am i having too much...?

[asdwek]

hey!

 

abie here on day 20! 10 days left woohoo!

 

the nature of my business fluctuates, im either running around the city or at my desk for hours on end. until dinner which is usually around 8/9, my daily meals generally act as snacks as im a very slow eater and take food in throughout the day. i want to know how to balance my fruit and nut intake since im using those as intermediaries until the main meal happens. 

 

breakfast is usually from 8-12 consisting of a banana, 3 hard boiled eggs with salt, and black coffee. 

 

lunch is almost always a chopped salad vegi loaded with avocado and some form of protein i.e. tuna or salmon, and olive oil/balsamic vinegar.

 

dinner is usually chicken, more salad, other proteins, etc. 

 

snacks - ill have a generous amount of cashews, almonds, and pistachios throughout the day (prob about a VERY large hand full of each). fruit to snack on is usually an apple or 2 a day, maybe another banana, a few dates on the reg at night, some mango, melon...

 

am i overdoing it? 

 

thanks in advance, abie

 

[ladyshanny]

Short answer on how to balance fruit and nut snacks: eliminate fruit and nut snacks.  

 

Nuts are recommended as an occassional fat source.  Meaning one closed handful every other day or so.  

Fruits are recommended to have 1-2 fist sized servings, with meals and should not be eaten alone as snacks or to fulfill sugar cravings.

 

So..........I know you're busy and have a hectic day, but I also know that balancing that with self-care in the form of eating regular meals at proper intervals can be done, because there are lots of people who report doing so with similar or crazier schedules.  It's all in how much you want to take it on.

 

For example, if you are not sure from day to day if you will be at your desk or running across town, you would ideally eat a proper breakfast in the morning (to the meal template, linked below).  4-5 hours later you would access the lunch you packed for yourself in a cooler bag.  This could be leftovers from the night before, chicken salad that you made with cut veggies to dip.  It could be cold chicken thighs, some guac and some sweet potato "fries" that you made.  It could be anything and it should fit the template.

 

As far as your "few dates on the reg at night" along with the mango and melon mentioned, I surmise you are using these high-sugar fruits to satisfy sugar cravings which is the last thing you should be doing.

 

Make a couple of these changes and read up on the template and see if you don't start feeling better.

[asdwek]

thanks for the feedback - would it be wiser to eat less of the fruit in general and the dates earlier in the day? im sure answers vary depending on each person but for someone whos 5'8'', 173 (20 days ago), athletic build, i would assume the calories burn faster and more often during the 9-6 hours. im also assuming you would recommend eating lunch over the course of the day, and starting earlier, instead of snacking on the nuts the way i am...

 

i feel fine, cravings are very minimal...i tend to stay away from potatoes in general and dont really incorporate them into my avg diet - given all details, i feel like ive hit a plateau of weight loss. i havent checked the scale since i started but ive noticed a difference in how the way my torso looks and havent really seen a difference in about a week. do you expect more fat to burn when i cut the nuts out? 

 

for me, mainly, the diet has been about resetting my system to help cure a gastro issue ive been having and for the most part i think its working!

[ladyshanny]

Hey there,

 

The recommendation is just how I posted it.  Up to 1-2 servings of fruit, with meals.  We don't specify timing in particular, that's just something you have to work out. Maybe the fruit late in the day disrupts your sleep or maybe fruit with breakfast makes you hungrier/cravings sooner?  Experiment with that one.

 

We would definitely recommend eating lunch throughout the course of your day, preferrably 4-5 hours after you ate breakfast.  And no one is going to recommend nuts the way you are eating them. Consider them more of a condiment on a salad or over a curry etc.

 

Finally, we would not counsel you specifically on how to hack/modify the Whole30 to lose weight.  But yes, nuts are extremely calorically dense so cutting them out/down would probably help with both weight and bloat which can feel/look like excess weight.

[asdwek]

much appreciated - thanks!

[SpunkyBug]

Add some veggies at meal 1. Once you get used to it, you will wonder why everyone doesn't eat veggies with breakfast!

 

And try some cooked veggies -- it looks like you are eating lots of salads. That much raw veggies can be tough on digestion.

[ArtFossil]

 

snacks - ill have a generous amount of cashews, almonds, and pistachios throughout the day (prob about a VERY large hand full of each). fruit to snack on is usually an apple or 2 a day, maybe another banana, a few dates on the reg at night, some mango, melon...

 

am i overdoing it? 

 

thanks in advance, abie

If I snacked, which I don't and I ate that many nuts and that much fruit, I would feel like crap! (And put on weight.)

Take advantage of your Whole30 to eat three meals and no snacks. Follow the template to get ALL the Whole30 benefits and teach your body to be satisfied for at least 4-5 hours after a meal. When your work schedule requires more than 5 or 6 hours until a meal, eat a mini-template meal--protein, fat (a higher quality fat than nuts) and veggies.