Started Aug 17th

[philobri]

Hi all!

 

Just began my first Whole30 challenge yesterday after a friend convinced me to do it with her. I'm a 6'6" guy that weighs 110kg and my intention was to do this so that I could lose the excess visceral fat.

 

The most noticeable change so far is an almost insatiable hunger for which I have joined the community in order to find some tips on keeping satiated because snacking on nuts is how I am currently coping. Abstaining from dairy and sweets I don't think I will have any issue with. However, I think it will be a struggle to cut out carbohydrates and alcohol when I go to social gatherings and I'm also concerned that because I go to the gym daily, that I will lose a considerable amount of weight over the course of next month.

 

I'm pretty good in the kitchen, so I'm excited to try out new recipes! 

 

Phillipe

[jmcbn]

Hi Philipe & welcome to Whole30

 

We really don't want you to be hungry, and the fact that you're having to snack on nuts tells me you're probably not eating enough.

If you'd like to run yesterday's food/liquid intake, indicating portion sizes, by us we can take a look and see where you might be going wrong....

[philobri]

Thanks!

 

I would like to see where I can improve though I think that I'm hungry because of I'm not fulfilling my recommended daily 2,800kcal (I reached 2550kcal). 

 

I had scrambled egg w/ lox and spinach in the morning and a cup of green tea, a helping of chili that I made the day before and 2 more portions of chili in the evening plus chicken with mashed avocado and red onion. During the day snacked on ~ 30 almonds and 1/2 cup seed mix I keep by my desk and had about about 4 liters of water.

 

Scrambled egg w/ lox and spinach (492cal)

• 3x large eggs, scrambled (240cal)
• 1x tsp ghee (112cal)
• 2 ounces of smoked salmon (70cal)
• 10 ounces sautéed spinach (70cal)
• salt and pepper to season

 

 

Paleo Chilli (serves 6 = 2345cal; I ate 3 portions 1170cal)

• 1 lb of grass fed beef (1000cal)
• 1/2 lb of grass fed bison (530cal)
• 2x small onions, diced (60cal)
• 1x red bell pepper, diced (25cal)
• 1x green bell pepper, diced (25cal)
• 1x yellow bell pepper, diced (25cal)
• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed (20cal)
• 2x cans of chopped tomatoes (80cal)
• 1x can of tomato puree (30cal)
• 3x tbsp chilli powder
• 2x tbsp cumin
• 2x tbsp oregano
• 4x small potatoes (550cal)

 

Chicken & Avocado Snack (420cal)

• 4 ounces of Cooked, shredded/diced chicken (100cal)
• 1 x avocado (300cal)
• juice from one lime (20cal)
• season with salt, pepper and pinch of paprika

 30 almonds (170cal)

1/2 cup seed mix (300cal)

[jmcbn]

That amount of chilli serves 6? Seriously? Not in my house it doesn't!!    

Ok, first off you need to stop counting your calorific intake, and stop weighing your food. Your portions should be measured in relation to the size of your palm - the length, width & depth of it. For protein aim to eat 1-2 palm sized pieces, veg aime for 1-3 cups (with 3 being optimal), an for fat aim for 1-2 thumb sized pieces, or a liberal pouring of your oil of choice, a huge dollop of may etc etc - it's hard to go overboard on fats.

These recommendations are the minimum requirements, so it's okay to eat more. I am a 5'2" female, weighing (approx) 125lbs and I eat to the high end of the template (and a bit more when I'm super active) otherwise I would need to snack. You could easily do the same.

 

Eggs when they are your only source of protein should be the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand - I can hold 4 when I'm really hungry, I'm guessing you could probably easily hold 4-5.

Smoked salmon tends to be very thin so add that to your eggs & you maybe have the equivalent of 4 eggs there - not quite enough. You could definitely do with more fat in that meal, and I never weigh spinach but I know I use about 3 huge handfuls to saute so I'm guessing you didn't use enough. I also add other veg to my spinach (onions, mushrooms, sometimes radishes etc) just yo bulk it up a bit - even a HUGE serving of spinach amounts to very little once it's digested.

The chilli sounds good (3 portions of that doesn't sound like a huge meal to me), but I'd probably have added more veg on the side & some mayo, avocado or olives.

 

Your snack is well composed, and I'm assuming you didn't have a third meal because you felt you'd eaten loads of the chilli, but if you'd added some veg to this it would have been a great meal three, and if your breakfast had have been adequate there probably wouldn't have been any need for the nuts/seeds.

 

Limit your intake of nuts & seeds - they are a fat source on Whole30 and not the best option due to their poor omega 3:6 ratio - other than that embrace the fat.

Hope this helps.

[philobri]

I forgot that I had to stop counting calories (force of habit I guess  ).

 

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. It seems like from what you are saying that the meals I had were good but need to bulk them up more.

 

Thanks again!

 

Phil

[jmcbn]

 It seems like from what you are saying that the meals I had were good but need to bulk them up more.

Yep. You got it 

[Tom Denham]

As a bit of reference, I am 6'2" and weigh 84 kg. I sometimes eat a pound of meat in one meal. I weight train, but not like a power lifter or bodybuilder. I eat more than most people that I know, not because I am more active than other people, but because I have a very fast metabolism. 

 

The thing is that eating too little does two terrible things. It makes you hungry and it makes your metabolism slow down. Being hungry is uncomfortable and annoying. A slow metabolism is a disaster. In contrast, when you eat generously like we want you to eat during a Whole30, your metabolism up-regulates, speeds up. A faster metabolism burns fat more aggressively than a slow metabolism. So you can actually melt fat from your body while not being hungry.