day 12- struggling with wanting quicker results

[cavequeen]

I have decided after several days of frustration with not losing more weight or fitting into skinner clothes that I would write all the positives I have seen so far. (I know throw the scale away but I can't seem to do it!)

Background: I have lost about 8-10 lbs over the last 6 weeks, at least 5 lbs of that eating primal and then my whole 30. Plus I have gotten into some clothes that were starting to fit tight both in pants and tops. So I have seen results. But, my body seems to be taking a break to reevulate.

Positives other than the scale

1. I have given up grains totally and don't miss them. For a bread alcoholic, that's quite an achievement. Not to mention my love affair with chips.

2. I have given up dairy, no cream, greek yogurt or cheese. I have always had a little cheese while doing low carb, I have rarely dieted without it so again another big milestone.

3. I have given up sweeteners, sugar, and honey. I have had a daily Splenda in my coffee for years so again, big deal! I don't even really miss it. I thought that was impossible to give up both cream and sweeteners in my coffee.

4. I have found some fantastic new recipes in well fed, stove top carnitas, chocolate chili that my family love! I have also learned to have meats always cooked, veggies sliced, homemade mayo and salad dressing ready to go, guacamole fixed so I can stay on plan. My DH loves it because of his work he often comes home starving because he had to skip lunch. He's eating lots of paleo dishes and he hasn't even officially started paleo.

5. My brother in law couldn't tell the other day that I had gained 25 lbs back. I think because I didn't have any bloating in my face or stomach. I looked trim and toned with an hourglass and my skin looked great.

6. Significant improvement in my skin- rosecea much butter and skin behind arms, smooth with no bumps.

7. I have been able to resist the offerings of chips, donuts, ice cream that I usually have to have if they are around.

The one thing I am waiting though that hasn't happened is my blood pressure to improve to the point of going off my low dose meds. My top number seems to be consistent better but my stubborn bottom number hasn't budged much. There is a genetic family component with the diastolic though as my both my brothers have the same thing.

[Snicci]

So... now you kow WHY you aren't supposed to step on the scale during the Whole30, right?! I am on day 18 and I have been tempted to weigh myself (thank goodness I had the sense to give my scale to the neighbor before starting my W30). I feel awesome! My clothes fit better, people keep commenting on my "weight loss" (who knows if I have even lost any pounds or not???), I am thoroughly ENJOYING my food.... the list goes on and on. But if I stepped on that scale today and had only lost 2lbs or something, it might deflate me. It might take away all this happiness. WHY?! It's not like all of those reasons we are happy have gone away or never existed. Seriously, ditch your scale. You're cutting yourself short.

[cavequeen]

I guess I am an optimist! Always expecting to step on and see it go down. lol Plus there is the harder to fix psychological reason (that I am still trying to work on) that when I tend to weigh regularly I keep my weight under control. When I get busy and stop weighing is when I gain 20 lbs. I know that it shouldn't be a problem in the future because I won't be addicted to carbs but I guess that fear is still there. Plus I have to monitor my blood pressure every day with losing weight so I know when to go off my meds. I have done this before so my doctor said I could go off when I reach a consistent point of low numbers which hasn't quite happen yet so I am kind of in a measuring groove right now. I know, a lot of justifications! lol

It hasn't caused me to give up just because I might be up in weight though. I just tweak things a bit have a few more veggie carbs or a few less and more good fats. Just kind of playing around within the whole30 framework. But, that was one of the reasons for the list though because lots of good stuff has happened.

I also should mention that my family is under extreme stress right now with a close family member dying in the very last final stages of terminal cancer so things are really tough so my body is probably doing weird things from that alone.

[Tom Denham]

Here's the deal. I did my first Whole30 before Dallas and Melissa banned the scales. I know that looking at a scale every day is worthless because I did it. I slowed how quickly I developed benefits because I was trying to micromanage my weight loss with a little extra exercise or a little bit of calorie restriction. I hate to see you wasting this opportunity doing things that absolutely don't work.

Your cortisol levels may be relatively high due to stress, slowing weight loss. However, you are only making it worse by weighing yourself. You don't need a scale to monitor your blood pressure and you don't need to come off meds in a matter of days. And tweaking your diet on a daily basis by fidgeting with carbs and fats never works. As Snicci said, you are cutting yourself short. And you are ignoring the strength of a program that has been proven by 1000s of successful people in order to do a watered down version.

Come on Cavegirl. Get with the whole program!

[megmac]

I am also a chronic scale watcher, and have found going scale-free to be an eye opening experience. I never really cared how I felt, as long as the scale was going in the right direction. This exercise has helped me focus on what is really important-how I FEEL. And today, day 14, I am wearing a pair of jeans that I haven't worn comfortably in at least 6 months. (Funny how those smaller sizes end up at the bottom of the drawer so I don't have to look at them.)

It's been a hard habit to break, but well worth it. I can remember the scale dictating how the rest of my day went, which is pathetic in hindsight. I just keep reminding myself of the mantra "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." To me the Whole30 is about so much more than food, and changing my relationship with (and dependence on) the scale is part of it. Some habits are just harder to break than others!

[cavequeen]

Thanks for the help! I will definitely keeping in mind what you have said. I think getting rid of the scale will be super hard. Actually harder than giving up grains and sugar come to think of it. I may have to have my husband hide it. But, you are probably right I am too focused on it. Which is funny because I can go a month or two without weighing but I have never actively tried to lose weight without it.

Even though I want to eat this way because it is heathier, the main reason I started was because I need to get the weight off. It effects my blood pressure every time I gain weight and the 25 lbs I gained were enough to cause me to be back on meds which I truly despise for the fatigue they make me feel.

I will see if I can just monitor my blood pressure and go by how my clothes are fitting for a while. Wow, it's going to be psychologically really hard. I get validation from the scale that I am on the right path. Kind of how I found primal then paleo/whole 30. I decided to get more results I need to be stricter.

[ciscospice]

Which is funny because I can go a month or two without weighing but I have never actively tried to lose weight without it.

Look at this way - from your comment, it sounds like when you are just living your "normal" life (not actively dieting), you don't weigh yourself. Since the Whole30 is meant to set you off on a new way of eating (not a diet), then not using the scale would be the more natural choice for your long term commitment.

Since this isn't a diet, there's no reason to weigh!

[MeadowLily]

Here's the deal. I did my first Whole30 before Dallas and Melissa banned the scales. I know that looking at a scale every day is worthless because I did it. I slowed how quickly I developed benefits because I was trying to micromanage my weight loss with a little extra exercise or a little bit of calorie restriction. I hate to see you wasting this opportunity doing things that absolutely don't work.

Your cortisol levels may be relatively high due to stress, slowing weight loss. However, you are only making it worse by weighing yourself. You don't need a scale to monitor your blood pressure and you don't need to come off meds in a matter of days. And tweaking your diet on a daily basis by fidgeting with carbs and fats never works. As Snicci said, you are cutting yourself short. And you are ignoring the strength of a program that has been proven by 1000s of successful people in order to do a watered down version.

Come on Cavegirl. Get with the whole program!

I'm still searching for a member... the post why constantly weighing actually slows weight loss down.   This is close...but not the one.  

[missmary]

I'm still searching for a member... the post why constantly weighing actually slows weight loss down.   This is close...but not the one.  

 

I'm not sure what post you are looking for specifically, Lily, but here is why:

 

Looking at the scale tricks people into thinking they have meaningful information about how things are going. They might think they lost weight or they might think they gained (when in reality the scale moves for all kinds of reasons). People then use this information to adjust their eating and activity levels. They might eat less because they think they are gaining, even though they are hungry and need to eat more to kick their metabolism into gear. They might think they lost so they can indulge or they might think they lost and could lose even more if they restrict more...basically the scale is just noise. Not looking at it reduces the chances that it distracts you from really listening to your body.

[kirkor]

I wish weightloss wasn't even addressed in the Whole30. Carbs retain water, and grains are high carb, so of course if you restrict grains you'll restrict carbs and lose water weight. This is not anything special about W30.

People can get fat on any kind of diet, whether it be a point system, low fat, low carb, keto, primal, paleo, whatever.

Sure, weight loss is a potential side effect of W30, and if you work it right you may rewire your habits well enough to not have any snapback after restricting carbs for X weeks.

And I get that if we never talked about any of the benefits of W30, then people would never give it a shot.

Oof, I dunno.

I guess the folks that gain weight back after a W30 probably never had their head right in the first place? Maybe they paid lip service to the whole "ya, ya, I won't look at the scale ... (hee hee I know I'll lose weight anyway)" thing, but really that was their whole goal of doing W30? Yes, it's not supposed to be a crash diet, but they framed it that way anyway?

[MeadowLily]

I wish weightloss wasn't even addressed in the Whole30. Carbs retain water, and grains are high carb, so of course if you restrict grains you'll restrict carbs and lose water weight. This is not anything special about W30.

People can get fat on any kind of diet, whether it be a point system, low fat, low carb, keto, primal, paleo, whatever.

Sure, weight loss is a potential side effect of W30, and if you work it right you may rewire your habits well enough to not have any snapback after restricting carbs for X weeks.

And I get that if we never talked about any of the benefits of W30, then people would never give it a shot.

Oof, I dunno.

I guess the folks that gain weight back after a W30 probably never had their head right in the first place? Maybe they paid lip service to the whole "ya, ya, I won't look at the scale ... (hee hee I know I'll lose weight anyway)" thing, but really that was their whole goal of doing W30? Yes, it's not supposed to be a crash diet, but they framed it that way anyway?

Oh, dear.   Kirkor, I used similar words awhile back.    Remember, Miss Mary?       Someone was off on a binge on Day 31 and they were wondering why o why.....and I said,  maybe you didn't engage your head into the process.    

In my mind, I was referring to an article....Dallas said we need to engage our heads.    

 

Kirkor,  to this day I do not understand the urge/drive to binge on Day 31 and then immediately start another Whole 30.   It's difficult to follow that line of thinking.  I realize that some have not read the book or the threads...so they're learning as they go along.   Maybe after several cycles, the old thought process to turn this into another periodic diet starts to fade away for them.

 

Those that have health issues tend to take it very seriously.  They know that periodic dieting will not solve their medical conditions.  They carefully add back only those items that cause no harm.  AIP,  FODMAP,  T1 and T2 diabetes, etc.   If there's only one impetus or motivation to help anyone out there get off the gerbil wheel of bingeing...it's this - an urgency to binge in the younger years can be the handwriting on the wall for diabetes down the road.   In your 20's you can binge til you drop, but as the years go by - the pancreas can't handle that abuse.   Stopping the cycle of binge eating is one of the best things you can do to prevent diabetes.

[Tina R]

Here is a great article on Everyday Paleo about why the scale is a meaningless number. Enjoy! http://everydaypaleo.com/attention-scale-addicts-part-2/