Day 8 – 8th Feb:
Slept well, late morning lie in (even though I was supposed to be picking the kids up, oops!)
Running around after the kids/doing chores all day so didn’t get chance to eat – this is fairly par for the course on a Sunday when I’m trying to get everything sorted before the busy week ahead. At least it meant I wasn’t tempted by the jammy dodgers the kids were tucking in to!
Decided to workout because of my 2 missed workouts in week 1. Struggled to lift at my usual weight but wasn’t sure if that was lack of food rather than dietary changes. Completed the full workout anyway, then chucked an extra round of lifts on at a 2kg lighter weight for good measure.
Been a tad grumpy today which could be the whole30 but is more likely some external circumstances (which I won’t go into here)…
Day 9 – 9th Feb:
Slept well but woke up at 4am again. Eggy muffins for breakfast that I prepped yesterday, leftover spicy mince & tatties (w/veg) for lunch. Clearly I can categorically say at this point that if white potatoes hadn’t been added to the whole30 allowed list I would not have got this far.
It’s weird because I’m not really seeing any noticeable whole30 related changes, be that positive or negative. I know I keep saying it but I think that’s because my day to day diet is awesome. I guess this also means there’s no harm or reason not to stick it out til the end especially as I’m more interested at this stage in reintroducing foods after day 30 to see if anything happens.
Day 10 – 10th Feb:
Slept quite well again, only woken by children (no avoiding that, bah). Eggy muffins for breakfast and I’ve got leftover spicy pulled pork (it was supposed to be a whole30 compliant BBQ sauce but my experiment failed, oops) & potato for lunch – need to nip out and get some microwaveable veg to go with it as I underestimated how much veg I’d go through this week!
According to the timeline, today and tomorrow are the days I’m most likely to quit because “the newness has worn off”. Quite the contrary, at this point I’m enjoying the fact that being more organised with breakfasts and meals in advance on Sunday is giving me more time and less to stress about in the mornings and evenings when I rush back from work and have to get the kids fed and into bed for a reasonable time. I mean, I wouldn’t mind a big fat slice of cake right now but I’ve not had any cravings since the early days. I suppose that’s one positive to the whole30 I’d not predicted.
Day 11 – 11th Feb:
Not a brilliant night’s sleep – Olly was having bad dreams so was crying out, which woke me every bloody time (even though he carried on sleeping). Damn my uber-sensitive supermum hearing.
Worked out last night, really struggled with the 11.5kg dumbbell but finished the workout and then did 8 back squats with the barbell bar – perfecting my form before I think about adding weights (not that I have any yet :P) I’ve actually been looking at some of the pre and post workout meal advice from whole30 too, in case my lack of planning in that department is contributing to a stalling of progress with the weights so may experiment a little and see if that helps.
Day 12 – 12th Feb:
Went for a run last night and almost immediately had a pain in my gut like I’d been punched really hard – not sure what that was about. I had eaten a few almonds and an orange about half an hour before my run so hoping it was that and not a taste of what’s to come running through whole30! Only managed 4.2km which was disappointing because I wanted to do double that.
Slept better last night though, although didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.
Had some avocado this morning because it the was the only decent source of good fats I could think of whilst running around Sainsbury’s trying to find breakfast. Never really liked it but it was ok. Could have done with some salt and pepper.
Mood is shaky today, and last night. Low level annoyance at virtually everything just bubbling away.
Day 13 – 13th Feb:
Low level annoyance yesterday turned into full on breakdown by the afternoon. I nearly burst into tears in Tesco because the woman asked me if I needed any help with my packing (probably because I felt like responding “no, just MY LIFE” … but I didn’t.) Ended up sobbing all over Gaz all evening. Still low today, but trying to bear in mind that this is smack bang OVULATION TIME for me. Fuck hormones! On the plus side, this does rather reassure me that my hormonal mood fluctuations are not caused by birth control or diet, which was the primary motivation for doing the whole30 / birth control “detox”. Let’s get a fuck yeah up in here for birth control!
Had avocado again for breakfast (other half of yesterday’s). It might not taste of much and the texture is a bit weird but it does help fill me up for longer so might buy it again.
Day 14 – 14th Feb:
Today’s challenge was finding a whole30 compliant lunch in a motorway service station. Whereas normally I’d just have a burger and coffee for probably less than a fiver, I ended up spending £7.80 on a fruit salad, compliant “handcooked” crisps, nuts and a coconut based smoothie from Waitrose. Ridiculous amount of money on what was effectively a giant snack. I could have done 2-3 homecooked meals for a family of 4 for that money.
I have to admit that after this little lunchtime disaster, which admittedly I could have swerved with better planning, I am feeling frazzled by the whole30 thing. It’s not cured me of my horrible mood swings, which was the main reason for trying it; it’s made no difference to my sleep (although some nights I’m sleeping soundly this isn’t a guarantee and I often wake early and can’t get back to sleep); and worse, it seems to be affecting my running and weight lifting. I have lost weight, but that’s not a motivation for me at all… not when my strength is affected.
If it doesn’t improve this week I’m bombing out early and I don’t care if that makes me a quitter.
15 Feb at 7:46 pm
Oh no! I’m sorry you are having some struggles. Remeber though, you’ve only been doing it for two weeks. Cures don’t happen over night and with also giving up birth control, you’re body has A LOT of adjusting to do. I only started really noticing changes end of week 3 and during 4, but for some people it can take longer.
The thing that’s sticking out for me with regards to what might be affecting your progress is (what appears from the info you’ve given) not having protein, veg AND fat in every single meal (except for post-workout when fat is avoided). Having one or two won’t sustain you as well and also affects your digestion. From my own experimentation, not including the three fucks me over. I feel crappy both physically and mentally.
Also, with coming off hormonal birth control, it can take up to 6 months for your cycle and hormones to figure out what the hell they’re doing. I was all over the place for several months.
Additionally, added stressors in your life are likely to be affecting your sleep.
I know it’s rough but I hope you stick it out for the duration! You can do it!
16 Feb at 9:04 am
I think part of the frustration is not that I want to notice changes as such, I just want to see *any* sort of evidence that this is making any difference whatsoever. I didn’t get any of the negative side effects and aside from weight loss, which could just as easily be attributed to me starting running again alongside my weight lifting, no positive ones either. I just need a sign! :P
re: food – I’ve only mentioned stuff that is ‘extraordinary’ to me, so certainly not logging a full picture of what I’m eating. Eating is unlikely to be the problem. I cook everything in lard or beef dripping, make sauces and gravies from drippings off my roasts, eat nuts and now avocados etc for fat. I eat meat or eggs (or sometimes both) at every meal (protein) and regularly exceed my 5 veg a day PER MEAL.
re: added stressors – but of course :) and that can’t be solved with eating a whole30 diet, which is kinda what I set out to prove I guess.
I’ll carry on for the time being, if nothing else but because the extra planning has helped me, but I’m not feeling it as a cure-all like the site sells it as.
15 Feb at 7:52 pm
Avocados are delicious but yes, they do need a fair amount of salt in order to taste their yummiest!
Just based on your descriptions of your meals (which I know isn’t a complete picture), is it possible you’re not eating enough protein with each meal? Or just under eating in general? I would not be able to manage myself on a 1/2 avocado breakfast! That might be a potential reason why your workouts have been affected.
It sounds like you’ve been going a great job sticking with it though – well done!
15 Feb at 7:58 pm
Agreed that 1/2 avocado for breakfast is not enough. I eat a whole avocado in one sitting as a snack. :x (Luckily for me I can get them really, really cheap at the market. 4-5 for £1 usually, but they’re £1 each at supermarkets. :/)
16 Feb at 9:04 am
I’m not logging my full meals; there’s no way I’d make it to 10am on half an avocado, let alone a full working day + workouts, hehe.
15 Feb at 7:52 pm
I struggled in the same ways you are when I first gave up dairy and gluten; it didn’t seem like I could eat much of anything, and it was frustrating to not be able to resort to my usual meals and snacks, and took a lot of energy to figure out what was OK, especially when I was trying to grab lunch ‘on the go’ and ending up eating… yeah, meals that were just like big snacks – expensive and not filling.
If I could give you one recommendation it’s to find a weekly meal-plan online (there are a few dotted around) and just follow it to the letter, every single day. It removes the stress of wondering what your next breakfast/lunch/dinner will be, and gives you the chance to figure out which foods are going to work the best for you through trial and error.
The caveat is that it is often kinda pricey because they perhaps use foods and ingredients that you wouldn’t usually buy, and also it can take a bit more preparation time. However, I did this using pre-made meal plans for a whole month and it worked out really well. It gave me a lot more confidence about my food choices, and what was going to work and what wasn’t. That’s how I settled on burgers for breakfast (they were the easiest and most filling of all the breakfasts I went through), and random fried/grilled/roasted/baked meat and random fried/grilled/roasted/baked/boiled vegetables for dinner with leftovers for lunch, and my snacks mainly consist of avocados (either as guacamole with carrot sticks, or on their own with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice), bacon (fry it up in the morning, eat later), bananas and coconut cream. It’s actually the simplest diet I’ve ever eaten, once I’d got my head round it.
The thing is, because Whole30 is such a low carb diet, you need to EAT MORE. Of EVERYTHING. Like seriously I used to have such a small appetite I’d routinely skip breakfast, snack for lunch, and not finish a plate of dinner. These days I eat 3 GIANT platefuls of food 3 times a day without fail, easily quadrouple what I used to (and sill the only weight I put on is 1kg, and I am borderline underweight). I get sluggish if I don’t. So yeah. Eat more. Eat more veg (carbs) and eat more fat. Put oil and lard on everything. :)
If you’d like me to send you some really good quick and easy ‘recipes’ (I use quotes because they’re so simple they barely count as recipes :P), let me know. :)
15 Feb at 7:54 pm
Oh also, random thing, I’ve found that starchy vegetables like potatoes make me sluggish. So actually, and rather counterintuitively, it might be worth cutting down on them and adding more green veg to see if it makes a difference.
16 Feb at 9:07 am
I’m not struggling in that way though – food isn’t the problem. The vast majority of my normal meals are whole30 compliant with a few tweaks so I’ve not felt restricted or like I’m missing out in that regard. Likewise, eating enough definitely isn’t a problem. I’ll instagram some of my food over the next few days and you’ll see what I mean ;)
16 Feb at 10:29 am
Googled Whole30 – you are braver than I!
Unless you are eating a decent quantity of lean meat (turkey is a great example) your lifting and any form of distance running will struggle. Your energy levels will be fine but you will be lacking in protein to rebuild after heavy sessions. Most people can eat low levels of meat as they unwittingly supplement with dairy protein but will not apply to you. The pain in your stomach was likely the nuts as take a while to digest so may cramp a bit like getting a stitch if you run too long.
You can definitely still work out and egg is a good source but it will take longer to recover to begin with so take it easy on yourself if you have a bad workout – it will be all about finding a level that works for your new diet. A lot of vegetarians (myself in a former, less-carnivorish, life included) eat wholegrain pulses and beans which may be an option if you leave programme but still want to change your diet.
Anyway – good luck!!!
ps I rarely read the comments – apologies if I’ve repeated anything.
17 Feb at 10:59 am
I don’t think protein is the issue, I eat a lot of meat and eggs (easily go through 18-24 eggs in a week) but I think you’re right about the nuts. I’ll have to be more careful about eating close to run time, I definitely do better on an empty(ish) stomach.