My experience with Whole30

[JWhole30]

Yesterday was day 30. I ate fully compliant and with nothing in the grey "swypo" area.  I ate to the meal template with the exception of not eating a post work out meal if my work out ended far after the dinner hour.

I gained six pounds (156 lbs to 163 lbs at 5'5" tall) and added two inches to my waist (31" to 33"). I am not amused. 

[GFChris]

Yeah, I'd be disappointed as well.

 

Can you post 2-3 days worth of your food log, including daily water intake, nightly hours of sleep, and exercise routine to see if any possible tweaks are evident?  

 

Also, how different is Whole30 eating from how you ate prior?  I'm wondering, as MissMary did on another thread, whether some foods (either new foods or greater quantity of certain foods) caused you digestive issues?

Out of curiosity, did you experience any positive benefits in your skin, energy, sleep, workouts, other?

[JWhole30]

Yup, I can do that for the next three days.  I don't get wonderful sleep; I have two small children at home and like every parent, sleep can be fragmented. But my weight was going down before I started this.  I just wanted it to go down a bit faster.  I've lost 135 lbs over 10 years and was hoping to get to my goal weight of 149 lbs.

Before Whole30, I ate paleo plus beans and lentils and some sugar in the form of maple syrup and honey (maybe a TBS max a day).  I also drank a small amount of wine.  I've been gluten/dairy/soy/corn free for years.

The major change was the amount of vege and fat I consume.  Because I followed the meal template, I made sure I was eating about TBS of fat at each meal.  I also added an add'l meal for work outs (usually tuna and mayo or coconut oil).  Before Whole 30 I wasn't making sure I ate fat. I ate it if it was naturally in a meal, but I wasn't adding it.  Also before Whole 30 I ate no vege at bfast, maybe 1/4 cup at lunch, and a large portion at supper.  Now I eat about a 1/2-1 cup every meal.

My energy is down. My skin has a pimple for the first time in a year, and my running has suffered horribly. I'm a half marathoner, but since starting Whole30, I can't get past mile four.

I really believe in this type of eating. I didn't set out to prove Whole30 wrong.  I actually started in early May, but opted for a glass of wine with friends I don't see often on May 14, so counted my restart as June 1 even though I didn't break my eating habits other than the wine that night, since early May.  

I have hashimotos (hypothyroid) and addison (failure of adrenal glands) disease, but I've been working closely with my endocrinologist and my numbers were and remain perfect.  I take medication and supplements to support my body under the supervision of my dr.

[JWhole30]

Upon waking: 8 oz water

 

Pre-run: two homemade cookies/biscuits consisting of nuts and coconut oil, egg, and spices.  Please note I did NOT eat these during Whole30.  This was my planned-ahead post Whole30 celebratory thing.  During Whole30 I ate a can of tuna with mayo or with coconut oil, four pecans, and ten raisins pre-run.

Run: 4.5 miles

post run: 8 oz water

 

Bfast: two eggs, scrambled.  palm size portion of pork seasoned by me.  1/2 cup broccoli.

to be continued...

Lunch should be chicken (nom nom paleo's chicken with rosemary, dates, and shallots) and asparagus.  I'll have compliant mustard with this.

Supper is in the crockpot already: beef stew.  I'm not sure which recipe my dh used, but I sent him three compliant ones and I know he chose one.  we'll serve that with roast broccoli.

Tonight is lifting (weights) at the gym. It usually takes about 45 min.  I won't eat when I get back because I have discovered my metabolism can't handle any food after 7PM.  I realize this is against the food template. 


 

[Carlaccini]

Hmmm. I'm guessing that since you have thyroid issues your hormones may be more messed up than you think and this may take some more time. However that being said you may need some more starchy veg than you are giving yourself. Starchy veg helped greatly for my hormone regulation. And sleep. I am now to a point where my hormones are happy. It took me a while to get here given that they were pretty messed up for about 25years or so.

As an aside 1 tbsp of fat is not that much. Really. Considering how active you are you could probably be a little more liberal with it. And remember the stuff used in the pan, usually stays in the pan.

[Physibeth]

I would second what Carlaccini said especially considering how active you are and how poor you say your sleep quality is. Overtraining + poor sleep can result in weight gain or resistance to weight loss even with the healthiest of diets. Dropping beans and lentils from you diet means you dropped a lot of carbohydrate (there is much more carb than protein in them). It makes perfect sense that your running suffered if you didn't replace those carbs with a vegetable source. 

[Robin Strathdee]

Another question: how long have you been lifting weights? And have you increased your load recently?

[JWhole30]

Upon waking: 8 oz water

 

Pre-run: two homemade cookies/biscuits consisting of nuts and coconut oil, egg, and spices.  Please note I did NOT eat these during Whole30.  This was my planned-ahead post Whole30 celebratory thing.  During Whole30 I ate a can of tuna with mayo or with coconut oil, four pecans, and ten raisins pre-run.

Run: 4.5 miles

post run: 8 oz water

 

Bfast: two eggs, scrambled.  palm size portion of pork seasoned by me.  1/2 cup broccoli.

to be continued...

Lunch should be chicken (nom nom paleo's chicken with rosemary, dates, and shallots) and asparagus.  I'll have compliant mustard with this.

Supper is in the crockpot already: beef stew.  I'm not sure which recipe my dh used, but I sent him three compliant ones and I know he chose one.  we'll serve that with roast broccoli.

Tonight is lifting (weights) at the gym. It usually takes about 45 min.  I won't eat when I get back because I have discovered my metabolism can't handle any food after 7PM.  I realize this is against the food template. 

 

 

Lunch ended up being one piece of rosemary/date/shallot chicken, and a plate full of asparagus and broccoli.  And mustard.  

I also ate a TBS of almond butter and coconut butter mixed together (something else I removed during Whole30 bc a mod told me it was too much like dessert).

Up to 36 oz of water at lunch time.

Hmmm. I'm guessing that since you have thyroid issues your hormones may be more messed up than you think and this may take some more time. However that being said you may need some more starchy veg than you are giving yourself. Starchy veg helped greatly for my hormone regulation. And sleep. I am now to a point where my hormones are happy. It took me a while to get here given that they were pretty messed up for about 25years or so.

As an aside 1 tbsp of fat is not that much. Really. Considering how active you are you could probably be a little more liberal with it. And remember the stuff used in the pan, usually stays in the pan.

 

I see an amazing functional medicine endocrinologist.  I have full faith in her methodology - we have tested and monitor everything under the sun.

 

 

I would second what Carlaccini said especially considering how active you are and how poor you say your sleep quality is. Overtraining + poor sleep can result in weight gain or resistance to weight loss even with the healthiest of diets. Dropping beans and lentils from you diet means you dropped a lot of carbohydrate (there is much more carb than protein in them). It makes perfect sense that your running suffered if you didn't replace those carbs with a vegetable source. 

 

You're right that I didn't list starch vege and I'm pretty bad about eating them.  We do have mixed root vege planned for supper (beets, turnips, parsnips) and I neglected to list that.  But I don't eat them daily - probably three times a week?  I occasionally eat sweet potato but I don't love it.

 

 

Another question: how long have you been lifting weights? And have you increased your load recently?

I've been doing body resistance training for about a year.  I added weights in early May. I am following a weight training regime in this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398

So yes, I do increase my load as needed to follow that plan.  I'm doing it slower than the plan calls for, though.  I repeated the first portion.

[JWhole30]

and, i appreciate the feedback. I"m open to doing another 30 days if we can find something I can be doing better.  

If a mod thinks this would be better suited elsewhere (log, perhaps), i'm happy to have you move it.  
 

Thank you!

[GFChris]

From an energy perspective, I'd say work on getting at least one carb-dense vegetable in daily, and make sure you're drinking at least 80 oz of water daily. I would up the veggies per meal to at least 1 cup and up to 3 cups. Use the protein fat recommendation for preWO (no fruit). 

[Carrots&Blueberries]

Not a moderator or an expert, but from what I've seen here and elsewhere, thyroid and/or adrenal challenges often mean more time, more tweaking, and a path to healing that's sometimes maddeningly indirect (there seems to be a certain amount of worse-before-better at various stages). You're probably well aware of this already, so this is more in the line of encouragement and support. I'm sure there are a lot of folks who will benefit so much from following your posts, and I will stay tuned to see how it goes. Good luck to you! 

[JWhole30]

Today, continued.

Exercise: 45 min weight lifting. 

Meal 3: grass fed beef stew with green beans and sweet potato.  We were supposed to have root vegetables but I was uninspired to cut them up and wait for them to roast.

[JWhole30]

meal 1: two scrambled eggs, 1/4 cup pork, 1/2 cup broccoli

meal 2: two chicken legs left over from the shallot and dates meal.  Nothing else because I barely had time to consume those, cold.

meal 2.5: bowl full of roasted broccoli when I finally got home.

[Robin Strathdee]

Have you had any reliable lean mass vs fat mass analysis?  For some of us, weight training leads to muscle gain fairly quickly (novice effect) and that can lead to a big jump on the scale, especially the day after a fairly heavy session.

 

I agree that more food is likely a good choice for you, especially those pesky root veg. It can be a hassle to cut them, so I tend to batch chop them and store them so I can roast them when needed. I coat them in a little bit of oil to prevent browning while they're stored.

[JWhole30]

I have not had any lean versus fat mass analysis.  Where would I get that done?  I'm pretty sure I'm still carrying around an impressive amount of fat.  I do realize muscle weights more than fat.


dinner last night was liver with onions and peppers.  Total fail!  No proper veg AND no carbs.  I also did no significant exercise yesterday because I was so tired.

Today:

Breakfast: two scrambled eggs, a cup of broccoli, half cup of pork, and a cup of ROOT VEGE.
Lunch: a can of tuna mixed with coconut oil, raisins, raw almonds, and plain shreaded coconut.  No vege. Opps.
Dinner: We had a picnic.  I opted for bacon, mayo, tomato wrapped in lettuce leaves. Still no vege. Fail.  I was much more carefully about the vege thing while on Whole30. I'm starting to get lazy.

I have to say, the root vegetables realy helped.  Today I ran four miles and lifted for 30 min, plus was very active all day.  And I was not completely worn out at the end of the day (and am still going strong).

You're right - i need to chop a bunch of them and keep them handy.  I really like them - they're just such a pain to cook.

[Physibeth]

I also hate chopping root vegetables. I have a vegetable spiralizer and lately have been spiralizing sweet potatoes and then sauteeing them in some fat with garlic salt. So tasty! I've also spiralized raw beets to add to a salad and found that very enjoyable as well. Another thing I've done is shred the vegetables with my food processor and cook them up like hash.

[Carlaccini]

I would have to say that cutting and roasting veg is not terribly high on the effort scale, it's just that it can be time consuming, and especially if you are hungry, you have  to wait for them to cook. 

 

Ways around this - as Bethany mentions above, shred or spiralize them.  You will have a wonderful plate of carbs within about 10 minutes.

 

If you have some time at night or on the weekend - cut up a sweet potato into cubes.  You could cook them right then an there - pan fry, or roast them in the oven, or put in a container with some water, cover and put in the fridge to cook later.

 

You have to find a method that works for you.

[JWhole30]

I've been much more careful about carbs - root vege are definitely my friend.  I ran my fastest 3.1 miles ever - fueled by beets.  

i realize in the grand scheme of things cutting up root vege isn't hard or time consuming, but I've got two little kids and am training for a marathon.  I feel like I am always scrimping on my meal prep.  I need to make it more of a priority.

In other news, I've tried a date sweetened cookies here and there but I have no addiction to them. made strawberry rhubarb crumble over the fourth of july (maple syrup sweetened to counteract the rhubarb, crumbled coconut oil and nuts on top as I'm still grain free) - had a piece and didn't need any more although the taste was amazing.

I've lost all the inches I gained during W30 and all but two of the pounds.