It Gets Hard Sometimes: A note on stress, weight, and decaf coffee

Last night was the closest I have been to breaking down and intentionally cheating on Whole30. I didn’t do it. BUT it was the closest I have been to throwing in the towel in either of my Whole30 Challenges. I had a particularly annoying and stressful shift at work. I was dealing with a lot of drunk people. I really wanted a shot and a beer! I mean REALLY wanted a shot (or two…. of tequila) and a beer. To be honest, I probably would have dishonored my commitment to myself and maybe even my commitment to my gym (and all of my fellow crossfitters who are doing Whole30 this month as well), but it was my commitment to my partner, Bob that really kept me from giving up. I have too much respect for him and his effort in this with me to just give up. I knew I just had to get through 8 hours of social irritation. I knew that if I had cheated I would have woken up this morning really disappointed in myself.

Besides being under some stress, there may have been another factor involved for me to even consider the option of cheating, which in Whole30 is NOT AN OPTION. I know you are not supposed to, but I weighed myself yesterday morning. It had been 10 days, I was feeling a lot less bloated and confident in my food choices this time around. To my surprise and dismay, I hadn’t lost any weight. This bothered me. I have been working so hard and have been so strict. To be perfectly honest I was bummed out yesterday. I think this played a vital role in my mood and in my consideration of just throwing in the towel! I was justifying cheating by telling myself “well it isn’t working , anyway, so I might as well.” My advice to you, is to not weigh yourself during the 30 days (only before and after), like you are supposed to. Just because I haven’t lost weight in 10 days doesn’t mean “it’s not working” and it doesn’t mean I won’t lose weight. The point of Whole30 is not to lose a bunch of weight (even if that may be one of the outcomes). It’s very easy to get obsessed with the number on the scale, instead of paying attention to eating well (not light) and to more accurate indications of health, such as how you are feeling after you eat, how much energy you have throughout the day, and how your skin looks. I have made this fatal mistake and strongly urge you to refrain and not do the same.

On a positive note, I found some decaf French roast coffee at Trader Joe’s that uses pure glacial water to decaffeinate instead of a chemical solvent! Most decaffeinated coffees use a chemical solvent to extract the caffeine. It is very unlikely that there won’t be chemical residue in your decaf coffee if this kind of process is used. If you are very sensitive to caffeine, but love your coffee, like I do, find a decaf coffee that uses water as a solvent. If the packaging doesn’t say how the beans are extracted of their caffeine then assume chemicals are involved.