No weight loss, disappointed, hard to maintain enthusiasm

[nicnal]

Hello Forum,

 

This is my first post.  I just finished my first Whole 30.   I really enjoyed the month, and am mostly still following it in my first week after Whole 30.  I've always been health conscious, never been a large consumer of junk food, fast food, etc. My biggest downfall has always been sweets, I think.   I went into this excited to slay the sugar dragon, I love not craving sweets, it's very liberating. Having said that, I think I still ate too much fruit, sometime 3 or 4 fruits a day, and probably too many dates.  I have 25-30 pounds to lose, and I went into Whole 30 thinking this would be a great start. To my dismay, and surprise, I really didn't lose any weight...maybe 2 pounds.  I do feel more energetic, I don't have the cravings anymore.  However, it's pretty tough to keep up the enthusiasm for continuing when the weight loss isn't happening.  It's amazing to me that a person could completely cut out sugar and grains, and not lose weight...makes me feel like it's hopeless, or something's just wrong with me.  About 3 or 4 years ago, I lost 35 pounds...it's really the only time in my life I've been able to lose weight.  I was following something very similar to Whole30, but it was lower fat, and lower calorie.  There was no dairy, no sugar, no grain, a little fruit but not much, no nuts or nut butters, lean meats.  It took about a year to lose the weight, but of course, over time it crept back, I guess it was too hard to maintain.  I really don't know where to turn from here...keep doing Whole30 and continue to lot lose weight? I would appreciate any help or feedback anyone can give.  Thanks in advance.

[praxisproject]

Have you thought about doing another Whole30 with less fruit and dates? Many people do a Whole30 without both.

 

Even eating compliant foods, there's Rules and Recommendations. I get the best results from the Recommendations too.

http://whole30.com/2015/01/rules-recommendations/

 

Have you spoken with a doctor? Do you think there is something wrong?

Are you doing any exercise? Eating your Pre & Post work out meals?

 

35 pounds in a year is 2.91 pounds a month, so you're not far off your monthly amount this month.

[Tom Denham]

You lost 2 pounds while eating 3-4 fruits and too many dates each day. That is amazing. 

 

The nasty problem with fruit and dates is that they add calories without doing much to nourish your body or to keep you satisfied longer than an hour. And they mess with your blood sugar so that you may actually feel hungry sooner than you would if you were following our meal planning template to compose your meals. Replace all the fruit and dates with veggies on round 2 and see how you do. You would probably eat less food overall because you would be eating more of what actually provides meaningful nourishment.

[davidwhiteside]

I had a similar experience....I felt I accomplished a lot in my first Whole 30...but in an effort to eat enough to "last" from meal to meal I actually gained weight.  I also wonder if I am overeating potatos....read Primal Blueprint and there is some anti-white potato invective there...I exercise regularly including 30-60 min cardio each day, so I am a little stumped.  my wife lost 17 lbs effortlessly, even with some cheating on the program...wondering what to tweak when I start the next one.  Would cutting potatos / yams be smarter than restricting the fat?

[ShannonM816]

I had a similar experience....I felt I accomplished a lot in my first Whole 30...but in an effort to eat enough to "last" from meal to meal I actually gained weight. I also wonder if I am overeating potatos....read Primal Blueprint and there is some anti-white potato invective there...I exercise regularly including 30-60 min cardio each day, so I am a little stumped. my wife lost 17 lbs effortlessly, even with some cheating on the program...wondering what to tweak when I start the next one. Would cutting potatos / yams be smarter than restricting the fat?

I'd recommend posting a couple of days of typical whole30 eating, including approximate portion sizes, exercise, water intake, and sleep, and see if anyone has suggestions.

The amount of starchy vegetables a person needs is pretty individualized, so that is something you could play with. Also be sure you're getting enough sleep and allowing for recovery from exercise, and obviously, if you're under a lot of stress that will also affect weight loss.

[Carlaccini]

Hello Forum,

 

This is my first post.  I just finished my first Whole 30.   I really enjoyed the month, and am mostly still following it in my first week after Whole 30.  I've always been health conscious, never been a large consumer of junk food, fast food, etc. My biggest downfall has always been sweets, I think.   I went into this excited to slay the sugar dragon, I love not craving sweets, it's very liberating. Having said that, I think I still ate too much fruit, sometime 3 or 4 fruits a day, and probably too many dates.  I have 25-30 pounds to lose, and I went into Whole 30 thinking this would be a great start. To my dismay, and surprise, I really didn't lose any weight...maybe 2 pounds.  I do feel more energetic, I don't have the cravings anymore.  However, it's pretty tough to keep up the enthusiasm for continuing when the weight loss isn't happening.  It's amazing to me that a person could completely cut out sugar and grains, and not lose weight...makes me feel like it's hopeless, or something's just wrong with me.  About 3 or 4 years ago, I lost 35 pounds...it's really the only time in my life I've been able to lose weight.  I was following something very similar to Whole30, but it was lower fat, and lower calorie.  There was no dairy, no sugar, no grain, a little fruit but not much, no nuts or nut butters, lean meats.  It took about a year to lose the weight, but of course, over time it crept back, I guess it was too hard to maintain.  I really don't know where to turn from here...keep doing Whole30 and continue to lot lose weight? I would appreciate any help or feedback anyone can give.  Thanks in advance.

 

2 lbs is actually quite good!  Good for you!!!

 

Some other things to think about - how is your sleep - quality of sleep will affect weight loss as well.  If your sleep quality is poor - then your weight loss won't be great either.  Reducing the amount of fruit should help with sleep quality.

 

How is your skin?  

 

There is nothing wrong with you.  When I started my whole 30 journey - I made my journey about gaining my health back - if weight loss happened - great!  If it didn't well - I don't know.  According to what my BMI reading should be - I needed to lose 90 lbs.    But this seemed to be such a overwhelming number for me. So I chose not to focus on it.  But I have since come to realize that the number on the scale cannot gauge how healthy you are, how great of a person you are, or what your shoe size is (not that matters AT ALL - it's irrelevant kind of like that scale number)  

 

I did manage to lose some weight - my body tells me it's content on where it is - I perform well. I feel excellent, and my health issues are now at a minimal level. I averaged about 1 lb per week for  35 weeks.  It wasn't a straight line by far.  I have since broken up with the scale and at the moment I have no idea what my gravitational pull number is....

 

Having more energy in itself is also a huge accomplishment - good for you!

[Pamelajean214]

I followed the plan perfectly. And gained 5 lbs and a bunch of inches. I guess every diet doesn't work for every person. I loved the plan. It's something I feel I could continue long term actually. I feel no need to reintroduce anything. So I'm continuing and trying much smaller portion sizes, lower carb veggies, less fat, and more exercise. I'm just so disappointed. Just wanted to vent I guess.