Weight gain, no change in size

[Renee Lee]

(Psirene, your thoughts are pretty much spot on.)

 

OP, I would say that you're definitely skimping on quantity here. The meals themselves seem fine (if not a little light on the veggies), but you're also missing your Pre and Post workout mini-meals.  I'd also mention that 25 mins of HIIT is a LOT and VERY taxing on your body. How often are you doing that? Every day? Any rest days?

[Lhasa mama]

I do about 4-5 times/ week. 1 Rest day and 1 day of Yoga.

I have to say I was not diligent on pre/post meals. I schedule my workouts around meal time. Usually just before breakfast.

[Xandra]

Just to add, when I said getting thyroid test results, I was talking about the full spectrum of tests.  Most doctors don't order all of these and they can come back and tell you everything is "normal" when it isn't.  The free T3 is especially important to getting thyroid issues under control.  If you know ALL these tests have been run and they are normal range, then you are probably good, but if free T3 is off, then there is more to follow up.

 

1. Find out your thyroid test results from your doctor's office.
2. If you can, get a hard copy printout for your own review and home medical files.
3. If "normal" or "reference" ranges are not indicated on the lab results, ask your doctor's office to tell you what these ranges are.
4. Note the level of your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). At most labs in the U.S., up until late 2002, the normal range is from around 0.5 to 5.5. That range changed to .3 to 3 as of early 2003.
5. If the TSH level is below normal, your doctor may determine that you are hyperthyroid (overactive thyroid.)
6. If the TSH level is above normal, your doctor may determine that you are hypothyroid (underactive thyroid.)
7. If your doctor ran a test called Total T4 or Total Thyroxine, normal range is approximately 4.5 to 12.5. If you had a low reading, and a high TSH, your doctor might consider that indicative of hypothyroidism.
8. If your doctor ran a test called Total T4 or Total Thyroxine, normal range is approximately 4.5 to 12.5. If you had a low reading, and a low TSH, your doctor might look into a pituitary problem.
9. If your doctor ran a test called Free T4, or Free Thyroxine, normal range is approximately 0.7 to 2.0. If your result was less than 0.7, your doctor might consider that indicative of hypothyroidism.
10. If your doctor ran a test called Total T3, normal range is approximately 80 to 220. If your result was less than 80, your doctor might consider that indicative of hypothyroidism.
11. If your doctor ran a test called Free T3, normal range is approximately 2.3 to 4.2. If your result was less than 2.3, your doctor might consider that indicative of hypothyroidism.
12. If your test results come back "normal" but you have many of the symptoms or risk factors for thyroid disease, make sure you ask for an antibodies test. Some doctors believe in treating thyroid symptoms in the presence of elevated antibodies and normal TSH levels.
13. If your test results come back "normal" but you have many of the symptoms or risk factors for thyroid disease, consider going to a reputable holistic M.D. or alternative physician for further interpretation and diagnosis.

 

[judel74]

Are you pregnant?

[LosAltosAngel]

Hello Lhasa,

 

I have the exact same situation -- I'm on Day 25.  I believe in "eat clean" and understand my addiction to wheat and sugar (and grateful  I've been educated), but the "happy happy" that is promoted by the daily emails -- and the "feel the magic" promotion -- should be reined-in.  

 

Especially in light of the essence of the above suggestions are 1) don't eat nuts and 2) get more sleep.  Lhasa, please let us know if that fixes your concerns.  (I sleep 9 hours/night and do not eat nuts... and have results similar to yours.)

 

Since I had good skin, hair and fingernails on Day One -- I cannot lean on that result that is mentioned as the fall-back result for people not losing weight.  ALL I have is that my body went through withdraw creating daily headaches and I have been irritable for 3 weeks.

 

I see that this is communication is being monitored.... I suggest more acknowledgement that some program participants may experience NOTHING but the withdrawal symptoms -- and that if one wants any significant reduction in weight/proportions --  this is going to be a very very long process.  (BTW, like Lhasa, I'd like to lose about 15-20 pounds -- so maybe I'm not enough overweight to experience results in 30 days.)

 

Bottom line, the consistent rah-rah makes me feel like I'm either 1) failing or 2) being sold a bill of goods. Neither contributes to my willpower to stick with the program.

 

Obviously, I'm Whole30 irritable -- venting a bit -- but since so much of this is program is indeed psychological -- and there's so much "support" content -- please know that there is a constituency in need of support that is not being addressed.

 

Regards.

[Lhasa mama]

Xandra, thanks for the concern but I think I am going to rule thyroid problem out for now. I have pretty good energy through out the day, I did initially lose couple of pounds on Paleo before I started Whole 30. 

I have couple of friends who have a thyroid issue but I don't have any symptoms like them except I am not losing weight.

At this point, I am trying to shake off my obsession with food/ diet so may be adding another worry that I might have thyroid problem when I don't have any symptoms probably is not a healthy thing. However, if nothing changes in a few months, I will take your advice and get a thorough check up.

 

Judel, No, I am not pregnant. Any possibilities of pregnancy? Absolutely not  .

 

Hi losaltos, it's actually comforting to see someone who's on the same boat.

I stopped eating nuts all together since my post.

I am going to mention something whole 30 moderator might not be happy with thou.

However, I have completed whole 30 so I think it's okay for me to be eating certain things and post about them.

 

1.The major decision I made was not to get obsessed with getting the whole 30 guide line to the extreme.

But I did drop nuts (well, it's whole 30 proven but snacking on nuts was the biggest change in my diet compare the my non paleo era even though I was only eating the amount that was allowed in whole 30.. I stopped buying them after I finished the last bag  a week ago. 

 

2. I added dairy back to my diet. (In moderation thou and now I get Raw dairy from a local farm ). I just CANNOT live without those microbes and cultures  

 Also, I need my latte in the morning. No sugar. I have never really had a sweet tooth. So this is not a problem.

Although I did make raw goat meal and fig ice cream with little honey. A spoonful was good enough to satisfy me as a treat.

Also, making your own seem to help not to gorge the whole thing since it took a while to make it.

On NPR the other day, there was a new discovery about cultured (fermented) food. People who come from multicultural     background whose diet includes rich fermented culture rich food have significantly low disease/ weight problem than the ones who's not. So I justified myself getting those probiotics in my belly even though it's dairy.

One good thing being on paleo is, I don't opt out for the fat free ones anymore and planning to make my own once I get my own yogurt, cheese cultures. Also, Mark Sission wasn't too turned off by adding a bit of dairy... So I guess it's still safe to call it Paleo.

 

3. Sleeping. I am sleeping more than I used to. But not 8 hours. I used to sleep 4-5 hours. That's just how I was my entire life.

    In my early 20s I lost 50 lbs and kept it off without a problem (I was a really obese teen) even though I was sleeping less than 5 hours. I just can not force myself to sleep more. I don't feel good. I don't believe this has too much to do weight loss. I have a lot of healthy skinny friends (we all went to school together and all were highly pressured to study without sleep so we are used to that) who don't sleep more than me. Now, I sleep 6 hours. 

I have also listened to couple of interviews on  relationship between sleep and weight loss which said even though there are some links between sleep and hormone in theory, its affect should not be as drastic. I think it depends on people. As long as I sleep sound at night and feel fresh through out the day, I don't see a reason to force myself to get 8 hour sleep and feel crappy. So, my sleep hour probably won't lengthen.

 

So those three are the changes that I had in the past few days.

Oh and joining the community garden to grow my own veggies   

So far, what I am seeing is that strict whole 30 doesn't seem to quite work for me. May be because I have been obsessed with dieting so long. So I am going back to my initial more relaxed approach to Paleo which actually made me think less about food and took 3 lbs off of me in the first 2 week. Of course, still no grains, no refined sugar.

My puffy feeling had gone down so far, my weight came down from 150 to 146.5 now. My jean fits back to where it was a month ago.

Still it's 2 lbs more than the initial weight loss I had after first 2 weeks of Paleo but it's more than fine. At least I am not ballooning and I got my cheese and latte back! And a piece of 85% Belgian dark chocolate a day   .

 

I hope I don't sound like I am bashing whole 30. I think it's great in EVERY WAY.

However, my plate has been cleaner than the most for so long and I did have rather unhealthy obsession with food for years (not bulimic or anorexic but the new kind. Getting obsessed with healthy food kind. There is a word for it but I forgot). So may be that's why my weight loss is not as significant so far.

Recently after reflecting my whole diet dilemma and how unnatural everything seemed, and reading several book written by Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin, I had an A-ha moment. All those books brought me back the memories of my childhood when I lived with my grandparents. My grandparents, whose diet definitely wasn't consisted of egg whites, chicken breasts, salt free, fat free everything, protein bars, counting calories...etc

When I look back and think of my grandparents, I think I get it now.

​They owned a big farm in Korea. They ate fatty meat (that's what people liked since meat was precious. we had a town butcher we went to, not a super market with isles and isles of meat in packages), ate the grains and vegetables they grew. Of course, a lot of fermented soy bean paste soup and fermented vegetables as well. The grain, rice mostly, they grew were not machine harvested. They laid it out on the field, let it ferment a day or two, then processed it . So it wasn't something you munch on all day long. I remember my grand father scolding me if I wasted a grain of rice but not for vegetables or meat. Grains were that much more precious. Not many people had abundant amount of it in his generation especially.

 

I never understood why he would be so upset when we could easily buy more in the store. Alas! the new generation with abundant amount of machine processed food with factory meat was born! My generation!

Since my parents both worked all the time and I always had money in my pocket, Once I turned 14, I was practically responsible for everything I put in my mouth. My favorite foods were mostly made of white flour. I was never big on sweets or soda so I am now strongly convinced processed wheat really is to be blamed for my teen hood obesity. 

 

Just to add little more on my grandparents, my grand mother was a chimney smoker, however, both my grandparents had a full, healthy life without a single tooth lost and lived well into their 90s. Neither of them ever ate any sweets and brushed their teeth with sea salt.

My grandfather used to pick me up from my school riding a vespa in his 80s! 

The snacks I was served at their house were  fresh fruit from their orchard, steamed shell fish my grandfather had caught in the fresh water, slices of tomatoes and cucumber from his garden. I am extremely grateful that I had this natural food experience in my childhood. I am a true omnivore and a very adventurous eater. (No wonder vegan didn't work for me) 

That's why Paleo was so liberating. There are more things that I can eat now than limit myself in the past near decade of my mid 20s to early 30s. 

So, I will trace back more how my grandparents ate (it's easier to picture them than my paleolithic ancestors) and get more friendly with food.

I will still call my diet Paleo but if I am faced with a situation to have a piece of sushi, I will have one even though mostly I will opt out for Sashimi. I won't guilt me over it or get stressed out about how much low carb I have to go for the rest of the week.

 

I rambled a lot but the past month all together have been extremely educational and life changing time for me. 

Food is such an important foundation of our daily lives, it should come naturally like breathing.

We don't count how much Carbon dioxide, oxygen we have inhaled and released and don't count how much we should breathe/ minute.

The modern mega food industry has turned something that should be so natural into a business and a political game and we are lost.

I think this is basically what whole 30 is also teaching by reintroducing us to what food really should be. It's not something that comes in a wrap smothered in chemical substances claiming it's suitable for all the fad diets out there - low calorie, no gluten, low fat...etc. More than anything, empathize on losing any types of obsession you have with food.

I stopped eating nuts because I felt like I was obsessing with it. May be I will bring it back once I don't have strong feeling about it one way or another anymore.

 

I will let you know in a month or so how everything went emotionally and physically (especially weight department) 

 

 

 

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR HELPING ME OUT. I REALLY TOOK YOUR ADVICE BY HEART AND YOU ALL MADE ME THINK DEEPLY.

[Psirene]

Lhasa - were you able to start eating more? I think, especially with a possibly unhappy metabolism, that eating more really is key to healing one's body. Once your body finally trusts that there is food always available, it lets go of the extra its holding on to. I admit I'm curious because I'm hoping the same works for me. I haven't quite gotten there yet, I just can't seem to eat that much, especially in the morning, but I'm trying.

 

Digestive enzymes and kimchi sound like a great plan (generalizing, I know, but you mentioned your Korean family and omg I am so craving Korean food, so I'm living vicariously through you. ).

 

I know some people who suffer when they take out dairy, especially raw. 

 

Also, I know plans like Whole30 can be very difficult for people with disordered eating. It's too easy to turn the restrictions of whole30 into its own kind of disordered eating. In that case, you need to fix your head, too. But you know that by now.

 

Good luck.

[Lhasa mama]

Thank you!

I don't know if I am eating more but it's possible. I am trying to eat more than usual since I have noticed how I get soooo hungry within 3 hours after I finish my meal no matter how full I am right after my meal. 

 

Oh, now that I think of it, may be I didn't notice my hunger because I would snack on nuts through out the day,

Now my meal is pretty steady 3 meals. For a snack, I now have a slice of goat brie or a piece of dark chocolate which have been enough to suppress my intense hunger.

I agree with you on breakfast. I can eat more on weekend since my fiance and I tend to eat late on Weekends but during the week days it stays kinda smaller than my other meals. 3 eggs with an apple is what I had yesterday.

 

I stopped eating  Korean food for a long time thanks to the low to no sodium, low fat, high protein diet that I had for years.

Now I am soooooooooooo happy to have Kimchi and other fermented goodies back in my diet

Getting back all the microbes I have been missing.

I finally learned how to make my own Kimchi and will be making with my own cabbage this fall once I harvest them.

Nothing like fermented Kimchi with Pork belly or a good piece of juicy steak.

 

Thank you Paleo!

[Psirene]

Dammit, woman, you're making me drool.

 

Mmm, Korean food. 

[crchillogalli]

Yes pls share how you make Kimchi!!!  Something else I had found on some Primal/Paleo/W30 site somewhere was a site about Primal Docs.  I did a search in my area and found a gentleman who is trained in nutrition, acupuncture and homeopathic medicine.  I'm going to have to look into an appt with him at some point as I want to be certain I'm getting all I need in what I eat, but also to work out some other issues.  Perhaps you would be able to find someone utilizing the primal docs site who would understand what we're doing and be able to more definitively help you determine what might be going on with your body and why you're not losing this excess weight you feel should be wishing to leave your body.  Unfortunately the average MD today is not a nutritionist, and I bet would be very skeptical of how we chose to eat.  Also...... your body may just need time to heal, and be able to fully utilize all these positive changes you have made for it.  

I have the same issues with sleep...... I'm a 6 hr person.  More is bad less is MUCH worse.  I've tried over the course of each W30 to set a bedtime and rise time no matter the day and some weeks I'm successful then the next week I can't seem to sleep til much later......  

Do keep us posted on how things are going.  Pls don't forget the Kimchi recipe.  I would LOVE to make some!!!!

[caitpage]

I just found compliant kimchi at an organic market. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good! Here's what it looks like:

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EZ0SZVRxaSw/TUIsqS2bTfI/AAAAAAAAAoM/dBz09NKznRM/s640/DSC_0030.jpg

 

I almost ate a whole jar in one sitting.

[Lhasa mama]

Here's KimChi Recipe. 

 

Kimchi in Michael Pollan's book, Cooked, seemed a lot simpler than mine but I have never tried his version. 

 

Kimchi

1 Napa Cabbage 1.5 cups of sea salt

-Take a cabbage apart by separating leaves. Wash each cabbage leaf. Rinse off any dirt, debris, and bugs(if you see any) -Shake off water -sprinkle salt over each cabbage leaf and make a pile. Sprinkle more on white stem (Thicker part) area. Let it sit for about 8 hours. Cabbage leaves should be quite wilted and not as crunch. Rinse off any excess salt on cabbage with water (3-4 times) Let it drain water for about an hour

Either tear each cabbage leaf into 2-3 pieces with hand or slice them into small pieces - 2-3"

Red pepper mix (Mix them all in the food processor or a mixer)

Red Pepper - 1 cup (At a Korean grocery store, tell them you are making kimchi. They will get you the right kind of red pepper. Check label. Don't get anything from China. It's not the same)

Sweet Rice flour (Mochiko from an asian Grocery store or you can use cornstarch - I know it's not quite Paleo but it's so minimal I justify it. Some use sugar dense fruit like soft persimmon. For the fermentation to occur, you need a starchy for microbes to latch on) 3Tbsp + 1Cup of water + 1Tbsp Salt. *** Take a bite off of a cabbage leaf after rinsing off water and see if it's salty. If the cabbage tastes bit salty (it can be tad salty but really shouldn't be too salty. Not a good sign), skip salt, Boil on a medium heat until it's thickened. About 10 minutes. You have to keep stirring it. Let it cool off.

1 piece of daikon - about 1"thick and 2.5" in diameter (Koreans call it 'Mu') If you have a lot of left overs, cut the left overs int0 small cubes and make Daikon Kimchi by mixing them into the kimchi red pepper mix

Garlic 6-7 pieces

Ginger - about the size of your thumb

Sugar 1Tbsp

Onion 1/4 of the bulb

Green Onion 3 3inch stems of white part

Fish sauce 1/4 Cup

------------------------------------------------------------------

You can't really fail. The worst will be it's either too salty (it hasn't happened to me yet so I don't think it will happen if you just follow the recipe) or too crunch and unflavorful since the red pepper mixture couldn't quite get through the fibers in the cabbage by not letting the salt break down the fibers long enough.

If these happens, you can still use kimchi to make a nice kimchi soup or stir fry them with some meat.

[Bethie]

Lhasa ... I went through the same issues w/ the no changing when I first started Paleo. I actually am in the process of having extensive hormone testing done with an alternative medicine doc. I yo-yo'd and obsessed for so many years I may have seriously done some damage that I can't personally pin point. But if you are working towards healing your relationship with food. I feel the scale and food logs needs to go. If you are making good choices and feeding your body when it asks for it then that's healthy. This is what I am doing and working towards daily... I realized the frustrations of obsessing (even as I wait on test results) was counterproductive. the brainpower can go to so much more! You will figure it out! I wish you success !