My Whole30 Plus...A Do Over

On October first, I began to follow a dietary protocol known as the Whole30. All in all, it did not go well. OK. It did not go as well as I thought it would. Which is different. I am pleased with the fact that I lost 16 pounds. I am also pleased that it restored me to good spirits, instead of leaving me to want to rabidly hoard and snack on potato chips every single night of my life. I bought new clothes, new earrings and I even treated myself to an expensive new hair cut! (I bought new make up too--and wore it! It was an exciting month.)

Here are my before and after pics. Can you tell which is which? (Oh wait, I told you about the hair cut!)

Nonetheless, I have several reasons for continuing my whole 30 for yet another 30 days.

#1 I have been sick since Day 26. I am now just starting to eat again and get my energy back (day 31)

#2 I want to work on my sleep hygiene. It's been a circadian mess, since, well, forever. I need to be up in the mornings by 6:45--I need to be in bed by 9:45 for nine hours of sleep. Until I start getting that, I won't know if I need less.

#3 I am still having problems identifying hunger cues. Usually, my first "clue" when I'm hungry is prowling around in the kitchen. When this plan was working, I could reliably identify "hunger" because it was roughly five hours since my last meal. I need to *know* that feeling.

#4 I want to work on finding other ways to relieve stress. I have used food as a crutch for a long time and I haven't really "broken" the habit. (It's just in remission while I'm on the whole 30, thank heavens.) I want to find at least two ways to handle stress that I can use "on demand" as it were this month. (Exercise helps, but it would be weird to start jogging in place when I'm frustrated standing in line at the store!)

#5 I believe my leptin receptors are waking up, but they're not all there yet! I re-read ISWF on the weekend and it mentions that snacking after supper is a sign of leptin resistence. I still have the urge to snack after supper. I want to deal with that while I *know* I'm not really hungry. (See #3 above.)

#6 Can I say this? I love eating this way! So delicious. I love the challenge of finding new meats and new ways to cook it--on a budget. I am challenging myself to find at least one new whole 30 food per week and find ways to cook it/use it.

So, here we are. I've taken my measurements and weighed in. (It is going to be hard to stay off that scale! I have over 100 pounds to lose and it is such a motivator!)

Here we go!

As best I can, I'm going to log my food, mood, activity level and sleep every day for the next thirty days.