Day 61 of Whole 60, and honestly want to cry after weighing

[Anita]

I did a Whole30 in the spring. It was my first. Today is Day 61 of my whole 60 I began in September. I knew I still had further to go healthwise and with my weight prior to getting on the scale this morning.  I would have estimated that I lost about 8 pounds.

 

I've dealt with intermittent constipation/bloating issues from about Day 16 on.  Those issues had seemed better lately.  I also (finally) realized I have a sinus infection (a very dry, painful sinus infection) which caused my neck, jaw, back to go out and have lots of pain.  I'm dealing with treating both of those things.

 

I was compliant the entire time. I intend to continue (with a small indulgence on my birthday this upcoming Tuesday).

 

I stepped on the scale this morning to track my progress and was greatly, I mean GREATLY disappointed. I am trying to get my weight back down to what it was a couple of years ago.  At the start of my Whole60 I had about 18 pounds to lose to get there.  I lost less than 3 pounds in the last 60 days.  I thought it would be more.  But I should have known because while some of my "fat pants" are loose, I still haven't been able to drop down to my smaller sized clothing.  I also took my measurements and photos, and while there was a loss in inches, it was also rather minimal per what I hoped for.  I really want to cry because I've been working so hard and didn't get the results I hoped for.  Any words of encouragement or advice are appreciated.  I feel like I finished an endurance race and now I'm lost.

[Anita]

While I should be celebrating the success of getting through my Whole 60, that joy is overshadowed by a number on a scale. *le sigh*

[Carlaccini]

Isn't it terrible?  That we justify our entire self worth by a number on the scale?  I'm gulity of this as well. I have no desire to step on the scale right now.

 

Let's start counting the positives

 

You're down inches - your clothing is looser - this is fantastic!

You lost 3 lbs!  Yes it's *only* 3 lbs - BUT - it's 3lbs lesser than you were 60 days ago!

 

Now you fill out the rest - are you sleeping better?  Have more energy?  Joint pain not bothering you?  Try to think of some more positives.

[AmyS]

I did a Whole30 in the spring. It was my first. Today is Day 61 of my whole 60 I began in September. I knew I still had further to go healthwise and with my weight prior to getting on the scale this morning.  I would have estimated that I lost about 8 pounds.

 

I've dealt with intermittent constipation/bloating issues from about Day 16 on.  Those issues had seemed better lately.  I also (finally) realized I have a sinus infection (a very dry, painful sinus infection) which caused my neck, jaw, back to go out and have lots of pain.  I'm dealing with treating both of those things.

 

I was compliant the entire time. I intend to continue (with a small indulgence on my birthday this upcoming Tuesday).

 

I stepped on the scale this morning to track my progress and was greatly, I mean GREATLY disappointed. I am trying to get my weight back down to what it was a couple of years ago.  At the start of my Whole60 I had about 18 pounds to lose to get there.  I lost less than 3 pounds in the last 60 days.  I thought it would be more.  But I should have known because while some of my "fat pants" are loose, I still haven't been able to drop down to my smaller sized clothing.  I also took my measurements and photos, and while there was a loss in inches, it was also rather minimal per what I hoped for.  I really want to cry because I've been working so hard and didn't get the results I hoped for.  Any words of encouragement or advice are appreciated.  I feel like I finished an endurance race and now I'm lost.

I did a couple of Whole30s back in Fall 2012, and then I did a Whole66 starting in January and running to mid-April of 2013.  I found the experience of doing a Whole30 and doing a WholeSomethingLonger quite different.  I'm not sure much is written about what it's like to take Whole30 longer than 30 days, and I think that's partly because after 30 days it's assumed folks will re-introduce foods and create a new life-long eating plan.  But many of us do go longer (or choose not to re-introduce), and as I said above, at least for me that longer experience is VERY different.

 

For one thing, during my Whole30s, I found the beginning/ending weigh-in quite useful.  I came from a junk food junkie eating style, and my results at first were very dramatic.  I had quite a bit of inflammation to get rid of, and my body got rid of it really quickly.  So that first weigh-in after my first Whole30 was pretty exciting!  But when I went longer, I discovered that I didn't find the scale a very useful way to measure my health and my body anymore.  For one thing, once the inflammation is gone (that's the weight/fluff that drops off super-quickly), there may not be a huge change over a month or even two.  For another, I started exercising more and so I got a bit more muscle, which weighs more than fat.  And for yet another, my body composition started to change significantly over that longer period.  It wasn't that I needed bigger or smaller clothes so much as different styles/cuts of clothing than I had always worn.  I mention these things because over a longer period of time, like 60 days (and beyond), you may discover that the weight of three years ago becomes less relevant than the current situation.  If you look at what you're wearing and discover it doesn't fit, you may have to go shopping for different kinds of clothes.  I did that at the end of this summer (I stay mostly compliant most of the time now) and I was shocked, totally shocked, at the styles that actually looked good on me that I would never touch with a ten foot pole before.  And the kinds of clothes I used to count on as staples just sort of faded from my wardrobe because they just weren't going to fit right in any size.

 

Another thing that can happen during a longer period of compliance is that underlying health issues can crop up.  You discovered a long-standing sinus infection, which is pretty dramatic (and very telling, that your body had been in the kind of shape before that you were able to have a sinus infection for a long time without being aware of it - I'm that girl too, I, err, feel that pain! ).  There may be other issues that come up as well, things that were masked by layers of just feeling bad.  For instance, if you started experiencing digestive issues, you might finally be surfacing something that was there before but masked by all of the grains etc. in your system.  I had a similar experience and found that the digestive enzymes recommended here on the forums (I think they are Now brand, don't have the bottle here with me at the moment) helped a great deal.

 

I realized that many of the issues I thought were health issues (that is to say, issues that cropped up or seemed to during my Whole66) were side effects of medications I had been taking all this time - medications to deal with health problems created by my previous diet.  That insight helped me gradually wean off of several medications.

 

Having done that, I discovered that there was still more to do.  My energy was just not there.  I never ever aim for "tiger blood" - nothing Charlie Sheen ever did makes me feel inspired in any way except to extreme rage.  I regret that the Whole9 community has taken on a saying from that a%%^(**e.  Ahem.  Back to topic.    But I discovered that there didn't seem to be anything I could do with diet and exercise that would help me have the energy I knew I was lacking.  This realization sent me to a naturopathic doctor who ran about four million (possibly a gazillion) tests, things my MD wouldn't do - and discovered that my adrenals were kablooey (technical term ).  Now I take supplements for adrenal support and rehabilitation, and I am noticing a significant difference.

 

The point of all of this is not to suggest that your issues and mine are the same - it's just to note that going longer than 30 days tends to bring up issues that the 30 day period could not reveal.  Given that, the scale becomes less and less useful over time as a measure of health and well-being.  I ended up giving my scale away.  Interesting story: the person I gave the scale to is a scale addict, and was happy to have two scales.  I went over and stepped on the two scales, one right after the other (as in, within seconds of each other).  One showed me heavier than the other.  This is also something to keep in mind when using precise numbers like 18 when thinking about weight.  Scales are not a very accurate way to measure what our bodies are doing, health-wise.

 

All that said, I'm so sorry you had a disappointing Day 61 and I hope that you feel encouraged in your health/wellness/food journey again very soon.  It sounds to me like you've been dealing with some big things that a Whole30 simply would not have had time to reveal.  I hope your sinuses are better soon, and I wish you a Happy Birthday and lots of good food - and maybe some new clothes!!

[Anita]

Thank you for your responses. I haven't been on here much lately. I got swept up in life, but am renewing my food focus once again.

[Vian]

Something to keep in mind...the less weight you have to lose, the slower it is to come off. People who weigh 300+ pounds lose tons of weight quickly with small changes because they have lots of adipose tissue releasing Leptin - the hormone that tells the brain how much fat the body has. It regulates energy intake and energy expenditure to keep body fat levels in balance. When you have lots of extra fat on your body, and you start doing things that sensitize your body to leptin, your brain is like "Whoa! We have way too much fat, let's burn some of that off!"

 

When you only have that last 10-20 pounds, you have a lot less fat secreting a lot less leptin, and your brain is like "Well...maybe we should hold onto some of this just in case..."

 

That's why people can never seem to get rid of the last 5 pounds. If you only had 18 pounds or so to lose, 3 pounds in 60 days is actually not too bad, especially if you weren't drastically restricting calories or exercising like a crazy person.

[Anita]

Thank you for that perspective. I think it's also that fact that a Whole30 isn't really so far off from how I've been eating. I was diagnosed with candida overgrowth many years ago (related to stress mostly) and began modifying my diet then. While I wasn't always perfect over the years, as my acupuncturist says, my "bad" is still way better than most folk's "best" eating. I'll just keep at it. I'm not throwing in the towel and eating ho-hos.

[dippinsauce]

I wouldn't be worried at all! I didn't even lose any weight but I lost 3 inches around my waist in 30 days. So who knows where that fat went to, maybe muscle replaced, but I sure know that I look smaller than 30 days ago! 

[22303alexva]

"Something to keep in mind...the less weight you have to lose, the slower it is to come off. People who weigh 300+ pounds lose tons of weight quickly with small changes because they have lots of adipose tissue releasing Leptin - the hormone that tells the brain how much fat the body has. It regulates energy intake and energy expenditure to keep body fat levels in balance. When you have lots of extra fat on your body, and you start doing things that sensitize your body to leptin, your brain is like "Whoa! We have way too much fat, let's burn some of that off!"

 

When you only have that last 10-20 pounds, you have a lot less fat secreting a lot less leptin, and your brain is like "Well...maybe we should hold onto some of this just in case..."

 

That's why people can never seem to get rid of the last 5 pounds. If you only had 18 pounds or so to lose, 3 pounds in 60 days is actually not too bad, especially if you weren't drastically restricting calories or exercising like a crazy person."

Thank you so much for saying that, Vian! I am almost done;  Day 26 (yay) of my Whole30 and like Anita feel discouraged that eventhough I can actually get Jeans buttoned when they wouldn't button before, but I have the dreaded Muffin Top . Point is I only have about 15 pounds to loose, just ditched Jenny Craig after 7 years of yoyo'ing. So, with my Daughters urging have committed to Whole30 (best advice EVER). I do plan on continuing with the mindset of doing a Whole60. Again, with that, I hope to gain the mindset of it's not about the numbers it's about living healthy, without obsessions....

Thanks much! You guys rock!