Before I'm 30 list

[Vian]

Last year when I turned 27, I had a bit of a meltdown. At 17, I graduated highschool, then I made a bunch of mistakes with my life, got stuck in a dead-end job, gained 70 pounds, and 10 years later at 27, I felt like I'd done absolutely nothing with my life. Where had the last 10 years gone? They'd been a total waste. While thinking more clearly, I know that's not true. I learned a lot about myself and I changed in those 10 years, and I know I'll never make those same mistakes again. But at the same time, it took me 10 whole years to figure that out and learn those lessons the hard way.

 

I lost my job, but turned that into an opportunity to go back to school and get a certificate and now I have a job I'm much happier with, plus I lost 60 of those 70 pounds. I'm now 28 and while I'm happier with my life than I was a year ago, I still have a long way to go, and I certainly don't want to spend the next 10 years the way I spent the last 10. Turning 30 is usually a big age milestone for people, and I think around 2 years is a good span of time to be able to make many of the changes I want to my life. 

 

So, instead of a bucket list, this is my before-I-turn-30 list. I will try to update with how I'm doing on my goals as often as possible, as well as plans for how to achieve my goals.

 

Goal 1: Get Fit

 

I lost those 60 pounds by counting calories and exercising every morning.  I got sick about 10 months ago with a virus that really messed me up and have been having anxiety and heart palpitations that make me afraid to exercise and stress my heart, so I've lost a LOT of condition in the past 10 months of doing a whole lot of nothing. In January I will have health insurance again, and I plan to go see a doctor and get a full workup to make sure my heart is healthy. I've already started doing some bodyweight exercises in the morning, trying to build up my muscles so I can do some squats and pushups and situps, but I really need to work on my cardiovascular fitness...I get out of breath really fast and my heart feels like it's going to explode if I run or do any cardio. Ultimately, I'd like to get fit enough to do crossfit again.

 

Goal 2: Eat Clean

 

I used to kind of like counting calories, but it does get in the way of...living...when I was a student and had more time it was kind of fun (I'm a planner) but now that I have a job and get home tired and just wanting to veg out, it's a lot less fun. Plus I discovered paleo and love eating that way, but I keep cheating and succumbing to peer pressure to eat junk. So I would like to do something like a primal whole30. I know that unless I follow the whole30 rules, I can't really call it a "whole30" but I plan to do my own modified thing borrowing some of their rules. Basically, I love dairy. I did a whole30 and followed all the rules, and giving up dairy was the HARDEST THING. I missed it so much. I re-introed dairy and tolerate it just fine, so I'd like to keep it in my life. However, I will not eat:

• grains of any kind, including wheat, oats, barely, rice, corn, spelt, or pseudo grains like quinoa
• legumes. Exception: green peas, green beans, snap peas
• processed foods including Ice cream, potato chips, soda, fast food (Chipotle is allowed)
• sugar - I will allow small amounts of added sugar in prepared products like curry paste and the like, but I won't make sweets with honey or sugar, or eat sugary junk food.

Goal 3: Move

 

I love my parents. They've helped me so much these past 10 years. But right now I live next door to them (they own the duplex I live in and live in another building on the property). I pay rent, and have my place to myself, but I go to their house every day, and they do kind of invade my life. I would really love to be an independent adult doing adult things. That's hard when you still feel like a teenager in highschool and live with your parents. So I would like to move, somewhere in the same city, but another part of town.

 

Goal 4: Be more social

 

One of the mistakes I made in the past 10 years was getting married. I'm now divorced and have been for 5 years...and have not been on a single date. So while I don't expect to be in a long-term relationship and on my way to getting married again by the time I turn 30, I would like to at least be on my way towards that by getting out and being more social, meeting people, making friends, etc.

[Liberator]

Great goals! Thank god for the number "0". Something kicks in when we have "0"'s in our birthday. There is power to that "0" and it has given you motivation to make so major upgrades to your life. Go forth and achieve!! 

[Vian]

Thanks Liberator. I think I'm finally re-motivated enough to really push for my goals this time.

 

 

This morning I woke up really sore from doing squats and lunges yesterday, so I skipped them, but did some push ups against my kitchen counter (trying to work my way down to a real push up).

 

For breakfast, I had BP coffee with pastured half and half, coconut oil, and a little vanilla, 3 eggs, and a small sweet potato with cinnamon on it.

 

Lunch was leftover sugar snap peas and carrots (with butter) with a chicken leg and thigh (with skin)

 

Had a few pieces of apple and a couple ounces of sharp cheddar cheese as a snack because I was starving.

 

Dinner was my Pork Siu Mai Meatballs with Spicy green beans and carrots  and a tall glass of home made kombucha

 

I feel like I eat a ton, but I still get really hungry sometimes, not sure how to cut my calories, but still feel satisfied.

[Vian]

No workout today, still too sore, I think I overdid it...

 

Breakfast was BP coffee, 3 eggs, a small sweet potato with 1/2 slice of bacon crumbled into it

 

Lunch was leftovers from dinner the night before.

 

For dinner, I made beef stroganoff with onions, mushrooms, peas, half and half, and sour cream. Also drinking some kombucha.

 

Managed to get by without a snack today. It seems like some mornings my breakfast holds me better than others.

[Vian]

I've done crappy the last few days. Though I have been working out most mornings and I'm past the initial "OMG my muscles hurt so bad I can't walk" beginning phase. I had two christmas parties in the last week, one of which involved not nearly enough gluten/grain free options for food (and my parents were in such a rush to get there I didn't get to eat before I left) so I ended up snacking on cheese and deli meat most of the night. The other one was for work and several of my coworkers are gluten intolerant/celiac so that was much better, but they all still eat grains, and there were lots of gluten-free deserts, so I ate way too much sugar.

 

However, this picture is my motto for the week. Every day I want to try and do better than yesterday.

[Vian]

I've decided to do a whole30 starting January 1st. I think I need the structure of the rules. 

[Vian]

Starting a whole30 tomorrow. Melissa Joulwan posted this great blog post today that I really identified with.

 

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2013/12/31/version-ourselves-2014/

[Liberator]

Great, let us know how you like whole30? I would love to know how it works for you.

[Vian]

I've actually done one whole30 before. I lost 6 pounds and felt really good. It's how I discovered I was gluten intolerant.

 

 

I feel like I did decently today. I was hungrier than I expected and started to get a headache mid-afternoon. Not sure why. It's too early for carb flu. It could have been less caffeine than usual, but I don't think that's it either because I had my morning coffee like normal, and don't usually have any soda until I get home from work at 5:30. It could have just been hunger though. 

 

M1: Egg Foo Young and BP coffee with a couple tablespoons coconut oil, some home-made almond milk, and some coconut milk, and about half a cup of blackberries with about a 1/4 cup coconut milk on them.

 

M2: Mixing bowl salad with pan-seared chicken breast, kalamata olives, and home-made dressing of red wine vinegar, avocado oil, compliant mustard, and salt and pepper. Had a small handful of raw almonds too.

 

M3: Pork Siu Mai Meatballs and Spicy Garlic Green Beans and Carrots and a glass home-brewed kombucha

 

I got my kitchen all cleaned up after the disaster I made of it the last two days, made about 2 1/2 cups ghee, and made fresh fruit fly cultures for my poison dart frogs, so I feel fairly accomplished today 

 

[Vian]

Did well today. I was a little foggy and slow today at work, but part of that was the computers fault because it was really slow and I couldn't get a good rhythm. I wasn't tempted at all by the chocolates and cookies in the break room though!

 

Getting a bit of a headache now at 9pm and kind of hungry...really tired of being hungry all the time!

 

M1: 1 small crock pot sweet potato with a pinch of Himalayan salt and a spoonful of ghee, 4 oz. home-made breakfast sausage crumbled up and sauteed with kale and ghee, BP coffee

 

Snack: 1/4 of an apple and HB egg

 

M2: Leftovers from dinner lastnight

 

M3: Lamb and beef mixed with dill, garlic powder, salt, pepper, a dash of Red Boat fish sauce, lemon juice, and a little avocado oil formed into patties and pan fried. A mixing-bowl salad with kalamata olives, cucumbers, and dressing made with red wine vinegar, lemon juice, avocado oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, mustard and dill. Cup of kombucha.

 

[Liberator]

Good job avoiding the cookies and temptations at work! 

Your meals look delicious!

Keep up the good work!

[Vian]

Felt kind of groggy this morning and had a very mild, subtle headache most of the morning. I was a bit cranky too, but that could have been PMS, or having to do something really crappy and frustrating at work just as easily as the "kill all the things" phase.

 

On the bright side, my breakfast kept me satiated all the way to lunch. About 15 minutes before lunch I started to get really hungry.

 

M1: one egg, 4 oz. home made breakfast sausage, 1 small sweet potato with ghee

M2: Leftovers from lastnight's dinner, plus HB egg and half an apple.

M3: Apricot chicken with spinach and roasted butternut squash. Glass of kombucha.

[Vian]

Haven't updated this in a while. I've been logging all my meals over on the whole30 forums. I'm on day 26 and going strong. I feel really good and I'm hoping I can reintro full-fat, high-quality dairy on day 31 and nothing else and just stick with eating whole30 + dairy for at least another 30-60 days. I really want to break my sugar addiction. I haven't weighed myself, but my tummy looks like it sticks out less, so whether it's less bloating or actual weight loss, I'll take it. After my whole30, I want to work on making sure I do some form of exercise every day, whether it's the beginner bodyweight routine, or DDR in my garage. I prefer to workout in the morning, but I have a hard time getting up in the morning still. I just want to keep sleeping, even though I've gotten a solid 7-8 hours.

[Liberator]

It sounds like you are really happy with whole30. Congrats on all your hard work!

[Vian]

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2014/02/13/real-women-photoshopped/

[Vian]

Went to my new Naturopath on Wednesday. I've never had a Primary Care Provider in my adult life, so this is new to me. I like her so far. She thinks it's awesome that I brew my own kombucha and encouraged me to try fermenting pickles and sourkraut as well, which I've been thinking of doing anyway. She suggested a bunch of supplements to help with my anxiety and heart health including Vitamin A (preformed, not beta carotene) both internally and topically for my psoriasis, fish oil, B complex with Folate (not folic acid), and L-theanine for anxiety and phytisone for adrenal support. She also refered me to a cartiologist for an EKG and stuff to make sure my heart palpitations and chest pain aren't anything more serious, plus all the standard labs like thyroid and lipid panel. I got blood drawn for those this morning.

[Vian]

Went to the cardiologist last thursday. He said I had a heart murmur and wants me to get an EKG and wear a holter monitor for 24 hours. I found out the EKG is going to cost $1000 because I haven't met my deductible on my insurance yet. I cried all day yesterday. But I need to get it done to know what's going on. This is something that has held me prisoner for a year now, and I want to be free of it. I want to know exactly what's going on and whether or not my heart is healthy enough to exercise.

 

I also decided to start the autoimmune protocol, so my diet is even more restricted...not only can I not have all the things that whole30 limits, but I also can't have ghee or clarified butter, nitrites and nitrates, nuts and seeds, any thickener or preservative or artificial color in food, no nightshades or nightshade spices, no seed spices (that includes black pepper!), no gluten cross-reactive foods (including yeast - no kombucha or fermented foods -  and a number of other things) and no eggs. I also need to limit fructose to 10-20 grams a day...I don't even know how much fructose is in anything I'm eating...I'm still working on reading The Paleo Approach to figure out everything I really need to eliminate, so it's an ongoing process.

[insanity]

Great goals! Thank god for the number "0". Something kicks in when we have "0"'s in our birthday. There is power to that "0" and it has given you motivation to make so major upgrades to your life. Go forth and achieve!! 

Kinda weird how that works. I never had an issue with it, turning 30 was just another day for me... but my fiance... Oh man.

 

28... fine... 29... fine... 30... complete mental breakdown... 31... fine... 32... fine...

 

 

Nice progress Vian, here's a list of foods and how much fructose they have in them...

http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000011000000000000000.html

[Vian]

Thanks! That's really helpful!