Newbie here.. Day 2 of Whole30. It's getting a lil meta.

[KarelessKitten]

Just signed up cuz I could really use the support. I am inwardly cringing at this cuz I don't like to ask for help. Breakfast- two hard-boiled eggs, half an avocado, 2 links of Applegate Farms turkey sausage, and a handful of baby carrots. Lunch- steamed lemon chicken with sautéed kale & almond slivers drizzled with light olive oil and a handful of grape tomatoes. Dinner- 10 minute chili with spinach, half an avocado diced on top, and sprinkled cilantro. Monday my energy was awesome. Today I got that food hangover. It was torture trying to get through my data entry for the day. One of the girls at my workplace brought in a strawberry cream cheese pudding cake making it even worse. Staring at it, I figured out I really idealize the crap food. Think about how good it would taste but never consider the ramifications of eating said crap food. The sugar high and then the awful plummet. The weight gain. My single-minded thought is "oh, but I bet it tastes amazing". My issue is fostering realistic expectations when it comes to food; although, I'm willing to bet it extends further into my life than just food. How does one even go about changing the way one thinks? I am a human services student but I only did so-so in Intro to Behavior Modification so I would appreciate some thoughts on this. My project for the the class was a fail. I used punishment ie. snapping a rubber band on my wrist as a means to stop cursing. Needless to say my potty mouth is very much intact. :-) I understand positive reinforcement but running a 5k and loving the runner's high isn't enough to keep me running. I love it. I think about it all the time. It's hard as hell to keep with it because I work 10 and 11 hour days. I can usually fit it in first thing in the morning but it leaves me feeling exhausted the rest of the day even though I eat right and drink plenty of water. My work suffers. I am hoping this Whole30 can help me. I am almost 30 and I don't have half the energy I had a decade ago. Will the juice be worth the squeeze? I hope so. Sorry this was so long.

[Zoodles]

You know what? Don't over think it. I found it happened all by itself just by doing the Whole30. You can change your behaviour by changing the way you think, but you also change the way you think when you change your behaviour, which is sometimes (often) the easier option.

I had an absolutely twisted torturous bizarre relationship with food, which I'm not even going to get into here because it's not really relevant. I've spent hours analysing this relationship with food, trying to change the way I feel about it, how I use it to deal with various emotions etc etc.... but nothing really changed, I just twisted myself into a new knot with every new solution I thought I'd found.

Anyway, I did the Whole30. I craved, I drooled and pined over the foods I couldn't have, but knowing I could have them again after 30 days I struggled through, just following the rules through blind hope/faith a lot of the time.

And you know what? By the time I got to the end of the 30 days, I was slowly becoming normal about food. It was fading into the background as a normal and pleasurable part of life, but not on my mind 100% of the time as something I was constantly fighting and battling and trying to outwit. I don't know how it happened, probably my body was actually getting the nourishment it needed and also the sugar addiction was fading.... I'm not completely at peace with food as yet but I'm pretty darn close, and if this is as close as I get then I can deal with that easy peasy

Yes the juice will be worth the squeeze. Squeeze away! You won't need to squeeze for too much longer, the worst part is usually over in a week or 2. In the meantime, keep eating, just the right stuff! You can think about food all you like and if you're truly hungry, eat something delicious and nourishing. Just ride it out for now, and you'll be cruising in just a little while