Commentary

HALFWAY!

Warning, this commentary may be a little longer than others, as I attempt to post some of my challenges and thoughts so far during the Whole30.  Scroll down to ignore and get to the raw data.

Realistically, the changes haven’t been that bad.  Since my diet was fairly clean to begin with, the changes that were made as part of the Whole30 were pretty small.  Cut out dairy and cut out sweeteners (although I have to admit, I’m jonesing for a soda!).  The most difficult part of this for me has been identifying hidden things (MSG, nitrates/nitrites, sweeteners) in what are considered processed meats (sausage, hot dogs, bacon, ham, etc).  Where this has become a problem for me is that if I don’t feel like making dinner one evening (for whatever reason/excuse), then to go grab something for lunch the following day is quite difficult.  One of the most important lessons of the Whole30 that I’ve learned so far is that PLANNING is the key.  Whole9 has posted this in their documentation and it couldn’t ring more true.  Eating clean requires some effort but its not so difficult that it can’t be done.  Read labels, know what you’re buying (and preferably who you are buying it from) and plan ahead.  The time spent in the planning stages will pay dividends during the execution!

Speaking of food, you may have noticed during the challenge that I have relied on products from Applegate Farms.  So far, I have seen this line of products (in varying variety) at most of the major grocery stores in this area of NE Ohio, as well as the natural food stores (which have a much better selection).  I really like the thought behind offering the selection, but I think it is important to note here that not all of the Applegate Farms products would be considered Whole30 compliant.  So far, the only ones I’ve seen that are include the hot dogs (both beef and turkey) and the roast beef slices (which I didn’t really care for, but then again, I’ve never been a huge fan of roast beef).  The biggest offender seems to be either evaporated cane juice (in the ham) or carrageenan (in the turkey).  As I mentioned above, planning goes a long way here, as does reading the labels.  Although, on a personal note, it really burns me (and Jan can attest to this, because she got to listen to me rant about it early on in the challenge) that even in products that are considered organic and supposed to be safe still include shit that isn’t compliant for a Whole30, let alone a lifestyle that says if I don’t know what the ingredient is, I’m not touching it.  The philosophy of DTA (Don’t Trust Anybody) really comes into play here.  As frustrating as it is (mostly because it would be convenient for us to assume that a vendor has our best intentions in mind and for the sake of convenience, would like to relinquish some of our responsibility of knowing what is in our food to said vendor), it is always our responsibility to make good food choices, which means understanding what is in our food.  The vendor does whatever the vendor does when producing their goods.  It is up to us to make the choice on whether or not we consume said products, and accept the consequences of those actions.

I’m still sore today, but not nearly as sore as I’ve been the last couple of days.  3 WOD’s in 24 hours = bad idea (at least, for now).  Of course, there’s something to be said about pushing the limits of what you think you can do.  I’ll spend the day recovering, then back to the gym for the WOD tomorrow morning (Thursday).  The longer I do CrossFit, the more things I learn about me and the things I can handle.  Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of information.  Documentation has been helpful in that aspect, because then I can go back and read through, adjusting as necessary.

I realized the other day that I’ve been doing a poor job of documenting my medication intake.  I’ve been taking my pills every day, but have been inconsistent in the dosages, basically reacting to the spikes in blood sugar or trying to prepare for a spike, using the information I have to try to predict events.  It’s one of the things that is frustrating to me about living with diabetes is that you cant predict all the time what your body is going to do.  That’s why it’s so important to listen to your body and do what is necessary as a result.  However, I feel like I’ve mostly (not always) moved past the point of getting royally pissed off whenever my body does something I don’t expect.  It’s still a work in progress, but there are improvements that have been made.  I am still off of the insulin and am managing reasonably well with my current strategy.  With some minor adjustments, I’ll get it honed in.

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 82
• Lunch – 131
• Dinner – 105
• Bed – 154

Exercise

• AM
  • Nothing
• PM
  • 20 burpees
  • 20 air squats
  • planks – 30 seconds on, 10-15 second off for a little over 3 minutes.
    • After the first two, I couldn’t hold myself in position, so I scaled back to planks on the knees.

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, over easy.
• Lunch
  • spaghetti sauce with spaghetti squash
• Dinner
  • spaghetti sauce with spaghetti squash.
• Snack/Other
  • Almonds

Sleep

• Went to bed at 10:00PM, woke up at 5AM.