Bumpy journey to food freedom

[UrsulaB11]

The Whole30 program and mindset is clearly not a destination, but a journey and I think people who treat Whole 30 otherwise are doomed to fail. So, I am hoping that at least with my mind right on the approach, I can succeed, even though this is a tough road.

For Day 1, I had wine. I had my usual, pre-W30 amount and the next day, I felt it, despite being hydrated. I fell asleep quickly but must not have slept well because I have been yawning all day and this is the first morning in weeks where I didn't want to go to work and wanted to go to bed. Even though work has been daunting lately, I usually get up and go and it is fine, but not today,  So, while it didn't keep me from going to work or even being productive, I felt a little compromised.  And, I was actually a little relieved(?) happy(?) that I was going to be fully W30 for the next couple of days. 

Rule 1: No alcohol on school/work nights.

Could Rule 1 be no alcohol at all? Sure, I guess so, but that's not workable for me. I like the taste of wine and beer and I think telling myself no more is like telling myself to stop blinking. (I'm sure you are trying that now and finding yourself to be very uncomfortable very quickly).  This needs to be a long term program and I feel like denying myself something that I really like is not a good idea to buttress my success.

 

[Contessa]

2 hours ago, UrsulaB11 said:

The Whole30 program and mindset is clearly not a destination, but a journey

Absolutely love this thought! Perhaps we should use it as a guide and let it teach us more about how we respond to food.

I appreciate your takeaway on alcohol, too. It affects me the same way, impairing my sleep. Wine and beer are great as weekend treats.

[UrsulaB11]

So glad I titled this so aptly.

As I indicated previously, I reintroduced alcohol and that was ok. I ate a pizza with a gluten free crust and no cheese and I was fine. But after a really tough week (total first world problems so no pity or sympathy earned or necessary), I ate a little more than half of a pizza with a regular crust and cheese plus prosciutto and arugula. And I had some wine.  It is more than 24 hours after I started that eating and drinking, my stomach still hurts. I slept like crap and kicked myself because I already identified that alcohol was bad on a weekday but combined two off limits foods means I have no idea what caused the bloating and discomfort. So I tormented myself, feel bad and I don't know what to blame. Stupid.

But, another lesson learned. This coming weekend means that I need to be mindful of what I am eating and adding only one ingredient at a time.  Or I can do this and know that I will be miserable the next day - and maybe two days depending on how long it takes me to feel better again....

[UrsulaB11]

It appears that the impact of the foods that disagree with my body is about 36 hours. I ate the pizza around 7:30/8:00 pm on Wednesday and felt human by about noon on Friday. The bloat was gone by 10 or so and I actually could go in one hole on my belt. Someone I saw yesterday and today commented that I looked like I had lost a bunch of weight - she didn't make that comment yesterday morning....

The game plan is to stick to W30 into next week and then test the gluten with flour tortillas. I love tortillas in any form, so I ate them a lot when not on W30. I figure having one at breakfast, lunch and dinner one day next week with no other ad ins should give me a clear picture on the impact of gluten. Then I can try the same by adding some dairy on a day after full recovery.

While I am beating myself up a bit for Wednesday's poor choices, I am feeling a little hopeful that I will have a good answer on my intolerances going this route and can make smart, knowledgeable decisions on my food choices - like accepting the fact that I will be miserable if I eat gluten.

[UrsulaB11]

I just ate a small flour tortilla and I am terrified. Been putting it off for days in fear of the repercussions. My plan is to eat one at breakfast and one at lunch (and maybe one for dinner?) with everything else holding Whole30 firm.

It's been interesting that the scale has been much more stable. I used to have huge weight fluctuations, presumably from food reactions, and that was always such an impediment for me to try and lose weight - I could have a great week and gain weight due to the reactions. So, I now want to focus on actually losing the weight, which likely means I am going to start counting calories while eating Whole30 predominantly and I also need to be better about exercise.

But for now, I am waiting for the tortillas to confirm the gluten sensitivity.....

[UrsulaB11]

I ate three flour tortillas yesterday - one at 10, another at 1 and the final one around 7:15pm. It's 3:45 pm now and I feel hungover, despite having had no alcohol since this weekend. I have a slight headache, I'm dragging and I am craving something sweet or unhealthy. Of course, when I hit the vending machine at work, there was nothing gluten free in there and I wasn't going to drink an unhealthy soft drink, so I am sticking to water. This certainly explains a lot.

When I did W30, I had more energy and no afternoon slump.  So much more productive at work and I handled the stress better and I see why. If I was fighting off the effects of gluten and feeling crappy like this, no wonder I felt bad and unmotivated.

Hopefully this gets through my system sooner rather than later.