jgray15 Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 I'm on Day 20 and feeling a little frustrated -- I have been eating following template (mostly -- I'm sure I'm not exactly perfect with the amount of fat and/or vegetables at every meal) but reading labels and not having any "off plan" food -- even while celebrating not one, but TWO Thanksgivings. I am not exactly hungry between meals (which I think is a good sign that I am eating the right amounts of food) but I do find myself craving sweets and I still want off plan food like cheese and bread. Does this feeling ever go away?? When I read "It Starts With Food" they talked about food freedom and it sounded absolutely wonderful! I have struggled with my weight and mindless eating my entire life - so finding a program that talked about this freedom seemed like the perfect thing for me. I am just worried that even after 30 days, I am still going to be a captive of my cravings and bad habits that I had prior to the program. I guess my main question is when did everyone get that sense of control during their Whole 30? Did you experience it? I know that everyone's timeline is different but I am worried that I am going through this program and not going to reap the main benefit that I was hoping for. I know I could always expand the program to 60 or 90 days, but I would still be nervous to restrict SO much for that long without the knowledge that it would be beneficial. I also am feeling quite run down and maybe a little emotional today, so this could be where all of this is coming from... I guess I just need reassurance that this is worth it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmsyr Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 I'm at exactly the same place -- 20 days and starting with cravings and I'm hungry! Nothing seems to satisfy me. I'm sure I'm eating too much, even though I haven't cheated on the foods, I'm staring to snack - an RX bar, a handful of nuts, some grapes, and I'm still hungry. I'm a little worried too and afraid that as soon it's over, I'll really lose control. Help! One thing is that my cholesterol is down 84 points since my last checkup so that's a good thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted December 4, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 4, 2016 If you're hungry, like you'd happily eat something fairly bland like steamed fish and broccoli, eat. But instead of snacky stuff, try to have a mini-meal with protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three. Hard boiled eggs, cans or pouches of tuna, carrot or celery sticks, some olives or guacamole. Or if you're packing up food to take for lunch at work, pack up extra so that you know you'll have leftovers. For females, your appetite and cravings are affected by your cycle. During the week or so leading up to your period and the first few days of it, you may find yourself craving lots of food, especially sweets/carby stuff. This is absolutely normal and has to do with your body getting itself ready for a possible pregnancy. During this time, you may need to eat up to twice as much as normal. It's fine. Have more starchy vegetables than usual, and more food in general. If either of you are unsure if your meals are really meeting the meal template, feel free to list a day or two of meals, including approximate portion sizes, any pre- and post-workout meals you're having and workouts you're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabbitFood Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Hi! I'm on Day 20 and on the forums for motivation. Glad to know I'm not the only one at Day 20 wondering if the desire for sweets still. I'm totally full. The forums have been great to remind me to eat enough protein and fat. And it's not the Day 21 I'm-over-the-food feeling. I just still think about chocolate after meals and in between meals. Does this ever go away? The forums seem to point to feeling better on Days 27, 28, 29. So, I'm trying to convince myself to go one more week to feel it. @jgray15 Did it ever go away for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Girl Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 This is me too, only I'm on day 14. I am sick of the food limitations, sick of eggs, sick of trying to make different permutations of the same veggies, sick of all the things...also whining and wondering why I am bothering to do this. I'm exhausted and even cancelled with my trainer last night because I just wasn't up to it. My brain fog is a little better but overall I'm not seeing the benefits that everyone else seems to point to. Do I just drag myself through the next two weeks and collapse at the finish line, or does this get easier? Right now I just want to fall face first into a box of glazed donuts, which is bad because I don't even like glazed donuts. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted March 22, 2017 Moderators Share Posted March 22, 2017 6 minutes ago, Colorado Girl said: This is me too, only I'm on day 14. I am sick of the food limitations, sick of eggs, sick of trying to make different permutations of the same veggies, sick of all the things...also whining and wondering why I am bothering to do this. I'm exhausted and even cancelled with my trainer last night because I just wasn't up to it. My brain fog is a little better but overall I'm not seeing the benefits that everyone else seems to point to. Do I just drag myself through the next two weeks and collapse at the finish line, or does this get easier? Right now I just want to fall face first into a box of glazed donuts, which is bad because I don't even like glazed donuts. ;-) It should get easier, but people often underestimate how much food and especially how much fat they need to consume. This is not a diet in the typical sense, you're not really restricting your food, even if you are leaving out grains and sweeteners. It doesn't have to be low-carb, you can have sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squashes, root vegetables. You never have to eat an egg if you don't want to -- embrace eating leftovers for breakfast, or soup, or fish, or anything you'd eat any other time of day, really. Can you list a day or two worth of meals, including approximate portion sizes as they relate to the meal template? Brain fox and tiredness could be not eating enough in general (especially if you're not eating a post-WO meal after workouts), not eating enough fat (add one or two servings at each meal in addition to what you cook in, as what you cook in often stays in the pan and isn't consumed), not salting your food, or not drinking enough water (aim for 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so a 120-lb person needs at least 60 oz per day). Also, why try to make different permutations of the same veggies? Look around next time you're at the store and see if you can find some new ones that you haven't tried. We're coming into spring, you should start seeing some new items showing up soon. If you're not sure what to do with any particular veggie, google it and read about it. Heartier veggies are almost always good roasted. More watery vegetables like zucchini or yellow squash are often best quickly sauteed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Girl Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Thanks for trying to help. Sorry to be so whiny. :-) I have been eating potatoes quite a bit because otherwise I am just hungry all. the. time. I also eat sweet potatoes or butternut squash pretty often. Here's a sample meal day: Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled, sauteed spinach, sometimes hash brown potatoes made with olive oil. Lunch: Leftovers from the previous night, usually 4-6 ounces of meat with either roasted or sauteed veggies. Dinner: 4-6 ounces of meat, baked or sauteed potatoes, more veggies. Portions vary depending on how much I had for lunch. For example, last night I made pork chops, home fries and oven-roasted asparagus. I also had baby carrots which quacamole. At this point, cooking for one is so much work that I've pretty much defaulted to the same meals every day. I own the Whole30 cookbook and flipped through it last night but I'm in such a mood right now that nothing seemed worth the effort. As for the veggies, I don't think it's so much that they are all the same, but more that they are all prepared the same way (roasted, sauteed) and without any ability to add cheese, butter, sauces, etc., they all taste the same. I think one other thing I'm struggling with is the fat requirements. I am cooking with a lot of olive oil and occasionally ghee (except that it's crazy expensive and kind of a gross consistency). I don't do coconut in any form. Also, I have had gall bladder surgery so I have to be careful about how much fat is in a single meal or I am sorry later. Thanks again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TryingOver Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 @Colorado Girl I also had my gall bladder removed and don't have issues with the fat requirements for Whole30 as long as I am adding plant based fats. This is something I found even before Whole 30. For me, like butter/ghee, bacon, prosciutto, and other animal fats are much harder for me to handle than avocados, olive oil, coconut oil (refined oil doesn't have the taste if that is your issue with coconut and it isn't an allergy), or walnut/macadamia nut/sesame seed oil. Your experience may be different, but it is worth seeing if there are some you can handle better than others. If the guacamole wasn't an issue that would be a good item to add to foods. Also, depending on how you tolerate fats, you may have to have a mini meal with some protein and fat between regular meals to get enough fat without upsetting your digestion rather than eating it all in a single meal. You might try picking up some riced cauliflower or spiralized vegetables so that you aren't roasting/sauteeing everything. Also, there is absolutely nothing that says you can't add sauce on Whole30! I like to make a ginger/sesame sauce for stir fry, enchilada sauce for taco salad or stuffed potatoes, guacamole, and different flavors of aioli to drizzle over food or use as a dipping sauce. There are also a number of compliant hot sauces out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabbitFood Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 @Colorado Girl It does get easier. At least for me, the thoughts of chocolate on Day 22 are a LOT less compared to the strong cravings on Day 7. If you can, I would tell you to stick with it. I know big picture this process is beneficial. It does feel tough in the moment though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Girl Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 @TryingOver, do you have some brands for sauces that you can recommend? Everything I've seen so far has either dairy or added sugar and I work a lot so I don't have time to cook everything from scratch. Thanks. @RabbitFood, thanks for the encouragement. I think I am in that moment! (As I am receiving texts from my friends trying to decide what brewery to meet at after work. Sigh.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TryingOver Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 @Colorado Girl I believe primal mayo is compliant and comes in flavors or you could get plain and add spices/flavors. Tapatio and Tobasco are compliant, but you'll have to check the labels to make sure that the recipe in your region is the same. I believe Frank's Red Hot (not buffalo) is also compliant. Wholly Guacamole is also compliant in some areas, but the ones in my region have added sugar in some of the recipes so again you would need to check the label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DansiA Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 On 3/22/2017 at 6:57 PM, Colorado Girl said: @TryingOver, do you have some brands for sauces that you can recommend? Everything I've seen so far has either dairy or added sugar and I work a lot so I don't have time to cook everything from scratch. Thanks. @RabbitFood, thanks for the encouragement. I think I am in that moment! (As I am receiving texts from my friends trying to decide what brewery to meet at after work. Sigh.) Tessamae's BBQ sauce and Creamy Ranch (both compliant) have SAVED MY LIFE. They have ketchup too but I haven't tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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