First Whole30 started 10/19, it's Day 10 and I feel GREAT!

[lori_vt]

Thankfully I started this journey with Well Fed in my kitchen, and I spent a lot of time reading the recipes and buying the ingredients before I started.  I printed out the timeline thinking it would help me get through the rough days based on the reports of the thousands who went before me. However, odd as it sounds, I have not had one bad day.  Not one.  My irritable moments during the W30 are the same as before (impatience at drivers or long lines, etc).  The hardest part for me is changing my eating template from 5-6 small healthy meals to 3 large meals without snacks.  I found that I needed to plan in a small snack for the first few days until I could adjust to the larger consumption in one meal.  I still don't like how all that food feels in my stomach and would prefer to eat smaller more frequent meals.  I'm not sure I understand the logic behind it (maybe I missed the rationale on the website somewhere...) but my training in sports nutrition strongly emphasized frequent small meals - keeps metabolism higher, healthier, etc.  If someone could explain the WHY of eating 3 meals only, I would appreciate it. 

 

I may have to invest in Well Fed 2 for the second half of my W30, although I can't imagine getting tired of these recipes anytime soon.  Had chili w/cocoa, jicama "potato" salad, roasted asparagus and belly-dance beet salad for lunch.  Not sure about supper yet, but spent 8 hours on my cook-up yesterday.  Have Moroccan meatballs, The Best Chicken You'll Ever Have, Meat and Spinach Muffins, and Pork Carnitas in my fridge, along with cocoa-cauliflower, cumin roasted carrots, garlicky-ginger colcannon (not from Well-Fed).  And there are a few others I wanted to cook up, but ran out of time.  I have never enjoyed my food as much as now!  I even tried an apple "porridge" on Sunday morning (instead of my usual pancakes), and 3 dates made it too sweet I almost couldn't eat it.  I think the coconut milk, chia seeds, almond butter, cinnamon, pecans and apple would have been fine without the dates. 

 

Has anyone else heard of someone going through the Whole 30 without any complaints/tough spots, etc?  I hope I'm not going to hit the wall sometime in the next 20 days...

[GFChris]

I didn't have any of the bad issues on the timeline during my Whole30.  I mostly attribute that to already being off soda for 20+ years, and off gluten and caffeine for 6+ years.

 

I did get a huge boost of energy at day 16 of my Whole30, and had a couple weird food dreams during the process, but that's about it.

 

I think how you feel during a Whole30 depends a lot on where you were at beforehand.

[Guest Andria]

I can roughly explain the reasoning behind the three meals a day. It is a misnomer that an increased meal frequency increases your metabolism. The thermic effect of food is 10 % of your daily caloric intake. If you eat, for example, 1800 calories a day whether you break that into 6 meals or 3, your thermic effect of eating/digestion is still 180 calories. In other words, you have increased your metabolism by a whooping 180 calories but you have done so regardless of your meal frequency. In addition, by eating so frequently you are not giving your digestive system time to process the food from the previous meal (it takes 6-8 for food to move through your stomach and intestines). You are also negatively impacting hormone levels (ie insulin, leptin) by stimulating them so frequently. This "6 meal a day" crap is new and definitely not necessary. I don't recall my grandmother having to carry around a protein bar so she could get in her 6 meal of the day.

[lori_vt]

Thanks Andria - it's too bad the new "science" is recommending smaller, more frequent meals.  I appreciate knowing the physical / physiological aspects so I can adapt my meals accordingly.  My mom has also been wondering about this, so I'm going to forward off your message to her.  She's been dealing with some auto-immune problems, and I was just reading in Robb Wolf's book how her diet could be the culprit.    Thankfully I have always leaned toward the Atkins / "Eat Right For Your BloodType (O+)" diet just because I FEEL better eating that way - I surely do not need to lose weight. (I'm 5'3 and weigh 125 and am usually very active, my bodyfat is around ~20% which is high for me, but due to decreased activity following a severe injury).  Can you also answer a question about ketosis during a W30?  I always struggled getting into ketosis on Atkins, and I'm curious if it's likely that it would happen on W30.  Not that I have any particular desire to get there, but based on the low level of carbs, I wonder if I would.

[amberino21]

The whole 30 isn't designed to be low carb - eating plenty of starchy vegies is recommended!

I'm not sure how much "science" is recommending smaller meals, more so the fitness/health industry and supplement companies, trying to get you to buy their products to supplement your meals.

[ksg621]

HI, I am on Whole 30 and am in my third week ( I started 10/19 as well) and am on my 4th day of a sore throat (and its been a struggle to get through this without cough drops or honey) so I am drinking a TON of herbal tea. Also...taking the recommended Natural Calm 1/4 to 1/2 tsp each night. I am a nursing mother of a 9 month old and eating 3 pasture raised eggs and veggies with a half avocado and a banana, leftovers for lunch (such as whole 30 chicken curry and roasted butternut squash), in between breakfast and lunch I have 1/4 cup macadamia nuts and sometime a Lara bar. afternoon snack is an apple and tea. dinner is varied, but meat and veggies of some sorts, and what I think are large portions. I do notice clothes fitting better, but still don't feel "different" per say, i.e don't feel the "magic" happening yet. Sleep is still interrupted and I seem to wake up frequently (and it isn't my baby waking me up, he sleeps through the night!), still definitely craving sugar Not sure if I am doing anything wrong. I did accidentally have a few bites of corn in a veggie medley before remembering it wasn't on plan during week 1, but have avoided all processed foods and other stuff that is out on Whole 30. Any thoughts or suggestions? Still feeling tired and not all that different.

[amberino21]

HI, I am on Whole 30 and am in my third week ( I started 10/19 as well) and am on my 4th day of a sore throat (and its been a struggle to get through this without cough drops or honey) so I am drinking a TON of herbal tea. Also...taking the recommended Natural Calm 1/4 to 1/2 tsp each night. I am a nursing mother of a 9 month old and eating 3 pasture raised eggs and veggies with a half avocado and a banana, leftovers for lunch (such as whole 30 chicken curry and roasted butternut squash), in between breakfast and lunch I have 1/4 cup macadamia nuts and sometime a Lara bar. afternoon snack is an apple and tea. dinner is varied, but meat and veggies of some sorts, and what I think are large portions. I do notice clothes fitting better, but still don't feel "different" per say, i.e don't feel the "magic" happening yet. Sleep is still interrupted and I seem to wake up frequently (and it isn't my baby waking me up, he sleeps through the night!), still definitely craving sugar Not sure if I am doing anything wrong. I did accidentally have a few bites of corn in a veggie medley before remembering it wasn't on plan during week 1, but have avoided all processed foods and other stuff that is out on Whole 30. Any thoughts or suggestions? Still feeling tired and not all that different.

As a nursing mother, you need more nutrients and calories to support you and your bub. I'd have 4-5 meals a day, all fitting the template. Avoid just snacking on just nuts, or nuts and fruit. Eating plenty of fat and including starchy vegie carbs will help with energy.