Finished 30 days: great results, no real weight loss, kind of bummed!

[querida]

To start, I welcome help and feedback on my Whole30 'technique' because I've decided to continue on and make it a Whole60. I'm not feeling quite done with my experiment yet

 

I finished my Whole30 3 days ago. Around Day 17 I got an amazing energy boost that then stabalized and normalized into lovely, relatively steady energy. Around Day 22 I began responding to, "How are you doing?" with a resounding and heartfelt, "Great!". It feels like joy is at surface-level much of the time, ready to be triggered. At some point in there, my sleep deepened and I began waking feeling really rested. I've now hit the point in my cycle where my skin would usually break out a little and it's not happening. I am so stoked with all of these results! Feels like my experience in this life has just bumped up a few notches toward awesome.

 

After reading in ISWF that it took Dallas 45 days to clear up shoulder tendonitis, I've decided to continue to 60 days to see what it will do for my aches, pains and injuries. (I think I'm less achy when I get out of bed in the morning, but I'm not totally sure.) They were my real motivation for doing the Whole30 in the first place.

 

But I must admit that my other motivation was to drop the 10 or so pounds I put on during a grueling grad school course. I'm working with a not-super-accurate, old bathroom scale, but I'm relatively sure that I lost only 2-4 pounds during my Whole30. I'm kind of shocked. And bummed, which is super annoying because the benefits I've seen FAR OUTWEIGH a less-than-expected weight loss. But try to convince my mind of that!

 

So I'm curious about why this might be, and if there's anything I can do differently during the next 30 days. These are some factors I think may have contributed to a low weight loss:

 

- I'm pretty lean already and in the middle of my recommended BMI range. (It's not that I want to go all supermodel, I just want to fit into my pre-grad school jeans again.) Maybe my late-30's body feels that I shouldn't drop any weight?

 

- I didn't get any aerobic exercise during my Whole30 because I'm recovering from injuries. My exercise is low-impact and limited to some walking and biking, and lots of pilates. Maybe I need to up the anti here?

 

- I don't eat red meat and it took me until half-way through my Whole30 to figure out that I needed quite a bit of good fat with each meal in order to go 4 hours between meals. (I'm still working on this, actually.) So I experienced hunger a fair amount, and maybe my body wanted to keep my fat just in case? Or maybe I'm eating too much fat (not that I can see how to eat less)?

 

- Every couple of days I end up needing to snack on cashews, macadamia nuts or toasted coconut between meals in order to carry me to carry me to the next meal because I just can't sit down and eat just yet. Maybe my snacks need to have protein-fat-veg?

 

Or am I just tripping, and any needed weight loss will come during the next 30 days?

 

Thanks for listening, guys. It feels good just to get this out of my head and onto 'paper'!

[Physibeth]

First congratulations on a super successful Whole30 and kudos for keeping on to see if you can resolve some more of your pain issues.

 

You probably don't need to lose anymore weight and even if you do when you are in a healthy range or close to a healthy range it will come off much more slowly. I'm still in a higher than "healthy" BMI range and lost 3 lbs my first W30 and 6 my second (and I went on a little bit of a bender the night before my 2nd which probably accounts for most of that). All that said my body composition is much leaner than it was the last time I weighed what I weigh now (in my calorie counting SAD days). Instead of worrying about more intense cardio I would advice you to add strength training to your routine and focus more on body composition. This might mean the scale will go up and not down so focus more on the tape measure and your clothes.

 

On your food questions - if you must eat between meals having a mini meal is what we recommend. Snacking on nuts between meals isn't a fabulous option and for most people too many nuts will cause bloating and digestive issues. If you know the days that you have a long stretch before you can sit down to your next meal you can also have a larger meal those days.

 

To get more specific feedback on your food you can keep a food log here for the next 30 days. Remember that the template portions are the minimums and it is OK to go higher if that is what you need to get all your nutrients and energy.

[MeadowLily]

Excessive fruit servings slow weight loss down.

[querida]

Physibeth: Thank you so much for such a thorough response. I so appreciate it! Body composition-- yes! I've never been much of a scale person, so since body composition is the evaluation method I'm used to, I think I'll stick with that. I did see my hips drop by 3/4", and my belly and thighs by 1/2", which is exactly where I'd like to see fat disappear. I am still experiencing a rather gassy IT and have been wondering why this is, so paying closer attention to how I react to nuts is a great pro tip.

 

Meadowlily: I'm sure fruit would do that, but I don't think that's my issue. I don't understand the fruit portion size on the chart (3/4 of a palm? and how thick?) but I mostly limit fruit to about 1/3 of a cup, and don't have it every single day.

[GFChris]

Meadowlily: I'm sure fruit would do that, but I don't think that's my issue. I don't understand the fruit portion size on the chart (3/4 of a palm? and how thick?) but I mostly limit fruit to about 1/3 of a cup, and don't have it every single day.

Fruit is optional on a Whole30. The recommendation, if you are going to have it, is 1-2 servings a day, where a serving is a whole piece of fruit the size of your fist. Looks like you did fine there.

[Kmlynne]

Don't worry about the scale (I know that's a really hard thing to do!). Remember that on a scale the same volume of fat weighs less than muscle.

Pay more attention to how your clothes fit, and most especially how you are feeling. Measurements are good too (and I saw you lost quite a bit there!). As women, our bodies change a lot as we get older. Some people have found they can even be under their "college weight" and their college clothes just don't fit like they used to. Even after puberty our hips spread, our joints relax a little, etc. Some of this is hormonal, some is just aging.

Congrats on a successful w30, and good luck on continuing.

[querida]

Wanted to report in that I've just finished my Whole60!! The second 30-day set has been so easy! Meal prep Whole30 style is very much second nature now. I'm slowly making my way through my spices that have been around too long, feeling the fresh energy moving through that drawer as I replenish. My cooking skills are improving. I've learned to pre-cut onions and veggies so that they are ready to go. I think more about economies of scale in my kitchen.

 

And though I don't see much difference on the scale, I do see from my measurements that I'm slowly losing body fat in the places I'd like to lose it the most. I'm paying more attention to my body composition and am super pleased with how I feel in my body. I feel confident that I'm eating the best way possible in order to heal lingering injuries.

 

I feel well on my way to a lifetime of healthier eating, and am so grateful for the support given by the moderators in this forum. Your role in making the Whole30 feel approachable and possible is HUGE!! I have so much gratitude for all of the free info made available by the Whole30 crew. It feels like a heartfelt intention to help people help themselves. BIG THANKS!!!

[Kmlynne]

Congrats on a second w30 well done!