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Whole30 Take 3! Letting go of doubt - my new food log.


jtota

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I'll be starting for the 3rd time since January 1 on 2/12/13. Last attempt I made it 3 weeks before my anxiety and the scale got the best of me. I have learned many things about myself in the last 6 weeks. Some things are physical, like the fact that my brain runs better without grains. Some are mental, like my anxiety over what the scale says. But my biggest lesson is that I am unable to just trust and believe that I am doing the right thing. The Whole30 folks know there stuff so why has it been so hard for to just believe and follow the program?. The last time around I was too caught up in numbers and proof and hating every ounce of my body. And I was feeling so guilty over giving up my vegan lifestyle.

But, in the last two weeks, eating a lot of crap again and trying to go back to vegan food has shown me just how bad my body feels when it is not getting what it wants. No wonder I was so hungry and tired all the time before. I was starving!

So I'll start again. And this time I will trust the program and follow the rules. No more weighing everyday and no more lying to myself about my diet coke addiction. That's right, the Diet Coke was never really 100% eliminated and now I'm full-blown addicted again. No more obsessing over fitness. I'll do what feels good and right now that happens to be mostly yoga. I'll just do the plan. I mean do I really think that I know better than the people who created this challenge . . . clearly not ;)

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Day1 - so very ready! I am logging my food for 1 week to make sure I am getting enough protein and NOT eating too little for my activity level. Once I get a good gauge on what's appropriate I will stop counting :)

Breakfast - 2 eggs, sauteeed kale and macademia nuts

Lunch- Green wraps with Portabella mushrooms strips, avocado, shredded spinach, roasted bell peppers.

Mixed fresh berries

Dinner - Stir fry with 4 oz tempeh, peppers, onions, broccoli, zucchini, garlic, kale and probably sunshine sauce

Snack - edemame dip (edamame blended with a jalapeno and spices), celery and carrot sticks

Protein = 60 grams, aprox 1200 calories

Workout - nice long yoga session, walking the dog

Starting weight 127.5 - highest I've been since I started working out in 2006, about 10lbs over where I am comfortable.

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Just a comment - if you are logging for the first week just to be sure you aren't eating too little, what about letting your body tell you if you are eating too little? If you are, you will be hungry, like very hungry. I know it is a hard thing to get your head around. I struggled with the exact same thing, but your body does know best. Give it a chance. :)

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Thanks for the tips! I will keep them in mind. It is so very hard to just listen to my body because my appetite is ridiculous! I did find myself hungry yesterday and fighting the urge to snack. And I was really craving a big hunk of steak :) it's only day two so ill see how things progress but I can see why this is so hard to do without animal protein. Without grains a vegetarian diet is hard to manage without hunger - at least for me. Had the weirdest food dream last night. I am quitting soda and had a dream about a town completely taken over by the diet coke company and we were all being experimented on- it was very scifi and scary. Yikes!

One questions - Any thoughts on how much a should be eating? I have spent so long trying to eat so very little that I don't what I should aim for. I am very active doing hiit training and P90x workouts.

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Jtota, I'm so happy that you've done some soul-searching about what works for you and have come back, but you're killing me here!! :P

Stop counting calories, lady!! I know it's to make sure that you're eating _enough_, rather than the other way around, but that's what the meal template guidelines are for!! Here are your minimums for each meal: At least a palm of protein, almost a plate of veggies (some starchy if you're doing p90x that day), and some fat.

If you're still hungry after that, add more and readjust what your minimums are. Don't over think it!

Good luck! I've got my eye on you. :ph34r:

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Ok thanks! Old habits are so very hard to break ;)

On a side note . . . I find it interesting that in trying to go back to a vegetarian diet that I'm really craving meat. I suspect that maybe I love my vegan food so much before because I was able rationalize all the "natural sugars" that I put all over my food. I was a heavy stevia and agave user. Some of my recipes are not as good without the sugar kick. for example - quinoa. Quinoa with out sugar is a bit like having cardboard for breakfast ;/. ( I haven't had quinoa in the last 2 days but tried again last week)

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ok day 2 . . . weirdly not hungry but still alert ad energetic and 8pm.

Breakfast : (so not vegetarian today) 2 eggs and 2 slices of side pork

Not hungry until 1:30

Lunch: GF, whole 30 compliant deli turkey, carrot sticks, edamame dip, strawberries, blueberries (I planned on getting a sweet potato which are always available in the cafeteria but of course there were none today)

Dinner . . . I am really not hungry but I'm thinking of some sweet potato hash and a left over sunflower burger. I'd rather just go to bed though.

Workout: on my feet 12 hours at work

Final thought for today: I was not ready to test the waters with breakfast. I discovered last time around that I do really well on work days with NO carbs at breakfast. So I went with my old reliable for breakfast. I had a lot less cravings today and was able to focus on work instead of when and what I could eat next. I wish I knew what caused it this. It's got to be something to with blood sugar I guess.? I'm not diabetic but don't doubt I had some serious swings in blood sugar on my high carb diet before. This is another reason I am seriously thinking my stent as a vegetarian is ending. . .

Also, what is best to do when you are just not hungry but haven't eaten much during your day? Do you eat anyway? I often find that I am so physically tired on the days I work that I am not hungry when I get home and just want to sleep.

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It's a hormonal thing, which ties into blood sugar levels a little, but it's ruled by hormones.

Here's a quote from a post I made last year:

There are two hormones at play here: Leptin and Cortisol. In this situation (they do a whole lot more, but I'm simplifying), Leptin is a hunger/satiety hormone and Cortisol is an alertness hormone. Most of us have heard about cortisol and its role, but when leptin is low, it's a signal that says to the body, "Oh hey, I need some more fuel. You should eat something." After you eat, some leptin is released. Every time you eat during the day, a little more leptin is released.

Both hormones have circadian rhythms, but they run opposite one another (when functioning properly). Leptin is low when cortisol is high, and vice versa. So in the morning, when cortisol should be at its highest, leptin should be low, and you should be hungry. In the evening, when cortisol is dipping low to get you ready for bed, leptin should be high and you should be fully sated.

Note that this reinforces the "eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, a pauper for dinner" axiom of old....

What I didn't mention above is that protein and fat stimulate the highest leptin response. So if you eat carbs first thing in the morning, you aren't getting that big "hey, you ate!" signal...and it can ruin you for the whole day.

Additionally, if you have any cortisol issues, that will mess with your blood sugar levels in the morning as well.

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Thank you! That makes complete sense. I'm sure I have cortisol issues from all the running and stressful work, and poor eating habits etc. It must be getting better though because it's getting easier to wake up in the morning and I'm sleeping better, and just generally more energetic etc. I really like the idea of eating to create the optimal hormone response. It helps with my urge to count calories and also to exercise excessively.

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