The Whole 30 2016: Week 2 Completed

Week 2 is in the Books for the Whole30 and I’m still in the game. The first thing you think about with a program such as this is everything you can’t have. It seems uber restrictive since there is no:

Legumes
Dairy
Grains
Seed Oils
Artificial Sugars/Sweeteners

It seems very restrictive and rigid. I have found that the opposite of this is true. I don’t feel restricted since there are so many things I CAN eat.

The only thing I am being completely rigid about is eating 3 Meals a Day and a Post Workout Snack. I am trying to get back on an eating routine because I think that’s critical for me.

It’s a Process

As you know, I had disordered eating habits and my mindset was a mess after all of the restrictive dieting. In the past year I’ve gotten rid of the anxieties I had about food, bingeing is no longer an issue, and I no longer feel the need to micromanage my food because I understand that in the grand scheme of things it is pointless and didn’t even yield the results I want.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m rarely hungry anymore and I remember tracking my calories one day just to see and it turned out that I was eating 1100 calories and this is when I was steadily gaining weight. I ate that little because I just wasn’t hungry and I didn’t want to gain fat (even though I was anyway)

Then this year I noticed anytime I wasn’t eating enough, I would gain weight. So now with this plan I am eating 3 meals per day. It’s part of the process I believe in restoring hormonal balance and my metabolism.

I used to believe and would tell others that they need to eat 5-6 meals per day to keep their metabolism revved up. The current research shows that this is not true. I think every individual is different. Eating 5-6 meals per day works for some people but for me eating 3 meals per day (and a post workout meal) works well for me.

Dealing with Fear

Part of my fear was that I would eat breakfast and then be hungry an hour later like I was with the restrictive dieting. First of all that’s not happening due to the high amount of protein and fat with each meal. I can eat breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and be hungry for lunch at 12:30 or 1 p.m. and it’s great.

Eating at these regular intervals has helped me to release the fear about being hungry all the time. I also don’t snack because I don’t need to…I am a firm believer that if you find yourself snacking all of the time and it turns into a full on binge that you are not enough at meals or you’re just not eating enough nutrient dense foods.

Doing this program has helped me deal with my fear of feeling like I was starving all of the time.

Energy Levels

Energy Levels are good. I don’t feel sluggish or terrible. Week 2 is supposed to be when you feel terrible and tired but I didn’t feel that way at all this week….I think this is somewhat of a miracle since I haven’t had coffee since this has started!

Experimenting with New Foods

If you follow my Instagram account and my Facebook Health Coaching page you can see some of the recipes that I’ve been playing around with. One of the reasons I wanted to do this was to get out of my self imposed boring food rut and experiment with new recipes. It’s also forced me to start cooking again which I do actually enjoy but had not been the most motivated so I kept making the same things.

This past week I made Butternut Squash Soup for the first time and I really liked it!

I also had a visceral reaction to the words “meal prep”. It brought me back to the competition dieting stage. However that’s not what this is and cooking/meals have become enjoyable!

Awareness of my cravings…

A very interesting observation was when I went grocery shopping at Trader Joes. I was about to buy some dates because I thought they would make a great dessert. The whole reason I wanted them was because they are sweet and I wanted something sweet. I told myself I would even put almond butter on them to kind of cancel out the sweetness.

After standing there for about 3 minutes and noting the 25g of sugar on the label, I decided to pass. Now are dates bad? NO

Do they have Fiber? Yes. (I tried rationalizing that one)

The reason I wanted the dates was because I wanted a sweet fix. The fact that I was able to pass showed it wasn’t a physiological need but more of my brain wanting sugar.

That’s one of the reasons I love doing these types of programs! You build such awareness about your habits.