Help I'm struggling!!

[alicatt03]

 Hi there all, I am on day 16 of my whole 30. Halfway there. I feel like at this point I should be feeling more energy and less like I just want to be lazy and left alone. I don't feel like I've lost much weight (I know that is not what this is about),  or that I look any different. I have looked at the whole 30 timeline, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what my next stage might be, let alone getting to that point. I am happy that I'm sticking with this,  but I really and truly need some guidance and support!   Thanks for everything in advance! 

[ShannonM816]

Could you post a couple of days' worth of meals, including approximate portion sizes? Also let us know if you're working out, and if you are what your pre and post workout meals look like.

Are you drinking at least a half ounce of water per pound of body weight? So if you weighed 120 lbs, at least 60 ounces. Are you salting your food? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you particularly stressed right now?

Let us know a little bit more and we can see if anything stands out that you might try changing. 

[alicatt03]

Sure!  Here are my past two days:

Breakfast day one: compliant bacon (2 slices), fried eggs, coffee and water

Breakfast day two: scrambled eggs, compliant sausage, banana, coffee and water 

Lunch day one: roast beef lettuce wrap (compliant roast beef slice, tomato slices, mustard in romaine leaf) x3 with a La Croix cran-raspberry and a banana

Lunch day two: turkey lettuce wrap (compliant sliced turkey, guac, salsa in romaine leaf) x2 with a la Croix cherry lime and a peach

snack (just on day two): almonds lightly salted and two hard boiled eggs

Dinner day one: sweet potato with salt and pepper and two pieces of pork tenderloin with mustard

Dinner day two: butternut squash cubes and 8oz ribeye a few strawberries and water

I am using salt more than normal for seasoning and I haven't got back into working out. As an overweight woman who has dealt with diet issues and weight problems for a large portion of my life I am pushing for one step at a time, and the diet was a huge step. I need to get working out again. Just don't want to dive in all at once and lose confidence in my ability to complete the 30 days. 

Thanks for reaching out and hopefully this is helpful in analyzing if I am doing something wrong.

[alicatt03]

I am an advisor at a community college so I am usually under a lot of stress. Hence the weight gain due to stress eating (boo). I do drink a lot of water. 

[ShannonM816]

One thing I notice is a lack of added fat in your meals. Be sure you add at least one thumb-sized portion of fat (or a heaping handful of olives, or half to a whole avocado, etc. as explained in the meal template). That's in addition to any fat you cook in, as much of it will stay in the pan and not be consumed.

Be sure you are filling your plate with vegetables at each meal -- one cup at a minimum, aim for two or three cups at most meals.

In your lettuce wrap meals, you might be low on protein -- remember that you want 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein, the length, width, and height of your hand. With the thinner deli slices, you're going to have to stack multiple slices to get that much.

Salting your food to the point that it tastes good is good. When you cut out processed foods, you're getting a lot less salt than you're used to, and we do need some salt.

You don't have to exercise right now, it makes sense if you're not used to it not to add too much at once, but you could do easy things, like a walk on your lunch break or some gentle yoga, just to start moving your body more, if you wanted to. 

Finally, don't discount the effects of stress on your weight loss efforts. If you're really stressed, you're probably going to lose weight more slowly. It's still worth getting your eating and other parts of your life to a good place, especially if you can't change the stress at work.