Whole 30 complete - Wrap up report, 0 and 14 lb weight loss w/ pics

[DoctorMom]

Whole30 Wrap Up:

 

We did it!  It was hard, I wanted to quit several times.  But we stuck with it for the full 30.  Here's our stats:

 

Me: 32y/o woman, 5'5â€, athletic build, breastfeeding momma

Starting weight: 128.2 lbs

Ending weight: 128.4 lbs

WEIGHT LOST: None

 

Benefits: Headaches seem to be better.  The past few days people have been commenting that I look thin, maybe my clothes fit “a little†better.  Nothing drastic, I'd say. Glad I took the pictures, because I can see my tummy looks a little flatter.  No tiger blood.  I would sometimes feel tired in the afternoons and evenings. Full disclosure: I did snack a great deal on nuts and dried fruit.  I didn't really have any major digestive, autoimmune, skin issues before so nothing changed on that front.

 

Goals going in:

1.     Workout at least 4x/week :  Yay, did it!

2.     Get in bed by 9 every night: Nope, life's crazy.

3.     Limit snacking between meals: Nope, just snacked on “healthier†stuff.

4.     Provide healthier meals for my family/clean up our diets: Hell's yes.

 

Him: 34y/o man, 5'10â€, athletic build

Starting weight: 181 lbs

Ending weight: 167 lbs

WEIGHT LOST: 14 lbs

 

Labs for him:

A1C  5.8 à 5.6

HDL 88 à 74

LDL 87 à 68

Cholesterol 183 à 138

Chol/HDL raio 2.1 à 1.9

 

(Intepretation for non-medical: His blood work went from very good to maybe even a little better.)

 

Benefits:  His clothes are falling off him.  Thinnest he's ever been in the 10 yrs I've known him.  I think too thin. Strength lifting was mostly maintained.  Slower on runs.  Feels like his skin is worse.  No tiger blood. He had digestive issues the whole time, not regular like he used to be.  He, obviously, did not snack as much as I did.

 

Thoughts going forward:  This was an interesting experiment.  I had hoped to lose a couple of pounds, but I ate a lot of nuts and fruits, after meals and sometimes in between, so it's no wonder that I didn't.  In general, I like this way of eating.  I like that I'm eating SOOO many vegetables. I also like that I got to try some new recipes and foods (plantains, OMG).

 

 It's been a few days since the end.  I'm being a bit lazy about the reintroduction.  Kind of did dairy the first day because I was craving yogurt, no problems.  Waiting until I see something I really want to try reintroducing other things.  Feels nice to still have this healthy eating model set-up, but now have the freedom to off-road if I see something I really want.   I'm not sure it really changed my life the way it promised to.  I think we'll probably still plan meals around vegetables (leaving out the pasta and rice as is fillers we used to make), but not feel bad if we want to order pizzas on a Friday evening, or indulge in some homemade cheesecake a friend makes.  I'm going to try to keep from hitting the sweets at work to keep my headaches at bay. 

 

As regards weight loss, I'm going to give myself a break for a few days and then start counting calories to see if I can get to 125 lbs.  One thing I am worried about is gaining weight once I start off-roading.  My weight was stable prior to this, and then I cut out all the junk and my weight has remained stable.  What's going to happen when I reintroduce some junk?  I do need to reintroduce some junk to fatten back up the husband, though!

 

I will say that this behavior change program is very well supported, maximally using all the up-to-date social science to back it up.  I liked getting the emails daily, although around day 15 they became less helpful.  And the forum was a lot of fun, too.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my posts and offer helpful suggestions.  Good luck on your own journey!

 

I'll try to upload our photos, too! 

[GFChris]

Congrats on the benefits each of you obtained.  

 

I'm curious: did you take before and after measurements, as you said your tummy seems flatter, your clothes fit better, and people say you look thinner?

Also, take a look at this article. I'm not implying that you're a scale addict: it more makes the point of body composition vs. number on a scale.  I wonder how essential it is for you to reach 125 pounds, vs. having a healthy body composition? 

If you are really concerned about weight loss, getting 7-8 hours of sleep nightly will likely go a long way toward helping you.  Dropping the nuts and dried fruit will likely help as well, along with crafting meals that satiate you for 4-5 hours, so you don't feel the need to snack. Would you consider making those tweaks before going the calorie counting route?

EDIT: Whoops, missed that you're breastfeeding too. Know that you can eat more than 3 meals a day, if needed. Just make them fit the meal template instead of having fruit and nuts.

[DomFruch]

Did your husband lose it right off the bat, or did it happen in a certain week? Just curious.

[DoctorMom]

Dom, at the halfway point he snuck on a scale and was 172.  So he was losing all thru out.

 

Chris, nope, didn't take measurements  Wish I had, and would recommend that to someone else doing this.  Just ran out of time to do it on the front end.  I would like nothing more than to get 8 hours of sleep a night, but with a full time career, 7 month old twins, a 2 year old, and a husband who would occasionally like to spend some time w me after the kids go down (not to mention trying to fit in regular exercise) it just doesn't always happen.  hope springs eternal.

 

I think if I count calories the snacks will naturally be decreased as I stay within my daily goals.  I lost 50 lbs of baby weight using the app "Lose It."  I lost 0 doing Whole 30.  Some things work better for some people than others.  That's the whole point of the experiment of n=1, right? I've learned some good lessons from this nutrition challenge that I'll keep with me.  But I found it to be very expensive, very restrictive, very inconvenient, very time consuming, and in the end my results really weren't so dramatic.

[iteach]

Wonderful stats...including your husbands--wow! Good for him!

 

I'm so glad that the two of you started this journey together to just be healthy people...and parents. 

 

It looks like you two are very active and will be great role models for you little one(s).

 

Thank you for sharing!

[missmary]

Chris touched on this, but I have to put in my two cents now (like it's my job!) 

 

Girl, you are at a healthy weight. Done and done. There is no reason to cut calories to get to 125, and if you do, chances are it will make you less healthy than you are now. Why risk that? Just go on with your healthy body and feed your baby and don't worry. If your body wants to be 125 it will get there later, when you are done providing nourishment for another little life.

 

This has been another PSA from the "Miss Mary is steaming mad that women have been sold a bunch of bull-crap about what is healthy" department of the whole30 forums.

 

5'-5' and 128 lbs with an athletic build is healthy.

 

Restricting food and calories to try to get skinnier than this-skinnier than your body wants to be right now-is not healthy.

 

oh, and congrats on what sounds like a very successful whole30!

 

EDIT: ok, so here is the other thing: you get to decide if healthy is your goal or not. I will allow that some people have goals other than optimal health and I don't get to decide if those goals are valid. It is super upsetting to me, but if your goal is not optimal health and it is all about the number 125 that is your business, just know that the whole30 might not get you there and it isn't because the whole30 "didn't work". This framework is set up to achieve healthy. If you want something else you will indeed need to choose a different approach. please don't, but yeah, you can if you want.

[DoctorMom]

alright, you convinced me gonna chill out, be happy, enjoy my kids, my veggies, my workouts and my occasional frozen yogurt sunday (OMG, had one yesterday, best thing EVER)