The First Week (aka Hell Week)

To recap from my previous post:  I’ve been enduring extreme pain which has been interrupting my entire life, I’m always exhausted, I currently have an enormously full plate, and I’m tired of spending each day like this.  So, on February 13th I started the Whole30 diet to see if I would have the “wonderous” results everyone else claims to have.  I am now one-week in.  Let me recap my week as it has gone so far.  My goals were to follow the Whole30 diet, go to Yoga 3 days a week, and take a break from television, social media, and secular music.  I have maintained the Whole30 diet, but the rest hasn’t gone as smoothly.  I have watched some of my favorite shows, checked in on Facebook, and listened to my usual songs… but I have done it all about half as much as I had done previously.  So, I am encouraged that at the least I’ve improved these habits.  Now, let’s talk about the diet specifically.

On Monday I went over to my friend Moni’s house.  Moni has done the Whole30 challenge multiple times and is the one who first introduced me to it.  I’ve tried the Whole30 diet twice before.  The first time I quit on day 5, and the second time I quit on day 2… BUT this time is going to be different.  Anyway, I went over to Moni’s house because she is a master at food prep.  To understand how much spending the afternoon at her house helped my Whole30 experience, you need to know a little more about her.  Moni is that mom that everyone wants to be.  She is the hardest working, most organized, calm, understanding, supportive, dedicated, energetic, and loving person I know.  Moni is that mom who has 3 kids, a clean house, looks twenty, works out every day, makes home made meals for every meal, and is always available to help her friends.  I hope to be her when I grow up…  Haha!  All that to say, she is incredible.  So, on Monday I brought all of my food for the week over to her house - we are talking about 4 full bags of food and materials.  Almost immediately she helped set everything out and began chopping.  I had brought my vacuum sealer and started cutting and sealing bags.  In less than two hours we had made 3 meals (her breakfast meal prep for the week, my lunch meal prep for the week, and dinner for our kids), and vacuum sealed enough groceries to last me two weeks.  I had never felt so successful in a food situation before!

Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:15am, which might be the earliest I’ve ever successfully woken myself up, and I went to yoga!  I flopped around class, flailed awkwardly, and ended up spending most of the class on the floor in child’s pose.  Although my yoga morning wasn’t terrific, I was proud of myself for waking up, getting out of the house, and starting the day well.  I made delicious baked egg dishes for breakfast before grabbing my pre-prepped lunch and running out the door for school.  For the first time in the semester, I made it through all 4 of my classes from 9am to 3pm.  I prepared a delicious Whole30 dinner and declared the entire day a success!  My pain was still constant, but I had finally figured out how to manage it at school by wearing a heat pack and walking with a cane.

Wednesday morning I woke up and instantly started cursing myself.  I swear, the only thing I wanted in the whole world was my regular cup of creamer with a little bit of coffee added to it.  I thought about all the breakfast possibilities I could make on the Whole30 and decided not to get up.  I could hear K in the kitchen playing with the kids.  May I take a moment to say how wonderful it is to have a husband who gets up in the morning with the kids and lets me sleep in?  He is an angel!  Soon, K came to check on me and asked how I was feeling.  I mumbled one of my usual replies of “not great,” “everything hurts,” or “I feel like I was hit by a train.”  He responded with an encouraging vote of confidence before our 3-year-old daughter’s voice called out from the other room.  I jokingly asked if he had gotten up at the crack of dawn to buy me flowers for Valentine’s Day.  He said no, but then sweetly offered to go buy the family some morning donuts!  I groaned reminding him that I had started the Whole30 diet the day before.  Again, a tiny voice called out from the other room, “Dadddddy!?  Will you make me choco chip panpans!?”  May I take another moment to state how phenomenal it is to have a husband who not only cooks, but also makes the family chocolate chip pancakes every morning!?  Like I said, he is an angel.  It took me a while to coax myself out of bed, but once I did, I was able to rediscover my determination.  Other than a rough start with the cravings in the morning, the day once again went smoothly on the new diet.

Other than eating an abnormally large quantity of food, the diet was going well.  I constantly wanted some of my usual foods: coffee with creamer, a salad with normal dressing, cereal with a bowl of milk, etc… but I stayed strong!  I made it to yoga again Thursday morning and managed my pain fairly well through the week.  Friday morning I met with my new rheumatologist to discuss my disease.  Saturday morning I was in a lot more pain again and had 2 new styes in my left eye.  I had been managing ok until midafternoon when my back gave out for no reason.  I had to use a cane for the rest of the evening and keep heat on my back to cope with the pain.  Sunday the cravings hit HARD.  I was worn out.  I wanted any processed carb.  A nice dinner roll, a saltine cracker, or simply a bag of flour would have worked to satisfy my cravings.  Stayed strong.

So after one week on the Whole30 how do I feel?  I don’t feel any better, I feel worn out, I’m grumpy, and I am enduring unending cravings.  According to the Whole30 roadmap, I just passed the “Kill All the Things!” stage and the “I Just Want to Nap” stage.  I’m not sure I’m entirely passed the napping stage though.  We will see how things go next week!