Re-starting my Whole30 (after 14 days)

[rosemary_radical]

Sooooo I'm restarting my Whole30. I first started 14 days ago and started off GREAT! I was already eating pretty well (no processed, packaged food, no added sugars) so I didn't get some of the bad 'side effects' like the sleepyness or head pains and my energy levels felt great. My biggest worry was thinking I was going to be STARVING mid morning and mid afternoon because thats when I usually have a snack, but because my breakfast was so filling I felt totally fine (if anything SUPER thirsty). Another thing for me is cutting my fruit intake RIGHT down, seriously, I was eating fruit in excess and I started off fine, cutting right back, but then the fruit started sneaking back in. An apple when I woke pre work out, maybe a nectarine at lunch, some berries at dinner And the past 3 days (that I had off from work) I've also gone CRAZYYYY with nuts. Cashews and Macadamias...just CONSTANTLY grazing. Seriously, the amount I ate is embarrassing So I'm here to say that I'm starting again. There is no fruit in the house and I've put the nuts away totally out of sight. I'm going to try and have more avocado/coconut milk as my fat component of my meals instead of having nuts because really, I'll probably go crazy again if I open the container. Not sure if it's just in my head or not, but I feel 'heavier' from my nut binge. I was feeling FANTASTIC for those first 10 days and was really noticing a difference in the way I felt and looked but now I feel like I'm back to square one. I really want to kick this habit of constantly grazing on nuts and fruit, so if there's any advice and tips anyone can offer, that would be great

I haven't read It Starts With Food yet, need to grab a copy asap

[Tom Denham]

It is not really fair for me to mention this because most of the time I tell people to forget about calories and just follow the meal template, but nuts really are high calorie food. Grazing on nuts can easily make you heavier because a cup of nuts is almost 1000 calories. Nuts are very useful in some situations and make a good ingredient to many meals, but the cost of losing control with nuts is real.

[Moluv]

Beyond the problem with nuts that Tom mentioned, they are a GI tract irritant. Maybe not for most people in small quantities, but in large quantities or for some people with digestive issues they are like eating little balls of sandpaper. Calorie dense balls of sandpaper. When I eat nuts I feel heavy all across my middle- but not because I suddenly gained some body fat- it's that the GI irritation is met with increased protective fluid and a bloat that lasts for days. I applaud you for putting the nuts away- and trust- you are not alone in overindulging in them and suffering for it.

I'm a habitual restarter too. You want to get it "just right". Even though you are starting over just know that you already are doing it "just right". It's a learning process for everyone. Best wishes on your new day 1!

[rosemary_radical]

Just a quick question, as an alternative to completely starting over at day 1, are we allowed/is it ok to just add on the 3 days to the end and have a whole33?

[golden]

Whole30 means 30 consecutive days. So that's why people start over instead of adding days at the end to compensate for days in the middle.

[opt-out]

I'm wondering why you would put the nuts away instead of getting them out of the house? I'm preparing for my first whole 30 and have a big jar of raw honey (for allergies - and to eat). I'm trying to figure out if I should give it away or if it would be ok to just put it away for 30 days.

[Sparklewoman]

Scrunchiiface, (great username, btw!):

I think you have to trust yourself to a certain extent and realize that the honey (or nuts or whatever one is worried about) will still be there at the end of your 30, and they'll still taste as good -- kind of a "one day at a time" attitude. I was a compulsive eater and binged on junk for years. I'm starting my very first Whole 30 on Monday and I can't remove "forbidden fruit" from the house because my wife isn't paleo (yet!), so I'm just going to have to look at it and tell myself it's not mine, it's hers, and if I eat it, it would be like back in college when I would "borrow" my roommate's potato chips :-)!

[Kirsteen]

I'm wondering why you would put the nuts away instead of getting them out of the house? I'm preparing for my first whole 30 and have a big jar of raw honey (for allergies - and to eat). I'm trying to figure out if I should give it away or if it would be ok to just put it away for 30 days.

When I started my first W30, I threw out or gave away noncompliant food that would be 'off' by the time I'd finished. I put aside all the rest, out of the kitchen on shelves elsewhere, thinking I'd go back to it later. My W30 became a W60 and the more I ate this way and the more I read up on it, the more things I decided I never wanted to eat again. So more and more tins of food have been removed and tossed.

Personally, if it's not going to annoy you sitting there, I'd keep the honey and see how you feel later. Raw honey is one of the few things I actually kept. I don't take it normally (I don't really like the stuff) but, when not on a W30 i find it good for sore throats, infections etc.