Is it possible to be eating TOO much?

[hurdnat27]

Hi all,

 

I am a 20 year old female college soccer player, I am on day 18 of my second Whole 30, and I have not felt any tremendous changes in energy, athletic ability, or loss of bloating/inflammation. I workout 4-5 times a week (running, weight-lifting, playing soccer), and I eat 3 large meals a day with extra for pre and post-workout. I'm worried that maybe I've been eating too large of portions, or should that even be a concern of mine? I have been eating relatively 'clean' for the last year or so, mostly Paleo with some steel-cut oats, real and whole grains, and treats every once in awhile. Can anyone help me figure out why I haven't gotten any Tiger Blood yet? I really miss it and am starting to get anxious that the program isn't hitting me as hard as it should. Thanks!

[SpinSpin]

It would be really helpful to have a few days of what you are eating, including your pre and post workout meals, how much water and sleep you are getting. Then we could help you figure things out! 

[Carlaccini]

Please note that results do vary from person to person.

 

It will help  to know what your are eating.  So if you are able to list a couple of days worth of meals here along with activity, sleep, and water consumption.  We will do our best to help you troubleshoot.

[hurdnat27]

Sure thing!

 

Meal 1: always 3 eggs with about a cup and a half of veggies, half a potato toasted in a frying pan, and a banana.

 

Meal 2: usually dinner leftovers (chicken, steak) or tuna mixed into a salad with lots of spring mix, one or two other veggies (cut up celery, carrots, broccoli), raisins, sometimes almonds, and home-made mayo mixed with mustard; another veggie or two on the side, and one serving of fruit

 

Meal 3: a generous portion of protein (chicken, steak, ground meat), two large servings of vegetables, sometimes a serving of fruit

 

Liquids: I drink about as much water as humanly possible, in flat, sparkling, and tea form. I would estimate about 10-12 glasses a day

 

Pre/Post workout: admittedly my pre and post-workout options have not been great, usually it's a pouch of applesauce or a coconut Lara bar, for both before and after. I haven't found too many inexpensive portable protein options I like

 

Sleep: always between 7 and 8 hours

[hurdnat27]

Workouts: twice a week distance runs between 20 and 30 minutes, twice a week weight lifting of about 40 minutes, once a week pick-up soccer for about an hour

[MeadowLily]

You're not eating too much food but alot of sugar in the form of Larabars/applesauce and other fruit/dried fruit.  The rules have changed for Larabars.  Ditch the bars, throw out the applesauce...you need the recommended Whole 30 pre/post mini meals and you'll be feeling much better in no time.

 

THE FUTURE OF WHOLE30 APPROVED

 

4 June, 2015

By Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig, co-creators of The Whole30 program

We’ve worked hard over the last six years to make the Whole30 logical in its framework, as effective as possible across the broadest range of people, and easy to follow. Achieving and balancing all three of these factors with the same set of rules has proven challenging, so we are always evaluating the program to determine what improvements we can make, staying true to our integrity and the spirit and intention of the program.

 

Sometimes, that involves bringing whole foods back into the program (hello,white potatoes), or determining whether a new “paleofied” concoction is Whole30-appropriate (no dice, date-paste-coconut-milk-coffee-creamer). Recently, that meant reevaluating our Whole30 Approved program, based on our observation of our community’s response to the products, our peers’ feedback, and our own moral compass.

 

We have made the difficult decision to remove RxBars, Beaver Bites, andYawp bars as official Whole30 Approved partners. But hear us clearly: this isn’t about the ingredients, the bars themselves, or the companies behind them. It’s about the way we have observed people (mis)using the bars during their Whole30 programs, and our desire to provide the best guidance possible for your program through our partnerships.

 
RxBars, Beaver Bites, and Yawp bars are still made with the highest quality real-food ingredients. They are still a healthy choice when used appropriately. Most important, they are still acceptable “emergency food” on the Whole30 program*.This change only affects our promotion of these companies as a Whole30 Approved partner or affiliate.

*All but the Peanut Butter RxBar, because peanuts.

 

We’ve made some changes to our #Whole30 Approved program, because it was the right thing to do.

CLICK TO TWEET

 

A Critical Review

This isn’t a decision we took lightly. When we partnered with these companies, we looked at the short list of real-food ingredients and loved the idea of introducing our Whole30 participants to healthy and convenient “emergency food” options. We imagined all the ways you would use them; kept in an office drawer for the odd late night at the office, added to a backpack to fuel your long hike or bike ride, packed in a carry-on in case your flight is delayed, or carried in your purse for those unexpected traffic jams. We still stand behind these bars as a good choice—when used appropriately. Our mistake was assuming that people would see their value as healthy on-the-go convenience food and use them only as such.

But over the last few years, we’ve seen people on the Whole30 gravitating to these bars for less healthy reasons. They’re sweet, salty, and fatty. They’re as close to a sweet treat as you can get on the Whole30. And for many, the strong emotional ties to sweets and the temptation to use these products to satisfy those cravings proved too strong to resist. We found ourselves torn, prominently promoting the bars with a discount code while constantly remind people, “Don’t eat these like candy, don’t use them to feed your Sugar Dragon, include these in your Whole30 carefully.” 

 

We will no longer promote dried-fruit-and-nut bars under our #Whole30 Approved banner.

CLICK TO TWEET

 

The announcement of RxBar’s new Chocolate Sea Salt flavor, plus the other dried-fruit-and-nut bar companies who have recently approached us with partnership requests, brought this issue to a head. With so many new members of our community, and so many struggling to overcome cravings, food addictions, and reestablish a healthy relationship with food, we felt now was the time to revise the message we were sending through our promotional efforts, and provide clearer guidance for the Whole30 community.

 

Going forward, we will no longer promote any dried-fruit-and-nut bars under our official Whole30 Approved program. The only bars to which we will lend our name and our logo are those with meat as a base (like Primal Pacs,Chomps, and Epic Bars), as those will never be mistaken for candy.

 

Emergency Food, Please

This change to our marketing strategy comes as a desire to provide the best guidance we can during y9our Whole30, and help you make the healthiest choices for your long-term goals. RxBars, Larabars, and other dried-fruit-and-nut bars are still appropriate emergency food for your Whole30, as long as the ingredients are compliant. But as always, include these in your Whole30 cautiously, as there is serious potential to use these bars in a less healthy manner during your program. As on-the-go or emergency food? Yes. As a replacement for your mid-day sugar boost, daily late-night treat, or to satisfy your Day 3 raging Sugar Dragon? While it’s not an official Whole30 rule, we’d strongly suggest no.

 

Reminder: just because the ingredients are compliant doesn’t mean the product is the best choice for inclusion in your Whole30. For more on this topic, refer to the Treats, Food Fixations, and the Scale section of The Whole30(page 95). You can also view some of our free resources online, like our recommendations for business travel or emergency food situations.

 
As always, however, the ultimate responsibility for your Whole30 choices and results lies with you.

 

We’ve personally spoken with the RxBar, Beaver Bites, Yawp, and Larabar teams and advised them of this difficult decision. They have all responded gracefully and positively, and we are grateful for their continued support and friendship. We have already adjusted our Whole30 Approved page to reflect this change. All of the companies affected will be making changes to their websites and product labeling to reflect this new decision. The labeling change will take time, but we’ll do the best we can to continue to communicate this position clearly with our community. (You can also share this post to help us spread the word.)

 

Compliant ingredients doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for your #Whole30 program.

CLICK TO TWEET

 

We want to thank all of you for your continued readership and support. We hope this decision will better help you make the best choices you can for your Whole30 program, and reaffirm your faith that the Whole30 team places the efficacy of the program and your success ahead of everything else.

 

Best in health,

Melissa Hartwig & Dallas Hartwig
Co-founders, Whole30

 

[Tom Denham]

The composition of your meals look fine. With your activity level, be sure to eat a fist size serving of starchy veggies at least once per day and probably twice per day.

 

Your workout related meals are completely wrong. We recommend protein and fat before a workout and protein and starchy veggies after a workout (no fat). You are skipping protein altogether. Not getting enough protein can keep your energy levels down, especially failing to feed hungry muscles after a workout. That leads to slower recovery. 

 

Review the recommendations here:

http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf

[hurdnat27]

Ok thanks! Hopefully by changing pre and post workout food I'll see better results. One more question, do you think it's possible I would need to extend my Whole 30? I admit that my vanity about not seeing any positive physical changes is making me nervous, and I'm wondering if more time on the program could help my body become more lean and muscular.

[Carlaccini]

I'm also going to make one slight recommendation.

 

You mention you have a banana along with meal one - you might want to leave the banana out.  Bananas or fruit in general just cause a sugar spike which leads to a sugar crash later.  I have experienced it first hand.  I will eat the same amount of meal 1 that I normally do but if I add a fruit at the end I will get a slump later on.

 

My first whole 30 - I didn't really truly experience the whole "Tiger Blood" thing until Day 22 or 23.  I had seen glimpses of it but not entire days of it.  I also don't think I saw any significant body changes until the last week or two (I dragged mine out to 45 days when I discovered I was 10 days behind the timeline)

 

So results vary.  Be patient and be kind to yourself. 

[hurdnat27]

Thank you so much! You're completely right, now that I'm thinking about it, too much of my food consumption has been made up of fruit. I was doing that because I was worried about not getting enough carbs to sustain my activity level, but fruits probably aren't the right type of carbs.

[Carlaccini]

You are better off getting your carbs from vegetables rather than fruit.

 

So think: Carrots, parsnips, beets, squashes, sweet potato, pumpkin, potato, celery root, jicama, etc, etc.