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Brand Spanking New To This...Anyone Else??


Jamaymay

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Hi there,

My brother's lovely girlfriend gave me "It Starts With Food" a few months back and I just finished it after inching my way through, kind of dreading my future life changes that awaited me at its completion. So now I'm here and I've been dropping things out of my diet and putting new things in slowly but steadily.

I have given myself until February 1st to work out the kinks and then I'll OFFICIALLY begin my Whole30. But man, there are some temptations staring me down big time and I'm entirely annoyed that I can't have what I want to have. My inner toddler is raging and the program hasn't even started. But it's worth a shot and I trust my brother's girlfriend when she says it's a "game changer."

I have some tests I'll be doing on myself throughout and if these areas are positively affected than I will be a believer for life and sing my praise from the mountaintops.

1. Weightloss will be a welcome result, especially my clothes fitting differently.

2. My whole life I have had Keretosis Pilaris, otherwise known as little bumps all over my arms. I'm SURE this has something to do with some sort of inflammation, so if that goes away even a little bit I will be thrilled.

3. At 32, I have awesomely started developing Malasma, which affects my skin by giving me brown spots on my face, which I've been told has to do with hormones. If doing the Whole 30 effects that, I will be in a state of disbelief.

4. My energy levels are all over the place. My sleep patterns are out of whack and I sometimes dip into little depressions. I would LOVE to find myself with more energy, balance and better sleep. Depression is annoying, and I'd love to put that behind me to just live happy and healthy.

That's what I'm bringing to my Whole30.

I'm excited. Slightly resigned. Untrusting of myself and my willpower, but I'm going forward!

Any positive feedback, encouragement or advice would be most welcome. :)

Jaime

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Dive in on the 1st! It's not easy but it is totally worth it. Prep as much as you can on your days off, having easy easy access proteins and veggies has been key to my sanity. Know there really will be days when you will just be mad at the world (the kill everything stage is right on the money!) have a plan in place to deal with that, I've found hot baths and mindless magazines to be my go to escape. Beyond that, relax and enjoy the ride, it really is empowering to spend a full 30 days focused on your health and well being. Celebrate your successes along the way and know you're giving your body a wonderful gift.

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I'm only three weeks in to my first Whole30, and although it gets tough there are no regrets, like anything worthwhile!

Be prepared to spend obsessive amounts of time thinking, preparing, and planning food at the beginning. It definately gets easier (I'm a champ at hard-boiling a dozen eggs at a time now) but until you find a rhythmn and routine to your food prep it will seem like you are ALWAYS in the kitchen, grocery store, or complaining dreaming about stuff you can't have. Just stick through it and remember why you're doing it; it looks like you have some great goals in mind to keep you focused!

Good luck, and remember you are much stronger than you think!

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I'm definitely a fan of having things prepared ahead of time. I'm in my first week of my W30 and I have had to deal with the following:

1. Last minute notice that I would be travelling for a day, which meant I'd be on the road at lunch time. I swapped breakfast and lunch that day and was fine.

2. Physical therapy appointments taking WAY more time than they should, and stealing time I needed to eat.

3. Resisting NUMEROUS food-related could-have-been-disasters: surprise potlucks, smelling someone's breakfast (non-compliant), girl scout cookies, etc.

4. 3 hour meeting during lunch followed by ceremony followed by going home, Skyping mom that my Christmas package finally arrived, getting dressed, and being extremely grateful to have Paleo-friendly food that I could shove into my face before rushing out to a play, where I successfully resisted everything at the snack bar.

That whole Murphy's law thing (If it can go wrong, it will) is SO true when you're trying to do a W30.

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On day 14 of my first whole30 and am realizing all the mindless eating I was doing before, just a bite of this and a taste of that. Really do feel like I am obsessing over what to shop, cook and eat! All consuming, and still have no energy and barely make it through the workday, pitiful workouts, then home to cook for family and fall into bed. No improvement in my psoriasis yet. Now for the positives...no longer have indigestion which was a daily thing for me, sleeping the best I have in years, not bloated, moods way more stable. I know this will benefit me in the long run, just can't wait to get some energy back! From someone so addicted to sugar that I could bake every day of the week, I feel freed from this obsession/addiction, so good luck- if I can do it anyone can!

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Hi Jaime, Welcome to W30. As everyone has already said, planning and preperation is definitely key so planning when to start and working towards that is a great idea. Having the book definitely helps but don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have and vent as often as you want. :) you'll usually find loads of others who've had similar experiences. Good luck and keep us posted how you're doing.

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I'm excited to follow your journey and hope you get to check some, if not all, of the things off your "test list"!

One bit of advice: Keep a pouch of compliant tuna and a small container of olive oil/vinegar in your purse or glovebox for unexpected situations (you can get a simple undressed salad almost anywhere and these items give you an instant meal), and a LaraBar in your purse (for emergencies only). Oh, and keep a log on here -- I swear, I might have caved last night and had a glass of wine, but part of my self-talk was knowing I'd need to fess up to it on my log!

Good luck, Jaime :).

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Preparation is huge but you already knew that from everyone else's responses. I started a blog and blogged about my W30 adventures every day. It helped me stay focused and kept me accountable because my friends were reading them too! Reading It Starts With Food also helped me see why it was so important to stick with it. I wasn't just eating clean because it was healthy, I was eating clean and I knew why I needed to keep eating that way. This one might sound crazy, but when I would get antsy I'd search the internet for paleo-compliant/W30 foods and it would take my attention away from my cravings. Looking at food didn't make me feel hungry. Weird, I know.

Best of luck to you! If you stick with it 100% you'll see some great results!

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Jaime,

Good for you. My husband and I found that a transition to eating more Whole 30 and then having an official kick-off day worked really well for us. By the time we got into it, I was better prepared to cook for us and had a group of standard recipes that I could go to for a quick meal. I bet you will see improvement in all 4 of your items and can't wait to see your results, but I'm certain you'll see a boost in #4. Our sleep and mood have improved and we've also seen the same changes in my husband's parents. His step-father can tend to be a bit grumpy at times and every time we've seen them this month he is feeling great.

All or most all my inflammation is gone. My joint pain from osteoarthritis is gone. Swelling in my feet and legs is gone. I still have some healing to do in my gut, but my acid reflux is about 85% better at this point. We both have lost weight, but it will be a few more days until we know the numbers. We both have quite a bit of weight to lose and will be eating Whole 30 for most of the year until we reach our goal and then sort out what we can add back. I haven't felt the amazing energy burst that some write about but we feel a ton better and I imagine the energy will kick in more as we add more exercise and my gut finishes healing.

Robin wrote a great article about what to expect and we both found it to be helpful, especially for the first week. We had a few days early on that we were tired, I found myself nodding off at my computer, which never happens. http://whole9life.com/2013/01/whole30-timeline/

We didn't think we could go 30 days without eating our favorite food, cheese. And we realized about a week in, that we weren't missing it. I did make sure we had avocado every day to give that creamy texture like cheese has, but we're at the point that we find it really easy. There are things we miss, but it doesn't feel like we are deprived of anything. We love the foods we are eating and love how we are feeling.

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Hi Jamie - I'm also starting my first whole30, I already have obsessive thinking!! I have done nothing but read, read & read some more. Constantly on the look out for recipes so if anyone has anything they would like to share, please feel free :) I am starting next Sunday the 03rd and have started adding things to my meals so its not a complete shock!! This forum is amazing, any information possible. I will admit I am pretty nervous about starting incase I don't do it right but then again if I do mess up I can always start again. Hopefully this will be the start of a beautiful friendship between me & food :D

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I did my whole30 in the month leading up to Christmas--possibly not the best timing, but I'd just finished the book and was very enthusiastic. Before I started, I sent an e-mail to all my friends, explaining and saying, "If, in the coming weeks, you offer me food and I say No, thank you, then please just accept it and let it drop." They were all very good about it. In fact, when one friend invited me to his place for brunch, he checked with me beforehand about what I could and couldn't have, and made the brunch nearly all compliant (I passed on the biscuits).

So, even if not everyone you know understands why you want to do this, you can still head off potential difficulties in advance, and even get unexpected support!

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Funny you guys brought up KP, I was just looking at mine in the mirror last night. I'm really wishing I took better pictures of my skin pre-whole30. I can't figure out if it's gotten better since it seems to go in cycles anyway, but I'm on day 28 and it's pretty darn good. It's hard to tell without running my hands on it because I have a tendancy to pick at my skin, so there's lots of scarring and discoloration, but overall I'd say I *think* it has improved.

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Funny you guys brought up KP, I was just looking at mine in the mirror last night. I'm really wishing I took better pictures of my skin pre-whole30. I can't figure out if it's gotten better since it seems to go in cycles anyway, but I'm on day 28 and it's pretty darn good. It's hard to tell without running my hands on it because I have a tendancy to pick at my skin, so there's lots of scarring and discoloration, but overall I'd say I *think* it has improved.

Keep your hands off the bumps, lady :)

I would never notice, but for my Mom. She hugged me the other day, slowly took my arm, rubbed it and then watched closely. Then she gasped. I freaked out and ran to find a mirror. Then it was my turn to be surprised. I hope that it will be even better with time.

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