I’m not planning to post this every day, just as and when I feel like it.

So, I’ve made it to the start of day 6! But the last couple of days have been tough.

On day 4 I thought I was starting to get a bit more energy. On the Whole 30 timeline, days 4-5 are called “Kill ALL the things”, so I was expecting this would be the start of major grumpiness. Not so much. The energy went away again instead.

(Aside: I am getting really tetchy when I’m too tired and hungry, but as yet no major mood swings).

Yesterday, though, I just wanted to sleep. I had my son and his friend to look after from the end of school until about 6:30pm, which I did by watching while they played board games together. I was curled up on a beanbag with a duvet, sleepy and cold. Once the friend had gone, my son and I both were in bed by 7:30pm, asleep.

Then I woke up at 2am. This has happened the last two nights. Argh! I’m a bit prone to insomnia anyway, so I’m not that surprised it’s happened. I’m not sure if the tiredness is because I’m not sleeping, or if I’m already on the day 6-7 phase of the timeline (“I just want a nap…”), or if I’m not getting enough carbs.

Yes, Whole 30 is about weaning yourself off sugar and carbs. But sweet potatoes, etc are still allowed. The thing is, to start off the Whole 30, I decide I might as well eat the vegetables I really love – since this was going to be hard enough anyway. So I stocked up lots of veggies, and every meal I cooked whichever I fancied. As it turns out, that has included butternut squash for a couple of meals, but mostly mushrooms, courgettes, broccoli, onions, asparagus and leeks – maybe a bit low in carbs.

I decided to break the Whole 30 rule and check my weight, to make sure it wasn’t dropping too quickly. I’ve been weighing myself each day, but I have WiFi scales. So I have weighed myself but religiously NOT LOOKED at my weight, knowing it was getting saved in the cloud and I could see the trends at the end. Yesterday, I did a quick check. I’m down 1 kg – not too much for the start of a diet – so I don’t need to start stuffing down more carbs. But I’ll try to remember to make sure I’m including them at least somewhat.

(Aside: Broccoli! Yum! One problem with Whole 30 is that their test for “are you really hungry or just having cravings?” is to ask yourself if you’re hungry enough to eat steamed fish with broccoli. Which is a great idea – except that I love broccoli! I really must think of another veg that I’m not so keen on. Maybe carrots).

And now I will NOT LOOK at my weight again daily!

The other problem I had was with cooking fat. I don’t eat butter, it doesn’t agree with me – and I used to be vegetarian. Whilst I’m not veggie now, I still automatically minimise the amount of animal products I eat. So I looked at the list of approved cooking fats, and bought some coconut oil.

I’d forgotten how much I hate coconut oil. (Eating fresh coconut – yum! It’s the smell of the oil I don’t like, for some reason). When I was a kid, cheap sun creams used to smell of coconut, and I’d stay indoors rather than play out and have to smell coconut all day. Coconut-smelling hair oils make me nauseous. And now, suddenly my food  smelled of coconut oil! I got around it as much as possible by choosing to saute rather than fry or roast. But by the end of day 3 it was a deal-breaker. So I went out and bought some duck fat. I only use tiny amounts for frying or roasting anyway, but suddenly my food tastes good again.

Another thing I’ve really noticed is how often, before this diet, I would be “too tired to cook” and would pick an easy option: sandwich, ready meal, or junk food. And how much everything that I crave is sugary and bad for me! So I’m definitely glad I’m doing this diet, even if all it achieves is to make me notice what I eat more.

Am I feeling any different? Well, hungry. Hungry lots. Tired. Tired lots. But yes, under the tiredness I think I do feel a bit better. Its hard to tell though, because I’m so damn tired! Apparently it’s going to get better soon. I’m just trying not to think about how many days until “soon”.