What Happens Next?

Well as I haven’t re-introduced anything to my diet there is not much to say but I will update you guys with a few things that have been on my mind, my weight and my measurements etc.

Its been 3 days since my last whole 30 haha, well 3 days since it officially finished. The following days never felt considerably difficult, although going to a friends party we were both tempted with alcohol but 1 glass of red wine and it gave me a slight headache so I didn’t have any more. Not good for an Irish man!

My whole 30 experience was both successful and unsuccessful. Let me explain, I never followed the rules exactly, I cheated somewhat – I weighed myself after the first week. To my surprise I lost 1 Stone (15lbs) in the first week alone…first thoughts were wow, how could this happen etc. I continued to weigh myself every week and have not lost any more weight since the first week, which I think is slightly strange but hey its weight gone!

Here are my measurements, before and after:

	11/10/2012	10/11/2012
Age	26
Height	5’6″	5’6″
Weight	15.5 (217 lbs)	14.3 (200 lbs)
Chest	46″	43″
Waist	42″	36″
Hips	44.5″	41″
Thigh	24″	21″
Calf	16″	16″
Upper Arm	13″	13″
Forearm	11″	11″

Overall I am quite happy with this, especially the initial weight loss was in the first week although this is not just to lose weight, I want to lead a healthy lifestyle. I am slightly disappointed that throughout the rest of the month my weight did not fluctuate much but as I said already, its not about just losing weight. I only started exercising and cycling about 2 weeks into the whole 30 program and feel that I have built up some muscle and I have definitely noticed the size of my body in particular my belly and chest. Hopefully this is my body fat percentage lowering and I like it!

Shirts I bought that never fitted me now fit well, my hoodies which never would zip up comfortably now zip up without any problems. I have gone down 3 holes in my belt and my trousers are much looser. So overall it was pretty successful.

There is a slight down side though, I seemed to have developed gout. My big toe on my right foot has been slightly painful for the last week or so, I originally thought it was due to upping my exercise and maybe a side effect of cycling so much, I wasn’t completely sure. While reading about paleo breakfasts last night I came across the potential increased risk of gout while on a paleo diet, having researched it further all the symptoms are exactly the same. I have made an appointment with my local gp for next week so hopefully she can tell me yay or ney. Fucking gutted if it is but after further reading this could also be due to the substantial weight loss in a short period of time with a lower calorie intake, I’m not exactly sure at the moment.

Ah well fuck it, its not the end of the world, just want to sort it out asap before any kind of kidney stones develop because I hear they are fucking painful!

Whole 30 – Day 29

Whole 30

Day 29

Had an important review with my tutors today, just to let you know it didn’t go too well. Not enough productivity and no evidence of a cohesive structure to my research and development work. Thats another problem I would like to tackle in this new lifestyle. I have great ideas that are supported by the students and staff at uni but never follow through to my full potential which is very annoying at times! So something I must work on fast.

What I ate:

• Well breakfast and lunch were not very big, I think I had a boiled egg in the morning rushing out to uni for my review and then a few pieces of fruit in the afternoon after the gym and uni. Nothing much and I do need to up my daily intake but with being busy its difficult at times!
• Dinner – was a nice Moroccan style chicken with peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and a side of cauliflower rice and steamed cabbage. Was fucking excellent!

Whole 30 – Day 3

Whole 30

Day 3

Holy fuck! Sleep was a fucking nightmare. I felt like I was coming down off some crazy drug (not that I know what that feels like), nervousness and a weird kind if twitchy feeling that I assume resembles withdrawal from something that is currently absent in my new diet. I think it was about 4am before I started to tick over. Although I do have a major problem with just falling asleep, I’m no insomniac but just that initial drifting off is quite difficult. Usually my head is going a mile a minute when I have downtime especially at bed time (I am a design student and I feel that this maybe due a lack of successful productivity throughout my days). Eventually rose at about 11am.

So what I ate:

• Meal 1 – 5 banana and Almond butter pancakes with cinnamon roasted apple slices and blueberries on top. It was pretty tasty and I am aware this is seen as a bit of a cheat but fuck it, my Mrs made it and I did sweet feck all so I’m not going to complain.

Right the first meal was at approximately midday, I had to get ready for some work in the afternoon and ended up working all day until near 7pm meaning I “fasted” for 7 hours. This was ok as I was busy but did feel quite weak and my shoulders in particular were quite achy throughout the day. I was fuckin’ starving and while in the supermarket, not only resisting all temptation and picking up some vital supplies for our home made stock and roast chicken for day 4, I had to ring my girlfriend at one point and ask if I could buy a few hard boiled eggs in an attempt to subside my hunger until I reached my flat! The good news, I didn’t buy them and just held off for my dindins which was;

• Meal 2 – Left over Shepherds’ Pie from our recipe from yesterday. http://cupcakesomg.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/paleo-shepherds-pie-minus-shepherd-part.html

In true W30 style we left out all nonW30 ingredients and added a few mushrooms for good luck!

More fruit in the evening, I pushed the boat out with a half a date! ohhhhh.

What I drank:

• Plenty of H20
• Coffee in the morning
• Loose leaf Ceylon tea at night

Bed just before midnight, although having said that I think it was near 3am when I actually passed out!

Whole 30 – Day 1

Whole 30

Day 1

After a successful previous nights drinking, day 1 of W30 proceeded. A final goodbye to my binge drinking Irish ways. I fear that a relapse of social alcoholism will pop its little ugly head again at some stage throughout my W30 and again at Christmas and again at every major event in my social calendar. It will be the hardest part of W30. It’s not because I’m a fully fledged alcoholic, I’m a social drinker. I use it as a tool for conversation and doing crazy shit, basically. It is fun but is something that I will need to abstain from if I want to lead a successful and healthy life but having said that Tequila and red wine in moderation as part of a paleo lifestyle does sound exciting.

Basically my first day of W30 consisted of me, sleeping until 1pm, showering and drinking copious amounts of loose leaf Ceylon tea while feeling sorry for myself. My futile attempts to make my 2pm class deepened my self-pity and put me behind my current workload, which is obviously another stress to add to the long list of work that currently needs done anyways.

So what I ate:

Dinner- Baked Salmon with lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil on a bed of grilled aubergine and steamed spinach (it was fucking lovely by the way)

After dinner eats – Peach and quarter a baby watermelon

What I drank:

More celyon tea

 

Bed – Midnight