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ZERO weight loss after two weeks


haleyreis

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Ok ok let me start by saying i KNOW this isn't about weight loss and that my body is changing for the better blah blah blah, but let's get real- I am cutting out all the crap in my diet and not losing weight? really?? what's going on? It's so discouraging to be so committed and not see anything happening on the scale...my clothes don't feel like they are fitting differently...yet...and my body doesn't look much different.

Are my expectations too high to see results in only two weeks? Am I crazy to think I should lose some weight?

**I should also add that 5 weeks before starting the whole30 I started a strict paleo diet and lost 13lbs in those 5 weeks (crossfit 3x a week). I think I'm discouraged because I felt like I was on a roll until I began the whole30...any and all advice welcome.

By the way- I'm not giving up, just seeking answers.

Thanks for any reply!

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Ooooh cheater cheater pumpkin eater :D just kidding with you, but seriously, weighing yourself during a whole30 is a no-no. Use your frustration as fuel to re-read the plan, the meal map, etc and keep going on with the plan. The whole30 is about so much more than losing weight, and as soon as you stop paying attention to it, you will get your own rewards- and they may even be better than weightloss.

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Well...

a) why are you weighing? Whole30 rules dictate to STAY OFF THE SCALE. If it worked in 2 weeks, M&D wouldn't have made the program 30 days just to be mean.

B) you said you started a "strict paleo diet" 5 weeks ago and lost 15 lbs in those 5 weeks. first, that's AWESOME, second...that sounds a whole lot like W30. What are you excluding now that you weren't before? If the answer is "not much," then of course your results are going to be smaller in scale.

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Oh right- the whole "why am I weighing" thing? I forgot to mention I am in a weight loss competition at work, so I weigh every week. I know that we aren't supposed to weigh- but I am trying to keep track. I had so many friends have great weight loss results on this and I just thought logically it would be very difficult to not lose weight...but, full disclosure, I am not a scientist or a nutritionist...obviously. so in the end, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Thanks for your replies.

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Oh. You're trying to WIN something- that's cool. I'm not a scientist either but here is my two cents about how to optimize your shrinking potential- this is based on my own experience and may not relate but, dang, winning stuff IS fun.

1. Don't weigh again till the end. No selfies either. A watched pot never boils.

2. Follow the meal template protein+fat+veg. Dont skimp on the fats, ever. That will not make you lose weight it will just screw with your blood sugar- the exact opposite of what you want

3. There are a few foods allowed on the plan that I find unnecesary for my nourishment and which cause me to feel heavy or bloated and those things are: caffeine, coconut (except oil), nuts and seeds so I just leave those out.

4. There is nothing in fruit that you can't get from vegetables so for the sake of the competion you could remove that too. But I (and lots of others) think you still need a little starch by way of sweet potatoes and squashes, but other non-starchy vegetables have carbohydrates so if you feel ok without the starchy ones, it's YOUR whole30.

4. Sleep a LOT. take melatonin if you need help.

5. Poop a lot. Use natural assistance if you're not pooping enough.

Another thing- it sucks the only way to win your

competion is by weight loss, there are so many other, more valid markers of health which the

Whole30 addresses and I hope you experience those too. Keep us posted on this thread- I'd love to hear how it goes! Good luck!!

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You lost 13 pounds in 5 weeks before beginning a Whole30. The low hanging fruit has been picked. :) The chances of you continuing to lose like you did before are slim.

There are a lot of reasons people do not lose weight. One is from not eating enough. The body holds onto fat more aggressively if you are not feeding it properly. The same thing happens if you exercise too much or don't sleep enough. Worrying about weight loss seems to have a negative effect on hormonal rhythms and that makes weight loss difficult and sometimes halts it completely. Fasting or not eating in the mornings can cause problems. Lots of things. In your case, being in a weight loss competition may be getting in the way of losing weight.

I've never been in a weight loss competition, but I won the last fat loss competition I was in. I don't remember what I weighed, but I dropped from a body fat percentage of something in the low 20s to 9 percent. My fellow participants weighed and worried a lot. I entered the competition because everybody at the gym was doing it, but I got busy with work, failed to exercise as much as I had planned, and ate my usual Whole30 meals without thinking about the competition. Surprise, surprise. I won.

My story is that I lost 2 pounds per month for 15 months when I began the Whole30 way of doing things. My body weight went from 215 to 185. But I suspect I lost more than 30 pounds of fat. I got a lot stronger over that 15 months with my back squat going from 135 to 205, my dead lift going from something light to 275, etc. I grew muscles while I was losing fat. I might have lost 40 or 50 pounds of fat considering how much bigger my chest, arms, and thighs got.

You could have lost a few pounds of fat and gained a few pounds of muscle over the past 2 weeks.

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Haley, seriously...you are doing NOTHING WRONG (besides weighing.)

Tom is completely right in that you've already lost all the "low hanging fruit" as he called it.

Note, this is why we hate weight loss contests. It reinforces all sorts of unhealthy psych stuff...and it encourages unhealthy practices to drop a few extra lbs between weigh-ins.

You are making healthy choices, if you are eating until you're satisfied and it holds you until your next meal, then you are eating just enough. You didn't gain all the weight you're trying to lose in 30 days, it's not going to magically disappear in that short period of time. Just RELAX and keep going

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I am in the exact same boat! %weight loss competition @ work and was using to this to be like " Bammm suckers, I win!" Lol! I only weighed at a doctor appt and lost nothing. I am now waiting until the end. These are fantastic replys, thank you.

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The people who lose a lot of weight dramatically on this are the ones who have a lot to lose. I started when I was already eating fairly well, was close to what seems to be my consistent adult setpoint, and was getting some exercise. I only lost a few pounds. I'm bigger than the societal ideal but I know my body well enough to know that it really likes to stay at this weight. Oddly though, my waist keeps very gradually getting smaller (as long as I stay gluten-free) even when I'm losing no weight.

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I've been whole30ing for a few months now and my shape and fat reserves seem to yoyo quite a bit. Because i am still learning to read the true signals of how much i need but also I expect that fluctuation is reasonably normal for a cave girl! But the interesting thing is my muscle definition is amazing, I get comments all the time, and the only place I seem to store fat now is on my thighs and butt. Eventually I will match what I eat with what I need and at no time will I need to be on a diet to do so. And where I end up will be the right place for a happy mind, body and soul, not the right place according to a book or competition. Maybe it's worth considering ditching the competition???

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Eventually I will match what I eat with what I need and at no time will I need to be on a diet to do so. And where I end up will be the right place for a happy mind, body and soul, not the right place according to a book or competition.

@juzbo This needs to be embroidered or cross-stitched on something! "Happy mind, body and soul." I love it.

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The least I can do for your gracious replies is keep you updated- so here we go.

I weighed this morning (I know, I'm the devil for doing that)- and I have lost a total of 0.5 lbs in three weeks. I don't have tiger blood yet and I'm not getting compliments left and right, but I'm also not giving up. I believe in the system and I believe the system I signed up for is not geared towards losing weight, so shame on me for trying out the whole30 during a weight loss competition.

I'm also not giving up on the competition, it ends april 17th and I think I can still lose weight before then. When my whole30 ends, I know I'll continue most of the plan with a few changes that I think helped me initially lose weight (maybe there are still a few low hanging pieces of fruit?!) but overall I know the positive effects on my body are going to pay off long after April 17!

Love hearing everyone's comments and personal experiences.

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I was midway through a friendly competition when a member of the group mentioned Whole30. I started reading, read the rules, saw that it said "start now" and I did. I bowed out of the contest, paid the fees for not weighing in each week, and am happily on day 12. My health matters to me - my mind, body and soul - and losing weight is only part of that. I figure my body may need some adjustment to this different way of eating before I know how I have changed my life, but I am gaining so much just for trying.

Eating until I am satisfied is such a huge advantage and not weighing in is one for me, as well.

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Agreed--not weighing is the nicest thing I've done for myself since I got rid of cable tv. All those obsessive kinds of thoughts--no reason to have them because I'm not anxious about looking at that scale. I'm on Day 12 today, and the Whole30 is not completely easy because of the advance shopping and planning you do, and yesterday I had something close to an erotic fantasy about cinnamon rolls, but otherwise, I am very pleased with how quickly this has started to free up much of my obsessive thinking about food. I am completely sure that not weighing myself is a very large part of that.

Tom, I am making your cinnamon pot roast recipe for the first time today, and it is looking good!

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About 10 years ago I sat next to a woman at a wedding reception. When the servers came over to ask "fish or beef," she had a stream of questions about both: how was it prepared, was there any sugar in the sauce. She ended up rejecting everything but a green salad. I asked her if she had allergies and she said, "No, I'm a food addict and I can't eat sugar or white flour or any of my trigger foods." At the time, I was just beginning to realize that the up&down fat/thin pattern I'd been living since I was 8 was probably not the ideal and had contributed to lots and lots of unhappiness. I actually ended up crying as I told her how out of control I felt about food.

She gave me her phone number and some information about Overeaters Anonymous. I never called. The thought of life without sugar, wheat and alcohol was too much. And in my heart, I didn't feel like I needed a 12 step. You know, i just needed a better diet!

Well, life propels you in a certain direction, right? It's funny how pieces fall into place when you look back. I found out more about intuive eating and that appealed to me, except for the fact that my body "intuitively" wanted potato chips, Halloween candy, and French fries and maybe one salad a week.

A friend introduced me to Bikram in December of 2011. I loved it and slowly got more into it. And then last summer I bumped into an old friend from my homeschooling days at a class and she seemed so happy and healthy. When I'd known her before she was depressed, anxious, and addicted to sugar. She told me she had gone Paleo. I mentioned the Whole 30, having read about it and she said, "Oh, try it!" And I did.

And here I am. No sugar. No grains. No alcohol. But....feeling like I am giving my body the best gift it's ever gotten. It took me too long to get here, so I probably owe it an apology. But, better late than never right?

I haven't stepped on the scale during this Whole 30 and there is part of me that wonders, maybe I could just never step on it again.

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Week 4 Update:

Today is day 26 and Friday which means it's weigh-day for my competition. I am pleased to announce that 26 days in I have lost 3.5lbs. This is a big deal for me since I hadn't seen any weight loss the first 2 weeks and only saw 1/2 a pound fall off last week. I have 4 more days to go and I know I will continue most of what I've learned. I have cut back on the fruit and also scaled down my meat portions. I did this not to cut back on calories, but because I think I was eating as much as I wanted of approved foods instead of watching my portions and just eating until I felt full.

I think fruit can become as scary a trap as regular sugar. If you are a sugar addict like me, you've got to slay the dragon and not just change his name from "Thin Mints" to "Fruit".

Looking forward to the end of the whole30, but looking even more forward to living a new healthy lifestyle with the confidence that I actually can do things I commit to (not typically my specialty...)

Happy Friday- and if you are a teacher in Texas- HAPPY SPRING BREAK!! We did it! :)

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I think fruit can become as scary a trap as regular sugar. If you are a sugar addict like me, you've got to slay the dragon and not just change his name from "Thin Mints" to "Fruit".

I am living proof of this.

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