotten Gwaltney because it was on sale once (and is still one of the least expensive options even when not on sale) and the girls liked it... so any processed meat for them is chicken, and bologna and dogs has to be Gwaltney brand... the exception is corn dogs (I buy chicken corn dogs for home, but when we're out it seems that a corn dog is a corn dog is a corn dog, as far as my youngest is concerned -- we've never met a corn dog that child didn't like).

From what you ladies are saying, though, it seems that hot dogs are one of those foods that follows the idea that "healthy" shouldn't taste good... even though we know better ;) 

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5 hours ago, Jihanna said:

I'm perfectly happy to eat an Aidell's chicken and apple sausage instead of a hot dog, personally

I like those a lot too and they're nice to have in the fridge because then we have a quick and easy meal if nothing else is around.

8 hours ago, SchrodingersCat said:

My gold standard hot dog is the Costco Cafe ones LOL!!

That was funny - I really like those Costco ones too. They must be the gold standard!

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Day 27 - Is that correct? Wow. Yes.

My foot is sore, but it will get better. No walk/run for me today (wasn't gonna happen anyway) and probably not tomorrow, but hopefully Sunday.

I'm sitting here yawning. Yawning. I never yawn. I slept well, but I seemed to have lots of dreams and I woke up later than my normal time (6:45 instead of 6:10) so I guess I needed it. I think I'm staying up a bit too late. I also went to the bathroom around 1:30 and had a bit of trouble falling back asleep - only a bit, not a lot. Yawned again!  And another! This is kind of funny how much I'm yawning. I woke up on my own so I got enough sleep. And again! (They're big deep yawns that cause my eyes to water). I think I need to pick up the pace on my coffee. ;) I do wonder if it's stress, hormones (my dreams do change during my cycle which is extremely inconsistent these days), or....I don't know what else would be behind it - lack of water yesterday? Need to stretch? It's kind of funny.

Other than yawning. All is good. I just need to shower and make breakfast and I have almost an hour so I'm in better shape than yesterday. There's a few other things to do, but nothing crucial. Oh - notice how meditating and practicing has gone by the wayside, particularly meditating! And now, when the stress goes up, is the time is's even more beneficial. BUT, I am working really hard on staying focused on my ONE priority which is my health which means Whole30 and I'm pretty certain that the time I'm not putting into other things will be okay in the long run because my energy will be more consistent in the future.

As for reintro, LadyWolf was going to do honey first which is clever because then one can make paleo baked goods, but now I'm realizing that coconut is still a question for me. As is chocolate. As are almonds which I love. I have been eating almond nut bars throughout this Whole30 so I can't really reintroduce them at this point, but I can do a day of coconut which would help me determine. I don't actually think I have an issue with honey or maple syrup. I like honey, but I don't love it. I do love maple syrup though so maybe that one triggers some sugar dragon behavior. Again, IDK!

Well, I'd better stand up and begin moving. I'm still yawning!

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Day 27

Day went well enough. It's late and I just put down my work. My energy was consistent and fairly even. I got tired in the early evening, but had some dinner and kept working. It's so beautiful out and I wish I could just be enjoying that, but I also want/need to get things going for work and I feel like I'm starting to get a handle on it. The family is going camping tomorrow only an hour away. I'm going to work most of the day and drive out there for the night and then come back early and work some more - it's not quite the same as going with, but .... it sure allows me some much needed time. 

Again, I am so glad I am doing this and so glad I'm this far along and so hopeful that this is something I can maintain because I like feeling a bit more resilient and capable again.

Breakfast; Zuchinni and eggs

Lunch and Dinner: Kitchen Sink (ground beef, cabbage, onions)

Snack: Handful of almonds

I've got a bit more of the kitchen sink I can eat tomorrow at work. Not sure what I will cook up next. It really helped having my food at work in a large quantity so I could eat it over several days and I'd like to do that again. I've got some chicken, carrots, spaghetti squash - hmmm - that's not sounding particularly appealing. Oh well - I've got enough to get through tomorrow am and lunch. Off to bed.

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5 hours ago, Emma said:

Again, I am so glad I am doing this and so glad I'm this far along and so hopeful that this is something I can maintain because I like feeling a bit more resilient and capable again.

This is a great summation of the journey we've taken to get this far!! I love it!! And the kitchen sink sounds really good! We're almost there!! Just a few more days! 

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Day 28 - Well, technically it's Day 29 since it's after midnight, but since I haven't gone to bed yet, I'm still on 28.

I worked ALLLLLL day today and then drove out to the campgrounds and met my family around nine. I took my sleeping bag and was semi committed to spending the night, but also semi not. Then I realized I left all my vitamins and Natural Calm at home and I don't like disrupting that consistency. AND, my lips were feeling chapped which they often do right before I catch a cold. However, they were not chapped earlier. I have been stressed so it could be that and I slept crappy last night (period) but I also ate two nut bars this evening and I think it might have been that. Wow. I really do need to lay off the nuts, but they are SO convenient and easy. Anyway, once the kids fell asleep, I left and drove back home (I'd told them I was going to do so). I think I'll be more productive if I wake up at home, shower, and get working on things.

But the point to all that....was that I did not stop at a McDonalds and pick up an unsweetened ice tea. I was thirsty and the pre Whole30 me would totally have pulled into a drive through and also ordered a cheeseburger and fries because why not. The old me would have grabbed some junk food on the way out to the campground or picked up a bag of chips at Target. Or maybe one of those pizzas they sell at Target. I've never had one. I WAS really hungry this evening - like crazy hungry. I didn't really eat enough and I guess I hadn't had dinner so I ate olives and the nut bars while driving and had to call it good. The hunger grumbles went away and at the campground I was fine with my bottle of water.

I had a thought earlier today based on my observations that when I'm really busy, I just forget to eat and don't want to eat. When I travel by myself, I often don't eat. I don't need to eat in the sense that I don't get moody or grumpy or stressed until early evening when I'm in these modes. I suppose that's lucky cool that I can go so long without eating, but it got me thinking about why I eat when I'm not super busy and maybe I eat to get stimuli in my system.  Not because I'm bored, but because my nervous system is seeking MORE.  So it eats and then something about the food triggers the wanting of more food.

Certainly there are times I eat when I'm upset or bored or stressed, but not really. Procrastinating often calls for food. So, as I was playing with this idea of my body wanting MORE, I was also thinking about how I am not an adrenaline junky and I like quiet times at home, but....my physical body is just not getting what it needs because I'm not exercising maybe and so it seeks something. But now, eating Whole30, maybe my overall system is just more centered and balanced and so it doesn't need anything more. Reminds me a bit of how some folks with ADHD feel more settled after a cup of coffee.

Anyway, that was my big thought for the day. The other was the NSV about not eating at the drive through.

And now it is one am and so I'd better get my body to sleep so the cat can wake me at five and the dog at six :) Or maybe we'll all sleep in!

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I loved everything about your post, Emma! And as one with ADHD, you hit the nail on the head! Funny thing is I noticed just this past week that I've not needed as much coffee lately as my pre-Whole 30 self. I'm so much more centered and balanced and less forgetful. Way to go on the NSV!! We've got today and tomorrow..... We so have this!!! It's exciting!!

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Day 29. Wow. That number kind of makes me feel a little sad. Like going away to camp and it's a bit stressful and fun and seems like it's going to be a super long week and then all of a sudden, it's the last day. And at the same time I feel a big smile and sense of pride, like yeah - I did it! It's my own special secret thing I've been working on for myself - kinda like waking up early and going to the gym and all day, you know that you already rocked things really well. 

I went to sleep at one and woke up at nine! I have not slept till nine in ages. The animals were all on the bed. They had semi woken me up earlier, but they all settled back down and I was able to get a nice healthy eight hours of sleep. I woke up and showered and made my coffee and am sitting in a sunny quiet house right now and will hopefully get some of my thinking project done before the family returns.

My left ankle has been sore this last week. I assumed it was from my trivial amount of walk/jogging so I've been laying low, but it's still sore and my knees were sore at night and I can feel little sharp pains lurking underneath - nothing bad, but stiff and sharp. It could be my period or the nut bars or something else. I'm more just noting it.  I love my sleeping bag and I loved the idea of sleeping outside last night, but I'm really glad I was able to come home and take my turmeric and magnesium and the things that seem to help support my system.

And the eating thing - I often eat when I can't get my brain to focus. I frequently do many things at once and think big picture and very right brainy until I can find the patterns that weave things together in a nice left brain way and in this process....I think that's a time I eat. Like right now as I need to sit down to focus, I can see me wanting to clean up the table and get the visual environment less distracting and then make some food and sit down to try to focus -lots of rituals to get to that focus place. And then when I'm focused, I'm focused, but so hard to get there when I have lots I want to do. One thing at a time is what I sometimes have to tell myself. But this morning, I think I'm okay just grabbing my notebook and sitting here with the coffee and without the other rituals (for the moment). 

I had this other thought about traditional diets and the influence of the western junk food diets. In more traditional communities, if one grows up eating the meats, veggies, and regular foods people are relatively healthy. It's the introduction of the sodas and the chips and the SAD things that have triggered a huge increase in diabetes and obesity.  I grew up eating a SAD diet so I don't think I was aware of the night and day difference - it was more a wide ski slope of 'healthy" foods and junky foods. And the nothingness that my body feels on Whole30 (nothing being good and kinda centered and not questing) is not something I ever really knew (or maybe noticed) even when eating healthy. I've always been a grazer, even when skinny. 

That was it. I'm off to grab my notebook. Cheers to a beautiful day for all of us!

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Sleep, some time for yourself, and day 29!!!! I have really enjoyed your musings on your journey. You have said so many things the resonate with me over the last few weeks, and I am very appreciative. Every time I read a post I am yelling YES!, EXACTLY!, and ME TOO!.

Keep it going! Cheers to day 29!

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Day 29 - Oof. I have a foggy congested head. It's been really windy here so maybe there are pollens in the air. Or maybe it's stress and I'm catching a cold. Or maybe it's the nut bar I ate this morning. I am tempted to take a claritin but I also like that I'm not taking them so I'm not quite sure what to do. Go to bed I guess. I did not finish ANYTHING!!! Tomorrow morning is going to be a doozy at this rate and work will be a doozy and tomorrow evening will be a doozy. I did work most of the day on things, but things just always take longer than I expect. I might have to go into Plan B which is make things work without things being how I want them.

I also didn't eat this morning. I totally forgot. And then when I realized, I ate some carrots and mackerel. Mmmm - that doesn't sound so good. It was my first time having mackerel from a can and it was good. For dinner we had spaghetti squash with ground beef and a tomato sauce I picked up in the store. It was a good sauce and my husband did a nice job putting it all together. Not sure what we're having tomorrow. SO much effort to figure out food.

I'm tired. My lips feel chapped which is not a good sign. My head is stuffy. I think I will take an allergy pill to eliminate any allergy issues. This is a terrible week to be fighting something.

But other than that, all is good. It's past nine and I'm still working. I haven't watched tv in ages or even checked Facebook more than a couple minutes at a time. I also haven't done laundry so some things are not miraculously changing for the better.

All is acceptable. Good sleep to all of us (toasting a glass of lime soda water) ;)

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Congrats on one day more! 

May I ask, now that you are so close to reintroduction, which foods are you missing the mosts?
Do you plan an slow roll reintro (since you seem kinda sorry of your W30 being about to finish) or a faster approach?

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7 hours ago, Amura said:

Congrats on one day more! 

May I ask, now that you are so close to reintroduction, which foods are you missing the mosts?
Do you plan an slow roll reintro (since you seem kinda sorry of your W30 being about to finish) or a faster approach?

The crazy thing is I haven't missed too much - probably a good greasy cheeseburger or a slice of pizza when everyone else is having one. I've missed having a beer when camping or hanging with friends, but overall, I haven't missed stuff. I've missed the convenience of finding food anywhere and everywhere. I've missed going out to dinner. I'll have to think about it today to see what I've missed.  Regarding reintro, I'm going to do the slow thing I hope. I'm eating Whole30 to make big changes health wise and part of that is figuring out what foods might not sit well with me so I want to deliberately introduce soy products and some other things - though right now I can't remember what my tentative plan is at all!

4 hours ago, LadyWolf0926 said:

We're here, Emma!!  We made it!! Happy D30!!  **happy dance**

 

We did make it - including that obnoxious restart! It seems so easy once you get to 30 days, but there sure were plenty of days where things could have taken a turn. I do feel proud of myself and super glad there were others that were doing this at the same time and super glad some of those people were you with your good meals and positive attitude and organized reintro plan!!

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1 minute ago, Emma said:

We did make it - including that obnoxious restart! It seems so easy once you get to 30 days, but there sure were plenty of days where things could have taken a turn. I do feel proud of myself and super glad there were others that were doing this at the same time and super glad some of those people were you with your good meals and positive attitude and organized reintro plan!!

Oh stahp, girl! You're making me blush lol :lol:

OMG.... That restart, tho. Right? Ugh.

It definitely helped having folks like you, Beckha99, Jihanna, Amy_Michigan, Schrod in the forum going thru this at the same time.  (And the award goes to......) Having that layer of accountability made a HUGE deal. 

Thank you (and everyone) for the unending support! 

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Congrats my friend!!! It is amazing how much can really happen in 30 days, eh? I hope your congestion is just a little bit of allergies and not getting sick. You have been working like crazy the last few days, so I hope that things settle down a little soon. I understand being busy and forgetting to eat, but remember to take care of yourself! Especially if you are not feeling well. HAPPY DAY 30!!!!!!!!!

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Day 30

Thirty. There it is. 

And I have a gosh dang nabbit cold! The allergy pill helped last night. I'm glad I took it, but I had trouble falling asleep. This morning my ears itch and my throat and nose are congested. Blech blech blechity blech. My face feels bloated. My throat skin feels puffy.

No way in H am I stopping Whole30 right now.  

But thank goodness I'm at this point because hopefully I can ride through this cold quickly and easily - something that rarely occurs when I'm eating my old ways and with my elevated inflammation markers.

And the thought of reintro and feeling icky over some reaction is also unpleasant so I'm postponing it.

I will, though, try to lay off all nut bars. I don't think they are helping the situation and there's no way I can even reintroduce them if I have never elimintated them.

So....Congratulations to ME for making it do Day 30, but there's still more mountain to climb. I'm cool with it.

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1 minute ago, Beckha99 said:

Congrats my friend!!! It is amazing how much can really happen in 30 days, eh? I hope your congestion is just a little bit of allergies and not getting sick. You have been working like crazy the last few days, so I hope that things settle down a little soon. I understand being busy and forgetting to eat, but remember to take care of yourself! Especially if you are not feeling well. HAPPY DAY 30!!!!!!!!!

I know - forgetting to eat. What the heck! I'm about to stand up and make my breakfast and lunch so I've got food at work. And maybe I'll try to meditate and work on breathing. Did you know we lose fat through our expirations? So weird isn't it. Last night I was googling what two pounds of fat looks like. It's a big ugly handful - definitely something to feel good about passing along. (I was trying to recognize that two pounds of weight loss would still be something to feel good about instead of the oft envisioned miracle twenty pound weight loss)

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1 minute ago, Emma said:

(I was trying to recognize that two pounds of weight loss would still be something to feel good about instead of the oft envisioned miracle twenty pound weight loss)

That is a clever way to think about it. My husband asked if I was excited to weigh myself. Honestly, no. The number on the scale is not going to match how I am feeling. I know this. I almost feel like I want to step on the scale and close my eyes, have him write it down, and then move on. I don't want to see the number. If I see it and I am disappointed, it will be easier to not stay with it even if that is not all this is about. If I don't know, I can logically say "I am still a work in progress, and I am not where I want to be yet."

Is it wishful thinking? But then I do want to see. UG!!! Damn scales and numbers!!! It is stressful. Have you decided if you are going to weigh yourself tomorrow? 

I hope you feel better soon!

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Congratulations, Emma!

You are so inspiring! 
Following with Whole30 - and delaying the reintroduction - feels like a good thing to do if you are feeling that better, but I must admit I find it amusing. I would be dying to know how I feel after eating this or that!
Actually I think it already excites my imagination, and I'm still on day 5 :lol:

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14 minutes ago, Beckha99 said:

Is it wishful thinking? But then I do want to see. UG!!! Damn scales and numbers!!! It is stressful. Have you decided if you are going to weigh yourself tomorrow? 

If I can get up and get to the gym in the morning, then yes, I will weigh myself. I know I've lost at least a couple pounds. Or at least, I think I know. And if for some reason I haven't, I'm going to chalk it up to my changing 50 year old body and the need to just buckle down. My body's job is to keep things balanced and here I'm throwing things for a loop. If my body decided to try to maintain my weight somehow while I'm doing all these good things, that's fine.  It will chill out once it sees that the changes aren't a danger. (I wrote that this morning and then had to rush to get ready and never pressed submit) That was pretty optimistic chill thinking of me huh!? I don't know if I will actually FEEL that way, but that's the self talk I'll do and I'll continue to trust the process. I do think that the longer I eat well, the more my body will begin to self-regulate and change will happen, even if slowly. The tricky part I suppose is to not screw up and undo everything by living a life of debauchery and screw it all.

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9 hours ago, Amura said:

I must admit I find it amusing. I would be dying to know how I feel after eating this or that!

Well, I am curious, but after a couple episodes of eating things and not feeling so hot, I don't really want to test it out. The bad part of the reaction is fairly short lived, but I feel like until the food has cleared my body, I feel like internally my body is still dealing with it. And, right now I just don't have any spare time to purposely make myself feel lousy. It must be that the reactions are strong enough for me to actually listen this time - kinda like getting knocked over by a car and then you're more careful in a parking lot. Okay, maybe not quite that extreme, but definitely enough to make me pause and since I'm having no cravings....I'm just gonna go with it. Plus, things are already easier when you've done the hard part which is those first few weeks!!!!

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On 7/2/2019 at 8:35 AM, Emma said:

I know I need to make changes and I know those changes won't happen till I actually DO something differently. The entire day is ahead of me and so far, I'm on track. ;) I had some labwork done this morning to check for C Reactive Protein. Mine is high. I was supposed to get it tested 6 months ago, but then I started eating poorly again and didn't want to receive bad results again so I postponed it till I started eating better.  But, sighing, test results and data are good things so I got the test this morning and sometime in the next week I will have my results and even if I'm hanging my head in shame, I'll have numbers to work on.

I know eating clean works for me and I know when I follow a Whole 30-esque meal plan, I feel better and am healthier. I know this and yet I don't do it. I want to do it and yet I don't do it. Yesterday I started to do it with a great breakfast of eggs, broccoli, and kale.....and then the rest of the day happened and I sought out trail mix (which I suppose isn't the worst of things, but it certainly wasn't doing me any favors).

My ailments:

Arthritis that is a b---- when I hike, walk, or try to jog in my feet.  Osteoarthritis in my knees that is also annoying.  Tightness in my shoulders. Allergies. Sixty pounds overweight. Low energy. Low get-things-done energy. I have such great plans and carrying them out just doesn't happen. 

My vision of myself:

Strong, healthy, vibrant, active.

Day 30 - I went back and looked at what I first wrote on July 2nd. Just starting and sticking to Whole30 for a day was something I'd planned to do for ages and never did. I remember going to the doctor and knowing I needed to change things, but finding that Day One was just so hard. It was so much easier to say, "Tomorrow" which, of course, never happened. And the guilt and the shame and the feeling lousy and the negative self talk and the low self-body-confidence....blech. And in all of that, I always KNEW what the answer was. It builds compassion to be in this position. It's so easy to look at somebody else and know what they should do. And for myself, I know what I should do: eat well, exercise. And finally I am. And I completed 30 clean days and I feel thankful that I got here - mostly thankful that I got to that Day One which is the hardest of them all.

My vision of myself is still there - who I want to be/look like/feel like. I don't quite think I'm there yet. Coughing and laughing - definitely not, but I'm feeling a bit sportier and zestier and less frumpy and rolling ball of dough.

And my aches and pains? Oh, my foot hurts from my attempts at walking/running (which I'm now officially one day behind) and I have chapped lips because I'm fighting a cold and I'm back on allergy pills because of the wind and the smoke from local wildfires, but I'm NOT super sick. I'm NOT limping. I'm NOT anything bad. I'm not miraculously healed of all aches, but I think my body is much happier. I'm also still overweight, but not by as much. My clothes are fitting better and I'm feeling SO much more confident about being at work and looking better. But mainly, I'm not not doing what I need to do and that's huge.

So yeah - I completed the WHOLE Whole30 and I'm feeling good about that. And I'm continuing on for now.

Screen Shot 2019-08-19 at 9.57.39 PM.png

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8 hours ago, Emma said:

It was so much easier to say, "Tomorrow" which, of course, never happened.

At a recovery meeting last week, someone spoke about how he finally stopped drinking -- he just started saying "I won't drink today, but I'll have one tomorrow.", and of course tomorrow never actually comes. I've been trying to bring this into my own food recovery by saying that I won't have insert food here today, but maybe I'll grab some tomorrow.

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22 minutes ago, Jihanna said:

At a recovery meeting last week, someone spoke about how he finally stopped drinking -- he just started saying "I won't drink today, but I'll have one tomorrow.", and of course tomorrow never actually comes. I've been trying to bring this into my own food recovery by saying that I won't have insert food here today, but maybe I'll grab some tomorrow.

Oh my gosh - I do that sometimes! I say, "I won't have pizza now, but next Friday, boy oh boy, I sure will" and then I don't. That's a funny and good twist on the tomorrow thing that he does. I'll have to play with that.

 

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