Didnt get the results i expected

[marie00582]

So the whole30 has changed my life thats for sure. I love my new eating and exercise habits, but when i weighed in at boot camp yesterday i cried. The number i saw on the scale wasnt what i expected. I still feel kind of heavy and am concerned. Am i eating to much good food? Do i need to adjust my caloric intake. Help, my 30 days is up and i plan on continuing to eat whole 30 with a cheat once or twice a month but.....

[CaGirl]

I reduce slowly. Not the 12/15 pounds some report in a month.  Your not alone..  Were all different.. 

I think I'm too heavy on the protein and maybe fats too.. and light on my veggies.. BINGO.. 

Best regroup and knuckle down.. lol    But I sure do feel great eating this way.. I'm just not 

melting like some…

[GFChris]

Sorry you're upset. Did you lose any weight at all?  Lose inches? It's not clear from your post.

You say the Whole30 changed your life: what other non-scale victories did you experience during your Whole30?  What did you eat like prior to your Whole30?  Do you have anything in your health history (e.g, hormonal challenges, thyroid, or adrenal issues) that could impact your results?  How's your current level of stress and how much nightly sleep are you getting on average?

If you'd like to post 2-3 days of your typical food log, including portion sizes, water consumption and any exercise, folks here can give you feedback on possible tweaks.

[missmary]

I still feel kind of heavy and am concerned. 

 

Honey, I'm sorry you are feeling this way, but I'm also wondering if you have a realistic expectation for your weight/size. You don't give us much of a clue about your current context, except that you are fit enough to participate in a boot camp style class (which means you are relatively fit compared to the general population, by the way).

 

The more I spend time on these boards the more I believe women are sold a bill of goods about what weight is "normal" or "acceptable" or even "healthy." How do you feel?--not the emotional way of feeling but how does your body feel?--Can you do the things you want to do? Focus on that.

[marie00582]

I lost 4 lbs and 2 inches on my waist and gained a great new lifestyle. I was very nervous to weigh yesterday because i know that my feelings and life gets dictated on that number. For many years i weighed myself daily the best thing i did was stop doing that, my husband threw our household scale away IT WAS AWESOME. The good part about this experience is i didnt worry about counting calories i just focused on eating good whole food. I work out 3 to 4 times a week. Here is a typical day of eating for me:

Meal one: 1/2 to 2/3 cup shredded sweet potato, 1\2 c to 2/3 c ground pork with some spices, 1 egg fried in coconut oil, a banana or larabar

Snack around 10:hard boiled egg

Meal 2: 2 cups spinach, 1 1/3 cup of chicken salad: shredded chicken, homemade mayo, celery, grape,sliced almonds,picjle diced. 1/2 c blueberries and 1/3 c grapes

Snack around 2: 1/3 cup homemade paleo oatmeal: butternut squash,apple,homemade almond meal.

Snack around 3: 1/2 apple, 2 tbsp almond butter

Meal 3: 1/2 c shredded pork, butternut squash, apple, onions cooked in coconut oil

I ussually have 2 glasses of herbal tea in there sonewhere. I seem to snack a lot, i work at a hospital in an operating room so im on my feet in lead all day and tend to get hungry. Sometimes i skip that 3rd snack, i usually only habe that 3rd snack if im going to work out straight from work.

Sometimes i feel like my body just loves weighinf 170 and my goal to be in the 150s is unrealistic.

[GFChris]

So you had a nice steady pace of weight loss. Terrific. Keep going.

 

I have some suggestions.

 

First, I suggest reviewing the recommended meal template and following it at every meal. When you use a cooking oil in a pan, much of that stays behind in the pan, so you may need to compensate with additional fat after cooking. Get to a place where you create meals of protein, veg and fat that satiate you for 4-5 hours, to minimize snacking.  Note you can also add pre/post workout fuel, with the recommendations per the meal template.

 

Until you get to a place where your meals satiate you for 4-5 hours, if you're genuinely hungry between meals, have a mini-meal consisting of protein, veg and fat. Almonds and nut meals are a fat source on a Whole30.

 

Save fruit to have with or immediately after your main meals only, not as a snack.

 

Drop the Lara Bar: those are emergency food only on a Whole30.

 

Get some more hydration: aim for 1/2 oz of water per pound of body weight, daily.

 

[marie00582]

Yeah Ive been worrying about the snacking. Im so use to 6 small meals a day. I guess i need to eat bigger meals during my 3 aloted meals.

[ultrarunnergirl]

Yes, bigger meals. You are doing yourself no favors by undereating and then snacking on things that are a little too much like treats.

 

Not snacking is one of the best ways to get your body to burn the fat you have stored. See the chapter on hormones in It Starts With Food for the fascinating explanation of glucagon and the liver and how and why this works.

 

Also pay attention to your stress and sleep habits, those are important.

 

Finally, if you know you don't respond well to that scale information, opt out of your boot camps weigh-ins. You're paying for this, you don't have to put yourself through this utterly meaningless and sabotaging ritual!

[marie00582]

So do you think if would be ok if i added some of the things im snacking on in with my meals. Like eat my banana and coconut with my breakfast in the morning, or eat my apple and almond butter with my salad and berries?

[GFChris]

So do you think if would be ok if i added some of the things im snacking on in with my meals. Like eat my banana and coconut with my breakfast in the morning, or eat my apple and almond butter with my salad and berries?

 

I think you would be better off if you increased your protein and veggies: 1-2 palms of protein, and 1-3 cups of veggies at each meal. Get the protein, veg, fat part down first before adding fruit or nut butters. While nuts are compliant, they're to be used in limited quantities on a Whole30.

[Tom Denham]

Just as a general note: The number on a scale tells us nothing about whether you should be eating less. The information that is critically important is what you are actually eating.

 

You need to increase the size of your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More protein, more veggies, and more fat. You are under-eating at meals and then using flimsy snacks to reduce your discomfort until your next meal. Not eating enough slows weight loss because it encourages your metabolism to slow. A slower metabolism means slower weight loss. A faster metabolism burns fat faster. There is an ideal point in there somewhere where more food leads to faster weight loss because your metabolism is in its sweet spot. You can eat too much for even a fast burning metabolism, but you are far from that level. 

 

By eating small quantities of food 5-6 times per day, your hormones have a difficult time getting into their ideal rhythm. And your hormones are critically important to losing weight. As others have said, work towards eating enough at each meal to not need a snack. When your body gets into its best rhythm, fat will melt. 

 

Cautionary note: The more weight you lose, the slower weight loss tends to go. Dropping quickly to your ideal weight or (worse) a goal weight is not a simple linear process. Losing the first pounds tends to go faster - once the process starts - and then as there is less to lose, the process tends to slow until you finally get where you need to be. 

 

Finally, I never lost more than 2 pounds per month when I started the Whole30 frustrated with my persistent chubbiness. I did manage to keep losing 2 pounds per month every month for 15 months in a row while gaining significant strength and muscle mass. By doing the math, you know I lost at least 30 pounds of fat. I am sure I lost more than 30 pounds of fat because I got a bigger chest, back, arms, and legs over the period. Maybe I lost 50 pounds of fat while gaining 20 pounds of muscle. The point I would make is that this is a multi-month and maybe a multi-year process that leads to very good things. 

[marie00582]

Wow thank you so much for the great information, that makes a lot of sense!  Im gonna start training my body to enjoy my 3 meals a day and wean away from the snacks. 

[GlennR]

4 pounds is great! Especially as a beginning. Just keep going (with the adjustments suggested); this will give you the best chance to lose weight slowly but sustainably, without the diet yo-yo effect. 

[MeadowLily]

Clear the decks and wipe all of the snacks off the slate.   If you'll stick to 3 meals, no snacks, your next Whole 30 will yield different results.  4 and 2 are still mighty fine.  It's not the good REAL FOODs, it's snackity items that throw a cog in the wheel. 

[smacd]

Marie00582- great question and even better answers! I've just finished my Whole30 but going straight back on to take the advice above- bigger meals, less snacking on nuts. Good luck! 

[Topaz]

I understand why everyone says no snacks...but as a fellow nurse, I have to think that for us (and perhaps for other professions) this may just be unrealistic.  

 

I'm also a nurse, and I work 12 hours shifts that usually stretch at least to 13.  I pack all my food for the day.  I eat breakfast before I clock in at 7am.  Lunch is never...never never ever before noon, and usually around 1 or 1:30 (and some days, none at all, or not until 4).  That's a long time to be on your feet without eating anything.  So a quick snack, like a compliant larabar or apple slices with almond butter, or a handful of almonds, might literally be what is holding me together until I have time to sit down and actually eat a meal.  

 

We can't all get to the template every single time.  Is it not better to eat a snack of compliant ingredients than to get so hungry, you blow the Whole30?  

 

Sorry for highjacking!

[LadyM]

Better to eat a snack that at least has protein and fat, if not veg. A hard boiled egg, a couple meatballs, even a handful of nuts would tide you over and have less negative impact on blood sugar than fresh or dried fruit, including larabars.

[Topaz]

Good ideas! Thanks! I like the meatball idea!

[beachchica]

I understand why everyone says no snacks...but as a fellow nurse, I have to think that for us (and perhaps for other professions) this may just be unrealistic.  

 

I'm also a nurse, and I work 12 hours shifts that usually stretch at least to 13.  I pack all my food for the day.  I eat breakfast before I clock in at 7am.  Lunch is never...never never ever before noon, and usually around 1 or 1:30 (and some days, none at all, or not until 4).  That's a long time to be on your feet without eating anything.  So a quick snack, like a compliant larabar or apple slices with almond butter, or a handful of almonds, might literally be what is holding me together until I have time to sit down and actually eat a meal.  

 

We can't all get to the template every single time.  Is it not better to eat a snack of compliant ingredients than to get so hungry, you blow the Whole30?  

 

Sorry for highjacking!

What LadyM said. Snacking can be ok if it's done for the right reasons (satiety and energy mostly), and has the right components (protein and fat, maybe vegetable). Snacks should be as close as possible to a smaller version of any other Whole30 meal you'd eat. You wouldn't eat just fruit and nuts for a meal, so it's not a great snack choice either. Of course, there may be times this is difficult to do, so just do your best and plan ahead and you'll be most likely to succeed. I also agree with others who said eliminating snacking will give you very different results. I speak from experience when I say that if you are snacking/grazing, even if it's on good foods, it will inhibit your weight loss.

[baltomom86]

I just want to add that I have learned so much from this post. I am on Day 14 of my Whole30 (Hip Hip Hooray!!!) I am proud of myself and love this way of eating. I never imagined that I could have the self control and discipline to go 14 days without eating sugar and without weighing myself. I was addicted to both so this is very, very exciting for me. 

 

I am also a nurse! Lol. And a busy mom. The past 3 days, while I have been eating Whole30 compliant foods, I have gotten off track with meals, snacking at strange times. I am not trying to lose weight per se, but it is really important to me to get my body on a good food schedule. I was just thinking before I sat down to browse for help that it is just SO SO important to eat the 3 meals according to the template. I have got to be more prepared with having food on hand and ready for eating. I can't let my life get in the way of living well! 

[AmyS]

I just want to add that I have learned so much from this post. I am on Day 14 of my Whole30 (Hip Hip Hooray!!!) I am proud of myself and love this way of eating. I never imagined that I could have the self control and discipline to go 14 days without eating sugar and without weighing myself. I was addicted to both so this is very, very exciting for me. 

 

I am also a nurse! Lol. And a busy mom. The past 3 days, while I have been eating Whole30 compliant foods, I have gotten off track with meals, snacking at strange times. I am not trying to lose weight per se, but it is really important to me to get my body on a good food schedule. I was just thinking before I sat down to browse for help that it is just SO SO important to eat the 3 meals according to the template. I have got to be more prepared with having food on hand and ready for eating. I can't let my life get in the way of living well! 

The bolded part is brilliant. So true for me too.