Jump to content

Fruit, Fat, and Not wanting to get fatter


Recommended Posts

Hi! I am on day 7 of my Whole 30. I'm a little confused and probably over thinking. A few questions from people who may know.

1. If I have a chicken salad with homemade paleo mayo and apple do I still add more fat? Can I have a handful of berries, cherries, etc in addition to this?

2. I'm reading that a lot of people avoid fruit to lose weight. I don't abuse it, but I tend to have berries with breakfast and cherries or berries with lunch and dinner. Never at snack. Is this too much? Should I cut it back?

3. Sweet potato, how much is too much? I usually have about 1/2 cup at a meal. Usually at dinner after I workout, but sometimes it's not always after I workout.

4. I'm stressing out that I'm overrating, but I'm only eating when hungry and maybe one snack a day. Argh. I come from the old 5-6 meal mentality so I don't know if I'm stressed because of that or that I think I'm eating too much because my meals are less.

Any insight or help would be appreciated. :)

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Assuming that you want to maintain your current weight, or lose a small amount, I would say...

1. Mayo is a fat source, so you don't NEED another one. However, if you would like or are hungry for more variety on your plate, some avocado or olives would be totally fine too! I'd say you can probably have some more fruit without it negatively affecting your progress.

2. As above, your fruit intake sounds fine. Most folks who limit their fruit do so because they tend to graze on it mindlessly.

3. This depends on your current body composition and workout routine, but I highly doubt that a half cup will cause you to put on weight. If you engage in strenuous workouts you may even need more carb directly after you exercise.

4. You are doing fine. Really. :)

OK, a few final points/observations...

1. Give it some time. Your body is finding the new normal... If you feel like you are retaining or putting on more weight then you'd like after you've reset your system, then by all means experiment with proportions of carbs, workouts etc. If you're only 7 days in you can't know yet the right levels for your body.

2. That said, trust in food! Instead of thinking 'I have mayo in this, so no avocado right?', think 'would this salad taste even better with avocado?'. You can always save the leftovers if you make too much! I find that some of my meals have multiple sources of fat (avocado, pumpkin seed, olives and cold cuts with salad dressing), whereas others have very little (lemon-baked salmon and steamed veggies). It evens out over time.

3. I know this is easy to say, difficult to do, but chill out! Stress is one of the things that prompts our bodies to retain fat, so it makes sense to make stress reduction a priority if weight loss is the goal. I personally think that getting 8 hours sleep per night and practicing yoga (others do meditation) have seen the biggest improvements to my wellbeing after changing my food.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for your input. I felt like I was doing fine and today I started over thinking. Normally today would be a weigh in day to see I'd I've made progress, maybe that's why all the emotions of am I doing everything RIGHT!? I also practice yoga and love it. I also do Kettlebells and plan on incorporating rowing back in to my plan this week. Most of my workouts are pretty intense, but some less. I really appreciate the time you took to answer this and for the gentle yet firm talking to. I need that! You definitely have put my mind at ease that I am doing things right. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel the same way! I am very stressed that I will not lose weight on this diet. I have so much anxiety around the scale and I know it will take time to break that stress. My workouts are very intense as well, but I am used to seeing weight drop off pretty quickly...not that I can keep it off, but I get anxious thinking I wont see results for a while during the "reset."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...