Today is Day 30!

[mrsdbrowning]

• This is what my life used to be like. 
  • I completed the Ideal Protein diet 2 years ago and lost 50 lbs. I had over time put back on almost 10 lbs. and my clothes were beginning to get snug, so it was time to get that creeping up 10 off for real.

• I always live the low-carb life (90/10); I will have an occasional cupcake. I also used to drink about a pot of coffee with half-n-half (1/4 cup-1/2 cup) every morning. I drank alcohol 1-2x week. I usually ate a breakfast taco for breakfast, IP oatmeal for lunch, and a burger for dinner (no bun). That was typical.

Anxiety and depression are things I always struggle with.

No health problems, headaches, but I occasionally would have my left side of my face go numb while taking a bath (I know, weird… I thought it was a dentist thing, but he said no).

This is how I found the Whole30. 

• Someone else online mentioned that Whole30 was the same as Ideal Protein but all-natural, so I was excited to try it.

During my Whole30 experience… 

• Right before I did Whole30, I did a 3-day juice fast. I thought it would kick start my transition. I think it just messed up my bowels for about 2 weeks. The Whole30 was super easy. I loved that we could have avocados and nuts and occasional fruit, although the recommendation for bars and things on the website confused me at first. Whole30 dinner foods are very similar to Ideal Protein guideline foods, but you can eat until you are satisfied here.

• LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the daily emails!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that I’ve finished my Whole30… 

• I am cooking all the time at home, religiously shopping at farmer’s markets, much more connected to my roots and home instead of living la vida loca, always on the run. I didn’t want to mess with someone slipping me sugar, so I hardly ate out (except on vacation 2x). My kids are eating better as well because I am always cooking.

Depression and anxiety gone! Wow! This may be because of giving up coffee (I gave it up for my fast and just kept not drinking it, I have hot tea now instead). This alone makes me loyal to this program and lifestyle. Did I mention my anxiety and depression are gone? Ok, just making sure.

I found a new lifetime love=Tessemae’s Zesty Ranch dressing. OMG, so good. Makes salad + boiled eggs something to look forward to for the first time ever!

Grilled chicken thighs and ground pork meatballs. Both things I never cooked with before, both keepers thanks to Well-Fed. Also, the Well-Fed Chocolate Chili will be a staple forever. My entire family loved it.

I think those above are significant, so I will go ahead and say my sad part now. I gained 5 lbs. and now my too-snug clothes (the original motivator) do not fit at all! Looking back, where it may have gone wrong:

• I probably ate too many Rx Bars (I ordered a box before I started and understood the program totally, and no way were they going to sit on a shelf). For the first week or so, I had one a day immediately after dinner.

I snacked a lot (Whole30 compliant) when I was on vacation (Spring Break beach-house 1 week). I cooked myself eggs every morning, but lunch was on the go and usually consisted of an Epic Bar, lots of nuts, and an apple (’til I was full). I also probably snack too much on the weekends, when my regular schedule is off.

I will add that I never knowingly cheated. I ate fajitas out once that probably had something in them, also a piece of bacon once at a breakfast restaurant. Other than that, everything else was meticulously shopped for, grass-fed, laid by my own chickens, bought at a farmer’s market, or labels read thoroughly.

What next? Whole60… 

• I am going to keep going, with a few modifications to my norm specifically for weight loss.
  • No fruits

• No nuts

No avocados

No snacking

• In conclusion, Whole30=legit. Weight Loss Miracle=working on it. I read tons of blog posts to see if my foods looked similar to those on everyone else’s plate, and I think they did. Those of you who lost weight, tell me more.

[Loulabelle]

I gained weight during my 30 days too, about the same amount as you did. I don't complain about it though as I did lose all my bloating so lost size round my belly which I'm happy about. I still eat compliant with the odd glass of wine thrown in at the weekend and the weight is slowly coming off. I do believe weight loss is largely due to where you start from, my diet was already pretty healthy and the over all weight I would like to lose is only 5kg so not a huge amount.

[Tom Denham]

I would adjust the list of things you will not eat on your next Whole30 to include no RX bars or any other kind of bar. Whether these things are Whole30-compliant or not, they are second-rate foods and a poor choice. And eating them after a meal tells me you did not eat enough at your meal or you have a thing about dessert and were indulging it with the RX bar.

 

I would also encourage you to keep as much as one avocado per day in your food rotation. The secret to losing weight is not reducing fat sources in your eating, but eating well-composed meals in proper portion sizes. Revisit the meal template - http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf- and get into the rhythm of eating accordingly. 

 

I celebrate that you will cut nuts out of your eating. Most people would do much better if they lived with no nuts in their life at all. Nuts do not produce satiety as fast as they should given how high in calories they are. And they mess with digestion. 

[LadyM]

You've made some extraordinary changes and progress that are already revolutionizing your life for the better. Huge congrats! And it sounds as if you have the right tools to move forward.

 

I, too, didn't lose weight on my first couple W30s, several of which went far longer than 30 days. I trust that my body was prioritizing healing and that weight loss wasn't at the top of the list. I also had to deal with behavioral stuff over time that sounds a lot like yours. Gradually I stopped: stuffing myself at every meal, eating something sweet at the end of meals (including nuts and nut butters and RXbars), eating hyper delicious compliant things at will (dates, coconut, nuts, mayo, rxbars) just because I felt I could. It took patience, practice, vigilance, and compassion for myself. And now I'm losing slowly and steadily on a long term Whole9 life that's W30 the majority of the time with a handful of deliberate off roads for truly worth it things maybe once or twice a month.

 

Keep going and keep us posted. And please don't ever forget how far you've come. To have eliminated anxiety and depression in a month by changing your diet alone is nothing less than a miracle.