At Least I'm Not Doing the Cooking...

[(w)holeinafghanistan]

So, I started my very first Whole30 yesterday, 8 Jan 13 ... in Afghanistan.

I've got several reasons for starting Whole30, the first one being that in Afghanistan, there are not as many distractions to lure me away from goals, especially in so short a timeframe. At least that's what I thought when I tried to start 3 days ago - and quickly realized that I'm still surrounded by care packages full of Christmas cookies, candy, trail mix (but not the good kind... mostly m&ms and peanuts), and the like. I did successfully complete my first and second day, starting on the 6th, but knew I needed more help. So, on the night of the 7th I scoured the website, reading as much as I could and finally signed up for the Whole30 Daily, the forum, the works. I gave all my remaining care package goodies to other guys in the office, and the only edible thing where I sleep is water, so I'm good there. The good part about being in Afghanistan is that, for the most part, I have to make a conscious decision and go out of the way to get to a 'fast food' place on base like Pizza Hut or Popeye's. I haven't eaten from there in the two months I've been here already, so that part should be easy.

Second, I've tried Paleo before and for some reason it seemed too gimmicky to me. After reading several "Paleo vs. Whole30" topics on the forum and elsewhere on whole30life, I think it comes down to all the available paleo substitutions, "paleo-fying" junk food. I really like the idea of simply eating simple foods without all the guess work of figuring out what's paleo, or at least passes for it, the formula here is much simpler. Another difficult aspect of this though is ... I'm still in Afghanistan. I have chow halls to go to, which means I don't have to do any of the cooking - it also means I have NO say in how my food is prepared. Everything I've eaten so far (in the three days, not just one) has seemed to fit into the Whole30 box - but I don't know if my chicken was basted before getting thrown on the grill or if my baked sweet potatoes have butter all over them.

Finally, I've been 'crossfitting' for about a year now - in fact, I think I started this week a year ago - and my only goals were to get stronger and improve my skills in the gymnastics movements (my goals are much more specific, but that's for a different blog, right?). I've seen the results other folks in the box I go to at home have had: lean muscle growth, fat loss, and ultimately strength gain. I can't argue with that, so I might as well try it. As a bonus, I'm excited to learn what added benefits I see in regard to injury prevention and healing (like, nagging stuff ... I'm not expecting a compound fracture to grow back together or anything) and just being and feeling healthier in general. Just for poops and grins, my workout on day one was a 10 minute EMOTM (every minute on the minute) of 2 overhead squats and 2 muscle up transitions to warm up; metabolic conditioning of 5 rounds for time of 10 overhead lunges, 5 ring dips, and 20 double unders, and a cash out of deadlifts. It sucked. A lot.

To describe my mood right now, at the end of day one, I'd say I'm excited - I have so much to look forward to in the next 30 days. Real, good food, improvements to my physical and mental wellbeing ... and not having to do the cooking! And if you've read this far, I might as well tell you what I ate for day one:

• Breakfast - hard boiled eggs (but not the yolk, I just don't like it), four pieces of bacon, a half cup of pineapple, and two cups of black coffee.
  
• Lunch - Two grilled chicken breasts (with some kind of spice on them, not sure what though), salad of lettuce, tomato, onion and cucumber with olive oil and vinegar dressing, a plum, and a bottle of water.
  
• Dinner - Chicken Kabob (really chicken on a stick, I didn't taste any kind of marinade or spices, but I could be wrong), green beans, baked sweet potato cubes, steamed mixed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots), and two bottles of water.
  

Until next time...

[Kirsteen]

Good for you. When I started, I found the Whole 30 daily emails really, really helpful, I recomend them to everyone. As far as not knowing exactly what's in your food, well sometimes we just have to do what we have to do and make the best possible choices available. Will you end up with an absolutely squeaky clean W30? - possibly not. Will you feel better and see improvements? - definitely. One thing's for sure, stressing about it is only going to be couterproductive.

In saying all that, I'd try to make sure I was getting enough fat, if you cut out the egg yolks you're cutting out most of that from the eggs. and where's the veggies with breakfast? Good luck with this and keep us posted how you're doing.

[Tom Denham]

Oh yeah. You can make good improvements making food choices like you did on day 1. But like Kirsteen noted, you probably need a little more fat. Egg whites, chicken breasts, and salad are lean and a body needs some fat to function optimally.

[CSB1960]

First of all, thank you for your service!

Good luck on your whole 30.

[Katybelle04]

Good luck on you whole 30! And thank you for what you do.

I started my Whole 30 on January 5th. I also ate fairly clean to behin with. I imagine it's a bit challenging to do a whole 30 when you have no control over the cooking process, and you are at the mercy of the chow hall. Maybe order some paleo kits or something?! I keep them in my work bag just in case I get a hungry. Best of luck to you and stay safe!