Whole30: Day 8 (on the road!)

Today was a travel day. This morning my mom and I made the most of the breakfast buffet at our hotel. I was able to get a balanced breakfast together without risking the addition of potentially non-compliant and tempting breakfast sausage or bacon. A significant personal observation is that I went to a buffet and made smart choices and didn’t even think twice about the second or third plate I usually would have gotten, filled with questionable food.

Here’s how I put my plate together:
– Protein: salmon and a couple tablespoons of hard-boiled eggs – Vegetables: breakfast potatoes, cucumbers, fresh salsa, and fruit (pineapple and some dried banana)
– Fat: capers!

I’m actually writing this on the plane back to Rochester now. It wasn’t lunchtime in the last airport, and I wasn’t hungry, so I hunted for Whole30 snacks that could get me through this flight. I found some dried mango (only ingredient: mango!) and a really great pack of dried almonds (only ingredient: almonds!). It took some time and some hunting to find nuts sans sunflower or other oil, but it worked! And I know that it’s easy to go overboard with fruit while traveling, but…yeah, that’s the reality of flying. Unfortunately, fresh vegetables are not available everywhere.

I’ll update later with potential lunch/dinner decisions. What I’m a bit concerned about is the fact that I basically have no food at home, so making breakfast will be a bit of a challenge tomorrow morning. The plan is to get spaghetti squash and make some more ground turkey/tomato food.

I did stay awake on the planes with some good reads and watery American Airlines coffee!

Glamour Magazine rocks. Watery coffee does the job.

…(Updated later, from Rochester)

Okay, so the funny thing about the Whole30 is that not only do I no longer have cravings for potato chips, Dunkin Donuts, queso, and Ramen, but I don’t really have any cravings at all at this point. I don’t crave salty things, and I don’t ever really feel hungry. So, when I was in the airport, I found the only thing I could be sure was totally compliant: sashimi. God, it hurts to pay $16 for six pieces of raw fish..but eating healthy comes at a price. I finished reading Life of Pi (aw yeah) during this day of travel. Eating raw fish complemented that book quite well.

Airport life: mobile phone charger, book about man who eats raw fish, plastic bag that my raw fish came in, and then my raw fish. Nom nom.

Once I got back to to Rochester, I realized that the only food I’d eaten all day was nuts, dried fruit, raw fish, and that massive breakfast. But I still wasn’t hungry. I know that one of the rules of the Whole30 is that we should eat three well-rounded meals each day, so eventually I made some roasted potatoes, and ate them with a can of tuna and some black olives. It was not the most satisfying meal that has ever been consumed, but it worked. And it met the basic plate-building guidelines of the program.

Another day done. Bam!

Whole30: Goals

This summer, my boyfriend left the country for three weeks. “Now is the time,” I told myself. “He won’t be around to see your medicine cabinet…go for it!”

So I bought Hydroxycut. Not for the first time, either. A couple years ago I was going through a dark time, and I focused on losing weight and trying to get my body to look a certain way in order to feel better. Running is what ultimately helped me get healthy and confident, but I always (silently) credited Hydroxycut for helping me drop the initial pounds very quickly. I basically didn’t eat because it took my energy away, and when I did eat I made breakfast smoothies, or focused on spinach, rice, and chicken. It was okay. I got by. I was moody and high on caffeine half the time, but I got by. When I started having intense stomach pain two weeks into it, I stopped. This wasn’t worth any of the (many) health risks I’d read about online.

This past summer, I needed to jumpstart the weight loss again. I needed something from the outside to work its way in. I needed something to take over my body, get rid of my desire to eat, and show me that I could look thin and sexy(!) because I really did not feel like I had the willpower or self control to do it on my own. So I bought Hydroxycut again. Well..that worked, for about two days. I thought I was seeing an improvement in my reflection. Perhaps I was less bloated. Perhaps I was high on the caffeine that comes in those pills and imagined the results (highly likely). The pills didn’t work that time, and I was incredibly ashamed.

I kept running and kept eating a ton of food. Relentlessly eating. 11 PM – time for a snack. No time to get groceries? It’s Ramen and Netflix binge time. Every day was an occasion to be celebrated with some sort of victorious food consumption. All the running did nothing to get rid of my gut, and while I was initially happy about my photos crossing the finish line, and I felt great in the outfit I chose that day, I hated the way my body looked. My inner dialogue was less, “Wow, you ran another half!” and was more, “Are my arms really that big? My thighs are huge! So many chins! Wow I need to get it together! I looked so much better a year ago!!” But even that negative self talk couldn’t get me to stop. Putting. Food. In. My. Mouth.

Crossing the finish line at the MVP Rochester Half Marathon, 9/20/2015.

What finally inspired me to change my habits was 1) accidentally discovering Whole30 on Instagram and 2) being jealous of all of the fit people around me for looking like they are in control. I really don’t like to carry around anger, and one of my biggest pet peeves is blaming other people for my problems (i.e., I don’t want to change in the locker room with my friends because those girls are so skinny and it’s so easy for them!, or, I’m so pissed at so-and-so for losing weight faster than me! But I’m a runner!) Please. Being a runner doesn’t give you the magic capability of losing weight and having a flat tummy if you don’t put in the work required to actually have those things.

So when I finally committed to the Whole30, I had to think about long- and short-term goals for myself, and how they should be both mental and physical finish lines that I’m looking to cross. Here’s what I hope to accomplish by the end of my Whole30:

• I want my normal face back. The non-puffy, smiling one, that is in proportion with my eyeballs. Please.
• I will learn to eat when I am hungry, and to cease eating once I am full.
• I will disassociate being cold with needing warm food-like products (ahem, Ramen.)
• I will disassociate being at the computer with needing to snack on something.
• I will continue to run and train for the Winter Warrior Half Marathon, and I will be proud of the body I’ve created when I’m done.
• I want to lose weight (duh) by working on on lessening what I not-so-fondly refer to as the “doughnut ring of fat” that surrounds my tummy, hips, and thighs.
• I want sleek, smooth, strong arms.
• I want to be able to have a balanced, healthy diet post-Whole30 that will support an active lifestyle.
• I want treats to be treats, not daily excuses for eating. (Treats: going out to dinner or lunch, coffee dates, any sweet baked goods or ice cream, going to a bar.) These are things that should be saved for special occasions, not daily happenings. My friends and family are cool enough to hang out with sans exorbitant amounts of unhealthy food. We can have conversation while I don’t eat poutine.
• I will be smart when I go home for Christmas, since all of the amazing temptations will be around at that point. I can eat sugary things sparingly, but I need to fill my diet with nutrition!

Goals: set. Whole30: go mode.