Whole 30 day 11

Hey Y’ALL! So today is actually day 12, but blogging on day 11 in this post. So let me just say to you all who are hoping to try this “experiment” for yourselves. Here is the cold hard truth- It is one of the most frustrating things I have ever done in my life. It takes a lot of willpower and dedication. Yesterday I almost came to my breaking point. I was feeling “flu” like symptoms (headache, fatigue, shakiness, irritability). It was my day that I planned on doing a track workout and I could not muster up the energy to do anything after work. I went home and took a two hour nap! Then I woke up feeling like I could barely move. I managed to microwave my prepared dinner and drink some hot tea. I was so tempted to just call it quits- I mean I am not doing the things I enjoy (running and crossfit) because I am so tired. I also feel like I have been in a major mind fog for the last few days. I even considered driving through chick fil-A for an ice dream cup.

I decided I would give it until the morning to see how I felt. I started googling, looking on the whole 30 forum, and other blogs for similar situations. Turns out, it is very common to still feel this way 12 days or even 20 days into the program. Depending on how you ate before starting, your stress levels, and activity levels your body can take a long time to adjust to burning fat and protein as fuel instead of carbohydrates. There were even scholarly resources on “carb flu”, “carb detox”, and “paleo flu”. My symptoms definitely fit the category of “carb flu”. Out of everything that I read, I did not read about one case where someone stuck with it and didn’t end up feeling better in the long run. I managed to suck it up and drink my peppermint tea. Out of some of the suggestions, one of the best ones was use the time to actually rest and you will get through it faster. I decided to rent a movie and have a night in for once-which was super relaxing for a week night (if you haven’t watched 10 Cloverfield Lane– you need to! That movie is CRAY!).

So I had more than 8 hours of sleep in a long time and I felt pretty amazing waking up this morning. I did feel a little bit more energized, but still have a lingering headache and some muscle aches today. I do feel like I will have enough energy to run later which is good. I am trying to up my carb intake with potatoes this week since I have a 10 mile planned for my long run.

Being a therapist I am trying to use some cognitive behavioral coaching on myself and see the situation in a positive light. The things that have been better so far: 1) my skin is starting to clear up. 2) my hair is getting shiner and softer. 3) I can see my abs (less bloating! 4) I am starting to have a regular “bathroom” schedule 5) When I do sleep it is seems better quality (other than last night I did have a dream that I got stabbed at work by a patient — All of the violent media coverage is messing with me!)

Day 11 Food Log:

• 8:30 AM- two hardboiled eggs, green apple, 1/4 cup of almonds and bullet proof coffee.
• 11:45 AM- 2 cups of crock pot Greek chicken and orange slices with a  sparkling water (if you crave soda- this is awesome)
• 4:00 PM- a homemade lemon raspberry protein bar and side of olives
• 745 PM- 1 baked cod fillet with homemade Moroccan rub, roasted broccoli, and 1 cup of mashed sweet potato (with grass fed butter and coconut cream) with a cup of peppermint tea.

• 1000 PM- still had some lingering hunger so I had a banana