Feeling Too Full After Meals

[tjohnson1214]

I'm on day 21 of my first Whole30. I've experienced a ton of the benefits talked about in ISWF and I am feeling healthier than I have since I was in high school. My only prevailing issue is feeling too full after my meals, sometimes to the point of nausea. I'm following the meal planning template. I'm afraid to eat smaller portions because I've consistently read that eating too little can cause problems on the Whole30. Any advice?

 

 

[MeadowLily]

You would have to post your food to see if you're eating too much.  There are many, many ways the mind rebels against the Whole 30 Template.   Some begin to get fearful of weight gain and the mind jumps right on board and whispers,  you'd better dial this down.  Some report nausea or other ways the body/mind connection reverts back to pre Whole 30 ways of eating.  It takes longer than 21 days to break old patterns and create new habits.  So post your food and someone will look over your portions.

[AmyS]

Could you post a couple of days' worth of sample meals and see if we can help you troubleshoot?

[cinagain]

I think that making yourself eat food to follow a template is about as damaging as making yourself NOT eat food for some goal.  You should be listening to your body's signals, eating for satiety and enjoying your food.  So if you feel like you're eating too much (and actually having physical symptoms vs just worrying about a scale number or something), then reduce your intake somewhere.  Maybe cut back at whatever meal you feel too full and see how that works. If you find that you're starting to feel "snacky," then you know you need to go back to more.  Or maybe play with what you're eating.  Is having a starchy vegetable too much?  then drop that out and put in extra greens.

 

There's all sorts of ways to tweak your food, find out what makes you feel best, while staying on W30.  But being rigid in your thinking (MUST follow the template!) is NOT having a healthy relationship with food...and W30 is about that as much as the template.

[MeadowLily]

A Whole 30 Template is reasonable restriction.  Over-restriction can be dialing it down to pre Whole 30 disordered eating behaviors or simply dieting and counting anywhere from 500-1000 cal/day.

 

Many are losing 10-15 lbs a month eating Whole 30 Template portions.     If a Whole 30 is too restrictive or rigid for some, Moderators encourage them to seek counseling or simply quit.

 

Eating Whole 30 Template is not damaging.   Do you think the Hartwigs would encourage any protocol that was damaging?    Many have been able to break free of disordered thinking about food by following the Whole 30 Template. 

 

Eating proteins, vegetables and good dietary fats,  fruits is not rigid but actually normal. 

[missmary]

yeah, we don't know how much the OP is eating or how they are interpreting the template (or how they were eating before or much else about them, really). If they post a few day's examples of meals we can start troubleshooting, but until then, hold tight. Let's not speculate, ok?

[tjohnson1214]

I just posted my Wednesday through Saturday meals over on the Your Whole30 Log board. Just to address some of the issues raised, I totally agree that 21 days is not enough to change the bad habits I've been cultivating since college. The final straw is when I started graduate school this past fall and started eating fast food more than home cooked food. After Christmas, I was at my heaviest weight and my lowest fitness level. I tried to fix it with exercise but that only helped minimally. After reading ISWF, I realized I need to change the way that I eat. The Whole30 has been revolutionary for me in terms of my psychological relationship with food. For the first week or so, all I could think about was all the foods I was going to reintroduce when it was over. Now at day 22, I have a feeling at Whole60 or Whole90 is going to be much more beneficial for me than just 30 days. Thank you all for your help and support!

[MeadowLily]

I just posted my Wednesday through Saturday meals over on the Your Whole30 Log board. Just to address some of the issues raised, I totally agree that 21 days is not enough to change the bad habits I've been cultivating since college. The final straw is when I started graduate school this past fall and started eating fast food more than home cooked food. After Christmas, I was at my heaviest weight and my lowest fitness level. I tried to fix it with exercise but that only helped minimally. After reading ISWF, I realized I need to change the way that I eat. The Whole30 has been revolutionary for me in terms of my psychological relationship with food. For the first week or so, all I could think about was all the foods I was going to reintroduce when it was over. Now at day 22, I have a feeling at Whole60 or Whole90 is going to be much more beneficial for me than just 30 days. Thank you all for your help and support!

That's a good decision.