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Having a bad case of the "Feeling Fat"s.


Pea

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Ok, I'm not new to whole30 or Paleo in general, but I'm in a new place in my life and I've never experienced this before. I think this is my third whole30 in the past few years. I've been through a lot in the past decade. Now 60, I have an autoimmune condition (ankylosing spondylitis--a kind of arthritis of the spine) and I've had a total thyroidectomy because of thyroid cancer back last November. Because of 10 years of stress (with which I think I've coped heroically, actually) I carry excess weight in my belly, which is my biggest concern. I'm clearly carb-intolerant. I weighed 192 at the start of this whole30. 

 

It's Day 9 for me. 

 

I am really being bugged by a case of "Feeling Fat"s. This is where your thoughts go like this: OMG, look at this belly, I think it's BIGGER since starting this whole30. Maybe I'm eating too much fat. Maybe I'm eating too much meat. Maybe this meal template is too much food for a fat 60 year old woman. Maybe I should try eating much more vegetables and less meat and fat. I really should get on the scale and check and see. If I'm right and I'm gaining weight this time, I have to jump ship and do something else."

 

So far, I've manged to sit and watch these thoughts go by without acting on them. I tell myself all the things ya'll are probably going to tell me---that this program is more than a number on the scale, that with cancer in my recent history the best thing I can do for myself nutritionally is avoid sugar and eat the rainbow of vegetables, that there isn't anything better for carb-intolerance than avoiding sugar and unrefined grains and alcohol. I know all these things.

 

When your mom put you on your first low-calorie, low fat diet at the age of 9, and you weren't even overweight, just pre-pubescent chubby, you are set, in this culture, for a lifetime of dysregulation of appetite and a mild eating disorder. 

 

I LOVE how almost immediately on the whole30, I get a shift from the crazy drivens of eating all night to something I recognize as physiologic hunger. I KNOW this is good for me, and I am committed to finishing this whole30, and having the meal template be my default meal in the post-whole30 time. But I am really struggling with this case of the "I Feel Fat"s!!!!! Fat is not a feeling! Anxiety, sadness, anger, frustration.....THESE are feelings, not FAT. 

 

Grateful for any insight into dealing with the I FEEL FATs. 

 

Pea

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Hi Pea! I am going through the same thing with "I feel FATs!" I'm on day 15 of my first W30. I can honestly say I have been 99.9% compliant (nobody is 100%), but I know I'm gaining weight. I also feel like I have fat seeping out of my pours. Don't get me wrong, I love fat. I was the girl to eat the fat on my steak, bone marrow, pork rinds, and poultry skin. But I'm 235 pounds!!! I can't afford to gain more weight. I ache all over.

I'm not wavering. I will complete 30 days. I will probably have to go 60 days, because I know my body has been abused for years. I know I'm healing. But, dang, it's frustrating!

I'm reading the Whole30 daily right now and it says day 15 your clothes should be fitting looser. Ha! But, it also says some folks need more time. That would be me!!!

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Stay the course ladies! I understand so much what you are feeling. Remember the fat on your body is not your identity. It is a condition that you are fighting for your health but it has nothing to do with WHO you are. Focus on internals. Focus on enjoying healthy nourishing food. Focus on having a full enjoyable life. Take a walk in the sun. Dance to your favorite song. Celebrate being alive!

 

I teach group fitness so I totally get the feeling fat...I'll let you in on a secret...every single one of us (down to the most fit people I know) feel this way. Society has trained us to hate our bodies. Don't believe the lie. You are alive! Celebrate the body you are in and what it can do and keep challenging yourself. Little by little, bit by bit, that is how to regain your health.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am on Day 15 of my first whole 30  :D  :D .  During a couple of days I have felt "fat" but today I feel great.  I have been tempted to get on the scale but so far have resisted.  This is the first time in my life that I have been totally compliant with any "healthy" eating plan.  I have always been a fairly healthy eater, however, I did have the "snack" habit and generally when I snacked it was mindless and binging(chips and salsa,etc.)  The past two weeks I really haven't had the urge to snack.  My meals have been keeping me satisfied so I am thankful for that.  I am almost 67 years old and fairly active but the past few years "belly fat" has been showing up.  Today I feel like I am winning the battle!!!!

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Great to hear, Bzh!

I am now on day 28! I didn't start feeling like my weight was dropping at all until well into the third week. Now I know my body is changing and my clothes are looser in different spots. My waist and thighs, especially.

Keep on!

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