The final 9 days (days 22-30) were actually the easiest of the days. It hit me on day 22 or 23 that I really feel better, or so I thought. During the final week and 2 days of my W30, my work schedule had changed a bit. I was scheduled to train our department on our new CAD system for our in squad computers, and was assigned to "normal" work hours of 8-5. It was great, I was sleeping at night, going to bed early and getting up earlier for morning workouts before leaving for work. I felt great during my workouts and never really felt sore or tired throughout the day while at work. I was getting up before 5am and usually working out before 5:45am. It was during this week that I reintroduced caffeinated coffee to my diet after abstaining from caffeine for 3 full weeks. I have only been making my own partially caffeinated coffee by using one scoop of decaf with 2 scoops of regular coffee in my morning coffee. I would drink a small cup of coffee on my way to the gym in the morning and then would not eat until while on my way into work. I made a simple breakfast of diced sweet potato and diced apple sauteed in a small amount of clarified butter topped with unsweetened coconut flakes and cinnamon. This has become one of my favorite simple meals for post workout. I would also have a couple of hard boiled eggs as a source of protein. I stayed satiated without cravings until lunch which I would eat around 12:30. I packed my own lunch of a salad, sardines, and some veggies. I would then have a simple afternoon snack of nuts and a piece of fruit (either grapefruit or a kiwi). At night we would have dinners as a family and then I would do the same thing the very next day. We had some of my favorite meals during this past phase of the W30; some of which include, Mocha Rubbed Beef Roast, Chicken Bacon Mushroom Quiche, Zucchini Noodles with Pesto topped with Baked Spiced Chicken, Crab Cakes, and a Slow Cooker Whole Chicken. I even took the time to make my own mayonnaise, almond butter, and ketchup. 
 |
| Delaney helping make the pesto sauce |
On Tuesday, we went out to dinner with my in-laws for my Father-in-Law's birthday. I chose to order their Liver and Onions, something that I had not had in years. It was surprisingly good and a successful W30 meal....a win-win! The hardest moment came on Valentine's Day, Day 26 of my W30. I was damn close to just saying 26 is close enough, I am not going to let my W30 ruin my Valentine's Day. Sarah and I had made plans to go out for dinner with our good friends, Pat and Melissa for a couple's date. We went to a high end Latin restaurant- Osorio's Latin Fusion. I read each individual menu item and chose to order the Baked Sea Bass topped with a lime, cucumber, cilantro sauce, with two sides. I chose to order their vegetable medley and a salad for my two sides. My salad came which was fine, I ordered it with out cheese and no croutons. Then my meal came, it looked soooooooo good, it smelled amazing. The fish was flaky and done perfectly, but it was topped with a cream sauce, obviously made with dairy. The veggies, were a Mexican/Latin inspired veggie mix with spinach, beans, corn, and cheese - basically a lot of things I can't eat. I sat there and just stared at my dinner, trying to decide what to do. Do I just not eat it and get it to-go and then eat it after my W30 is done? Do I say screw it, and just eat it. Luckily, Melissa ordered fajitas, which came in a large lava rock bowl and consisted of just meat, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and seasonings. She offered her dinner to me, which I gladly accepted. I gave her my fish and veggies and I just ate the meat and vegetable portion of her fajitas. Yup, I did that, part of me thought, how pathetic, while the other part of me thought, nice work, you're still going strong and only have a few more days left.
The last couple days came and went and I had continued to feel pretty damn good. I am curious however what was causing me to feel noticeably better. It is either one of three things or a combination of the following. 1. It quite possibly could be my very strict diet I had been following with the W30 guidelines. 2. I had started supplementing with several of Hammer Nutrition's top daily essential supplements specifically formulated for endurance athletes. 3. It very well could have been the fact that I was on a normal sleep pattern for the first time in a long while. My personal feelings are that it was ultimately a combination of all three things. There is no way I would just look past how clean I had been eating over the past 30 days. But at the same time, Hammer's essential supplements are highly engineered and formulated to allow athletes to better recover and perform at a higher level more frequently with less built up fatigue. Even with those two significant facts, having the ability to sleep at night and live a normal life for more then just a day or two, no doubt, had a positive effect on my body, recovery, and mood.
 |
| Maya at Gymnastics class. |
 |
| Delaney and I at my cousins hockey game. |
All that is left at this point is to figure out where do I go from here in regards to my diet and nutritional decisions. I have just spent the past 30 days eating extremely strict. I would read nutritional labels closer than I ever had and simply said "no" to so many foods that I regular consume without ever thinking otherwise. So now what the hell do I do? Do, I reward myself for doing a good job and eat food that I had wanted to eat the past 30 days but didn't allow myself to? Do I continue to eat this way with out the same level of paranoia and allow for slips and a few non-Whole30 approved foods? Or do I slowing reintroduce specific food groups and see how my body reacts to that specific food to see if I have a reaction or intolerance to specific food groups (gluten, oats, dairy, legumes, etc). I will tell you that on my 1st day off the Whole30, was already a pretty busy day as I had SWAT training from 8a-4p and then I had to work third shift that night from 10p-6a, so I had little room for snacking or treats. I woke up Wednesday morning at 5am to go to the YMCA and run. I ran a solid 9 miles and made myself a small bowl of oatmeal (one thing I REALLY wanted throughout my W30). I made it was whole oats, full fat coconut milk, banana, almond butter, chia seeds, wheat germ, and unsweetened coconut flakes. I also had two hard boiled eggs. I then attended our SWAT training which we worked through lunch and did not eat lunch until close to 2:30p. I never once had any noticeable stomach pains or issues and never felt hungry or low on energy. For lunch I ordered a Greek Salad which had feta cheese, kalmata olives, artichoke hearts, and a vinaigrette dressing with two pieces of pita bread (2 things I was not allowed to eat while on the W30). After getting home from training I had a clementine orange at home and a small partial handful of a trail mix (nuts, raisins, and m&ms) and then went to bed and slept from 5-9. Before leaving for work I ate a slice of my left over Quiche, another small portion of trail mix and then I dipped some banana chips in peanut butter. Again, more food that are not that inherently unhealthy, but definitely do not live up to W30 standards. Honestly, up to this point I have not felt any different in the 24+ hours after finishing my W30. I have had the same energy levels, same cravings, same hunger pangs, and same overall feeling. Personally I am going to continue to eat with an awareness of what I am putting in my body but will definitely eat some non-Whole30 approved foods (peanut butter, some foods with small amounts of added sugar (pickles), and high quality breads). I will monitor how my body reacts to these foods and make note of specific food that cause my digestive system issues/discomfort. I will continue to eat freely for the next week or two, at least through my birthday. I will not restrict myself the weekend of my birthday and eat freely that weekend and have some beer as well. After that weekend I think I may try another diet experience to see how my body reacts to a different diet philosophy. I think I will follow a diet recommended by my sponsor Hammer Nutrition. Their diet is basically the exact opposite of the Whole30's diet philosophies. Hammer's diet recommendations are more plant/grain based as opposed to meat/vegetable based. Hammer recommends that you minimally eat meat, once a week at most. And focus on fruits, vegetables, and grains as the main staples for your diet. I would still limit if not continue to avoid any added sugars and artificial sweeteners in foods. But not nearly as strict as I have been. I will start using fuels and supplements which I had avoided the past 30 days due to the added sugars in them. I will continue to avoid junk food and limit between meal snacking. This will be a dramatic switch in my nutrient breakdown from a higher fat higher protein lower carb diet to a high carb, moderate fat, low protein diet. I will follow this protocol for 30 days and see how my body reacts. I will compare my body weight, overall feeling of health, recovery, sleep, and overall mood over those 30 days and compare them to how my 30 days of following the W30 protocol to see which style of diet is better suited for my body. I have attached the PDF file of a simple breakdown of how I plan on eating while following the recommendations set forth by Hammer Nutrition. I am really curious to see how my body reacts. I really think it won't have a large impact on my body as I feel I have a rather strong stomach and have had very little issues with my digestive system when I eat highly nutritious foods including gluten, grains, dairy, and other typically sensitive foods....but there is only one way to really find out and that's to experiment, which is exactly what I intend to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment