Wednesday is my 30th day!
I'm thinking of extending my Whole30 to Whole37 or maybe Whole45. The first two weeks I wasn't feeling well at all. My stomach was in turmoil pretty much the whole time and although I had days where I felt amazing, I also had days where I was falling asleep standing up as well as feeling nauseous much of the time. It wasn't until I started taking the digestive enzymes (at the beginning of the third week) that my stomach settled down and I was able to eat meat without gagging or feeling like throwing up right after and I lost the feeling of heaviness and bloating in my stomach.
I've stayed on the program the whole time and made some huge changes in the way I eat; adding meat/eggs to 2 meals a day (instead of 3-5 meals as week!), eating less fruit, eating fat and more vegetables with every meal; eating 3 times a day instead of 5-6 as well as cutting out all wheat, sugar (including artificial sweeteners), grains, legumes, soy, dairy and white potatoes. Although it is getting easier to make this my "normal", I don't think I'm ready to loosen the reins yet and as much as I miss dairy and my brown rice, I don't want to add them back too soon and undo the last four weeks. I haven't decided yet, but I think I'm leaning towards doing another strict Whole30 week (to bring me to Whole37) and then reassessing.I've got 40+ years of habits and preferences to undo, I don't think it's gonna happen in just 30 days.
Breakfast: whey protein powder; cold coffee, ice, light coconut milk - blended (I decided to do the shake and iced coffee together this morning)
I found whey protein isolate unflavoured, unsweetened, un-anything at a heath food store in Buffalo the other day. Its not as flavourful as the one I was using previously, but it doesn't have the additives and is more "clean" and I'm finding this is still the best breakfast for my digestive system and my lifestyle than any other food.
Lunch: iced coffee with light coconut milk; dates; almonds;veggies with salsa; cold chicken
I was in a munchy mood for lunch so I just threw a bunch of stuff on the plate and had a mini-smorgasborg.
From reading Mark's Daily Apple, I've learned that the other part of the Paleo/Primal lifestyle is exercise and although I walk every day and run (semi) regularly, I don't "lift heavy things", so I'm starting to think about how I can incorporate that into my life as well. My Whole30 ends on Wednesday and I think for my next stretch - I'm going to start focusing a little more on the exercise side as well. I still believe that losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight is more about the food you eat and that exercise helps, but it cannot undo an unhealthy or excessive diet. As I feel more and more in control of eating, it seems natural to think more about exercise.
Wow, you're so close to being done!!
ReplyDeleteI think doing a Whole37 or 45 is not a bad idea. It's definitely easy to slide very quickly back into old habits. I'm doing okay but enjoying wine a little too much. :P The physical habits aren't too hard to break but those mental ones take a lot more time.
Yes, its the mental part I'm worried about. I've been really rigid and have turned down a lot of things I would normally eat and have even navigated eating out - so I don't want my brain to think it's ok to start eating all that stuff again especially since I've just proved to myself I can live without it. It might actually be easier to stay stricter, if that makes sense. Although I did buy some Greek yogurt, cheese and sour cream at Costco today so I'm leaning towards letting dairy back in just because it make so many other things better, you know? And I already had limited dairy to very small amounts so it should be easy to keep it under control. But keeping everything else the same - I definitely think wheat and sugar are huge triggers for me and they have to be things I say NO to all the time. I'm also going to stick to olive/coconut oil for cooking at home.
DeleteThen again, I could change my mind again! This is why the stricter part works for me - I'm good at following rules!