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Went off Whole 30 Bandwagon!!


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I finished my first Whole 30 one week ago and planned on starting another this past Monday. I did great for all 3 meals but couldn't resist the few spoonfuls of ice cream a few nights during the week. I have a big party to go to tonight and unless something looks extremely worth it, I will refrain from non compliant foods as much as possible. I am not going to have any alcohol, only club soda.

Needless to say, I am more on the reintroduction phase now (introducing moderate amonts of dairy and sugar in my icecream). I haven't seen a negative effect. Still sleeping great, feel good ,etc.

I do want to give another Whole 30 a shot and will start tomorrow!!

The good news is...I measured my waist today and it has gone down another half inch for a total of 3 inches and my weight loss is still at 2 pounds. And...I feel good!

I just hope I can keep the sugar dragon at bay for the next 30 days!!!!!

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Great and informative article. Thanks! Sometimes I feel these articles are written for me personally!! I know I woke up my Sugar Dragon this past week! I hope I am able to tame it again when I do Whole 30 again. It's definitely harder the second time around! I am so envious of people who don't have a sweet tooth! I could live the rest of my life without bread, pasta, chips, rice, white potatoes, trans fat, pretzels, and every other grain. But take away my cake and ice cream, and I feel like a true addict.

Maybe I will just have to learn to eat this stuff in MODERATION!! I hate that word, especially when I have the food in front of me, but it may be my only realistic option!!

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http://whole9life.com/2013/08/moderation/

 

 

 

Please Stop Saying “Everything in Moderation”

 

"For those looking to lose weight and get healthier, there is certainly no shortage of dietary advice. Thousands of experts share their tips to “get bikini-ready by summer!” and “lose those last 10 pounds!” in magazines, newspaper articles, television programs, and website advertisements.

While much of their advice is totally conflicting (“Eat breakfast to control your appetite!” “Skip breakfast and lose weight!”), there are some pieces of dietary advice that everyone seems to agree on. Today, we’ll touch on one of our favorites—a concept you’ll hear everyone talk about, yet is feasible for just about nobody:

“Everything in Moderation .”

 

This is perhaps the most famous piece of diet advice ever given—everything in moderation. Depriving yourself leads to willpower depletion and the dreaded “rebound effect.” Unhealthy foods are only unhealthy if you eat them in excess. Balance is key. Therefore, you can (and should) eat anything you want… as long as you eat it inmoderation.

 

The problem is, moderation works for very few people. You know this to be true. You’ve tried it countless times. (And if it actually worked for you long-term, you wouldn’t need any more diet advice, would you?)

Moderate for Health?

 

The most obvious caveat against “everything in moderation” is for those suffering from a health condition affected by the foods you eat (which, P.S., is every health condition). In the case of autoimmune disease, Celiac, or general food sensitivities, the very idea of moderation may just be keeping you from achieving optimal health. If certain foods are acutely inflammatory in your body—wheat, dairy, artificial sweeteners—then even a “moderate” amount of these foods will keep you sick. That one small pancake on the weekend (or one piece of pizza at the office party, or one packet of Splenda in your A.M. coffee) may be the difference between feeling bad and feeling awesome long-term.

For folks with specific sensitivities or health conditions, eating inflammatory trigger foods “in moderation” is a terrible idea—yet popular magazines will suggest it’s far worse to “deprive yourself” than to avoid entire foods or food groups altogether. We ask, what’s worse… giving up bread altogether, or dealing with energy dips, sleep interruptions, mood swings, skin breakouts, GI distress, resurgence of pain, and other health consequences of your “moderate” indulgence?

 

As an analogy, if you were allergic to peanuts, would you still feel the pressure to enjoy them “in moderation?” Of course not!

 

So why are you even attempting “moderation” of bread, cheese, or diet sodas if these foods make you significantly and tangibly less healthy? Willpower vs. Foods With No Brakes

 

For those who don’t have a health condition or food sensitivities, you may feel even more pressure (or desire) to “moderate” instead of deprive yourself—but there are perils associated with this dietary concept for you, too. The biggest problem with moderation is that it relies on willpower. And given what we know about willpower, and the kinds of foods that are tempting us day in and day out, “everything in moderations” is a long-term losing proposition.

 

We spend, on average, 3-4 hours a day resisting desires. We only have one finite tank for willpower, and any number of actions (avoiding Facebook during the workday, biting back an angry retort at your co-worker, being patient with your kids, saying “no thank you” to the offered candy) rely on the same willpower tank. We use more willpower in today’s modern world than we ever have before… no wonder it’s in such short supply.

Combine this with the kinds of foods we are attempting to moderate— “foods with no brakes*.” These are calorie-dense, carb-dense, nutrient-poor foods designed by food scientists to make you crave them, without any of the nutrition or satiety factors that tells your brain to stop eating them. They rewire pleasure, reward, and emotion circuitry in your brain, creating habit loops that are near impossible to break with sheer willpower. Stress—any kind of stress—makes these cravings and habits stronger. And the kicker? These same foods also mess with hormones like leptin and insulin, creatingmetabolic imbalances that further promote cravings and hunger such that no amount of willpower can overrule them. (Hormones >willpower.)

 

So… you’ve got an airy concept (“moderation”). You’ve got scientifically-designed foods that have rewired your brain to make you crave them, promising pleasure and comfort when you eat them, without nutrition or satiety factors to make you stop eating them. You’ve got hormones running amok, thanks to the damage caused by your overconsumption of these foods-with-no-brakes. And you’ve got a rapidly-depleted willpower bank that runs out faster than ever, thanks to the endless temptations created by our modern lives.

Relying on willpower alone to somehow eat fewer of those less healthy foods is a battle you are destined to lose… which makes “everything in moderation” a poor long-term strategy.

*Refer to our New York Times bestselling book It Starts With Food for more details on this concept.

 

Moderation Schmoderation

In addition, the very concept of “moderation” is intangible—so fluffy as to be meaningless. Does it mean you only eat one cookie at a time, or cookies once a week, or just one bite of cookie a few times a day? The truth is, most of us haven’t take the time to map out exactly, specifically what “moderation” means to us. Even if we did, the “moderation” would probably creep when it suited our needs. (It’s easy to justify that second glass of wine when the bottle is open and you hate to waste it.)

 

We also like to negotiate with ourselves when we’ve set less-than-firm goals… “I’ll have two glasses tonight, but none tomorrow.” But what happens tomorrow? We are creatures of instant gratification, quickly discounting future benefits in favor of immediate payoff—which means tomorrow usually finds us justifying that one glass of wine yet again.

Habit research shows that black-and-white goals—without any room for interpretation, justification, or negotiation—are far easier to meet than squishy goals. “I will eat less sugar,” “I will exercise more,” “Everything in moderation”… all examples of squishy goals with loads of room for us to bend them to our will and desire.

 

“Moderation” leaves us far too much wiggle-room… and we’ll fill that room with what gratifies us today, despite the consequences tomorrow. The Moderation Solution

Now, if you’re one of those folks for which “moderation” works just fine, then you’re lucky. (And you’re probably not trolling the internet looking for diet advice, or reading this article looking for guidance.) But for the vast majority of folks, it’s time to ditch the concept of moderation once and for all. Now, we’re not saying you have to be a 100% perfect eater, day in and day out. We just want you to reframe how you enjoy less healthy foods.

  • Do a Whole30, at least once (preferably more than once). Learn for yourself which foods negatively affect your health, quality of life, or physical performance so significantly, they are never worth the “indulgence.” Change your tastes, break your cravings, lose your dependence on foods with no brakes.
  • After your Whole30, make the decision to always avoid those foods that you believe significantly impact your health or quality of life. Believe this is not deprivation—it’s the smartest choice you can make for a happy, healthy life.

Have you struggled with “everything in moderation,” or are you one of the lucky few who can live comfortably in the gray area? Share your thoughts in comments."

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When it comes to rebounding on the scale, whether it be a mere 10 lbs UP and down....what constant dieting does is increase the amount of belly fat over the decades.   When peri-meno-post  hit-the-pause button-strikes,  hormones cause belly fat to accumulate at an even greater rate than all of the previous decades put together.

 

That belly becomes its own hormone factory and if there are wild swings UP and down the scale, that belly is going to manufacture an extra special kind of belly fat that creates its own kind of diet  h.e. l. l.   This is why it is so important to break these thrill eating cycles in youth.   This that can be accomplished if one chooses to trade UP for lean muscle mass by no longer constant dieting and thrill eating and then more Periodic Dieting followed by more thrill eating...

 

Weight stability can be had with a solid plan.  Weight stability with lean muscle mass is the BIG WIN.   After a Whole 30, the Slow Roll Reintro ......going Ooooooooo sooooooo slooooooow is the only way to achieve stability.    A Slow Roll Reintro is the solid plan.

 

Every time one chooses to fall back into thrill eating.....Melissa and Dallas have created an Off-Roading check list.   Off-roading is not the same as thrill eating.   Not by a long shot.   Here it is.  It's an incredible resource for making smarter choices after a Whole 30 that goes hand in hand with a Slow Roll Reintro.   That's the solid plan that gives you knowledge for weight stability like waaaay into the future.   

 

Remember, whether you are 19 or 89....everytime you diet and rebound with weight gain....it's not lean muscle mass that's coming back into the belly.   That hormone factory is all  a-buzzzz trying to keep every last pound and wanting you to bring in more friends.  It's no mystery, it's science and the proof is revealed when the hiney is no longer tiny enough to fit into size double-aught jeans.   I really don't care about tiney hiney jeans but I do care about rebound gain with "friends".   The belly hormone factory never sleeps.

 

Another good question to self before going on a thrill eating bender....

 

Is this going to put me that much further in the hole?

Will more belly fat accumulate around my middle every time I regain 10 or 110?

What's going on inside and around my heart?

When I lose that 10 with another Periodic Diet and then go off once more with thrill eating - how many times over the course of my lifetime can I get away with this before everything comes to a complete standstill?

Is this my 30th or 100'th time when the body finally pushes back and says....I'm not going to take this anymore, I'm going to latch onto everything.  Tiny hiney jeans....take a hike.

 

http://whole30.com/downloads/off-roading.pdf

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