Day 3: ...zzzz....

Day 3, and I'm still alive, albeit, pretty tired. No, exhausted might be a better word for it. Today presented some new challenges; I was out of the office today to take part in a strategic planning workshop for a not-for-profit group with which I volunteer. The agenda was delivered yesterday and the dreaded words were written right there... "nutrition breaks and lunch will be provided"... Oh crap! That means Tim Horton's coffee and muffins at morning break, soup and sandwiches at lunch, and pastries at afternoon break. Pastries!!! My major achilles heel item. I LOVE pastries! Ack!

It's a good thing I had taken the time the yesterday to develop and write down a few strategies for times such as these. My preemptive strick? I packed my own lunch. Not only did I stick to my committment to the Whole30, but I also was able to plant the seed of healthy choices in the minds of some other participants. When I explained to some other participants that I was on the Whole30 and what that meant - lots of whole foods, eliminating items that are not contributing to my health, and resetting my digestive system including cravings, hormones, and health - two of the women in the group admitted that they both had stomach issues and had been actively looking into alternative eating methods. I told them to buy "It Starts with Food" and that I would send them a link to the Whole9 website. I think that my actions spoke louder than words though. When everyone was chowing down on their soup and sandwhiches, I was enjoying my pork chop, asperagus, sweet potato, and 1/2 an avocado. YUM! I would take that any day over the soup and sandwiches. Wouldn't you?

After the workshop, my good friend Ashley came over for supper. Ash is also doing the Whole 30 this month. Barry, Ash, and I, spent the early evening chatting about Whole30 recipes, approved food items, and tips and tricks. This is Ash's second Whole30 although she didn't quite make it to 30 days last time. But she did spend an entire year as a vegan just to prove to herself that she could do it and to try to determine how to increase her energy levels. Wow! That's committment. Especially since she LOVES cheese, and Guiness (which vegan's can't drink because it contains some form of fish oil). We both love wine too, so we lamented our inability to drink wine for 30 days, especially tomorrow night at our bookclub meeting. We also decided that we would put on a wine kit together (one at her house, and one at mine) which will mature just a few days after we finish the Whole30. We are counting on that being a delayed reward for us to refer to when we feel we want a glass of wine. Maybe I'll tell myself that my wine kit is the only red wind in the world and I can't drink it until it's ready. Effectively eliminating the temptation until after the Whole30.

We also talked about missing sugar. I managed to totally ignore the muffins and pastries all day at the workshop, but once I got home I started to get that cranky feeling. You know that monster that reared it's head at Nicole yesterday when she opened a bag of peanut butter M&M's? Yeah, he came to my house tonight. I fought him off but I really had a hard time doing it with a smile. 

The common theme of the evening was just how tired we were today. Ash shared a story about being at the gym today and having to sit down because she got light headed, resulting in her personal trainer running for water. I almost fell asleep during a presentation at the workshop, although I probably still would have started to nod off sitting in the middle of an action movie. The Whole9 tell us that this in perfectly normal and it is just our bodies adjusting to it's new fuel source (fat instead of sugar). It may be a natural part of this jourey, but Ashley left at 8pm to go home and crawl in bed and I'm on my way there now as soon as I finish typing... So, here's to the end of day 3!

Food Diary:
Breakfast: not well prepared and I overslept, so I grabbed a banana, and coffee with coconut milk. I guess you could consider my clementine and almonds as part of breakfast too. I know I didn't set myself up for success this morning and I didn't have a good protein but that's life sometimes right?
Lunch: pork chop, asperagus, sweet potato, 1/2 avocado
Supper: pan fried salmon (like three peices... but I was hangry by the time supper rolled around and wanted sugar, not healthy supper), baby bok choy, and roasted cauliflower with cayenne pepper.
Snacks: strawberries, cinnamon tea, a spoonful of almond butter

Activity Log:
None - I know, I know. I didn't do the bathroom thing cuz I was always in a hurry to get back to the workshop and it was not a running day. I had thought to take the dogs for a walk (we have a visitor for a few weeks while her humans are on vacation) but it's too humid and sleep won first place in the order of priority.