Tips for refining the program

[TriGirlD]

So, I'm on Day 12, and really feel like I'm in my stride. I finally am full just about all the time, can go 5-7 hours before I get hungry, have found the balance of my plate, and have the prep-stuff in control. Also, when I get hungry, it's not the nutso blood-sugar crash hunger I used to get.  

 

Now I feel like I can start focusing on refining my plan and getting better at it. The first week was all about not being hungry! So a few points for feedback: 

- I feel like I can't possibly be losing weight because I'm eating SO much food at each meal, and there's so much fat involved.  Also, I'm often quite full.  Is there a way to start scaling back your meals or know how much is too much?

 

- Potatoes. I feel like I eat a lot of them (at least one serving a day). This helped me stay satiated the first week, but now I wonder if I'm eating too many? I'm working on making sure my meals have some green veggies in them somewhere.. 

 

- Not being hungry. For the first time in my adult life, I've had 2 days where I just was completely not hungry. I finally had to force myself to put some food in my belly.  Tonight, I came home and it was 7:00 and I still hadn't eaten... I just wasn't feeling it.  Is this ok/normal? Any tips for when this happens?

 

Any other tips for this phase? 

 

I'm so enjoying this program! My skin is clearer, my dark circles under my eyes have lightened, and I just bought a smaller size jeans! So, really, all is good. Just want to keep getting better at it. 

 

Thanks!

Danielle

[Brewer5]

You just listed a WHOLE bunch of non-scale victories.

Wait, what is the question?

This all comes down to experimentation. If you feel TOO full, try eating a bit less fat or potatoes & see where it takes you. It really is that simple. We are all very unique.

[chezjulie]

Sounds like you're doing great! Just do the same thing again this week. 

[Tom Denham]

So let's talk about how you are feeling good after 12 days and you want to change what you are doing. There is nothing in your report that suggests you should make changes! If I saw pictures of the plates of food you are eating, I might suggest some adjustments, but eating more food than you are used to eating, more fat than our culture tells you is smart, and potatoes once per day sounds just right to me. Seriously, don't screw this up by trying to turn the Whole30 into a restriction diet. People lose weight eating like this. You can lose weight eating like this. 

[ladyshanny]

If you can't possibly be losing weight, how did you manage to buy a pair of jeans in a smaller size?    

 

Seriously though, this is your brain and conventional wisdom trying to plant seeds of doubt because you're happy, satiated and satisfied so clearly you're doing something very wrong. Because we all know that the only way to lose weight is to eat tiny amounts of bland food, "power through" incessant all-day-hunger and punish ourselves in the gym.  And since you're doing none of that and having great results, obviously you're doing something wrong.

 

Ride the wave of positivity that you are on.  Make small adjustments as you feel you need them (ie, if you aren't hungry for 7 hours at a time, scale back slightly until you are hungry every 4-5 hours).  But overall just trust your body and tune in more to yourself and tune out the rest of the world.

[TriGirlD]

You guys are all so right! I've been on diets since I was 12 years old,and I'm SO used to people telling me when to stop eating! "you only have 26 points" "you only have 1200 calories." It is feeling really strange to me to just eat what feels right (within a certain set of foods) and stop when I think I should stop. It just feels like this can't possibly work - it can't possibly be this easy!

 

Thank you for the reminder that maybe I should just keep focusing on eating good food and less about what I could possibly be doing wrong