Day 30 of Whole 30

For all practical purposes I've made it.  This week was not so organized and planned, but it worked out.  So just today to get through - and if I want a drink (of alcohol) this evening, I'll just go ahead.  There isn't anything official about this.  I'm declaring victory as I sit here.

Tomorrow will be the big reveal on weight. I will have all of the past month's numbers to look at, so it doesn't matter if tomorrow morning happens to be a "high" day - I'll have the trend.  But I've felt bloated on this diet, so I'm bracing myself for the possibility I've actually gained weight in the past month.

I've got other numbers and records to look at as well, to see how that has varied over the past month compared to before. I do a quick "body check" most mornings on my way in to work - recording how my various parts such as knees and back and head feel at that moment.  My impression is not much has changed - my knee is based more on exercise than anything internal, and my headaches persist - but I'll actually look at the data to see if there is any change. Ditto with the sleep data the fitbit records. I don't feel like its been any different - but I'll check to be sure. I'll also look at overall activity levels recorded by the fitbit.  A confounding factor in looking at these other areas is I know I fell off the supplemental vitamin bandwagon completely in the last month, so I changed more than one thing at a time, very poor experimental design.  Life is messy, an opportunity lost, so sue me.

I wrote last week about my habits and my cravings.  Still true. I have forcibly restrained and thus interrupted certain bad food habits.  Subjectively, I still feel cravings and urges towards sweets, so I'm not sure I've tamed the sugar beast.  I've used fruit - especially cherries - as a fairly satisfying alternative to feed that beast.  In Atkins-world, sugar is sugar, and fruit is not encouraged for that reason.  But the amount of sugar from even a binge on sweet watermelon is still less than a pint of premium ice cream, so I'll think about the viability of keeping a fruit sugar indulgence going as an diversion from actual sweets.  This would require accepting that I need these indulgences, and having the discipline (once the rules are gone) to not just do both: put blueberries on top of my ice cream.

One odd effect from this diet changed something I didn't really care about changing. I love coffee.  I am sufficiently addicted that I will get a headache if I don't have it.  It's a bit of an obsession - my sailboat, for example, has at least 3 different ways to make coffee on board.  One of the items in my travel kit is a few packets of Starbucks instant coffee for emergencies.  I have been a 6-8 cup a day person (counting cups, that's 3-4 mugs a day) for years.  I found, in the last month, I didn't want that much.  After my first mug of coffee, I would pour the second, and find I wasn't drinking it. I'd fill my thermos with coffee for work and bring it home without touching it all day.  I did have an after-lunch slump which drove me to Starbucks some afternoons (iced green tea, I'm not a fan of their coffee), but I had those afternoon slumps even with the coffee.  I've never thought my caffeine consumption was a problem, so I wasn't trying to cut back.  Perhaps eating a more substantial breakfast obviated the desire for the richness I get from my usually very good freshly ground coffee I make at home.

The big thing on this regime has been the planning, preparation, and cooking.  I really have devoted quite a large amount of energy and time to this.  I find, during the week, cooking in the evening is really a challenge, not something I want to do.  I did do a little bit of weeknight dinner cooking, but mostly it was heating leftovers.  On the other hand, I found cooking in the morning something I could work into the routine.  I've got more time in the morning since we're now done (forever!) with the off-to-school scramble with the shot-clock counting down.  I have been filling that time with surfing the news and social media on the ipad. I generally have more mental and physical energy in the morning - after that first mug of coffee has done its thing, at least.  So not only did I put down the ipad and cook breakfasts, I even did some dinner prep in the mornings before work.  And fixed my lunch to take with me.  Every evening I would think through what the food would be the next day, and what I had to do.  Sometimes, I would do a little prep after eating my leftovers and before going to bed, but not much.  Something like moving food from the freezer to the fridge to defrost, or cleaning the kitchen, was about all I was up to.  (Generally, I am content to let dishes sit on the counter overnight and clean up in the morning.)

Last night was the one night of the whole month that left me totally unprepared with no food in the house and no plan.  (I had planned to go for run down on the mall after work but the temperature was hotter than forecast at 92 degrees so I blew it off.)  I headed to Whole Foods and got stuff for dinner and today's breakfast - dinner was their roast chicken with guacamole and tomatoes so no cooking was required.  I still haven't decided for sure on breakfast and lunch and dinner for today - the plan is to be at the boat, so I've got to do prep and get going.

Tomorrow, I'll have my big reveal and decide where I go from here.  Stay tuned.