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Cravings, cravings, cravings...


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I've decided that - aside from the religious aspect, which is entirely good! - Easter is an evil holiday food-wise. It's the end of the day for us here in England and I'm about to go snag one of my kids' Cadbury eggs or some other chocolate and a pear cider... I have been strong all day long and I'm ready to snap. I'm having a VERY hard time resisting right now...

My family is NOT doing the Whole30 with me. I actually moved in with my kids when they were 3, 5, 7, & 9 and they ate a crappy diet. 3 years later I've adopted them and I've improved their diets, but there's no way I could get them to eat Whole30 without going crazy myself! My husband refuses to eat anything that is "grown from the ground or swims in the sea" - his only real exception to that is potatoes. Anyway, so I can't get rid of all the crap food in the house while I'm doing my Whole30. I've been doing ok day-to-day, but struggle a bit with the temptation about once a week and have had to restart a few times.

I can't really tell you which day I'm on of my Whole30... I started 28 days ago, but have had several "oops" and "cheats"... The first and second week I hadn't realized some of the things I was eating had sulphites (coconut milk!) and I was eating way too much fruit / dried fruit. I also had one day of some chocolate cake at a baby shower and lots of alcohol! I "restarted" on day 14 and did great for 5 days and then on days 6 & 7 I cheated - A full bag of peanut butter M&Ms (my mother sent them and we can't get them in the UK and they're my favs..) and alcohol on day 6 and alcohol and a pizza on day 7. So, a week ago today I restarted AGAIN! I committed then that I wanted to do a Whole100 as I feel crap and all these half-measures I've done before (5 weeks no gluten/casein, 5 weeks no gluten/casein/sugar, 5 weeks Primal, etc) never made me feel better.

However, I'm having real reservations about making it a full 100 days. I might be able to make it 30 when I have no other holidays going on... but being with my family during birthdays and holidays like Easter is beyond my will-power. What do I do?

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Personally, I wouldn't commit to 100 days if I was having trouble with 30. Just seems like too much pressure, you know? I would focus on 30, and then hopefully extend it out from there if you feel you want to.

As far as willpower goes, I suspect your oops' and cheats are what's making it hard for you to resist after that. You're keeping your sugar dragon alive and fed...if not well, then regularly at least. You made it 5 weeks without sugar before, you can do it again!

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I have found the same problem with sugar. I had a very successful Whole 30 about 6-7 weeks ago but have now found myself addicted to sugar again. I would love to say I can just " have a bite" or just indulge on special occasions, but once I start I just can't stop. Feel so bad about myself after eating Lots of Easter treats this weekend which was preceeded by an all out sugar binge last weekend. Really angry with myself and going back "on the wagon" tomorrow. I just can't eat sweets, they rule my life when I do. Wish me luck..

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If you have the need to torture yourself, then by all means chow down on any special event or holiday.....

Me.... I kick those things to the curb and never look back.... The eating ( whatever ) is over quickly.... The feeling like crap physically and emotionally lasts for a long time..... So not worth it

There are always going to be holidays,birthdays,celebrations,sports, family meals,weddings,social gatherings...... Got to chose to either love yourself first and foremost , make the healthiest choice and feel good, or struggle at every occasion and pay the price....

A w/30/60/100.... Is only a start.... Got to work it into your everyday life and avoid triggers moving forward, and only eating something really really special once in a blue moon.... How many crappy birthday cakes have you eaten and is one more gonna make any difference ???

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I find that sticking really close to the rules of the W30, that a small bowl of berries with some coconut cream on them is all the sweet I need. I'll go some 3-4 days without any fruit either, and it really reduces my appetite, esp. for off program stuff. I've been doing longer runs, however, and having a guava, a banana, or some other semi-sweet fruit gives me an edge.

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Dont give up Christina, everytime you make it 5, 7, 14 days etc you are setting yourself up for further success.. Have faith, you will be able to do it when the time is right and you are full on motivated, try again tomorrow??? Go for 14 days no excuses then see if you can extend perhaps???

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One thing I've done that helps is to promise myself that I can have it all - after 30 days are done. Peanut M&Ms or Cadbury eggs keep forever. There will always be pizza and booze. Maybe make a special drawer or something labeled day 31, and put all that stuff in there (or write a list for the perishable stuff) and just promise yourself that ON DAY 31 you'll reconsider and decide whether or not they're worth it. If you decide on day 31 that they are worth it, you can have them then.

The key for this for me is that I have to ACTUALLY MEAN "later," not "never." All the diet blogs tell you "tell yourself you'll have it later and you'll forget about it" but if I try to lie to myself that way it doesn't work. I know I'm lying! If I decide that it isn't actually worth it that's another thing, but I have to be honest that I will reconsider and not just play some psychological "out of sight, out of mind" trick on myself.

Alternately, a punching bag works great.

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Hi Christina Well done for resisting what you have resisted and the changes you've made under what must be really difficult circumstances. Now you may not expect me to say this but STEP AWAY FROM THE 100 DAYS IDEA - HONESTLY! Some people do extend their W30, many don't. Aim for the 30 days. It's called W30 for a reason after all :) My first W30 became a W60 and I eat more or less this way full time now BUT if you'd told me at the beginning I'd have to do 100 days - I'd never have made it, never. It's too long to contemplate, especially if you're struggling.

Cravings can be really difficult to resist, personally I think they're worse than out and out hunger. However the good news is the more you kick them into touch the weaker they get. I don't know if you resisted or not last night but you know what it doesn't matter. Start where ever you are. Get a diary or calendar and mark out 30 days. Remind yourself why you're doing this - because you're worth it, because you want to be the healthiest you can be. Think how much more you have to offer your husband and kids if you're really healthy.

If you think it would help, you know your family best, you could try sitting them down and explaining what you're doing and why. Try to get them to support you. I agree I wouldn't try changing their diets just now but if you could get them to help you by keeping temptation out of your way (as much as is humanly possible) then that would be a positive.

Decide that for 30 days you're going to do this - you're going to concentrate on all the lovely, good, tasty, compliant food that you CAN have and you're not going to waste time thinking about the noncompliant food you CHOOSE not to eat. It'll all still be available after 30 days if you want it then.

If you don't get any support from your family, you'll get plenty here. so come on here often, ask for help, ask any questions, just rant if you need to - we're all rooting for you. We know you can do this because you deserve to be the very best you can be. Good luck and keep us posted.

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thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!! I really appreciate the support.

My hubby is supportive - most of the time. But for Easter he got me Pear Cider (alcoholic) as he knew I didn't want chocolate... he's very sweet even when he doesn't quite "get it"! He did refuse to give me a Cadbury egg early in the day which set me up for a day of being good! As for the kids, I try to keep the things they like around the house that I know I DON'T like! That way it is easier.

Easter was soooo hard... BUT I MADE IT!!!! Writing the original big long post kept me occupied long enought that I lost the inital craving edge and just decided to go to bed. I'm proud of myself!! I also have decided that I'm going to keep my Whole100 marked on the calendar, but I'm going to just do the first 30 days and then re-evaluate. Today is day #10. :D

I just wrote another post about if my sweet potato / pumpkin souffle (completely compliant ingredients) is SWYPO or if it's ok as it's yummy enough that I can have it to keep me from going off the rails AND it helps me get in some more veg as I have a hard time with veg. <_<

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My mother has a habit of overdoing desserts on holidays so I prepared my own 'dessert' this year. I know the aspect of 'dessert' is frowned upon during the Whole 30 but I truly believe that training my mind to enjoy certain healthy foods as treats instead of chocolate cake is part of my journey. And it's Easter! So I made my own mini 'crepes' out of banana, egg and almond flour and took them to my family's house. I warmed them up, sprinkled on a little cinnamon, topped it with a banana and put a little dollop of almond butter on the side. It was dee-lish.

I guess the lesson is prepare, prepare, prepare. Congrats on making it through Easter, it sounds like your on the right track :)

Recipe is here for the banana 'crepes': http://yogaandotherthings.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/whole-30-update/

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