mlpwaite519 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Hello! I'm partially through the book, and I'm planning to start my Whole30 this Saturday, 7/15. I'm trying to get some things straight so I can start planning appropriately. Here are my series of questions: Snacking. Maybe I missed it, but WHY no snacking? What's the reasoning/science behind that? I also saw in another forum post that you do not recommend eating fruit and nuts/nut butters together—why is this? And is that combo acceptable when eaten together in a meal as opposed to a mid-afternoon snack? What's the Whole30 stance on smoothies? Currently, one of my favorites is blending 1 avocado, 1 banana, lots of spinach (whatever I have on hand/can fit in the vitamix), and cacao powder with water and protein powder. The recipe usually gets me 2.5-3 smoothies in the 12-16 oz range. Is this okay to consume as a pre-workout snack? Or any other times throughout the day (like an accompaniment to breakfast or lunch)? I'm worrying in advance about the no snacking, as there's usually a long period of time between lunch and dinner. My job is dependent on deadlines, so I'm not always leaving the office once 6 pm hits. A 7 pm dinner is often a pipe dream. If I go too long w/out a snack, I start experiencing low blood sugar symptoms, and sometimes a painful, distended stomach. The distended stomach is something I’m hoping Whole30 might help, but still. I'm a worrywart. I do plan on meal-prepping, but any other tips, advice, suggestions, recommendations, or guidance? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlpwaite519 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 Also, my current protein powder is not Whole30 compliant. Are there compliant protein powder recommendations? Or are they strictly forbidden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted July 12, 2017 Administrators Share Posted July 12, 2017 Snacking: the recommendation is to eat properly composed meals, 4-5 hours apart. Doing this, you would not require a snack. Part of Whole30 is rebalancing your hormones and teaching your body that it doesn't need to eat constantly. By eating every 4-5 hours, you take in nutrition and then leave your body alone to process what you've given it and send the nutrients to their proper places and give the digestive system a rest. We weren't designed to have constant access to food. Fruit/nuts/butters: another part of Whole30 is to get blood sugars in line as well as curb sugar-craving behaviour. First, if you are eating your meals properly composed (protein, vegetables, fat) every 4-5 hours, that doesn't leave room for snacking on fruits and nuts. Second, nuts are an inferior fat source. Approved, yes, but ideal, no. They are high in Omega 6, digestively distressing to many and can be hard to stop eating once you start. If you do need to eat in between meals because you didn't eat enough at your last one or because you have a large gap between (more than 4-5 hours), then eat a mini meal that contains at least protein and fat or protein and veggies. As you can see, fruit/nut combo doesn't fit here either. And finally, if you have ANY sugar craving issues that you are trying to avoid, eating fruit on its own is not at all recommended. Note: fruits are recommended only to be eaten as part of a meal, never alone. Throw apple on your salad or pineapple in with your chicken or blueberries in your scrambled eggs etc. Nuts are recommended to be limited. Think a closed handful every other day at most. Smoothies: Have you read the resources? They are linked in my signature below. Drinking nutrition is not recommended and in fact is very strongly discouraged. You can if you want to but it is not in the spirit of Whole30. And compliant protein powder (ie, egg white protein powder with no sweetener) is very hard to find, expensive and disgusting. Just eat real food......it's tastier, cheaper and more in keeping with what you're trying to do with your Whole30. Cacao: cocoa powder or cacao is only permitted in savoury applications. Blending it with fruit or coconut milk or any other product to make something chocolatey and sweet is against the rules. Pre and post workout: check out the meal template, also linked in my signature below. Pre workout should be protein and fat and post workout should be lean protein and starchy veggie. Nowhere in there does it recommend fruits or chocolate. I think that covers it? Let me know if you have any further questions. And read up on the resources that are available. A lot of this has already been answered many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Every time there's a snack, there's goes another blood sugar excursion. Snacking doesn't cure metabolic syndrome. For the food addict, moi, snacks increase the threshold for more food addiction. They're actually counterintuitive for going back to our original factory settings. Snacking works in reverse for returning back to an optimum baseline of dopamine receptors. Our mileage will vary, especially for pregnant women... more food is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdistheword Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 So I just began my first whole 30 on August 1 and I guess I didn't read the fine print, because I have been having the occasional snack. All have been with compliant foods (apples, almonds) or made with compliant ingredients (like lar bars). Does this mean I have to start over?! Please tell me that's not true ☹️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted August 7, 2017 Moderators Share Posted August 7, 2017 1 minute ago, Byrdistheword said: So I just began my first whole 30 on August 1 and I guess I didn't read the fine print, because I have been having the occasional snack. All have been with compliant foods (apples, almonds) or made with compliant ingredients (like lar bars). Does this mean I have to start over?! Please tell me that's not true ☹️ No, you don't need to start over unless you ate an ingredient that is against the rules. That said, it IS the recommendation of the program to not snack... if you do need to eat between meals, we recommend protein and fat and ideally some veggies... like a mini template meal. Fruit and nuts on their own aren't a great choice... nuts can be gut disruptive, hard to stop eating and are an inferior fat source and fruit can keep the ol' sugar dragon alive so try and steer clear of those types of snacks... mayvbe a hard boiled egg with a blob of mayo? That's a good snack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted August 7, 2017 Moderators Share Posted August 7, 2017 2 minutes ago, Byrdistheword said: So I just began my first whole 30 on August 1 and I guess I didn't read the fine print, because I have been having the occasional snack. All have been with compliant foods (apples, almonds) or made with compliant ingredients (like lar bars). Does this mean I have to start over?! Please tell me that's not true ☹️ No, you'd only need to start over if you'd eaten something that was against the rules. The no snacking and making meals meet the template are just recommendations to get the best results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdistheword Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Okay, good. I'm relieved to hear that. I think I just keep snacks like that around because I am afraid to let my hunger grow too big between meals in fear I will be ravenous come mealtime. But from now on I'll try to keep stuff like hard boiled eggs or carrots around if I am absolutely in desperate need. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura_juggles Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Your hunger shouldn't be hitting you too hard in between meals. If that is happening, your meals may not quite be right. Want to list out a couple meals with portion sizes to see if there are any places you could tweak? When I'm eating properly composed template meals, my hunger doesn't start creeping in until 4-ish hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdistheword Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Well for instance like yesterday for breakfast I had three eggs, some roasted potatoes and some avocado. For lunch I had a about a 5 ounce halibut fillet with cauliflower rice. And then for dinner I had a salad made of spinach, ground bison, avocado and egg. Yeah, it's usually afternoon that get me as far as wanting to snack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted August 7, 2017 Moderators Share Posted August 7, 2017 3 minutes ago, Byrdistheword said: Well for instance like yesterday for breakfast I had three eggs, some roasted potatoes and some avocado. For lunch I had a about a 5 ounce halibut fillet with cauliflower rice. And then for dinner I had a salad made of spinach, ground bison, avocado and egg. Yeah, it's usually afternoon that get me as far as wanting to snack. So the question is... do you just WANT to snack because it's comforting/habit/boredom or are you actually hungry? Your meals look okay altho your lunch is missing fat, so if you're actually hungry between lunch and dinner, try increasing your lunch and making sure you're always adding fat to your plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdistheword Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 It might be a little bit of both hunger and boredom, to be honest. I'll try adding more fat to my lunch and see if that works. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted August 7, 2017 Moderators Share Posted August 7, 2017 5 minutes ago, Byrdistheword said: It might be a little bit of both hunger and boredom, to be honest. I'll try adding more fat to my lunch and see if that works. Thanks! Okay great! Remember also that nutrition is cumulative so if you're skimping on meals early in the day, it can be hard to catch up... the template is really where it's at for meal composition... I think you're almost there tho, so a bit more fat and you're cruising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candiceamber Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 What is considered fat when adding to a meal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted September 14, 2017 Moderators Share Posted September 14, 2017 5 hours ago, Candiceamber said: What is considered fat when adding to a meal? Olives, avocado, coconut (flakes or milk or coconut butter, not so much coconut water), nuts and seeds, oils and oil-based sauces and dips, mayo, ghee, lard or tallow or other animal fat you might use for cooking in. The meal template lays out the portion sizes for each type of fat, you can download that here: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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