Days 15-21: Tiger Blood!

 

I love tigers.

And I can't believe it's been an entire week since my last blog! oops. I read in the Whole30 Daily today that it takes 66 days to really form a new habit. I guess I'm not doing so well in the blogging habit department.

BUT...I am doing GREAT in the Whole30 department! 

I am continuing to have all the positive results they promised, and some have gotten even better. I don't have 'slumps' during the day or evening where I get tired. I have energy--not so crazy that I want to run a marathon or anything, but way more than I did have. It's my version of tiger blood, I guess. Sometimes I'm not even that tired when it's time for bed, but I make myself go to bed anyway. No more lying awake tossing and turning (even when I didn't think I was tired yet). My eyes close almost as soon as my head hits the bed, and I'd probably stay that way until morning if it wasn't for my darn bladder waking me up once every night. At least I'm getting my share of water consumption in!

It's not all sunshine and lollipops, though. Fridays are HARD. For the last few years Friday has been our night to go out--nothing fancy, just a Chinese buffet or pizza--but it was a night where I could come home after a long week at work and know that I didn't have to worry about cooking anything. Well, the first week of school (with kids) is now in the history books, and when Friday came along all I could think about was everything I COULDN'T have at the buffet. I got myself into a real funk.

Yes, I can find things to eat at restaurants--it's just not easy. Melissa did it. My sweet little girl sent me a text Friday night from her Chinese buffet. She didn't make the rest of her family stay at home and suffer. She was able to stay away from everything but the fruit and salad without dressing--I can do it too. I just don't wanna. It is easier for me if I just stay away from temptation--but that isn't sustainable. I have to do it. I just don't think I'll start at a buffet where I could end up on a binge. I'm going to do some research this week, and this Friday we are going to go out to a restaurant. I might end up sounding like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, but I'm going to do it. (Click on the link for the food ordering scene--don't worry, I won't be ordering pie)

Do I feel my body changing? Maybe slightly. My pants that were getting really tight last spring fit better now. They're not falling off or anything, but it might be small progress. I haven't started exercising yet--that comes after next week--so I don't really feel more flexible or anything. My joints might not ache quite as much, but there aren't any major changes, yet.

Now that I'm on day 21, I'm starting to think about how to handle the transition. Even though I read that I didn't have to add 10 more days because of the Listerine breath strips, I know that I'm not going to be ready to stop after day 30. I have habits that are too ingrained. As of right now, here's the plan:

1. I am starting to research the Paleo lifestyle--I'm hoping that I can slowly switch to that 
2. This Friday we're going out to eat--I need to learn how to order and realize that I can enjoy eating at a restaurant without ordering the most unhealthy meal on the menu.
3. Starting on day 31, I'm adding some exercise to the plan--probably starting out with walking.
4. I also need to work on flexibility. I found some videos to help people who are all 'locked up' so I'm going to start working on my hips, back, and shoulders
5. This week I'm trying out zucchini noodles to see if they work in place of pasta for me. I really don't want to add grains back in, but I miss pasta a lot.
6.  I found a local farmer who will sell a cow in as little as 1/8 a cow. Now that we have a garage, I'd like to invest in a chest freezer so we can order our meat in bulk.
7. This week I'm going to pack up some of the pre-packaged convenience food that's in our cupboards to give to all the food drives that will soon be starting. I feel a little guilty for pawning off unhealthy food, though.
8. I will most likely not continue to worry about foods with added sugars like ham, bacon, etc., but I will continue to stay away from sugary treats. Those were never that difficult for me to stay away from to begin with. I am more aware now about those hidden sugars, so I will only eat those foods in moderation.
9. Paleo allows dairy. That is probably the first food group that I will try to reintroduce. I don't drink milk, I can make my own mayo, but cheese...oh cheese...I do miss you a little--especially on pizza.

Well, it's a start. It's nice to see (I was about to say the end, but it's not the end) a new beginning in sight. I'm excited to see what the next 10 days have in store, and I REALLY can't wait to pull out that scale 10 days from now. I know, I know, it's not supposed to be about weight, and I'm trying to prepare myself so I'm not crushed, but I still can't wait.

Oh, in case you were wondering...my poop is great, too.

 

Days 12-14: Boundless energy! Now give me a damn Twinkie.

 

It has been a crazy, crazy week. Last week the teachers went back to school, and since we are running down to the wire with construction, I didn't get to start in my room until 2:00 on Thursday. That meant I had to go in on Friday and Saturday to get everything done. It also meant that it was an eat what was ready few days, so I was glad to have a lot of leftovers, although I didn't do as well on veggies as I should have. 

Since I was at school on Saturday, I had to shop AND do my cookup today. That was a lot of work on the day before school starts. I did manage to make quite a bit, but I'm going to have to do some more tomorrow. Here's what I made today:

• Browned a lb of ground beef and pork
• cut up a cantaloupe
• made amazing potato salad
• made meatball soup
• made a chicken dish that is SO hot that I'm not sure I'll be able to eat it
• cut up a bunch of veggies

I have to do something tomorrow to get the rest of the stuff in the refrigerator. I'm out of room, and I have a huge head of cauliflower, a head of cabbage, and a watermelon that I'd like to cut up. I also bought so much meat today, and I don't have any room left in the freezer. Maybe tomorrow I can do a major fridge/freezer overhaul.

So, how have I been feeling? I feel okay. Not super full of energy, but not super tired either, and considering the week I've had, I guess that's a good thing. I am still sleeping pretty well. I haven't been having tummy troubles anymore. My hunger is under control. I have had a lot of cravings the last few days. And I Don't feel like I've lost any weight. Sigh. The scale is still safely put away, but I really thought that I'd see my physical differences by now. I guess we will see what the new week has in store. 

If it wasn't for those breath strips I'd be almost 1/2 way through. They say that the "tiger blood" stage is right around the corner, so I am looking forward to that.

I really wanted to write a better blog tonight since it's been so long, but I just have too much going on. I do not feel prepared for school tomorrow. Usually the last couple of weeks of summer are totally spent working on school stuff. This year I spent those two weeks focused on Whole30. Hopefully I'll make it through this first week of school without too much stress. 

One of these days I will be filling you in on all the yummy new things I've been trying, but not tonight. This teacher needs her sleep!

TTFN

vicki

Day 11: The Hardest Days Part II

 

Day 11 (of 40)

When they said that these were going to be the hardest days they meant because we would be the most prone to want to give in to temptation. If you read yesterday's post, you'll know that wasn't the hardest part for me. It was dealing with a setback that was the result of an unintentional poor choice I made. I'm not even that upset with having to add 10 days to the program--I'm upset because I tried SOOOO hard, and it wasn't good enough. 

The lesson I learned made me look at a lot of things differently. I liken my emotional reaction to this to the way one of my students may feel when they study hard, are attentive in class, and do the best that they know how and still get a score lower than they expected on an assignment. I need to not only teach them how to better prepare for the next assessment, but I have to do it in a way that supports their psychological and emotional needs, also. 

We are humans. We are beautifully flawed. We make choices-intentional or not-that aren't always in our best interest. We need support from other beautifully flawed humans. 

So, on a happier note, I'm feeling a LOT better. I'm sleeping better, I have more energy, and it doesn't hurt as much to sit down anymore. (see Day 9) AND I was finally able to get into my classroom and do some work today.

I will try to catch up on some yummy foods I've tried this week in one of the weekend blogs. Right now I'm going to watch Big Brother and go to bed so I can get up and get my room prepped for our new school year!

TTFN

vicki

Day 10: The Hardest Days

 

So... some of you may have noticed that I didn't post last night at the end of my Day 10. You'd think I'd be pretty happy about that what with being a 1/3 of the way through and everything and feeling physically better. Yeah, well, I didn't actually feel all that great last night.

One of my biggest insecurities is worrying about having bad breath. I always carry mints, gum, spray, etc. around with me. I knew better than to eat mints--didn't even consider them, but my Listerine Breath Strips--I never considered NOT using them until a co-worker offered me a stick of gum. As I was declining the gum all of a sudden I wondered about the breath strips I'd been using. When I got home I looked it up. Yep, artificial sweetener. C.R.A.P.

I was devastated. 

I couldn't face the blog. I went to bed. I didn't even tell my daughter and sister who started with me. I felt like I had let everyone down. I finally came clean to one of my work friends who is on her day 4. She was very supportive, so I told another co-worker. This co-worker had completed a W30 before and had a similar experience. We talked through my feelings of betrayal because there had been no mention of breath fresheners (or toothpaste for that matter) and any of the W30 literature that I had read to prepare for this journey. 

Ultimately I realized that regardless of whether I made a conscious decision to eat a piece of pizza or unconsciously slipped a breath strip in my mouth, the damage was done and I couldn't undo it. I should have done a better job with my research and been more diligent about what I allowed in my body. So it was time to suck it up, learn from the experience and add 10 days to my W30. Psychologically it's better for me to say I'm doing a Whole40. That way I get the benefit of the entire 30 days but I don't totally discount the 10 days of really hard work that I already put in. I broke the news to my sister and daughter, and they were totally on board with going the 40 days with me. 

I love my support group! Thank you, Dani, Carolyn, Melissa, and Connie for all of your support. And thank you to those of you who will read this and I'm sure add your support, too. This has been a huge lesson in humility in addition to everything else.

And, since I promised full disclosure from the start-now you know, too.

Day 9: The "For the love of Gosling, my pants are TIGHTER" Phase: Part II

 

So after I posted yesterday's blog, things kind of fell apart. I started having tummy trouble that HURT! I went to bed early, basically because it hurt too much to do anything but lie there and moan. I know that it is just my body adjusting to everything. It's used to getting it's energy from all those carbs and other sugars that I fed it. Now it has to learn to get what it needs from the healthy fat I'm feeding it. They told me it would happen, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to go through. 

When I woke up this morning, though, I was feeling much better. I warmed up the Apple Bumpkin, packed (way too much) my lunch, and headed out to the second day of Teacher Week. People are being so great asking me how I'm doing and telling me they are reading the blog. That is really affirming, but it makes me really aware of how boring my writing is! 

I want to sidetrack from W30 for a second and let you know what's going on at our school. We're Getting A Gym! Well, we have been getting a new gym for over a year now, and even though we try our best to stay positive, there have been some issues caused by the construction that make it difficult to find the bright spot. My classroom happens to be on the exterior wall where they are connecting the gym and the new STEAM center. They had to take out a couple of windows and close up the wall. All summer I've been trying to get in my room to start unpacking, but as of yesterday there was still construction going on. Today our schedule allowed the teachers to work in their rooms all afternoon--the thing that teachers treasure above all other things (well, kind of).  So, needless to say, it was a frustrating afternoon for me as I watched all my peers setting up their rooms, unpacking their desks, and getting ready for students to arrive on Monday. Oh, and to make it worse, now they are painting the room and everything is shoved together in the middle of the room, and I can't get to anything if I wanted to. They are using my desk as a work table! 

But, when I got home, this was waiting for me:

That made me smile. My first Amazon Pantry Pack and my weekly Door-to-Door Organics order. I was able to order some of the ingredients from Amazon that I need for some of the recipes I want to try.

As far as other things I'm noticing due to the W30 experience, I'm starting to feel a lot more focused, I'm sleeping better, I waking up with a little more energy most days, and I'm starting to be able to make it between meals without feeling hungry. I am much more aware of some of the issues I've had/have with food. For instance, there was no need for me to eat those nuts on my way home from school yesterday. I wasn't hungry, I was just afraid that I might get hungry before it was time for dinner. (That's how I rationalized it) I used to be able to fool myself, but my new self is gonna block that move!

If you are afraid of TMI regarding bodily functions, stop reading here. OR Continue at your own risk...

I talked about the bloating, well along with that came constipation, and along with constipation came the dreaded hemorrhoids! The REALLY PAINFUL kind. Every time I rolled over in bed last night the pain woke me up. Today, sitting in hard chairs killed me. Currently I'm sitting on an ice pack--if it were you, I'd probably be laughing, so go ahead--it's okay. 

I know that this is just another hurdle to get over. Every day brings me one day closer to gaining control over my unhealthy relationship with food. Every day buys me more time with my loved ones. Every day makes me helps me learn more about healthy living to share with others. Every day I am learning to love myself again.

I love you all. Thank you for reading. I'm humbled everytime I look at the number of people who are following my journey. I am doing this for all of us, and maybe someday, when/if you're ready, I can cheer you on during your first Whole30.

TTFN

vicki

Day 8: The "For the love of Gosling, my pants are TIGHTER" Phase

Day 8: The "For the love of Gosling, my pants are TIGHTER" Phase

Click on Picture for Video

My first day back to school (teacher week), and starting my second W30 week. Have I told you lately how glad I am that I had last week off of school to get used to this way of living?

I was super nervous--mostly that I wouldn't have enough to eat to get me through. I'm happy to report that the day was wonderful. I had way more than enough food, and a LOT of people were very interested in learning about Whole30.

We have 3 people at our school who have completed a W30 before and there are 2 more starting this week (after reading my FB posts) and 2 more who are ordering the book this week.  I'm thinking about hosting a W30 potluck next month!

One of the teachers was like, "OMG, you must be losing weight like crazy without eating all that food! Don't you just feel the weight falling off?" A W30 veteran was sitting there, and we explained to him that weight loss is one of the least important benefits of the program. As I was sitting there explaining I realized that I'm actually starting to BELIEVE what I'm saying! Granted, I don't feel like I've lost any weight yet (feeling a bit bloated, actually), but it's not as hard this week to stay away from that scale.

Of course another teacher was talking about Cheesesteak sandwiches and how he could never do any 'diet' that prohibited that yumminess. Ever since he said that (btw, he's the health and pe teacher) I've been really wanting an ooey gooey cheesesteak sandwich. Grrr.





I was exhausted when I got home (more going back to school than W30 related), but I didn't stress out about dinner because I had planned ahead and had a meal ready in 6 microwave minutes.

On top of all of that, now that I've reached Day 8 I am starting to believe that I can do this! (But I still miss cheese)

Day 7: I Just Wanna Nap: Part II

Day 7: I Just Wanna Nap: Part II

 

Ugh. I. Am. Tired. 

I have so much to do today--about 8 loads of laundry, a major cook-up for the week, pack up for school, and do some school work--and I have zero energy this morning. I didn't feel all that great when I went to bed last night, and I was up at 6:30 this morning feeling pretty much the same way. My tummy is achy, I'm not really hungry, and nothing sounds good anyway. I've been sitting on the couch pulling up recipes for today for the past 2 hours. I think it's creative procrastination--something I'm very good at. I haven't even had the energy to get up and refill my coffee cup.

Okay, I'm going, I'm going...brb

1:00 p.m. check-in. I woke up a little. I'm not sure I can even remember everything I've done so far today, but I'll try.

• Made an Apple Bumpkin
• Boiled 15 eggs
• Cooked a pound of beef bacon (that's a different taste)
• Cooked a pound of pork bacon tips (I got the bacon from U.S. Wellness Meats)
• Made a cauliflower/mushroom/onion veggie dish
• Chopped up a bunch of onion to use later in the week
• Made 5 cookie sheets full of kale chips
• Did 2 loads of laundry

I'm taking a short break to do some school work then tackling some more yumminess. 

The afternoon/evening consisted of 2 more loads of laundry and the following cook-up items:

• Scotch Eggs
• Sauteed cabbage with onions and bacon bits (the pork bacon tips I made earlier)
• Sauteed spinach in bacon fat
• tilapia (for dinner)
• Roasted broccoli (for dinner)
• prepped brussels sprouts to roast tomorrow
• cut up a bunch of veggies (cukes, red and green pepper, carrots) to take in lunches

In addition to all of the above, I cleaned out and reorganized my fridge to accommodate everything. I used almost every container I had to portion out all the things that I made. Lunch has to be easy for me to grab in the morning, especially since I now have to be sure to actually eat before I leave the house.

It's 8:30, and I can finally relax long enough to watch Big Brother before bedtime. My tummy is a little achy. I'm a little nervous that I'm going to experience the "For the Love of Gosling: My Pants Are Tighter" that they warned us about. Bloated tummies are not fun, but I suppose it's a stage we have to go through to get to the other side. 

Don't worry, I'll let you know tomorrow!

TTFN

vicki