Wholiday Whole30! Starting Dec 1!

[Wintersun]

6 hours ago, jmcbn said:

Hi Wintersun & welcome to the forums 

Ok, a couple of things....

One - we'd prefer you didn't count calories or track macros as we want you to learn to start listening to your body's hunger signals, rather than going by a 'one size fits all' calculation that does not consider hormonal imbalances, medical conditions or a whole host of other things that can impact how much food/fuel your body needs..

Two - you're not eating nearly enough, honestly - 1200kcal is not even enough to sustain your body just to 'be', never mind fuel any activity throughout the day. Under eating in this way will cause your metabolism to slow down so as not to use up so much fuel as a survival tactic. It's counter-productive. 

Three - this is a 30 day program - assuming you started on Dec 1st along with the others in this thread you're only day 7 (in my time zone anyways!) !!

Four - (and you're probably not gonna like this but...) This is not a weight loss program and even if it was expecting to lose any noticeable (and sustainable) weight other than fluid in 7 days is unrealistic. This is a gut re-set - an opportunity to chose healthier foods, allowing your gut to heal, and then providing you with an opportunity to 'test' which foods made you feel the way you did before you started so that you can avoid those foods going forward. Weightloss is sometimes a bonus side effect of the change in diet, but it doesn't always happen, and should never be the primary goal. Focus on the NSVs you see as you go along - better sleep, clearer skin, stronger nails, shinier/faster growing hair, steady energy, pain relief in joints etc..... And when your body has found itself in a happy place and you have weight to lose, you may just find that you shed a pound or two.

If you'd like to give us more detail on what you've been eating over the past few days, giving specifics on portion size, veg type, liquid intake, activity levels, pre-existing medical conditions, stress levels, sleep quality etc we can help suggest some tweaks which will help you out in the long term.

Hope this helps 

Hello, thanks for taking the time to respond. I apologize then, I thought weight loss was an important part about the diet.

Here is what I have eaten consistently for the last 5 days (I started a little later because I discovered it later.)

 

Breakfast: Egg Scamble

2 Eggs

Onions

Turkey Bacon - 3 Strips

Spinach - about a cup

 

Lunch: Salad

- Mixed Green Salad

- Balsamic vinaigrette dressing

- Grape tomatoes

- Onion

 

Dinner: Standard

- Meat so far either a chicken quarter with the skin on (grilled) or grilled pork chop (brined beforehand for a few hours)

- Potatoes (about 1 small potato)

- Green beans  (1/2 cup) - Grilled

- Carrots (1/2 cup) - Grilled

Dessert:

- 1 Pear

I have always had a hard time keeping my weight stable.Although usually when I cut out carbs I am able to lose a lot of weight pretty quickly. That's why I am surprised by this plan. I don't feel hungry, I am already feeling much better, although I think I might need to consume more calcium and iron. Starting next week I am going to add paleo shepherds pie for lunch, which should bring me up to about 1400 calories:

Ingredients:

- Ground meat (lamb or chicken)

- Potatoes (mashed, with butter)

- Mixed frozen vegetables

-Worcester sauce (for the ground meat)

- Normal spices (salt, pepper, paprika etc.)

-Dash of Almond Milk (instead of milk, unsweetened, unflavoured)

Washed down with a class of unsweetened almond milk (for the calcium)

 

Not sure how to up my iron intake as I have stopped eating beef. I am also currently doing IF : 16/8.

- I go to the gym and lift weights 3x a week (however, I have just become more consistent since starting this)

- I drink about 2L of water a day.

- I have been sleeping better since going on this program but the week before I was hardly sleeping, waking up multiple times a night and watching videos on my phone until I felt sleepy enough to go back to bed

- I currently weigh 167 (2lbs up since I started 5 days ago at 164.8), and I am almost 5'6. Overweight BMI, my doctor has told me that I need to lose weight. I need to lose about 30-35lbs to have a more healthy weight for my body frame (very small).

- I was thinking of adding in HIIT maybe 10-15mins on off days.

[jmcbn]

@Wintersun - a few questions....

Are you new to IF? Is it a daily thing?

Does your salad at lunch contain protein?

Are you not including pre and/or postWO meals? If not you should.

How does your protein at dinner relate to the size of your palm?

Do you usually practice good sleep hygiene (apart form last week obviously where you watched movies in bed)?

Do you spend any time outdoors?

Are you stressed?

Are you taking any medication?

Do you realise that in spite of its name, almond milk is NOT a good source of calcium? Try sardines, dark green veg, garlic, mushrooms, eggs.... (also we would not recommend that you drink almond milk except for in tea/coffee as nuts are notoriously hard on the digestive system). Prettty much all of thes will also provide iron along with liver, red meat & seafood.

Is your butter clarified?

Although we do not recommend tracking calories I'd comment again that 1200 is not enough calroies for a human to sustain life, let alone train three times a week, 1400 will not cut it either. Just to give you an idea, if I were to calculate my own calorific needs on training day they'd be closer to 1850-1900 but I don't count calories, or track macros, or weigh or measure - I eat to satiety until I'm hungry again, and I have retained the same weight by eating in this way for a long long time. If calorie restruction is not new to you, or if this diet is dramtically different from how you used to eat then it's failry likely you'll gain weight as your body finds it's balance, and then you may start to lose.

Regardless of your answers to the questions above though you need to start eating more - more protein, more fat, and more veg at every meal. The first preferably within an hour of wakening.

Note that weightloss, although not the primary goal of this program, is never linear and can be influenced  by all kinds of things - the salt in your diet, dehydration, inflammation, hormones etc, so please, step away from the scale - no weighing is as much of a rule as no dairy.

 

 

 

[Wintersun]

13 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

@Wintersun - a few questions....

Are you new to IF? Is it a daily thing? - Not new, but its been a while since I have been consistent with it.

Does your salad at lunch contain protein? I used to have a can of tuna with it but I am kind of sick of tuna at the moment and now eat that salad with dinner in one big meal.

Are you not including pre and/or postWO meals? If not you should. No I don't.  I feel sick eating right before workouts.

How does your protein at dinner relate to the size of your palm? I eat about 100-150g portions of protein.

Do you usually practice good sleep hygiene (apart form last week obviously where you watched movies in bed)? Definitely agree.

Do you spend any time outdoors? Not much I live in the city, far away from nature and I don't have much money or a car to get there.

Are you stressed? A little yes.

Are you taking any medication? Yes. But that same medication hasn't stopped me from losing weight before.

Do you realise that in spite of its name, almond milk is NOT a good source of calcium? Try sardines, dark green veg, garlic, mushrooms, eggs.... (also we would not recommend that you drink almond milk except for in tea/coffee as nuts are notoriously hard on the digestive system). Prettty much all of thes will also provide iron along with liver, red meat & seafood. I drink fortified almond milk with lots of calcium in it.  I will add more garlic to the mix and maybe sardines with my lunch.

Is your butter clarified? not sure what this is or where to get it.

Although we do not recommend tracking calories I'd comment again that 1200 is not enough calroies for a human to sustain life, let alone train three times a week, 1400 will not cut it either. Just to give you an idea, if I were to calculate my own calorific needs on training day they'd be closer to 1850-1900 but I don't count calories, or track macros, or weigh or measure - I eat to satiety until I'm hungry again, and I have retained the same weight by eating in this way for a long long time. If calorie restruction is not new to you, or if this diet is dramtically different from how you used to eat then it's failry likely you'll gain weight as your body finds it's balance, and then you may start to lose.  - I need 1800 to maintain my weight. I have a sedentary job and I am in school sitting all day outside of work.

Regardless of your answers to the questions above though you need to start eating more - more protein, more fat, and more veg at every meal. The first preferably within an hour of wakening.  I will try to do this. I will up my calories to 1450.

Note that weightloss, although not the primary goal of this program, is never linear and can be influenced  by all kinds of things - the salt in your diet, dehydration, inflammation, hormones etc, so please, step away from the scale - no weighing is as much of a rule as no dairy. Ok, I will stop weighing myself until day Day 31!

 

 

 

 

[jmcbn]

@Wintersun

Clarified  butter (or ghee) is butter that has had the milk proteins removed. Non clarified butter is out for your Whole30. You can find ghee in most major supermarkets (it's located in the foreign food aisle in mine), or you can easily make your own - have a quick search on Youtube & there are plenty of tutorials.

The desk job, and the lack of outdoors is a problem. Can you set a reminder on your phone to get up & stretch, or take a walk to the bathroom say every 45mins? I do this at my desk job & walk to the kitchen to top up my water each time - it gets in some healthy movement, plus it keeps me on top of my water intake. If you can take a walk outdoors at lunch, even in the city, this would be a good thing - vitamin D is key to balancing hormones.

Skip the preWO if you can't handle it, but DON'T short change yourself on the postWO meal - it need only be a few bites of a lean protein, but your muscles have earned this if you lift, and actually need it for recovery & repair.

For the stress the walk at lunch will help, but you could also look at trying some meditation if you don't already - there are plenty of good apps out there, and 10mins a day is all it takes - this will help you de-stress & re-energise, which will in turn likely help improve your sleep quality.

Talking of sleep keep the screens out of bed. Infact limit screen time for an hour or so before bed, keep the lights in the house dim after sunset to help the body know that it's time to produce melatonin to help with sleep, and then kick start that metabolism with a good sized breakfast in the morning.

Looking at your meals you could do with increasing your veg. We say 1-3 cups, but what we realy mean is FILL YOUR PLATE. Spinach reduces down to not very much so you need a ton of that stuff, but add in broccoli, kale, collards etc and then mix up those starches a little. And add fat. To every meal. Over and above what you're using to cook with, much of which stays in the pan - half an avocado, a handful of olives, a tablespoon or two of home-made mayo. Other than the butter (which needs to be ghee or clarified) and the balsamic in your salad I see no mention of fat - your body needs it for energy, and for brain health, and to help transport all those fat soluble vitamins your body needs to function properly.

And please, stop with the calories counting, and start listening to your body - it will tell you what you need.

Let us know how you get on!

[Wintersun]

8 hours ago, jmcbn said:

@Wintersun

Clarified  butter (or ghee) is butter that has had the milk proteins removed. Non clarified butter is out for your Whole30. You can find ghee in most major supermarkets (it's located in the foreign food aisle in mine), or you can easily make your own - have a quick search on Youtube & there are plenty of tutorials.

The desk job, and the lack of outdoors is a problem. Can you set a reminder on your phone to get up & stretch, or take a walk to the bathroom say every 45mins? I do this at my desk job & walk to the kitchen to top up my water each time - it gets in some healthy movement, plus it keeps me on top of my water intake. If you can take a walk outdoors at lunch, even in the city, this would be a good thing - vitamin D is key to balancing hormones.

Skip the preWO if you can't handle it, but DON'T short change yourself on the postWO meal - it need only be a few bites of a lean protein, but your muscles have earned this if you lift, and actually need it for recovery & repair.

For the stress the walk at lunch will help, but you could also look at trying some meditation if you don't already - there are plenty of good apps out there, and 10mins a day is all it takes - this will help you de-stress & re-energise, which will in turn likely help improve your sleep quality.

Talking of sleep keep the screens out of bed. Infact limit screen time for an hour or so before bed, keep the lights in the house dim after sunset to help the body know that it's time to produce melatonin to help with sleep, and then kick start that metabolism with a good sized breakfast in the morning.

Looking at your meals you could do with increasing your veg. We say 1-3 cups, but what we realy mean is FILL YOUR PLATE. Spinach reduces down to not very much so you need a ton of that stuff, but add in broccoli, kale, collards etc and then mix up those starches a little. And add fat. To every meal. Over and above what you're using to cook with, much of which stays in the pan - half an avocado, a handful of olives, a tablespoon or two of home-made mayo. Other than the butter (which needs to be ghee or clarified) and the balsamic in your salad I see no mention of fat - your body needs it for energy, and for brain health, and to help transport all those fat soluble vitamins your body needs to function properly.

And please, stop with the calories counting, and start listening to your body - it will tell you what you need.

Let us know how you get on!

OK I'll give it a try. Thank you! 

[Loo Loo]

On 12/6/2016 at 7:11 PM, liz517 said:

Very glad I stuck with it

 

[JBeeHealthy]

Hello everyone!

So, this morning is day 8 and I'm feeling much better than yesterday! Yesterday I was exhausted, and when I say exhausted I mean I was like "pregnancy exhausted" - the kind of exhausted you are when your 9 weeks pregnant. Seriously, the only other times in my life I was as tired as I was yesterday was during pregnancy and when I had Mono in high school. I went home at noon for lunch and came back to work late (at almost 2:00pm!) because I had fallen asleep. After work I skipped mass and went to bed at 7:30! Anyway, if anyone is tired today... Just know that it does get better!

[Wintersun]

26 minutes ago, JBeeHealthy said:

Hello everyone!

So, this morning is day 8 and I'm feeling much better than yesterday! Yesterday I was exhausted, and when I say exhausted I mean I was like "pregnancy exhausted" - the kind of exhausted you are when your 9 weeks pregnant. Seriously, the only other times in my life I was as tired as I was yesterday was during pregnancy and when I had Mono in high school. I went home at noon for lunch and came back to work late (at almost 2:00pm!) because I had fallen asleep. After work I skipped mass and went to bed at 7:30! Anyway, if anyone is tired today... Just know that it does get better!

Thanks for the encouragement!

[JBeeHealthy]

Hello again everyone! 

I have a question -  How will my prior eating habits affect my progress with this re-set.

First, I will explain my (horrid) previous eating habits:

1. In the morning I drank 1 cup of coffee with non-dairy creamer and 2 packets of sweet n low OR I drank a diet coke OR I drank some sort of diet "healthy" energy drink concoction like "Spark" by Advocare or "Slim" by Plexus. I NEVER ate breakfast.

2. I rarely drank any water throughout the day.

3. For lunch I almost never ate food. I'd usually refill whatever it was that I drank that morning and just work through lunch. If I did eat over the lunch hour, (which was maybe 3 times a month) it was always something from a restaurant like pizza or tacos or breaded chicken strips and I was always very tired in the afternoon. Being tired after eating was part of the reason I almost never ate lunch.

4. Like I said, I usually never ate breakfast or lunch but sometime around 3 pm I'd head to the break room and grab a diet coke OR a coffee and a handful of cookies OR crackers to hold me over until I got home to eat.

5. Every Tuesday I leave work at 3:30 to drive my daughter to her gymnastics class which is 50 minutes away. We usually ate McDonalds or Subway or some other fast food on the way to her class. Every Thursday I leave work at 3:30 to go watch my daughter's Jr. High basketball games. On these nights we always ate at the concession stand at the game which means we had a hamburger or hot dog and nachos or popcorn. 

Every other day of the week, by the time I got home from work at about 5:30 or so, I was STARVING. I very seldom cooked anything. I was usually too tired or too hungry by 5:30 to prepare a meal or cook anything for my family and I to eat. So, we often had one of the following:

• a big bowl of cereal (fruit loops, frosted flakes or other sugary cereal) with milk
• flour tortilla covered with shredded cheddar cheese, microwaved to melt cheese and rolled up. This was always dipped in sour cream and salsa. 
• frozen pizza, frozen casserole, or other frozen meal I could throw in the oven or microwave
• an easy boxed casserole meal such as hamburger helper or tuna helper
• out to eat at restaurant/bar that fried almost everything on the menu or fast food (and we seldom picked anything healthy from the menu to eat)
• We usually drank coca-cola, diet cola, sprite, or milk with dinner
• We always had cookies, cake, ice cream or candy for "something sweet" to eat after our meal

6. Almost every night after we eat I have to go to some sort of meeting. I'm a cheer coach and a CCD teacher so Monday evenings I have cheer practice for a few hours and football or basketball games on Friday nights. On Wednesday nights I teach CCD for an hour and/or we go to Mass (church).

7. When I get back home from commitment/meeting it's sometime between 8 and 9 pm. I go directly to the kitchen and get a large glass of ice water and candy. Then, I sat on the couch or laid in bed and watched TV, played on my phone or read - while eating miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, kit kats, or other chocolate candy - until it was time to go to sleep.

8. I often woke up sometime between 2 and 4 in the morning so I'd eat another piece or two of candy and play on my phone until I fell back asleep.

9. When the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. I wasn't rested and usually not looking forward to the day ahead.

10. The daily cycle continued.

Sometimes I would switch it up and go on a diet. The only change I made was that I'd eat salad for dinner and cut the candy out in the evenings. After 2 or 3 days I would give up and resign to be fat.

The last diet I did that lasted longer than 3 days was in 2011. I walked 2 miles in the morning and ate smoothies or protein shakes at 10 am and at 3 pm. I would go to a Zumba class right after work and then come home and eat a protein bar or a small portion of whatever for dinner. I cheated on this diet a lot but I continued to work out off and on for about a year. At one time during that year I think I was down about 15 pounds. I didn't maintain that weight loss.

I'm about 5' 8" and on December 1st I weighed in at 246.8 pounds.

Ugh. Just writing this makes me feel disgusting and ashamed of myself. I knew my habits were bad, but writing it down makes it so much more real.

I guess I'm wondering if it will be harder for me to heal my body and lose weight since I've messed up so badly in the past?

Your thoughts, ideas and suggestions for future success are much appreciated.

Thanks!

[MeadowLily]

IF the way most people do it...is simply skipping meals. Every day. Not on an 'intermittent' basis. Skipping meals all day long and tanking up during the eating window is waiting until the end of the day when the metabolism is naturally beginning to slow down. 

My husband's friend is doing this because someone told him how wonderful it is and he's stacking weight on like he's never done before.  He's a young man in the prime of life.  His waist is expanding with side-pones.  He's at a total loss and yet, he won't give up that IF. Husband has told him that's not what a hard working young man should do...self-induced starving all day long out in the cold temps and then load up right before you go to bed.

IF will slow your metabolism down further.  The body grows accustomed to anything you put it through, slowing the metabolism further.  Three meals aday at regular intervals and movement.  That's the ticket for getting stronger and releasing the extra weight.  It will go slow but that's the way you want to go.

Anything we do in the name of weight loss, once we return to anything we used to do, that weight will come back.  Stubborn fat wants you back and it has it's ways with hunger hormones, leptin, ghrelin, others to outsmart us.     

[Shalooop]

26 minutes ago, JBeeHealthy said:

Ugh. Just writing this makes me feel disgusting and ashamed of myself. I knew my habits were bad, but writing it down makes it so much more real.

I guess I'm wondering if it will be harder for me to heal my body and lose weight since I've messed up so badly in the past?

Your thoughts, ideas and suggestions for future success are much appreciated.

Thanks!

I just finished my first whole thirty on November 9th. Prior to that I was eating whatever I wanted. I don't binge, and I cook fairly healthy meals, but I enjoy food, a lot, and am an emotional eater. Yummy food makes me happy. I managed to get through whole30 by telling myself it was only 30 days. Within 2 weeks after finishing my whole30 I was back to old habits and regained 4 of the 10 lbs I had lost. For me I needed longer to not just "get through it" but to change my habits and taste buds. So I started again on December 1st. I am allowing myself dairy as coconut milk and almond milk cause me gastritis. But I want to transition into lifelong good habits this time.

[JBeeHealthy]

2 hours ago, MeadowLily said:

IF the way most people do it...is simply skipping meals. Every day. Not on an 'intermittent' basis. Skipping meals all day long and tanking up during the eating window is waiting until the end of the day when the metabolism is naturally beginning to slow down. 

My husband's friend is doing this because someone told him how wonderful it is and he's stacking weight on like he's never done before.  He's a young man in the prime of life.  His waist is expanding with side-pones.  He's at a total loss and yet, he won't give up that IF. Husband has told him that's not what a hard working young man should do...self-induced starving all day long out in the cold temps and then load up right before you go to bed.

IF will slow your metabolism down further.  The body grows accustomed to anything you put it through, slowing the metabolism further.  Three meals aday at regular intervals and movement.  That's the ticket for getting stronger and releasing the extra weight.  It will go slow but that's the way you want to go.

Anything we do in the name of weight loss, once we return to anything we used to do, that weight will come back.  Stubborn fat wants you back and it has it's ways with hunger hormones, leptin, ghrelin, others to outsmart us.     

What is IF?

[JBeeHealthy]

2 hours ago, Shalooop said:

I just finished my first whole thirty on November 9th. Prior to that I was eating whatever I wanted. I don't binge, and I cook fairly healthy meals, but I enjoy food, a lot, and am an emotional eater. Yummy food makes me happy. I managed to get through whole30 by telling myself it was only 30 days. Within 2 weeks after finishing my whole30 I was back to old habits and regained 4 of the 10 lbs I had lost. For me I needed longer to not just "get through it" but to change my habits and taste buds. So I started again on December 1st. I am allowing myself dairy as coconut milk and almond milk cause me gastritis. But I want to transition into lifelong good habits this time.

Yes. That's what I want too. I want to change my life, not just 30 days of my life!

[MeadowLily]

4 minutes ago, JBeeHealthy said:

What is IF?

 

Click on these links,  explains it for you.

 

 ..." most people don’t practice IF the way they’re supposed to. You do it every day, which isn’t very “intermittent.” And you don’t eat anywhere near a day’s worth of calories in your feeding window, because it’s hard to consume that much food in such a short period of time. (This is especially true if you’re also on a Whole30, where everything you’re eating is real food, and therefore incredibly satiating.) "

 

 

Dear Melissa, Can I Intermittent Fast During my Whole30? | The ...

whole30.com/2015/10/fasting/

1.  
2.  

The Whole 30 Perspective on...fasting? - Whole30 Meal Planning ...

forum.whole30.com/topic/116-the-whole-30-perspective-onfasting/

1.  

 

[JBeeHealthy]

19 minutes ago, MeadowLily said:

 

Click on these links,  explains it for you.

 

 ..." most people don’t practice IF the way they’re supposed to. You do it every day, which isn’t very “intermittent.” And you don’t eat anywhere near a day’s worth of calories in your feeding window, because it’s hard to consume that much food in such a short period of time. (This is especially true if you’re also on a Whole30, where everything you’re eating is real food, and therefore incredibly satiating.) "

 

 

Dear Melissa, Can I Intermittent Fast During my Whole30? | The ...

whole30.com/2015/10/fasting/

1.  
2.  

The Whole 30 Perspective on...fasting? - Whole30 Meal Planning ...

forum.whole30.com/topic/116-the-whole-30-perspective-onfasting/

1.  

 

Was your IF post in response to my initial long post I made a few hours ago? If so, I apologize that I wasn't very clear with my question... Basically what I want to know is, since I use to go all day without eating and now that I'm on the whole 30 I am eating 3 meals a day, will I gain weight? I know my eating habits were horrid, that's why I'm doing whole 30. To be honest, I didn't even know IF was even "a thing". It's not like I researched this as a weight loss diet or a way to eat. I didn't start this "on purpose" and I know it's a bad habit. I've done it for years and I just keep getting fatter and fatter. I started eating this way years ago because I got busy at work and didn't like feeling tired after I ate a crappy lunch. LOL I'm trying to get healthy and have healthy habits. I was just wondering if I've already messed up my body too much to ever lose weight.

23 minutes ago, JBeeHealthy said:

What is IF?

 

[MeadowLily]

I  speak and share in general....how dieting didn't work for me. 

All diets promise a brand, new shiny opulent lifestyle but that windfall doesn't come.   

[ShannonM816]

1 hour ago, JBeeHealthy said:

Was your IF post in response to my initial long post I made a few hours ago? If so, I apologize that I wasn't very clear with my question... Basically what I want to know is, since I use to go all day without eating and now that I'm on the whole 30 I am eating 3 meals a day, will I gain weight? I know my eating habits were horrid, that's why I'm doing whole 30. To be honest, I didn't even know IF was even "a thing". It's not like I researched this as a weight loss diet or a way to eat. I didn't start this "on purpose" and I know it's a bad habit. I've done it for years and I just keep getting fatter and fatter. I started eating this way years ago because I got busy at work and didn't like feeling tired after I ate a crappy lunch. LOL I'm trying to get healthy and have healthy habits. I was just wondering if I've already messed up my body too much to ever lose weight.

 

You may gain weight initially because your body may hold onto nutrients that it's getting now, in case the supply suddenly stops. But if you stick to eating healthy foods in healthy amounts consistently you will at some point get to a healthy weight.

If you think that the number on the scale could derail your efforts at the end of 30 days, I'd encourage you to commit to not weighing for a longer period of time, and to focusing on nsv's as they come up for you -- things like better skin, hair, or nails, more energy, better workouts, clothes fitting better, generally feeling better, feeling like you're in charge of what you eat and can turn down things you know won't make you healthier.

[NoMoreCrunchyCravings]

@JBeeHealthy Bravo for being so brave to admit to yourself and us about your habits in the past. And bravo for being ready to make a change and for actually working to improve yourself. Weight loss will come. Healthy eating and learning healthy lifestyle habits will come first. You can do this.

[Loo Loo]

 I have really enjoyed all the posts and I wish I could respond to every one.  I did my first W30 in April '16 then a few W15s and some false starts but pretty wholeish all year.  I want to set myself up for success in 2017! Go Whole!

[MarieRose13]

Agree with all of the notes about weight loss coming. Weight loss takes time and one of the good things about not weighing ourselves is we don't get discouraged by not making progress early on. Also, you can go through a lot of body composition changes while staying at the same weight, so its important to keep that in mind. Personally I have noticed myself getting fitter before losing weight. 

[Loo Loo]

Eating whole is having your hands smell like raw garlic, pineapple juice in your hair from cutting up a real pineapple, working with a whole raw chicken and trying not to think about it too much, smelling like cooked bacon on the way to work, having food splatter on you from all the washing and chopping of vegetables and learning what actual farm grown fruit and vegetables look like before their processed. Basically, hands on work and a little mess then you know your doing it right! Ha! Have a great Sunday! (Maybe even a prep day for a big week.) 

[Loo Loo]

We are half way there! Only 15 more days! I hope everyone is hanging on! We can do this! Some friends tell me they are out of control especially this time of year.  I am glad we have the rules to follow this month and we can work on reintroduction and Food Freedom in 2017! 

[Loo Loo]

This is starting to get real! The kids are out of school and the first weekend of Christmas break is here! The annual parties are this week that include non-compliant traditional food I usually indulge in, every year.  It will be like a scavenger hunt looking for what I know is safe and staying away from the questionable dishes.  I will be sure and eat before hand or bring something to share that I can eat.  Finally, I will focus more on visiting with the people at the party and not the food.  Isn't that why I am there? Ha! lol

[Wintersun]

I never realized how far I came but also how many unhealthy foods I was unintentionally eating until now. I've survived one holiday party. The pressure to drink was strong although I personally didn't want to drink. Just peer pressure! But glad I resisted it and didn't have to join another whole 30 group today. 

It's so hard finding whole 30 compliant foods outside of a grocery store. But that also made me realise how much I eat out and how much I don't need to. I'd truly choose health over unhealthy food now. 

[Loo Loo]

Wintersun, way to survive your Holiday Party, glad you are still in this group, ha! I know, the peer pressure is real, even with food!  I definitely figured out I eat out too much and rely too heavily on convience food. This new lifestyle feels so much better!