28 YOM lost 27.2 lbs

[oharfl]

Hi,

I’m writing this because the Whole30 book and emails told me to, and I’ve done everything else by the book the last 30 days so I feel like I almost needed to. I also have seen some complaining from forum members that people don’t post before/after pictures and just claim they lost all this weight, so I thought I’d post my pictures for you.

The main reason I wanted to do Whole30 was to lose weight. I am 28 years old and I had gained about 50 extra pounds over the last 3 years and while working out and trying to diet I just couldn’t lose the weight. I was also addicted to eating out and the convenience of fast food.

I found the Whole30 after one of my facebook acquaintances posted that they lost 25 lbs on the diet. I thought, why not?

Week 1 I felt like I wasn’t getting enough food. I was always hungry at night and was eating 2-3 portions of nuts or fruit every night so I wouldn’t go to bed hungry. After the first 4-5 days, I stopped needing snacks at night and was completely satisfied (if not overly full) with every meal I ate. During week 2 I was surprised at how long I remained satiated by my breakfast every day. I sometimes had to force myself to eat lunch because I knew if I waited any longer I wouldn’t be hungry for dinner when my girlfriend got home. The hardest part (but I think the most rewarding) was meal planning. I plan my meals about 4 days in advance and try to rotate between beef, chicken, pork, and seafood. That keeps things different and I love going shopping less often (prior to this I would wait until the day of the meal to decide what to buy and cook, which led me to eating out because it was easier). The first two times I tried to plan out meals it took me hours and then even longer to shop because I was looking for things I’ve never bought before. Now meal planning for a 4 day stretch takes about 30 minutes and shopping is a breeze! You only have to go to the meat and produce sections of the grocery store!

 

I went from 264.6 lbs to 237.4 lbs, a total weight loss of 27.2 lbs. I feel thinner and all my clothes are baggier. Whole30 worked very well for me. Oh, and my girlfriend lost about 7.5 lbs on the Whole30, which means we both lost about ½ of what we said we needed to lose to get to our goal weight. A great start to our new lifestyle!

[kirkor]

Damn dude, that's awesome!

Some people complain about the Whole30 being expensive, due to buying different foods, etc., but there's also the whole "problem" of having to buy new clothes when you lose a bunch of weight! 

Also cool that you've got the shopping/prep aspect so dialed in.

[Librarian A.]

Congratulations!

[Tryingtokickit]

Were you working out regularly during the 30 days.  How did that go.  I am on day 7 and have trouble finding any energy for a workout.

[oharfl]

12 minutes ago, Tryingtokickit said:

Were you working out regularly during the 30 days.  How did that go.  I am on day 7 and have trouble finding any energy for a workout.

Hi ttki,

I didn't have any energy to work out for the first two weeks, but then I got back into my rhythm of running 3 days a week and tennis class on Monday nights. My workout routine for the last 2.5 weeks was run 4 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, a long run (8-12 miles) on Saturday, and beginner tennis lessons on Monday. I was right in the middle of my training for a half marathon so it was unfortunate that I wasn't able to continue training all the way through Whole30, but it worked out in the end and I still completed my half marathon. I also had the best 4 mile time during my entire training period, beating my previous best by almost 4 minutes.