Why no weightloss?

[MrsZimm13]

Dear Moderators- I've just completed my second whole 30 which came 3 days after my first whole 30, so 60 days in close proximity.  

I've  not lost any weight- not one pound in these 60 days. The "it starts with Food" book states that weight loss is built into the program.  It is referenced that people average losing 6-15 pounds during a whole 30.  So, I have to ask, why have I not lost any weight?  Could it be because I'm not eating enough carb dense veggies?  That would seem kind of crazy, but I just don't know.  I log my food daily and I'm exercising. 

Thank you in advance  for any help you can offer. 

Here is my food log for the past 7 days:

Day 23
9/6
Coffee
Walked dogs
B 1 egg, 1/4 c salmon, coconut oil, roasted veggies- very filling 
Yoga
L tomato, pepper olive salad, 2 fish cakes with tartar sauce
Walked to Barb's. I did not walk enough today. I have 7000 steps
D eggplant, meatloaf and Romenesco sauce
I've been reading about Omega 3s and I'm trying to have a serving of fish each day. Canned salmon, even wild caught, is very reasonably priced at Aldi.  

Day 24
9/7
Coffee
B- 2 eggs, cubed ham, spinach, onions, peppers, coconut oil
L- spinach salad, tuna, avocado oil & balsamic 
Packing to go to Omaha. 3 day trip. 
Pool
D- pork chop, collards, tomatoes. 
Need my evening walk.

When I was  packing for my trip, I tried on some jeans that I could not even squeeze into a month ago and I can wear them!  That got me trying on other items and I got into a skirt that I have not worn in 4 years.  My hubs says it looks good.  I'm pleased.  What a great NSV. 
 

Day 25
9/8
Coffee
Walked dogs
B- bacon, 2 eggs, spinach and onions cooked in coconut oil.....well, McLovin, the cat ate my breakfast.  I had set it aside (before I ate any) to answer an email and low and behold, he ate!  But this was bad, because I was rushing about trying to tie up loose ends and get to the airport.  I ended up having a small amour of eggplant and meatloaf with Romanesco sauce and a bowl of golden cauliflower soup.  
Out the door with a banana and water
No lunch per se
D- guacamole with fresh veggies to dip, seared tuna tacos (no shell), plank salmon and Brussels sprouts.  That sounds like a lot if food, but it wasn't. And after eating the salmon and guacamole with veggies, I was still hungry.  
I have close to 11,000 steps today. 

Day 26 
9/9-Omaha
Slept terrible last night.  I was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night.
B-3 eggs, small banana. The eggs made me sad.  The yoke was so pale it was almost white.  I didn't feel good about eating these inferior eggs.
Snack Cashews and an apple, buffalo jerky
L- spinach salad, shrimp, smoked chicken, avocado, olive oil, balsamic- very good salad.  
Snack- Kit's organic bar...OMG it was so delicious! Fruit and nut bar-cashew
D-taking customers out to dinner.  Going to a steak joint and I've already called to let them know I have dairy allergies. 
1 lamb lollipop, seared tuna, salad, 2 asparagus, 2 mushrooms, 2 pieces of eggplant, spinach 

I feel like I ate a lot today, but breakfast was not whole so I fortified with snacks.  This will not derail me– forging forward. 

Day 27
9/10 in Omaha at tradeshow.
Coffee
B 4 hard boiled eggs, small banana
S tea, apple, Lara bar-yummy but very sweet. 
L hamburger with buffalo sauce, tomato, pickle, lettuce
D Chicken Fajita, guacamole 

Planning trip to CA and OR with Kas for next weekend. Pretty stoked about hiking, going to the hot springs, yoga, visiting Crater Lake National Park. We are camping one night in a teepee the other nights in a tent. The extended forecast is looking like perfect weather. 
Now...what to pack for compliant meals. 

Day 28
Wide awake at 5 am.  The only reasonable thing to do is go to the sunroom and research ideas for my trip to CA and OR.
Clean and laundry. 
Coffee
Walked with Norm
B-3 bacon, 1/2 avocado, 2.5 eggs, roasted veggies, spinach, onion, avocado oil. I needed this good breakfast!  Tasted so good and I'm nicely full.
1/2 c frozen blueberries- refreshing 
Packed for the pleasure portion of my oncoming trip.
L-2 fish cakes, collards, butternut squash with tomato sauce.
D-pulled pork, chicken, tomato/pepper/beet salad. I didn't have enough veggies. We were eating at my cousins house they had corn, and a kale salad which had mayo in it.  So, I just had a large serving of the tomato salad that I brought. 
1/2 of an apple when cake was served. 

Day 29
Coffee, coconut cream
B 2 eggs, ham steak, roasted veggies, avocado oil
L pork butt, cauliflower cooked with egg in avocado oil
Walk
S blueberries, small apple
Short stroll while waiting to be sat for dinner.
D lobster, drawn butter, roasted fingerling potatoes, salad with olive oil and vinegar.  2 figs

Day 30- our anniversary. 8 wonderful years.
The big day is here!  I am glad I stuck to it for another 30 days...I see more 30 day snipits in my future.  

Coffee
Drop Lucy at Vet
Yoga
B 2 eggs, 1 sausage patty, coconut oil
L spinach salad and a cup of beef veggie soup. This meal was too light on protein.
Volunteered at the animal rescue, food shopped
S cashews
We cooked together- sausage/tomato soup, cauliflower/parsnip mash, roasted veggies, sausage patties, cooked venison sausage for Thursday night dinner. 
D 2 sausage patties, roasted veggies, coconut oil 

[ShannonM816]

So, I found the part of ISWF that you're referencing. They are referring to a survey where most people reported losing 6-15 pounds. That's definitely not a guarantee. It means in that survey of 1600 people (who are following the W30 social media accounts, which means probably not people who tried this and were really unhappy with their results), something more than 800 of them lost 6-15 pounds. Some of the others may have lost less, may not have lost any, may have even gained weight. Don't compare your Whole30 to other people's Whole30s -- they aren't you.

What Dallas and Melissa say is, "Our nutrition plan will improve your overall health, and that is almost always reflected in an improvement in body composition. Which means that if you focus on eating better, sleeping better, and making yourself healthier...your shape will have no choice but to shift." Your shape did shift. You're fitting into clothes you didn't fit into before. Things are clearly changing. You just need to quit worrying about the number on the scale. The whole, "muscle weighs more than fat" thing is bs -- a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh exactly the same -- but muscle is smoother and denser, and a pound of it takes up less space than a pound of fat. So you can lose inches because your muscles are getting stronger and you're losing fat, and not actually lose any weight -- but you will be healthier with more muscle and less fat, even if you still weigh exactly the same.

Sit down and list out any positives you've noticed during your Whole30. Some ideas that some people mention having: more energy, better sleep, better skin, better hair, clearer thinking, stronger libido, learned you love to cook, enjoyed the food, like not counting calories, fit into smaller clothes, better mood -- here's an article with a whole bunch of other possibilities. Here's a success story about someone who permanently ditched their scale.  And another article about why you shouldn't depend on the scale.

Looking at your meals, what I notice is inconsistency. Some look a little small, some are lacking vegetables. Sometimes you're snacking on fruit alone or Larabars -- if you aren't going 4-5 hours between meals, your meals aren't big enough, and you should work on making them bigger. If you have longer gaps than that, or if you're just truly hungry between meals (some days you may be hungrier than others, or you may miscalculate how much of something like soup or casserole it takes to get enough food), have a mini-meal of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three.  Really, though, you're doing well. You're seeing improvements, even if they're not on the scale.

Relax. Breathe. Do your reintroductions, carefully and systematically, and then decide what your plan looks like going forward. If you continue to stick close to Whole30 eating most of the time, you should continue to see further improvements. Maybe on the scale, maybe not. But you'll be getting healthier, and isn't that really more important than some number on a scale?

[MrsZimm13]

7 hours ago, ShannonM816 said:

So, I found the part of ISWF that you're referencing. They are referring to a survey where most people reported losing 6-15 pounds. That's definitely not a guarantee. It means in that survey of 1600 people (who are following the W30 social media accounts, which means probably not people who tried this and were really unhappy with their results), something more than 800 of them lost 6-15 pounds. Some of the others may have lost less, may not have lost any, may have even gained weight. Don't compare your Whole30 to other people's Whole30s -- they aren't you.

What Dallas and Melissa say is, "Our nutrition plan will improve your overall health, and that is almost always reflected in an improvement in body composition. Which means that if you focus on eating better, sleeping better, and making yourself healthier...your shape will have no choice but to shift." Your shape did shift. You're fitting into clothes you didn't fit into before. Things are clearly changing. You just need to quit worrying about the number on the scale. The whole, "muscle weighs more than fat" thing is bs -- a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh exactly the same -- but muscle is smoother and denser, and a pound of it takes up less space than a pound of fat. So you can lose inches because your muscles are getting stronger and you're losing fat, and not actually lose any weight -- but you will be healthier with more muscle and less fat, even if you still weigh exactly the same.

Sit down and list out any positives you've noticed during your Whole30. Some ideas that some people mention having: more energy, better sleep, better skin, better hair, clearer thinking, stronger libido, learned you love to cook, enjoyed the food, like not counting calories, fit into smaller clothes, better mood -- here's an article with a whole bunch of other possibilities. Here's a success story about someone who permanently ditched their scale.  And another article about why you shouldn't depend on the scale.

Looking at your meals, what I notice is inconsistency. Some look a little small, some are lacking vegetables. Sometimes you're snacking on fruit alone or Larabars -- if you aren't going 4-5 hours between meals, your meals aren't big enough, and you should work on making them bigger. If you have longer gaps than that, or if you're just truly hungry between meals (some days you may be hungrier than others, or you may miscalculate how much of something like soup or casserole it takes to get enough food), have a mini-meal of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three.  Really, though, you're doing well. You're seeing improvements, even if they're not on the scale.

Relax. Breathe. Do your reintroductions, carefully and systematically, and then decide what your plan looks like going forward. If you continue to stick close to Whole30 eating most of the time, you should continue to see further improvements. Maybe on the scale, maybe not. But you'll be getting healthier, and isn't that really more important than some number on a scale?

Hi Shannon-

Thank you for your reply.  

Yes, I've had NSVs, but I want scale victories too.  You noted that I ate a few Lara bars- if you read the commentary along with the food log, I was at a tradeshow where I was surrounded by literally every known junk food produced.  I made the best food choices I could and when breakfast was eggs (only) it was not out of choice, but out of necessity of the situation.  Aside from those few days- because I can't imagine those few days caused me not to lose weight, what is going on? 

Is the lack of weight loss because I'm not eating enough carbs? Is that even possible? 

As for reintros, I only need to test soy at this time. That's the one eliminated food that I don't know how I tolerate.  I'll test it and move forward. 

I really would like someone to explain why I'm not losing pounds.  I have 63 days of data on my food log.  I've faithfully logged each meal every day. 

Thank you 

[jmcbn]

Hi @MrsZimm13

Shannon has made some great points above,so just to add to that I'd say the following:

I've just taken a really quick look at the latter half of your log and one thing that jumps out at me is your raised cortisol levels (along with other medical issues), and the fact that you start pretty much every day with coffee. Have you ever considered cutting the coffee out for a while? When we waken our cortisol levels are naturally raised. Coffee raises them further. If yours are higher than they should be to start off with then you're doing yourself no favours with the early morning coffee. High cortisol levels cause the body to retain weight (it's all to do with the fight or flight survival mode), especially around the middle.

If you *must* drink coffee it's better around 11am & 3pm when your cortisol levels should have naturally dropped - this applies of course to someone with normal levels though....

I'd try knocking the coffee on the head. I think you might be surprised at the results.

[Crastney]

from what I've read it seems like you're obsessed with your weight.  even though you've had NSVs, and you appreciate them for what they are, you're still asking, why am I not losing weight?  is it carbs? - who knows?  who cares? ask yourself - do you feel healthier?  yes or no?  it seems like sometime someone told you you were overweight, and you've fixated on that value on the scales, you have to lose weight, you have to lose weight, you have to lose weight.  Well here's a fact - you don't have to do anything!  eat healthy (which you are doing), and feel healthy, and ignore the scales.  they only tell one part of the whole story.  be happy that you're changing shape, losing excess fat, and fitting clothes better, and generally feeling better in yourself.  throw the scales in the bin - you don't need them for anything else anyway (unless you're going on a plane and need to weigh luggage)

[MrsZimm13]

41 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

Hi @MrsZimm13

Shannon has made some great points above,so just to add to that I'd say the following:

I've just taken a really quick look at the latter half of your log and one thing that jumps out at me is your raised cortisol levels (along with other medical issues), and the fact that you start pretty much every day with coffee. Have you ever considered cutting the coffee out for a while? When we waken our cortisol levels are naturally raised. Coffee raises them further. If yours are higher than they should be to start off with then you're doing yourself no favours with the early morning coffee. High cortisol levels cause the body to retain weight (irt's all to do with the fight or flight survival mode), especially around the middle.

If you *must* drink coffee it's better around 11am & 3pm when your cortisol levels should have naturally dropped - this applies of course to someone with normal levels though....

I'd try knocking the coffee on the head. I think you might be surprised at the results.

Hi- yes, my first Whole30 I stopped drinking coffee at day 2 or 3. At the end of Whole 30 #1 is when I had my blood draw for the next DR appointment.  It was from that blood draw (no coffee for 27 day) that my cortisol was high.  I really think my levels were high that morning because I had an hour drive to the appt and hit bad traffic and it turned into 1.5 hours in the car and me being 30 min late.  Stress.

I stopped drinking coffee because the DR told me on the prior appt that my cortisol levels were high.... Thus I eliminated coffee. I was blown away when the blood tests results showed an increase in cortisol.  It didn't make sense since I had gone without coffee....and, I'm not in love with coffee.  I would never drink it again if eliminating it helped me lose weight, but in the experiment I did, it didn't make a difference in weightloss or cortisol levels.  

I have also looked on line for research to back up eating within an hour of waking,  I've read that advice on the W30 forum, but have yet to find anything (outside of this forum) which supports that practice as a way to stop cortisol levels from rising.  

Any chance you know of a reference I can read on that theory? 

It's  frustrating to be compliant (to my knowledge, I've not been in violation of the rules) travel and make the best choices possible all the while being mindful of the rules, sourcing appropriate foods and not really receive a meaningful benefit (weightloss) after all the effort. I've even been mindful to exercise each day- I walk and strive for 10,000 steps per day, and practice yoga a few times a week 

I'm truly searching for answers and any other suggestions, I will try.  I have 30 pounds to lose; it's not as if I'm close to goal weight.  My intention was to continue on Whole 30 until my next DR appt in December, because what I care about even more than weightloss is getting out of the Insulin Resistance category that I'm in.  I am very close, and I think Whole30 is getting me to where I need to be in that regard.  

I will eliminate coffee again, for the next Whole30 go round, and see what happens. Thank you for your advice.

[ArtFossil]

Perhaps you do not need to lose weight. 

And, if you have had a long period before Whole30 of hyper-vigilance over what you weigh (and perhaps what you ate) your body may need an equally long period of feeling nourished before feeling secure enough to release excess weight. (Sounds whoo-whoo but true for many.)

Finnally, this is a great time to try an experiment in refusing to allow a number on a scale to have any power over you or to affect your mood in any way. Let go of it and stop weighing and focus on how you feel.

[MrsZimm13]

29 minutes ago, Crastney said:

from what I've read it seems like you're obsessed with your weight.  even though you've had NSVs, and you appreciate them for what they are, you're still asking, why am I not losing weight?  is it carbs? - who knows?  who cares? ask yourself - do you feel healthier?  yes or no?  it seems like sometime someone told you you were overweight, and you've fixated on that value on the scales, you have to lose weight, you have to lose weight, you have to lose weight.  Well here's a fact - you don't have to do anything!  eat healthy (which you are doing), and feel healthy, and ignore the scales.  they only tell one part of the whole story.  be happy that you're changing shape, losing excess fat, and fitting clothes better, and generally feeling better in yourself.  throw the scales in the bin - you don't need them for anything else anyway (unless you're going on a plane and need to weigh luggage)

Hi Jon-

Yes, you picked up on me wanting to lose weight. Not caring about how much I weigh is easier said than done.  Maybe there is no easy answer to why the weight isn't coming off, but I can't help but to want an answer.  If I had "the" answer, I could change something that I'm doing.... 

Here's to another round of Whole 30 and not weighing for 30 days. Cheers!

[ultrarunnergirl]

Hang in there MrsZimm. You have a good attitude and a little more time eating well and keeping up with walking and yoga may do the trick, albeit slower than desired.

On the other hand, it might be worthwhile to seek out a functional medicine practitioner to see if there are underlying medical issues that might be throwing a wrench into the works.  Here's the website for the Institute for Functional Medicine. https://www.functionalmedicine.org/  On the top right, you'll see a link to Find a Practitioner.

 

[jmcbn]

1 hour ago, MrsZimm13 said:

because what I care about even more than weightloss is getting out of the Insulin Resistance category that I'm in.

And that's another good reason to quit coffee - caffeine is thought to decrease insulin sensitivity. It stimulates your adrenal glands to secrete epinephrine, which in turn raises your blood sugar - which requires insulin. Again, think fight or flight mode - adrenals, heart pumping, blood sugar... - you get the picture.

Eating within an hour of wakening is about boosting the metabolism, lowering cortisol, and in turn stabilising blood sugar. Again, drinking coffee during this period is counter productive. I don't have a specific reference for you, but I'm a nutrition student and if I'd time I'm sure I could find some references in my notes. Suffice to say I read about this stuff a lot in the little spare time that I have.

Also worth noting is that it can take 6wks (or often longer) to see/feel the full benefits of removing caffeine from the diet.

You might find >this article< an interesting read....

[MrsZimm13]

52 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

And that's another good reason to quit coffee - caffeine is thought to decrease insulin sensitivity. It stimulates your adrenal glands to secrete epinephrine, which in turn raises your blood sugar - which requires insulin. Again, think fight or flight mode - adrenals, heart pumping, blood sugar... - you get the picture.

Eating within an hour of wakening is about boosting the metabolism, lowering cortisol, and in turn stabilising blood sugar. Again, drinking coffee during this period is counter productive. I don't have a specific reference for you, but I'm a nutrition student and if I'd time I'm sure I could find some references in my notes. Suffice to say I read about this stuff a lot in the little spare time that I have.

Also worth noting is that it can take 6wks (or often longer) to see/feel the full benefits of removing caffeine from the diet.

You might find >this article< an interesting read....

Thank you for this added information.  Coffee is getting the boot starting tomorrow morning. 

I truly appreciate your input. And I will read the article after work.  

[MrsZimm13]

58 minutes ago, ultrarunnergirl said:

Hang in there MrsZimm. You have a good attitude and a little more time eating well and keeping up with walking and yoga may do the trick, albeit slower than desired.

On the other hand, it might be worthwhile to seek out a functional medicine practitioner to see if there are underlying medical issues that might be throwing a wrench into the works.  Here's the website for the Institute for Functional Medicine. https://www.functionalmedicine.org/  On the top right, you'll see a link to Find a Practitioner.

 

Hi- my DR is a functional Dr.  Been seeing her for 2.5 years. I believe in a more natural way to better Heath... Eating right, I take the supplements she recommends and have extensive blood work tests that are pretty amazing, actually.  

Last time I saw her, I showed her my food log of my first 30 days on W30 and asked her if she could see anything that I didn't do right to lose weight.  She told me, in a nice way, that I needed to watch my portions.  Specifically a serving of avocado is 1/8 not a 1/2 or whole avocado... I then explained I'm doing Whole 30, and she had heard of it, but still told me to watch portions.  Then she went onto saying there is nothing wrong with skipping a meal, or not eating when not hungry.  She drinks a cup on black coffee in the morning and is good until lunch.  She suggested I give that a try...I'm not doing that.   I like the While 30 and that I can eat good food.  I don't want to skip meals and be miserable.  

Thank you for taking the time to offer this suggestion. 

[ladyshanny]

Hi @MrsZimm13 - I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring of the "toss the scale" camp. Stress causes higher cortisol. Uber-focus on the scale causes stress. What if someone told you that you were doing everything exactly right and that your body was absolutely at optimal health and that there was absolutely nothing you could do to make the scale move. That this was your weight forever. But they also said "Carry on though, you are nourishing your body, your medical health markers will improve/stay fantastic and your clothes will continue to fit better." Would you change what you were doing because that damned hunk of plastic said you weren't doing well enough?

From my personal experience, I tossed my scale.  Because I got to the point where I was doing everything I was willing to do. I was exercising regularly and with the intensity that made me feel good. I was eating excellent food in portions that satisfied me. The only thing I could have done to edit the scale would have been to exercise harder and eat less. So I took a look at my life, realized I was happy, satisfied, content and I chucked that hunk to the curb because I had no desire to do more physical work and even less desire to fixate on food in a "diety" way.

You're a human being with needs, wants, desires, body fat, muscle, personality, drive etc. Don't pigeon-hole yourself into a number on a scale. You are not cattle. Stop weighing yourself. Be a dynamic, complex, fragile, strong, complicated human. 

[MeadowLily]

1 hour ago, jmcbn said:

And that's another good reason to quit coffee - caffeine is thought to decrease insulin sensitivity. It stimulates your adrenal glands to secrete epinephrine, which in turn raises your blood sugar - which requires insulin. Again, think fight or flight mode - adrenals, heart pumping, blood sugar... - you get the picture.

Eating within an hour of wakening is about boosting the metabolism, lowering cortisol, and in turn stabilising blood sugar. Again, drinking coffee during this period is counter productive. 

The best healthy fix for elevated cortisol is eliminating coffee right off the bat.

Nothing moved...until I gave up my coffee addiction.  Until I gave up coffee the belly fat that was making another type of hormones that prevents weight releasing from happening continued to brew.  And talk about leaky gut.  Coffee works against the insulin resistant who's been stuck on that trajectory for a long time.

And returning to coffee would bring that mess right back to my doorstep. The alcoholic has to give up alcohol...like for real.   Coffee addiction was raising my blood sugar. The results don't lie.

I'm free of T2 and maintaining weight stability.  Food and drink can work against the best of intentions.

[MrsZimm13]

10 hours ago, jmcbn said:

And that's another good reason to quit coffee - caffeine is thought to decrease insulin sensitivity. It stimulates your adrenal glands to secrete epinephrine, which in turn raises your blood sugar - which requires insulin. Again, think fight or flight mode - adrenals, heart pumping, blood sugar... - you get the picture.

Eating within an hour of wakening is about boosting the metabolism, lowering cortisol, and in turn stabilising blood sugar. Again, drinking coffee during this period is counter productive. I don't have a specific reference for you, but I'm a nutrition student and if I'd time I'm sure I could find some references in my notes. Suffice to say I read about this stuff a lot in the little spare time that I have.

Also worth noting is that it can take 6wks (or often longer) to see/feel the full benefits of removing caffeine from the diet.

You might find >this article< an interesting read....

Thank you for the article on coffee.  Although I was having 1-2 cups in the morning, I'm going to give it up.  My health vs drinking a cup of coffee I know which one wins. 

And I'm going to try very hard to eat within an hour of waking. Eating just isn't appealing first thing in the morning. But, I will give it a go.  

[MrsZimm13]

8 hours ago, ladyshanny said:

Hi @MrsZimm13 - I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring of the "toss the scale" camp. Stress causes higher cortisol. Uber-focus on the scale causes stress. What if someone told you that you were doing everything exactly right and that your body was absolutely at optimal health and that there was absolutely nothing you could do to make the scale move. That this was your weight forever. But they also said "Carry on though, you are nourishing your body, your medical health markers will improve/stay fantastic and your clothes will continue to fit better." Would you change what you were doing because that damned hunk of plastic said you weren't doing well enough?

From my personal experience, I tossed my scale.  Because I got to the point where I was doing everything I was willing to do. I was exercising regularly and with the intensity that made me feel good. I was eating excellent food in portions that satisfied me. The only thing I could have done to edit the scale would have been to exercise harder and eat less. So I took a look at my life, realized I was happy, satisfied, content and I chucked that hunk to the curb because I had no desire to do more physical work and even less desire to fixate on food in a "diety" way.

You're a human being with needs, wants, desires, body fat, muscle, personality, drive etc. Don't pigeon-hole yourself into a number on a scale. You are not cattle. Stop weighing yourself. Be a dynamic, complex, fragile, strong, complicated human. 

LadyShanny-

Thank you For taking the time to respond.  I know that I need to focus on the medical markers... It is just so hard to not care about the number.  I need to work on that.  And I will.  

Thanks again for chiming in.  I enjoyed reading your post, and the last paragraph made me smile.  I needed that.  Thanks! 

[Crastney]

after reading this I might think about giving up coffee.  I have lost lots of weight, probably due to just not eating enough, however I still have what I call a beer belly, so maybe it's just that I need to do the right kinds of exercise to get the muscles in my stomache working more.  Even so, I'm not really enjoying coffee in the morning, it's mostly habit at the moment.

[Karen_Suep]

9 hours ago, Crastney said:

after reading this I might think about giving up coffee.  I have lost lots of weight, probably due to just not eating enough, however I still have what I call a beer belly, so maybe it's just that I need to do the right kinds of exercise to get the muscles in my stomache working more.  Even so, I'm not really enjoying coffee in the morning, it's mostly habit at the moment.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't often drink coffee but I do enjoy it and some mornings are just a coffee kind of morning. I may replace it with teas instead, since I'm an equal opportunity hot/cold beverage drinker ^_~ 

[vicki3513]

Ugghhhh. It seems like maybe I need to give up coffee, too. I started drinking coffee in order to stop drinking diet pepsi. This makes me sad.

[jmcbn]

Can I just say here that the recommendation to cut out coffee was not generic, but directed specifically at the OP who has raised cortisol levels and insulin resistance. Not everyone needs to cut out coffee.

Remember - this is NOT a weightloss plan and trying to hack it constantly to try to make it one will only create stress and could therefore be counter productive. More often than not your perception of how much you should weigh is very different from the weight that your body is happiest at, i.e. where it functions optimally in terms of sleep quality, mood stability, hormonal balance, energy levels etc.

IF you have weight to lose and you continue eating wholesome, nutritious food and working towards improving your overall health your body will shed weight when it feels good and ready.

[MeadowLily]

Page 186.  ISWF.  The coffee connection.

A cup or two in the morning before noon for those who have no problems with it.  

For people like me...."if you need coffee first thing, it means cortisol levels are not as healthy as they should be.  Too much coffee is going to make that worse...keep your intake down....drink your coffee before noon." 

[Karen_Suep]

2 hours ago, jmcbn said:

Can I just say here that the recommendation to cut out coffee was not generic, but directed specifically at the OP who has raised cortisol levels and insulin resistance. Not everyone needs to cut out coffee.

Remember - this is NOT a weightloss plan and trying to hack it constantly to try to make it one will only create stress and could therefore be counter productive. More often than not your perception of how much you should weigh is very different from the weight that your body is happiest at, i.e. where it functions optimally in terms of sleep quality, mood stability, hormonal balance, energy levels etc.

IF you have weight to lose and you continue eating wholesome, nutritious food and working towards improving your overall health your body will shed weight when it feels good and ready.

I totally realize that this isn't an across the board recommendation but I still may go a bit without because I'm starting to feel it becoming a crutch. Plus I have teas that are neglected at the moment

[Nicole Lee]

On 9/15/2016 at 9:25 AM, ladyshanny said:

Hi @MrsZimm13 - I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring of the "toss the scale" camp. Stress causes higher cortisol. Uber-focus on the scale causes stress. What if someone told you that you were doing everything exactly right and that your body was absolutely at optimal health and that there was absolutely nothing you could do to make the scale move. That this was your weight forever. But they also said "Carry on though, you are nourishing your body, your medical health markers will improve/stay fantastic and your clothes will continue to fit better." Would you change what you were doing because that damned hunk of plastic said you weren't doing well enough?

From my personal experience, I tossed my scale.  Because I got to the point where I was doing everything I was willing to do. I was exercising regularly and with the intensity that made me feel good. I was eating excellent food in portions that satisfied me. The only thing I could have done to edit the scale would have been to exercise harder and eat less. So I took a look at my life, realized I was happy, satisfied, content and I chucked that hunk to the curb because I had no desire to do more physical work and even less desire to fixate on food in a "diety" way.

You're a human being with needs, wants, desires, body fat, muscle, personality, drive etc. Don't pigeon-hole yourself into a number on a scale. You are not cattle. Stop weighing yourself. Be a dynamic, complex, fragile, strong, complicated human. 

I love this point of view!