(Re)starting September w30

[Rebecca001]

I’m restarting another strict round of w30. 
I first began in July 2020 and my food  has been pretty much perfectly w30 since then. I’d say in the last 14 months I have had maybe 10 “treats” (all executed within the food freedom ‘rules’) and the rest has been entirely compliant. Plus wine. With a few strict 28-30 day periods within that. 
 

However: recently (coinciding with 6 weeks off work for school holidays) I note that my mental health is feeling pretty fragile again. I’m starting to feel like this is a ‘diet’. I’m gaining weight (which I partly think is muscle?) but the scales annoy me, and yet I can’t help myself stepping on them daily.  I feel very tired. I have a recurring hip pain which has really flared up this week.  I am training hard but running slower and doing a lot of classes (seeing improvement there however) and above all I have lost the amazing tiger blood ROAR and generally feel flat. It all feels rather like a chore. 
 

so for me that means I need to go back to what I know makes me feel good. I think a lot of the compliant foods bring with them behaviours or side effects that make me feel crappy. Binge tendencies, getting stuck in a food rut, endless grazing at the fridge, snacking- I do all this on entirely 100% compliant food. Plus this all punctuated by alcohol at the weekend which affects my sleep and leaves me feeling exhausted. 
 

this w30 is less about the food and a lot more about the behaviours. Planning new exciting meals, increasing the variety I eat, particularly vegetables (salad, salad, salad?), cutting out snacks and fruit, and not drinking alcohol will inevitably help me a lot I think. 
 

If anyone else is doing a start or restart this month, feel free to join this thread to chat! 
 

[pearlgirl2017]

2 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

 I note that my mental health is feeling pretty fragile again.

I am hoping to see an improvement in my mental health as well.  Cutting out the sugar is great for the inflammation in my knees, and I know it helps me to sleep better.  But I want to get off the anti-depressant med.  I only have one, and I can get by taking half a pill every other day, but it still has the annoying side effect of jitters.  I guess having the jitters all day is better than laying awake all night being afraid that terrorists are going to empty my bank accounts.

[Rebecca001]

I hope you get some respite from this @pearlgirl2017

my MH issues are almost entirely food/eating/body image related. I don’t have (thankfully) the sort of anxiety you write about and I’m not on any meds. I just feel that sliding sometimes into feeling really crappy and unhappy; I know when I am fully in the w30 swing this quite rapidly subsides. 

[Rebecca001]

So it’s day 3 for me. I slept SO well last night, and slept in as well which is unheard of for me. Feel quite tired this morning! 
my hip is still painful so I have taken an anti inflammatory and will really try not to run or do anything too impactful on it today. I will however do a yoga video and I am doing a daily 10 mins abs programme which I will do as well. I set myself the fitness goal of having visible abs by Christmas so I am determined to do this daily programme! 
food today will be chicken and salad, avocado, eggs, and then dinner will be pork meatballs cooked in a rich Italian sauce with courgetti. I’m not a huge fan of tomato based sauces but I have used this before and I know it is nice so I’m looking forward to that. 
 

I return to work tomorrow after 6 weeks summer holidays from school so the rest of my day today will  be spent getting my things ready, and a bit of pampering/grooming, colour my hair and do my nails etc ready to return to civilisation! 

[SchrodingersCat]

I love Whole30 sleep - I actually end up sore from not moving for so long!!

Love the fitness goals - I'm going to give myself a week then start setting some mild exercise goals.

Giving up the wine is a biggie for me, too - it really hates me, no matter how much I love it!!

 

[JulieinIN]

Just began a Whole30 this morning so Day 1 for me.  Already having to ditch a dinner outting suggested by my loopy sister who, knowing I was going to do a W30 this month, suggested dinner out at an Italian restaurant which has nothing on the menu that looks close to compliant.

Anyway, I just need to step down on my alcohol and grains.  I have some joint pain I'd like to see if I can address via the w30.  Certainly stress management (I mentioned my loopy sister, right?).  Obviously weight, energy and sleep.

[JulieinIN]

1 hour ago, SchrodingersCat said:

I love Whole30 sleep - I actually end up sore from not moving for so long!!

Love the fitness goals - I'm going to give myself a week then start setting some mild exercise goals.

Giving up the wine is a biggie for me, too - it really hates me, no matter how much I love it!!

 

I actually found W30 sleep kind of scary.  Not waking up all night?  But now. I'd like to experience that again.

[Rebecca001]

@JulieinINi find after a few weeks of not drinking alcohol my dreams return. Not usually scary/nightmares but just really deep sleep with lots of dreams. It’s as if my brain starts to tap into that zone where it gets that real restorative sleep. 

[Rebecca001]

So it’s close of day 3 here for me and I feel absolutely exhausted, legs aching and tired. I know to expect this but I must admit I didnt think I would have too much of a detox in this way as I pretty much eat w30 all the time anyway, and would normally not drink alcohol in the week so essentially this week is no different to my previous week. I wonder if I’m actually coming down with something as I feel so tired. 
my hip is less painful though after a few days resting it (not run since Sunday). I’ve done very little exercise this week which is unlike me. 
 

Tomorrow I will eat a very light breakfast before work (avocado, fresh fruit, and chicken bone broth), then I Have made my lunch to take with me (salad with chicken, sauerkraut, mixed seeds and mayo) and dinner will be a lemon and garlic Chicken traybake. It’s quite chicken heavy tomorrow, I do eat a lot of chicken! 
 

hoping for a good nights sleep! Lots of sleep talk on the various forum threads. I do find I sleep more deeply on W30 however I wake early and can sometimes struggle to get to sleep so it’s not always an immediate improvement unfortunately. 

[SchrodingersCat]

11 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

@JulieinINi find after a few weeks of not drinking alcohol my dreams return. Not usually scary/nightmares but just really deep sleep with lots of dreams. It’s as if my brain starts to tap into that zone where it gets that real restorative sleep. 

Absolutely agree. It makes me realise how superficial my wine sleeps are.

@Rebecca001 good luck with today's return to civilization!!!

[Paesaggio]

@Rebecca001 I'm with you regarding the achiness (day 2 here.)  These are the evenings where a warm bath with epsom salts really helps everything relax so I get good, healing sleep: http://lookingglassnaturalhealth.com/blog/2020/01/01/the-ultra-detox-bath-recipe (or some similar variation.) Good luck!

[Rebecca001]

@Paesaggio thanks for the tip! I love a nice salt bath. I am a frequent runner and we just sort of get used to aching constantly, but that was something else on wednesday, I felt broken! 
 

it was so nice to be back at work yesterday. I love to be busy and after our last year here in uk with Covid etc, returning to school ‘normal’ feels like we might finally be almost out of the pandemic now. 
 

Today is day 5, and will be my first dry weekend in a while! My food today will be grapefruit for breakfast (I know that’s not really enough but I need something light), then lunch is leftover chicken and a salad. Dinner, I’m not actually sure what it will be yet, I have miscalculated on my shopping so will probably pop out and grab a piece of steak or something similar. My husband will be drinking wine tonight and I am determined I won’t be. 
 

I will do my first run of the week today after work, my hip is a lot less painful but not 100% so will go easy. 
 

[SchrodingersCat]

I'm currently sober while my hubster is drinking wine and it ain't easy. Not just because of habit, but because tipsy people are hard. 

I look at the UK coming out of Covid and sit here in my 6th lockdown and just... jealous. I'm fully vaxxed, have been for months but because our government completely screwed up the vaccine order and roll out, not enough other people are and so we can't open up. We're still in one of the hardest lockdowns in the world, and now it's the longest!!

Sorry for the whinge! Glad your hip is on the mend, it's so frustrating when the mind is willing and the body says "nope!!". Hope your run goes well!

[Rebecca001]

Thanks @SchrodingersCat that sounds like a horrible lockdown. Are people still fairly compliant? We are finding a lot of cases and they will skyrocket now the schools are returning, and lots of double vaxxed people testing positive. But hopefully no more lockdowns! People are getting very fed up with them now and I don’t think public support will continue. 
 

so it’s end of day 5 but I’m not feeling good. I am going to re-restart with tomorrow as day 1 because I have found my almond milk is not compliant (do not know how that slipped through) plus I’m just feeling like I’ve not really been on task this week. My foods been compliantly ok, but I’ve broken every single ‘behaviour’ rule in the book: skipped meals, fruit (lots of fruit), grazing, mindless eating, not drinking enough water, not following the template, and then today I weighed myself which was stupid also. So it doesn’t feel good enough to count as my first few days so I’m calling a restart for tomorrow! 
I’m still not drinking tonight though! 
 

to be frank, I feel a bit crappy and tired,  maybe hormonal (I think ovulation not pmt though, as I am getting older I really notice ovulating) and just generally irritated and grumpy. It could be detox/ w30 related but I’m not sure. My stomach is very unsettled and I feel really waterlogged and bloated. 
 

 

 

[SchrodingersCat]

7 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

Thanks @SchrodingersCat that sounds like a horrible lockdown. Are people still fairly compliant? We are finding a lot of cases and they will skyrocket now the schools are returning, and lots of double vaxxed people testing positive. But hopefully no more lockdowns! People are getting very fed up with them now and I don’t think public support will continue. 

It's getting dicey. There are protests, and people just ignoring restrictions, but for the most part people are still complying. We're in Melbourne, so longer lockdown but less cases per day, and we're all watching Sydney who have really lost control of their outbreak, and so people are freaking out a bit and that leads to compliance. I think now spring is coming, people are going to get more restless though. It's just so different - in the UK you had really high numbers of infections and deaths, so now that there's such widespread vax, even with lots of cases, the lower hospitalisation and deaths means opening up and freedom and that's success. Australia is a victim of it's own "success" in that we closed borders, had very very low infection and deaths and now that people are learning that opening up and freedom means accepting case numbers, they're freaking out. It feels like failure, after 18 months of sacrifice. We're actually looking at moving to my home state, where there have been very few cases and no more than a week of lockdown, because we're just not coping anymore. 

[Rebecca001]

I feel a hundred times better today but tired, so very tired. My food has been good: salad and chicken thighs at lunch and then fajitas with chicken and steak in lettuce leave ‘wraps’. I have had some nut butter and an apple, and a scotch egg as snacks as well. Did bootcamp this morning. 
 

so day 1 had been a success! 
 

Tomorrow I will have a run first thing, then probably a Berry and coconut milk shake and some protein, lunch will be salad and dinner will be a roast with all the trimmings for a nice treat before back to school on Monday ! 

[Rebecca001]

Day 3 today, after my false start and restart. I must admit I feel good but I look really bloated, can’t get my rings off and every part of me that I usually think looks fat , looks fat today! I don’t know why! My food has been great but I’m feeling really tired now. We are having a freaky heatwave here, hotter than it’s been since July, and I’m escaped to the garden to close my eyes for half an hour before dinner 

[Rebecca001]

Day 4 for me today, and it went well. Breakfast was an almond milk, berry and seeds smoothie and a scotch egg. Lunch was leftovers from last night: chicken thighs and Mediterranean veg, and dinner was a beef and mushroom chilli and wedges. I’ve also had some pineapple, some raisins, and an apple. I didn’t run or do a class, it’s ridiculously and unseasonably hot here , and given my ongoing hip pain which flared up last week, I decided to just rest. Properly rest it. 
 

I must admit I’m not feeling brilliant, although earlier in the days I am. I guess I’m just tired by early evening. I’m having very deep, lots of dreams sleep. It’s now 10 days since I last drank alcohol and that is really starting to pay off. 
 

I drank plenty water today, but I’m still feeling really bloated and like I’m holding a lot of water all over, especially my hands and feet. 

[SchrodingersCat]

Yummm scotch eggs! I haven't made those in yonks and never thought about making them W30 friendly, but that would be easy! I'm inspired, I'll make some this weekend.

I'm with you on the tiredness of an evening, I'm starting to feel good during the day but by dinner time I'm ready to eat then bed. Agree with the no alcohol paying off - I'm also at 10 days and the difference is huge. 

[Rebecca001]

@SchrodingersCattry the recipe in the well fed cookbook. Instead of using crushed pork rinds, I roll mine around in nutritional yeast and it sticks to the wet meat and makes a nice coating.

I really find that the 2nd weekend not drinking is where it really turns for the better so I am excited for that. We have a family party this weekend but I am determined to stay off the wine. 
 

day…ooh… 5 for me today.  Still feel tired, still stupid hot here. I feel horribly bloated with the heat and I haven’t run for two days and that makes me grumpy too. So not really nice to be around! the heat will subside overnight and hopefully with the rain it will take away my retained water! 

my dinner was delicious though, it was from the slow cook recipe book, island short ribs - but I made it with diced beef and I didn’t slow cook it. Next time I will make it with chicken thigh meat, the beef was a little dry but the flavour was immense, really tangy and sweet! Yum! 
 

[Rebecca001]

Day 6 today. Went for my first run since Sunday and ran well, good pace - but now my hip is tight and painful. I really don’t want to have a long term break from running so once again, it’s resting for me until it feels better. It’s very frustrating and makes me sad. 
 

i’m pretty tired today (odd because I scored a good for sleep on my Fitbit last night) and I will be glad after tomorrow and it’s the weekend. I haven’t really followed any menu today which is possibly why I have ended up eating no lunch and instead having an apple and some dates, and then Having nuts and dried fruit after dinner too. Not a brilliant day, however all was compliant and tomorrow will be better I hope. 
 

gearing up for an alcohol free weekend, I actually am quite looking forward to it because I know after two weeks it really starts to kick in and get easier. I hope I feel less tired soon, it’s really hitting me in the evenings. 
 

 

[MadyVanilla]

I'm very similar - I like my wine and it's fun to share a bottle on the back deck with friends.  I'm going to be missing that this weekend!  But it does make a difference and it's not hard to replace the wine with something else (currently for me an hibiscus/green tea combo).   It sounds like you don't need luck as you know what is ahead and you're looking to the benefits and pay-offs of your choices!  

Sorry about the running, or rather the hip pain  - that stinks! 

[Rebecca001]

@MadyVanilla I tend to replace it with a very cold sparkling water, it is the only thing really that’s ‘dry’ enough. However I’m not really missing alcohol (yet) because I was feeling so horrible after drinking a lot all summer that I’m really enjoying the break! 

[SchrodingersCat]

2 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

@MadyVanilla I tend to replace it with a very cold sparkling water, it is the only thing really that’s ‘dry’ enough. However I’m not really missing alcohol (yet) because I was feeling so horrible after drinking a lot all summer that I’m really enjoying the break! 

Same!! I'm now realizing that even if I didn't drink much of an evening, it was affecting my sleep and making me feel a bit crappy in the morning. I like waking up feeling good. I did just realise that my Day 31 is my birthday, however, so that's going to be... interesting. 

[Rebecca001]

@SchrodingersCat I suppose because you are experienced in this now, you know that you can have something on your birthday that you’ve reintroduced successfully before? For me that might be a glass of wine or two, keeping food compliant? 
 

this time I am determined to go longer than 30 days without a drink. I really want to see the benefits of long term abstinence, I only ever do 30 days although I do that fairly regularly (3/4 times a year?) but usually day 31 is a big celebration (eg I’m going to do 30 days until my birthday/ holiday/ end of school term) abs therefore I immediately resume drinking to excess! So I really want to see what happens if I were to do 60/100 days? 100 days would take me to mid December.