When to eat starchy vegetables

[kimmills04]

Hi there,

 

I am wondering when is a good time of day to eat starchy vegetables such as sweet potato. I see from the plan that it just says limit starch but then I see a lot of recipes including sweet potato. I never know how much is too much or too little. I am a crossfitter and work out 5x a week. I have now done two whole 30's... in my first round I only ate sweet potatoes in the mornings and saw great weight loss results (which I admit was a big goal of mine first time around) and in the second round I was eating more potatoes / sweet potato and didn't have as great of results as I did the first round. I know I should focus on non scale victories first but losing weight was my number 1 goal going into the program. If anyone could shed some light on how much is too much, when to eat starch etc I would appreciate any advice.

 

Also on a similar note I also struggle with other vegetables. I eat a lot of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushroom etc is there a rule/guideline that says you shouldn't over do it with these vegies?

 

Sorry for all the questions just feeling a bit lost

 

Thanks

Kim

[ShannonM816]

Hi, Kim! It's definitely okay to ask questions here!

 

Timing of starchy vegetables is really largely up to you. Some people report that if they have them in the morning, they end up hungrier by lunch time than usual. I personally haven't noticed that, but some people do. Other people like to have them in their last meal of the day because it seems to help them sleep better. I will also say that I'm a mostly inactive person with a lot of weight to lose, and I eat at least a serving of starchy vegetables every day, and continue to lose weight. Could I lose faster if I at less of them? Maybe. But I feel better when I have them (I've struggled with minor depression issues off and on for a while, and going too low carb seems to make that a little worse). You are active, you can and should eat starchy vegetables and plenty of other foods to help you maintain that activity level.

 

You might want to read this article about post-workout meals and see if it gives you any more useful information about timing as it relates to your workouts.

 

One thing I would caution you against is comparing weight loss on one Whole30 with weight loss on another Whole30. Your body is never in exactly the same place during each Whole30. You may exercise more or less, sleep more or less, have lost or gained weight, be at a different point in your cycle (I'm assuming you're female, apologies if I'm wrong here), have different amounts of stress, or any number of other things. You can't just repeat exactly what you did one time to the next and get exactly the same results. It may be that now that you've been crossfitting for a while, you may have more muscle mass and less fat and therefore less weight to lose. When you have less to lose, you typically lose at a slower rate. Instead of focusing on weight, think of how you feel -- is mood even? Is your energy good? Are your workouts improving? Do you sleep better, have better skin/hair/nails/digestion? Recover faster from injuries? All of those things are more important markers of health than a number on a scale is.

 

For other vegetables, the only thing to consider with the cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower is that some people find when they eat a lot of them they might have some digestive issues -- bloating and gas, especially. If you're not noticing those symptoms, keep eating as many as you want. If you do notice those symptoms, cut back on your servings. I would encourage you to try new vegetables and not get stuck in a rut with the same ones over an over. Set yourself a goal -- maybe a new vegetable every couple of weeks that you've either never tried before, or haven't had in years and are willing to try again. Or just look around the produce department and pick up something that looks interesting. You can always google it when you get home and figure out a way to cook it.