"Well, we've gone and done it, young fellah-my-lad."
---"The Lost World", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
If I'd had weeks and weeks to dread--I mean, prepare--for a Whole 30 challenge, I would have been tempted to make a whole "journey," out of it. But I did not, and I think it's better this way. Occasional posts, you know, to keep myself accountable. I knew I'd be less inclined to cheat on this diet if I knew I'd be writing about it. As appealing as daily posts about this seems, I don't think I will. Quite frankly, I'm not certain I'll have the mental or emotional energy.
For those of you who may not know, "Whole 30" is a diet for 30 days. "Whole," and non-processed food, for 30 straight days. A challenge.
No grains, no dairy, no sugar or sweetener of ANY kind, (no, not even honey!), no legumes, no processed foods or preservatives, and no regular butter. It's a diet heavy on proteins, fruits and vegetables. Not a sustainable lifestyle diet, but more like a "reset," button for your body.
I've resisted diets and "challenges," of this nature for oh, all of my life. So what convinced me to do this? Was it a snap decision? Well, yes and no.
No in the sense that it was *my* decision. I was not coerced or bribed. I thought about it for a day or two before I jumped in. But yes because that's remarkably quick decision-making for someone like me for a challenge like this! It was one of those things where I knew thinking about it wouldn't help...you just have to jump.
I'm (for once) going to try my best not to slip into Story-Mode here. I'd get too preachy, and then I'd get super annoyed at myself and then where would we be? But I will explain.
Last Friday I was going to lunch for my usual scrumptious feast. On the way to my car, it dawned on me that I didn't actually want it. What I wanted was something with multiple textures and ingredients; something with layers of flavor and subtlety. Like...like cashew chicken for example. Or curry chicken, or a matar paneer. Unfortunately when you have a lunch break of 30 minutes, you simply can't manage to get food like that on a regular day. So I feast on fast food; which I love.
As I feasted a short while later, I realized I didn't like the way I felt right this minute. Scarfing down this delicious--if a tad monotonous--meal. My hands were all greasy; I had a pile of smeared napkins in my lap. Gross...
Gross was how I felt for the entire afternoon and evening, too. I thought grease was seeping from my pores. I was sticky, restless, over-full, and yet I could tell I'd be hungry again shortly. And the thought came to me, "Why do I do this? Seriously, why? I'm not sure I like this as much as I think I do!"
It was that evening or the next day when my roommate told me she was planning to do Whole 30 starting on Monday, and asked me if I wanted to join her. It was one of those moments in life when you *don't* want to, and yet you feel so wretched the way you are that your mind just kind of goes, "You know what....why not?"
So I told her I would.
We spent all of Saturday planning, buying groceries, purging the house, and pre-cooking next week's lunches. I found myself getting excited. I was throwing away things I wasn't going to need, and hiding certain things from myself.
With me, I just can't seem to force myself to make small healthy choices. I could have a salad for lunch, of course. But I could also get a hot meal from Chick-fil-A, and it's very, very hard to argue with that! Maybe I just need some big huge commitment to--I'm not sure, reset my body? Get cravings under control? Feel better? Look better? Maybe! The sky is the limit!
So now I'm on day 3, and I won't lie to you. This sucks. At this point I'm glad I didn't write some inspired happy hopeful preachy garbage on Sunday when I was still stuffing my face with all the delicacies as a very fond month-long farewell. I would not be able to stomach it now.
The first day was horrible. I enthusiastically ate my good food, and there was plenty of it, I must say! I wasn't starving myself on tiny portions of rabbit food. This was chicken and sweet potatoes and broccoli. And fruit and nuts for snacks. I had plenty of food. But I wanted chocolate. I caught my brain going, "Okay, now it's time for chocolate!" at every available opportunity. Then I had to remind myself, "Nope, no chocolate." And my brain would go, "All right, maybe a little bit later then."
All afternoon it kept getting worse. And instead of dialogue in my head, it changed to this overall feeling of restlessness. And *worry*. It was like how you feel when you know you've forgotten something important and can't remember what it is. It was a craving in the worst sense, manifesting itself in physical symptoms and needling and nagging me to death.
Eating grapes that afternoon was my saving grace. Thank you God for grapes!!
The next morning and this I've woken up feeling hollow. That's really the best way to describe it. Empty inside. This unsettled, uneasy, dreading sort of emptiness inside.
Although...that's not new. I wake up feeling that way most of the time, and it's only gotten worse as all this social-distancing has been taking its toll. I guess this time what makes it so much worse is that now my body feels weird.
I call it "hollow," but it's also a mixed-up kind of feeling. I'm not sure how to properly describe it. I feel that everything is different, and not in a happy way. My body still feels gross, even though I've eaten only healthy things for three days. I still feel like grease is seeping out of my pores. I'm bloated, too. I'm still all broken out. I feel oddly over-full, ravenously hungry, or uninterested in food in turns.
This is truly awful. From what I've read, this stage will probably only get worse for the next 10-15 days.
Hoo-boy. What have I gotten myself into?
~Cadenza
---"The Lost World", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
If I'd had weeks and weeks to dread--I mean, prepare--for a Whole 30 challenge, I would have been tempted to make a whole "journey," out of it. But I did not, and I think it's better this way. Occasional posts, you know, to keep myself accountable. I knew I'd be less inclined to cheat on this diet if I knew I'd be writing about it. As appealing as daily posts about this seems, I don't think I will. Quite frankly, I'm not certain I'll have the mental or emotional energy.
For those of you who may not know, "Whole 30" is a diet for 30 days. "Whole," and non-processed food, for 30 straight days. A challenge.
No grains, no dairy, no sugar or sweetener of ANY kind, (no, not even honey!), no legumes, no processed foods or preservatives, and no regular butter. It's a diet heavy on proteins, fruits and vegetables. Not a sustainable lifestyle diet, but more like a "reset," button for your body.
I've resisted diets and "challenges," of this nature for oh, all of my life. So what convinced me to do this? Was it a snap decision? Well, yes and no.
No in the sense that it was *my* decision. I was not coerced or bribed. I thought about it for a day or two before I jumped in. But yes because that's remarkably quick decision-making for someone like me for a challenge like this! It was one of those things where I knew thinking about it wouldn't help...you just have to jump.
I'm (for once) going to try my best not to slip into Story-Mode here. I'd get too preachy, and then I'd get super annoyed at myself and then where would we be? But I will explain.
Last Friday I was going to lunch for my usual scrumptious feast. On the way to my car, it dawned on me that I didn't actually want it. What I wanted was something with multiple textures and ingredients; something with layers of flavor and subtlety. Like...like cashew chicken for example. Or curry chicken, or a matar paneer. Unfortunately when you have a lunch break of 30 minutes, you simply can't manage to get food like that on a regular day. So I feast on fast food; which I love.
As I feasted a short while later, I realized I didn't like the way I felt right this minute. Scarfing down this delicious--if a tad monotonous--meal. My hands were all greasy; I had a pile of smeared napkins in my lap. Gross...
Gross was how I felt for the entire afternoon and evening, too. I thought grease was seeping from my pores. I was sticky, restless, over-full, and yet I could tell I'd be hungry again shortly. And the thought came to me, "Why do I do this? Seriously, why? I'm not sure I like this as much as I think I do!"
It was that evening or the next day when my roommate told me she was planning to do Whole 30 starting on Monday, and asked me if I wanted to join her. It was one of those moments in life when you *don't* want to, and yet you feel so wretched the way you are that your mind just kind of goes, "You know what....why not?"
So I told her I would.
We spent all of Saturday planning, buying groceries, purging the house, and pre-cooking next week's lunches. I found myself getting excited. I was throwing away things I wasn't going to need, and hiding certain things from myself.
With me, I just can't seem to force myself to make small healthy choices. I could have a salad for lunch, of course. But I could also get a hot meal from Chick-fil-A, and it's very, very hard to argue with that! Maybe I just need some big huge commitment to--I'm not sure, reset my body? Get cravings under control? Feel better? Look better? Maybe! The sky is the limit!
So now I'm on day 3, and I won't lie to you. This sucks. At this point I'm glad I didn't write some inspired happy hopeful preachy garbage on Sunday when I was still stuffing my face with all the delicacies as a very fond month-long farewell. I would not be able to stomach it now.
The first day was horrible. I enthusiastically ate my good food, and there was plenty of it, I must say! I wasn't starving myself on tiny portions of rabbit food. This was chicken and sweet potatoes and broccoli. And fruit and nuts for snacks. I had plenty of food. But I wanted chocolate. I caught my brain going, "Okay, now it's time for chocolate!" at every available opportunity. Then I had to remind myself, "Nope, no chocolate." And my brain would go, "All right, maybe a little bit later then."
All afternoon it kept getting worse. And instead of dialogue in my head, it changed to this overall feeling of restlessness. And *worry*. It was like how you feel when you know you've forgotten something important and can't remember what it is. It was a craving in the worst sense, manifesting itself in physical symptoms and needling and nagging me to death.
Eating grapes that afternoon was my saving grace. Thank you God for grapes!!
The next morning and this I've woken up feeling hollow. That's really the best way to describe it. Empty inside. This unsettled, uneasy, dreading sort of emptiness inside.
Although...that's not new. I wake up feeling that way most of the time, and it's only gotten worse as all this social-distancing has been taking its toll. I guess this time what makes it so much worse is that now my body feels weird.
I call it "hollow," but it's also a mixed-up kind of feeling. I'm not sure how to properly describe it. I feel that everything is different, and not in a happy way. My body still feels gross, even though I've eaten only healthy things for three days. I still feel like grease is seeping out of my pores. I'm bloated, too. I'm still all broken out. I feel oddly over-full, ravenously hungry, or uninterested in food in turns.
This is truly awful. From what I've read, this stage will probably only get worse for the next 10-15 days.
Hoo-boy. What have I gotten myself into?
~Cadenza
