Day One (pre-written, I will do a how it went post later)

Bonus! I found out Franks Red Hot Sauce is compliant! (the original one, I think the others are non –compliant)

As I start this journey officially, I would like to review some of the things that Whole30 claims will be fixed just by diet. I’ll start with ones that don’t really apply to me, so I have no way of measuring them at this time in my life.

-          Diabetes

-          Asthma

-          Allergies (since moving to Tennessee I have not had allergies, so while I technically do have them, I currently have no way to measure if they are alleviated through diet)

-          Arthritis symptoms

-          Leaky gut (at least I don’t think it applies to me…)

-          Crohn’s disease

-          Celiac disease

-          High cholesterol

-          Infertility

-          Lupus

-          Etc.

Here’s where we’re gonna go into some personal territory. These are some of the symptoms that Whole30 claims will be cured, or at least diminished, by following their diet and that I am struggling with. In general, I just don’t feel ‘good’. It’s like I hit a point in my life span where my body decided that it’s done and it’s all downhill from here. Here are some details, some of which are ‘chronic’ for me, and a couple of recent developments. When I visit with the dr about some of these, the general consensus after tests is: Stress from grad school. Seriously.

-          Sleep problems: In recent years I have had a lot of sleep difficulties. I have not slept fully through the night for a few months which is a new symptom. I have always (since kindergarten) had major issues with waking up in the morning and getting myself going. I also really struggle to fall asleep at night, sometimes lying in bed for hours wondering when I’ll fall asleep and how horrible it will be in the morning to have so little sleep.

-          Energy slumps- I hit about 1:30pm each day and I feel so tired I want to die, until about 5 or 6 at night, sometimes until I go to bed. It doesn’t help that I work with a population that get a nap time each day either. If I had a schedule that allowed napping, I would be doing it. Every. Single. Day.

-          Energy slumps cont- it’s so bad I really struggle to exercise because I don’t have the energy to do it, and if I do, I usually end up horrifically grumpy for the remainder of the day. And, no, it doesn’t improve after exercising regularly for a sustained amount of time. It just gets worse.

-          Weight issues- I now weigh more than I ever have in my entire life. Could grad school stress really explain that big of a weight gain in only 6 months, especially since I’m coming up on two years in grad school? I haven’t changed my eating habits either. Where is this weight coming from and how do I get rid of it?

-          Emotional- I get PMS bad. Those ‘early mornings’ and afternoon slumps make me horrifically grumpy on a regular basis.  I also have a history of depression. Depression is something they say will be alleviated with this diet. Unfortunately, depression is something that never really goes away permanently. I still struggle with it, since taking medications didn’t work as well for me as we had hoped, and I have been able to mostly manage it in recent years without meds.  Anything that will help, even a little is very welcome.

-          Chronic pain- I have some old injuries that flare up quite regularly. You know how sometimes older people say they feel a storm coming ‘in their bones’? I’m only 30, and I feel things ‘in my bones’, specifically the foot and arm that I’ve broken. Right where the breaks occurred too, it’s freaky. Migraines, more frequently since grad school started. And in general, I have muscle soreness and pain that really doesn’t have much of an explanation outside of the dr’s general ‘stress’ diagnosis.

-          Gut issues- this one is a fairly new one, but I get nauseous on a regular basis. The dr says, you guessed it, stress. And I tend to agree in some of the cases. But in some others, the only thing I can think of is that maybe I’m eating things that my stomach doesn’t agree with.

      Skin issues- They claim to fix almost every skin issue you can imagine here. For me the biggest concern is eczema, which is very mild for me. Occasional breakouts. And my scalp, it's constantly itchy and flaky, I've tried a lot of different shampoos, conditioners, and so forth. I'm assuming that my scalp is actually the most out of control area of eczema on me. I don't have high hopes that Whole30 will do much, but just in case it does, I'm including it on my list. 

So here, as I embark on this diet plan, I’ve recorded what I would like to be assessing again, in 30 days, to see if there really was an improvement or not. While I may mention improvements as I notice them, I plan on doing a full post covering all of them again at the end of the diet. 

What I Learned When I Started Tracking Calories

First off, I know that some of you know me and will go into panic mode. So, go look at this first, then you may continue to read this post:
Things Only Skinny-Fat People Understand

The past few months have been rough. Grad school, marriage, moving, and moving, and all that drama. Not surprisingly, I've been stressed. A sad side effect of stress this time around is that I have gained some weight.  I don't fit into clothes the way I used to, and it's bothering me. For the first time in my life, my weight is a concern for me.

For awhile I've been meaning to get into better shape by exercising more regularly. Because, well, exercising is good for you (so they say). My husband is really into fitness stuff, and that has been influencing me quite a bit. Then with the weight gain, well, I knew I had to boost it up a bit.

I decided to go ahead and try to track calories again. I have an app on my phone (Runkeeper) that recommended a specific calorie tracker called Lose It! (I think the exclamation point is to help you think that it will be fun...) . It asks questions like your gender, height, weight, and goal. Then gives you a recommended daily calorie intake. Since it links up to Runkeeper, it will automatically upload the exercise you do and calculate how many calories you burn.

Here's some things I learned from using a calorie tracker:

- Eating is a habit. You need to try to break the habit/impulse to eat all the time. You don't really need that snack. You don't really need that candybar. Or soda. Leave the food in the kitchen, that way you aren't mindlessly ingesting calories while watching tv each night.

- You know how it's recommended to drink 8 glasses of water a day? Do it. I've heard that sometimes your body gives you hunger signals when it really needs water. So, whenever I thought I might be getting hungry, I drank some water and waited. Use water as a delay tactic to avoid eating when you don't really need to. This strategy got me through most mornings and afternoons without the massive amount of snacks I usually have.
Added bonus on this one, your skin will look better, the sugar withdrawal headaches won't be horrific, and your body will be flushing out more toxins. (You will eventually get used to it and not need to pee every 10 minutes. It takes a couple weeks though.)

-Veggies. I for one enjoy vegetables and fruits. I found out that if I were to eat only broccoli one day, I could eat all that I could possibly hold, and still be under calories for the day. WAAAAAY under. Of the foods I ate over the past few weeks the lowest calorie ones were broccoli, spinach, celery, cantaloupe,  and apples. The fruit generally was higher calorie than the veggies, but both were still low.

-Walk on your lunch break. Walk instead of having a snack break. Find 10 minute online workouts and do them. Track all of the exercise. It will add up.

-It's hard. Really really hard. The first week I ended up under calories. But only because that week included Fast Sunday. Since then I have not been able to end a week under calories, or even 'breaking even' on calories. I never realized how much I eat before. It makes me more intentional about what I am eating, when I am eating it, and that I should be exercising more.

-Still treat yourself. I can't live without chocolate. It's a fact of life. I like chocolate, cookies, cake, and all that. As long as I exercise, and eat really well the whole day, I can eat something I love and it will be okay calorie-wise.

Just a few tips for ya! I still have a lot of room for improvement, and will keep you updated if I learn any more lessons, have any tips, etc.

Drinking Water

So, you always hear that you should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to benefit your health. But I've never really heard much beyond that personally. "They" say it's good for losing weight, good for your skin, good for you brain functioning.

While I can't say that my brain functioning has been in top shape lately, I can say that I've been making an effort to drink 'enough' water each day. Not so great for the bathroom breaks that seemed to take over my life for awhile there... And I can't say I noticed much of a difference in anything other than the more frequent bathroom breaks.

However; it has yielded some results that I just didn't notice. I am a private tutor for a family and I often spend a few minutes chatting with the mother after the sessions each day. The other day out of the blue she asked, "Where have you been getting your facials at?"

Me: Ummm.... excuse me?

She asked again, and I explained that I had never had a facial (and currently can't afford something like that, Grad School folks, grad school). She went on to say that she noticed my skin was glowing and seemed a lot clearer lately. I shrugged it off and later that night realized the time frame she gave was about the same time frame as me drinking more water.

So, even though you might not notice it, others do see the difference drinking water can make!

(Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom... again.)

PS: If you are a bottled water drinker, for the love! Please stop! You can get a filter pitcher, or attachment for your faucet for less than bottled water costs. You'll save money and the environment at the same time!