Thanks to Amanda for organizing this linkup! It’s so much fun!
Week 2 of the Whole30 has been much more difficult for me than the first week. I’m at the halfway point of this experiment, but I can’t quite see the finish line. I’m doing my best to stick with it for the whole month. I’m missing the energy rush that I had the first week 😦
This Saturday was tough. I went to Foxwoods (a casino) with my boyfriend and his brothers. They allow smoking there (which I didn’t know). So it smelled terrible the whole time. We went out to eat and I had to send back the garden salad because it came with cheese (it was too crumbly to pick out- I thought that most garden salads are just like romaine with carrots and maybe a cucumber or tomato or two?). I felt bad about it because I usually go out of my way to not be that person. I also had a bunless burger (it was super greasy which was sort of gross, but I had to make do with what was available). I saw a bunch of desserts go by that 1) I couldn’t eat and 2) looked delicious. I highly do not recommend going out to eat on the Whole30, if you can avoid it. If you must go out to eat, you should pick a restaurant that has healthier fare so you’re not watching nachos and brownies go by you every 5 seconds. I had to watch a comedian who was only kinda funny without drinking, but I have to say the not drinking aspect of this excursion was the least challenging part. We stayed out late (we didn’t get home until almost 1 am).
I overate on Sunday and Monday (all Whole30 approved foods), but I think that may have stalled any sort of body composition changes I was hoping to see. I’m thinking that this may have been due to lack of sleep on Saturday night, generally feeling deprived, and eating food with poorer quality ingredients than I’m used to on Sunday. I’m thinking that getting more defined abs won’t come solely by doing the Whole30. Once I’m done with this experiment, I am planning to pay a little bit more attention to macros and see if manipulating those can get me the results that I want.
Week 2- Lack of progress picture
I’m also foreseeing a major challenge coming up. My best friend broke up with her boyfriend of over four years. She wants to go out dancing and I think it will be difficult to not drink in that scenario (I know from previous experience that I don’t really like night clubs as much sober- I like to have a glass of wine at least to distract me from the pain of wearing high heels and the annoyance of getting drinks spilled on me). I also wouldn’t want her to drink alone. I obviously will go, because our friendship is more important than any sort of diet. I guess the challenge is- do I go sober and have a less fun time or do I let myself have a glass of red wine (antioxidants?)? I know the official Whole30 answer would be “NO ALCOHOL IS ALLOWED“, but alcohol is something I have already mastered moderation with (I generally only drink 1-2 times per month when I’m not on Whole30). This also may not come up as an issue since we don’t have firm plans. I was just thinking out loud 🙂
As far as other changes that I was hoping to see, I can notice one positive change. (I’m going to overshare a little bit, so if that bothers you, do not read the rest of this paragraph) My digestion has improved dramatically! . The only time I had major issues on Whole30 was the day I roasted a bunch of beets, which are high in FODMAPs. I’m trying to figure out if FODMAPs are an issue for me, because when I look at the list of approved foods, I see bananas (which cause me the WORST discomfort, pain, digestive distress, etc.) and I see apples on the high FODMAPs list (which don’t cause me problems). I think it’s really going to come down to trial and error and figuring out what things do and do not work for me.
Tuesday and Wednesday were easier as far as making good choices with food. I think it helped that on Wednesday I was out of the house more than usual (I worked and I started taking a nighttime art class- which is so relaxing). I think the increase in calories from Sunday and Monday may have been what I needed to recommit to this challenge. (I’m still looking forward to it being done, because I miss chocolate A LOT).
My Week 1 recap can be found here
Do you have any tips for making Whole30 easier? Or for mastering FODMAPs?
daily endorphin dose 