Yowzah! I'm really behind here on the updates. Perhaps it's because I'm feeling waaaaaaaaaay better so I have less about which to gripe!
Energy level--way up now. That slump that I was having is gone. Now, to be fair, I haven't done much running in the last week since joining the CF Box, but I've been working out super hard I'd say. I am by far the drippiest, sweatiest, most ragged looking person by the end of class, so I know I'm putting in the effort. I think for a brief moment I might have been overextended--sleep was a bit rough and my appetite was down, but I forced myself to eat on a regular schedule, hungry or not because that would hasten the overextension into overtraining, and I don't want that.
I'm sore after my workouts, but what I've found with the energy surge is that I actually don't need naps during the day. I will think that I need one, but then when I lay down, it turns out I don't. That being said, by 8:30, I'm usually falling asleep during whatever movie we're watching or while I'm reading.
Sugar cravings--now totally gone. We'll see what happens when Aunt Flo comes back into town, if there's any kind of hormone kick there that triggers anything, but it occurred to me the other day that I had no desire for chocolate or cookies or anything of the like that I'm usually, quite literally growling for after dinner. I haven't made a cobbler or anything like that either. Boudreaux has been making Paleo ice cream (which on its own has no sugar in it), and if we're still hungry after dinner (because it's full on full fat coconut milk, like 22g of fat per serving here), we'll eat that with fruit and honey, but I'm not craving it after dinner. I'm not like, "OMG! Boudreaux! Make the ice cream NOW!" snarling and drooling on the couch. So yeah, wow, I NEVER thought that that would happen!
I also do not crave pizza any more either, even the GF kind (which I usually get without cheese anyway, too). I never thought that would happen either.
I do miss wine still though. There have been nights when I'm just like, "oh man, a glass of wine would be so nice with this!" or "a glass of wine would making cooking this meal here so much easier and enjoyable!" but, as we are now on Day 15, past the half way mark, I won't succumb now.
While the tossing and turnings of the husband and the dog do unsettle me while I sleep more than they did in the beginning, I notice that it's mostly early in the morning after about 7 or so hours of sleep, so I wonder if that's just because I'm in the process of waking up naturally at that point? The room has been a little hotter lately, too, so I think that might be affecting my sleep here and there, but for the most part, it's pretty restful.
Other interesting developments--either because of the sleep, the lack of alcohol, the excitement of CF classes, and the change in eating or e) all of the above, I've not hit the snooze button once in the last week. Though I do still get up in enough time to get at least one cup of coffee in me and to have some time to wake up, I'm not dragging in the morning either at 5 am. I mean, imagine that! A 5 am wake up with no snooze! A 5 am wake up with no dread of going to the box, no wanting to just sleep in and crawl under the covers and stay there all morning. Nope. I get up on the first call now. It's quite nice, actually.
On the days that I've been able to get work done, I've been able to get a fair amount of reading in and even focus on the reading. I'm so far behind schedule though that I'm trying not to think of that because it will shut me down, but the reading I have been doing has at least been productive. And I do attribute that to the Whole30 as well. My energy is up so I can do more and focus better on what I'm doing.
What I have come to realize though is that a large part of my being able to get up in the morning without problem is not having wine with dinner. Here's why this is a "problem," but not really.
I want to compete. I mean, seriously, like I have CF Games aspirations (I don't care about winning. I want to at least make it to the final day at some point though). So, I really can't have wine with dinner every night. I'm going to have to limit myself to wine only on Saturdays because Sunday is my off day (for training, for running, whatever). It'll save me some money on wine, but if I truly want to compete, then during the week it's out. And I do, I so want to be competitive.
Of course, this also means that I've got to get my academic shit squared away this summer, too. I've got to get this thing out by October 1 now at the latest. I've got to be on the ball here with my work if I plan on making sure that I'm making progress toward tenure and being able to keep up with my training. Although, to be honest, I was working out 5-6 days a week most weeks during the quarter anyway, so it's not frequency that's going to change but intensity.
What does this have to do with the Whole30? It's part of the larger picture here. What I'm learning is that it works. Will I stay this strict forever. Hell no. I'll go nuts and crash and burn. Am I feeling freaking amazing right now? Hell yes. Do I think that this way of eating is what's letting me hit the CF as hard as I have been right out the gate without having a morning yet where I can't get out of bed? Absolutely. I'm sore and I'm tired, don't get me wrong. What I'm not is exhausted. What I don't do when I get home after the work out and after breakfast is crash on the couch and sleep. I walk the mutts, I shower, I get to work or get on with my day. I feel better than I have since my HS competitive swimming days.
I knew that I'd feel better having cut out a lot of stuff beforehand. What I wasn't expecting was such a large shift from the sluggishness to the energy. For those of you considering this, if you can make through the crappy feelingness, if you can hang in there, it is so freaking worth it. Seriously. Though I go to bed a bit earlier now, I pack so much more into my day, it's nuts.
I'll let you know if anything else changes for better or worse. :)
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