My fat fear....

[SPOTTYTHECAT]

I am thinking about starting a Whole 30 next week.  I have been reading alot of the forums, following people on instagram for meal ideas and I think I am ready except for one thing...

 

I really fear FAT!  As a former WW for 8 years (lost, gained, lost, gained cycle)....I am so afraid of FAT!  I have really fatty legs and I am so afraid they will be fatter!

 

I don't like avocado or olives and I feel like those fats are healthier than ghee or olive oil.  I did make my own ghee and I love cooking with it, but I use it sparingly...

 

Please help me with my FAT fear!  

 

I also see alot of Paleo women who are pretty big/heavy and I am afraid the Whole30 might make me bigger than I am!  I want to lose 30 lbs.

 

Thank you for your tips!

 

Best,

Pam 

[Edesia]

Pam - I didn't have a fat fear because of low carb eating in the past, but was reticent about increasing my fat intake to the extent that was recommended. I have also been a WW member. When I decided to try W30, I just decided to follow the template as recommended in order to get the benefits I wanted to experience. I just passed my 8 week mark and am feeling better than I have ever felt in my life. I know for sure the fats keep me satisfied between meals (no more cravings, searching for foods, and fighting with myself), and the fats have helped balance out my hormones with a long list of noticeable effects. Although this isn't a weight loss plan, I do still need to lose weight for optimal health and I have been losing weight in a safe, consistent way since starting W30. Before that, I was stuck in a rut for a very long time and unable to get to goal. Now I know, it is in my future. I believe the right amount of the right fats made that possible, just like the book ISWF says. Take the leap of faith and test it out. It's only a month and you are the only one in control of your decisions in the future. You will never know what is possible unless you try.

[kirkor]

Think of various analogies: your Dad holding your bike seat while you learn to ride without pedals, a trust fall exercise at a corporate retreat, using GPS to navigate a strange area, etc.

By committing to the structure of the Whole30 program, you can have faith you will not be led astray. You can turn off that little part of your brain that says "but, but..."

[Munkers]

Why do you feel that the fat in an olive is healthier than the fat in olive oil? The ONLY difference between the two is that the olive oil can be rancid if mishandled, but you can avoid that by buying cold pressed oil in a dark container and making sure that you use it quickly.

 

Your weight has been up and down and up and down following a low-fat diet approach. What does that tell you about the effectiveness of the diet and its sustainability in the long run? You might benefit from reading It Starts With Food or other paleo books that discuss the biochemistry of why certain foods are suggested and others are excluded. Take a look at the facts and remember that you're in a place where you're saying "what I'm doing isn't working." So if your present choices aren't working, why would you want to cling to them?

[SPOTTYTHECAT]

Thank you Edesia, Kirkor and Munkers...You are all right...I have NOTHING to lose and probably alot to gain/learn.  I need to get over being so hesitant.

 

I will keep reading these boards and I ordered the new Whole30 book.

 

Good point about the olive oil vs. olive!  I sounded kind of dumb on that point!

 

Thanks again,

Pam 

[Carlaccini]

I hear you loud and clear STC

 

I came from a place where you are.  Really I did.

 

I have been high carb, low fat for a good portion of my life. (I am 38 years old at present) I bought into this hook line and sinker.  However I have also been considered overweight/obese for most of my adult life as well.  Everyone suggested that I eat less - logically speaking it made sense - I mean I was overweight so therefore I had to eat less than I was eating.  There was only problem with this..... I'm a 5'9" stocky built "viking girl" - I don't do well eating 900 to 1200 calories.  I was hungry.  All. The. Time.  I was moody, depressed and angry.  All. The. Time.  My metabolism crashed.  My health was suffering. Short story - My body was not happy.  And yes .....I had fat legs.....

 

I did my first whole 30 2.5 years ago and I haven't looked back since.  Was I terrified of fat in the beginning?  You bet.  But just prior to me embarking on the whole 30 - somewhere in my brain the fat made sense.  Why?  Take low-fat Yogurt.  It has been stripped of any nutritious value - but hey - it's ONLY 40 calories - but it's full of sugar, sweeteners, and chemicals - you really think that is how yogurt is SUPPOSED to be eaten? Logically speaking I would have to say No - however the way that I had been "conditioned" - I questioned it.

 

Now when you look at food from the whole 30 perspective - you are cutting out fillers - aka breads, pasta, and cereals.  You are also cutting out cheese, milk, and ice cream.  You are left with nutrient dense vegetables, fruits and protein.  These alone will not keep you full.  You need something else that is basically slow burning fuel (as opposed to fast burning fuel that is sugar) Fat.  Is THAT slow burning fuel.  And I can personally vouch for fat not making you fat.   Really.  My legs have never looked better or have been stronger.  On top of that I am not terribly active (recovering from knee and hip injury) so the most I do are 5 k walks a few times a week.

 

It is okay that you don't like avocados or olives.  I don't do avos either.  My fat of choice is generally sauces and dressings made with homemade mayo.  (I'm all about the sauce!) Olives usually come into play when I am craving cheese.  And I never used to like them either - but now they are okay.

 

Word to the wise - go easy on nut butters.  Nuts and nut butters are known to cause disruption and general bloating.  So it's okay to use nuts as fat - just go easy on them - ie: once a day at most.

 

Most important thing to remember - relax and embrace the process.  Fat tastes good and will not make you fat.  Really.

[MeadowLily]

Trying to get skinny will keep you fat.

 

Constant dieting over the years increases the amount of fat in the body more than good dietary fats ever will.   Noshing on 100 cal. pre-loaded sugar snacks or diet dinners that contain almost all refined carbo- loaded white rice or white flour noodles contribute to more belly fat than lean muscle mass in the body.

 

Trying to stay skinny will keep you fat.  When any dieter constantly gains and loses the same 5-10 lbs over and over and over....the amount of belly fat increases.  Kick that up a few notches.....like waaaaay....keep losing and regaining 25-50-75-100 lbs over and over and over - you end up further in the hole.   The loss of lean muscle mass every time a dieter starts really dialing calories down to 1000 or less to lose weight in the shortest amount of time results in more lean muscle mass gone than actual fat.

 

Every time the same pounds are regained, it doesn't come back as lean muscle mass, it all comes back in the form of fat.

Trying to get skinny and trying to stay skinny with dieting will keep you fat.

 

So throw all of the dieting propaganda right out the window.  It contributes to the Overfed Head AND a lifetime of dieting that will only put you further in the hole with each passing year.   Trying to get skinny with dieting....that perspective is a slippery sucker or the dangling carrot that will always be out of reach.

 

Weight that is artificially low due to years of dieting may appear like lean muscle mass but the proof is in the dieter's ability to actually maintain artificially low numbers on the scale without a GREAT APPETITE RECKONING at some point in the future.   It's called rebound weight gain with friends and more fat content in the body than ever before.

 

Good dietary fats will not get you fat.  They can dramatically change the dieter's body, athletic abilites and back/hips/knees tolerance of said athletic abilities.   Taking off more body weight with dieting will not change one's tolerance for exercise.  Artificially low numbers on the scale are not enough to offset bulging discs, pinched nerves, bone spurs or arthritis.  

 

It's darned hard to give up dieting.   Good dietary fats will not get you fat.

[SPOTTYTHECAT]

Carla, Meadow...thank you...all great points and so many of them is a description of ME!  I have gotten FATTER over the years and I weight every single darn day and that makes or breaks me!  Terrible cycle!

 

Thanks again for all the input/guidance...

 

Pam 

[MeadowLily]

Carla, Meadow...thank you...all great points and so many of them is a description of ME!  I have gotten FATTER over the years and I weight every single darn day and that makes or breaks me!  Terrible cycle!

 

Thanks again for all the input/guidance...

 

Pam 

That's the reason you're here.   It doesn't work.   I come from a family of WW Legacy Lifers.  What they've done to themselves is epic.  Truly legendary.    

[Rebe_J]

I once feared fat, too.

 

I'm also a recovering WW Lifetime Member. I lost nearly 100 pounds on WW. I also lost a lot of muscle and a lot of hair. My skin became dull and itchy. My digestive system was messed up. I developed several "allergies."  As an experiment, I calculated how much fat I was eating.... less than 10% of my calories.

 

I eat what I consider a lot of fat now, but it's within the meal template guidelines. My hair is thicker and shinier than ever. My nails grow fast. My skin is much better. I have regular bathroom habits.

 

I have quite a bit to lose (again), and it's coming off slowly. This time, it will stay off.

[SPOTTYTHECAT]

Rebe....It looks like I am not alone with WW.  I was a lifetime member too...I was so proud and now I look back at what I was eating and it was GARBAGE!  I now have hashimotos, estrogen dominance, digestive problems etc....just crazy!  I fear calories too...I was so used to counting and being under 1200 a day!  

 

Pam

[jmcbn]

Fat is your friend.

Not only will it keep you satiated for longer, it will also help  to stave off the sugar cravings, and it'll help you lose fat. Plus it just tastes so damned good!

For me it isn't about the weight loss, more the body composition, and having consistently eaten from day 1 at the high end of the fat guideline for the meal template I've still managed to get a substantial drop in my body fat mass.

 

To give you an idea tonight's supper was my own take on a kind of a whole30 BLT and on my plate I had a full avocado (a half just wasn't cutting the mustard tonight) AND four slices of compliant bacon which is also a fat source & not a protein in whole30.

Come on in, make yourself comfortable & leave all your baggage at the door - you won't be needing it here.....

[MeadowLily]

It may take longer than 30 days  to get rid of the clutter of WW theology of less than 1200 down to 1000 calories/points per day.   You can virtually eat your points in sugar snacks every day and be in the pocket.  Snackity 100 cal packs and Ooooo those cardboard box meals with a gillion chemicals.    You bet they'll make your hair fall out, nails fall off and hiney hang down....tail drooping - just like an ole hounddog.     If my relatives can hear me, this will give them a big pinch.   

[MeadowLily]

"Please help me with my FAT fear!  

 

I also see alot of Paleo women who are pretty big/heavy and I am afraid the Whole30 might make me bigger than I am!  I want to lose 30 lbs."

 

Not on this forum.   Some of them are tiny lil things.  I'd swap bodies with any of them.

 

Body by Paleo  - trading UP for lean muscle mass.  They honor their hunger so they don't trigger the primal drive to overeat from excessive hunger.  Body by Paleo - they've learned not to treat their bodies like trash cans.

[cottagequeen]

I found out that fat was not to be feared doing a ww points program. I didn't sign up, just got the packet on line. Any who, I had been reading about coconut oil and decided I was going to add it to my daily food and not count points for it. I lost weight. BUT, after a while, I hit a plateau, and got fed up, ended up falling back into old habits that WW did not help me break. Stumbled upon Whole30 last year and did my first W30 in April 2014, Took it to a Whole 60.It made a believer out of me. With a good size bump in the road over the past year, I am now on day 78 of a whole100. I found out like Meadow, my history with food was too big for a whole30 and it needed more time to balance things out. I embraced the fat, It blows peoples minds when they see me eat...  

[SPOTTYTHECAT]

jmc, meadow, cottage.....Thank you for posting your views.  I know sugar is a definite problem for me....and its everywhere!  I think in my mind that if I ditch the sugar, I replace it with fat and that would be too much fat!  I know I need to replace it with more protein/vegetables.  I have experimented with My Fitness Pal and I see that my protein is too low, yet sugar is high!  I made my own ghee last week with Kerrygold butter...I love to cook with it...lots of flavor!  So, I am making baby steps in the right direction.  

 

Meadow...I used to by the 1 point little "treats" from my WW meetings...following Instagram has really showed me what garbage I ate on WW...so many people are still eating that way!  They lose 20-30 and become so obsessed with low point food, they don't realized how much nutrition is lacking in their diet.  They hit a plateau, then gain more and the vicious cycle never ends and it gets harder and harder to lose.  I am also 45, perimenopause and it is harder to lose now!  I know the number isn't what is important, it's how I look....body composition!  

 

I have pretty much eliminated gluten, unless I make a mistake eating out or its in a dressing etc....corn gone too, dairy has been the tough one, and now I must embrace fat!

 

Thanks all!!

 

Pam 

[missmary]

 I have experimented with My Fitness Pal and I see that my protein is too low, yet sugar is high!

 

Please don't do this. My Fitness Pal encourages people to look for unnaturally low calories and consistent macro ratios. Whole30 asks you to trust your body to give you signals about what it needs. Use the meal template and your own hunger to determine how much you need to eat. Don't worry if the amount of starchy carbs you consume ebs and flows from day to day and week to week. It should! Your body goes through activity, illness, hormonal changes, etc., and it will naturally seek more starch or more fat or more protein sometimes. This is good. Try to honor it.

[SPOTTYTHECAT]

Thanks Missmary...all very true...some days we are hungry, some days not etc....

[MeadowLily]

http://whole9life.com/2015/02/biohacker-conference/

 

You might find that interesting, Spotty.  Fitness Pal is similar to spell check on your smart phone.  It's constantly respelling and making gross errors of our intentions.