Day 16 – Not So Sweet

This one is not for the male readers. Read if you wish, but don't say you weren't warned...

So today may have been my WORST. PERIOD. EVER! I woke up with cramps and quickly realized there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. The only thing that actually works for my cramps is Aleve, which is an NSAID, which is a big no-no on W30. I went for a super-hot shower to try to relax some muscles. I got ready for work and I left. There was no way I could take a sick day as it happened to be the first day of pre-scheduled, one-on-one training at work. This has been planned out for weeks and I could not miss it. I threw an apple in my purse and left for work.

When I was a teen, cramps were brutal and at that time, naproxen could only be obtained with a prescription in Canada. One doctor suggested my periods would be lighter with birth control once I was in my early twenties so I tried some out over the years but while some brands did help alleviate the cramps, I never felt quite like myself. Then a few years ago I started the HCG diet for the first time so I stopped taking birth control at that time, and never looked back. If you aren't aware, HCG is a hormone that is primarily used for fertility. This makes the pill redundant, so why waste the money and fill my body up with more hormones than are necessary? Even then I was aware of excess and manufactured hormones in my body. I always planned to keep doing rounds of HCG (6 weeks on, 6 weeks off) until I reached my goal weight so I never went back on the pill and here we are today. I don't recall my cramps being this bad ever, let alone since quitting birth control. Maybe I just don't remember. Maybe I rely on Aleve more than I realize. Or maybe this is a by-product of the hormones refreshing and realigning.

I didn't really have breakfast. I stopped again at the café in my office building and grabbed a black coffee and boiled eggs. I get up to the office and out my things down. I filled my water bottle and went back to my desk. I was trying to focus on prioritizing and getting caught up before training which starts at noon. My cramps suddenly came on like a freight train plowed into my gut. I try to drink some coffee in hopes the hot liquid will help alleviate some cramping. It suddenly felt hot in my normally cool office, but realized it's just me and I started sweating. I work more but then nausea kicks in. Not sure if I am going to vomit or not, I go to the bathroom. Nothing. The feeling subsides and I go back to work. I gulp down some water and start working away. I get though some more tasks and take some bites of my apple and it sits heavy. Suddenly my mouth goes dry and I have the overwhelming urge to barf again. I go to the washroom, and… nothing. It subsides. All the while, the cramps are getting worse and worse. I look in the mirror and notice I am completely devoid of any colour in my usually rosy, face.

On my way back to my desk I get a smile from my colleague Heather, and I get an idea. She always has a magic bag in her desk and she is always happy to share. It is made for sitting nicely on your shoulders but I can make it work for cramps. I politely ask her for it and without hesitation she hands it over. I heated it up and went back to my desk and place the magic bag over my lower abdomen. I start to relax. Then the dry mouth, nausea, and sweats are back. I try to push through since the last two times were false alarms but the urge to vomit gets worse – it's not subsiding! I bolt to the washroom and… nothing! I start to really think that I am not going to make it through the day and start dreading having to tell my boss I need to mess up the training schedule and go home. I then start to wonder if this is worth it for Whole30. To be in pain to the point of near vomiting and not being able to do anything about it. I imagine what I would write in my blog to all of you, that I would keep eating Whole30 for the would-be remaining days, even though I couldn't officially say I did a W30 thanks to a naproxen tablet. It started to sound like a good spin on an otherwise crappy situation.

And then something changed after I ate my boiled eggs. I decided I didn't want to be the victim and I didn't want to make any more excuses in life. I wanted to power through this and write this post that you are reading now. I remembered the quote from the Whole30 website "Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You've done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It's only thirty days, and it's for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime." And I decided I needed to push through this. This is just one day that really sucks, that really hurts, but I am not in chemo. I am not in labour (I definitely will need to endure that one day, so this is nothing in comparison). I have cramps, and they suck, but I can do this. And suddenly I remembered what used to help me before naproxen, when I was a teen who had horrible cramps and did not have a doctor to talk prescribe me pain meds – I drank raspberry tea. I am not sure why it works, but it does and it did today. Heather was my hero two-fold since she provided me the tea as well as the magic bag and I sat at my desk with both and worked away as the relief poured over me. 

Fresh air was the nail in my cramps' coffin as I stepped out to grab chicken and veg from Urban Fare and a Larabar. I got back to work and made it through training. I could not be happier to be going home. I put my PJs on immediately and made steaks for and iron boost, mushrooms and zucchini on the side.

Today I had just one craving – all day long - this chocolate dairy-free "frozen desert". But I figure, if I can power through the cramps and things I felt today just to stick with this Whole30, I am sure as hell not giving in to dessert.