College Girl at Home for Spring Break

[Keisha Engley]

So, I'm at home for my two week Spring Break. I'm Crossfitting Monday-Friday, running 3-4 times a week, with my long run being about 10 miles. My exercise is solid. I'm an 18 y/o female. 152 lbs. I completed my Whole30 during the month of February and I've been semi Paleo since last summer, but I went strict when I went to school. When I'm at my university, I'm 100% compliant and I do it with ease, but being at home is extremely difficult and I have found trying to stay strict/whole30 compliant is really really hard. I'm not supplying the groceries and we're on a tight budget this week. My parents do their best to support my food choices, but still don't go out of their way to make sure meals are 100% paleo which they shouldn't have to. Basically my lunch and my breakfast is always 100% paleo, but around dinner time, things don't usually work out for me. I got home late after a track workout tonight and my mom had prepared teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies and shrimp. It wasn't a terrible meal. But I can't get over the guilt that came with eating the rice...And I've already eaten almost all of the vegetables in the house and we can't go grocery shopping until Friday. I'm absolutely freaking out. I'm at a 35 lb weight loss and I'm worried about gaining a bunch of weight over break...Will two weeks of moderate paleo hinder all my progress? Will cheating cause me to gain weight? Is there a way to accept I can't be in full control while I'm here and not feel so guilty? I would supply my own groceries, but I have absolutely no money to go toward groceries this week because I have to buy my textbooks for next quarter. I'm absolutely at war with myself. And I honestly have no idea what to do.

[Susan W]

If you keep a handle on it, I think you will be fine. A little rice is okay, a loaf of bread isn't.

I am so impressed that you can stay compliant at school. We usually hear the opposite around here.

Why don't you give yourself a break, enjoy your family and have a stress free break and jump back on the horse when you hit the books. Just don't go crazy with mom's red velvet cake. ;0)

[notacommittee]

White rice is far from the worst thing you could be eating. It doesn't have any nutrition to speak of but it doesn't have any toxins either, unlike wheat/gluten. It's basically pure starch, so if you do fine with carbs it shouldn't be that terrible for you. I know it's not W30 compliant but there's really no reason to feel crippling guilt over it.

Maybe take a look at the W30 for vegetarians guide (I know it exists somewhere) to get an idea of what some less-bad options might be and use that as a starting point for what you might want to compromise on?

But basically unless you have really serious metabolic or autoimmune or other kinds of problems, I don't think 2 weeks of doing the best you can is going to have a huge long-term impact. I'm not exactly your situation (older + no real weight to lose) but when I go home for a week or two to visit I sometimes eat things that I wouldn't otherwise (especially lentils and some FODMAPs veggies) and I leave feeling a little bloated and gross but it goes away in a few days. For me anyway it's just not long enough to have a long-term impact.

[Kirsteen]

Keisha, none of us live in a perfect world, we all just do the best we can and it sounds like you're doing awesome. As Susan said, have a break, enjoy being with your family, do the best you can and don't worry about what you can't control. Remind yourself how well you've done, you know you'll be able to get back to it at Uni. Just relax and enjoy the holiday and do your best and for get about guilt, you'll be fine.

[xacerb8]

I agree with Kirsteen. The mental stress & anxiety you're feeling must be outweighing any potential "goodness" that your food intake accomplishes. You're exercising and eating as compliantly as you can. Cut yourself some slack. If you need to exert more control over anything, I'd say put it towards telling your brain to shut up when it starts with the negative thoughts.