Two Weeks, No Results - Help?

[JenLDer]

I'm on Day 18, my pants are tighter, my sleep is worse. Help?

Here's an average daily menu:

Breakfast: Almond Coconut "porridge": 1/4c almond meal, 1/4c shredded coconut, 1Tbsp flax seed meal, 1 egg, homemade almond milk, half banana or half apple

Snack: handful of almonds, 1 sm clementine

Lunch: Nicoise salad with lemon, olive oil dressing, or a paleo bowl sweet potato, chicken, avocado, lots of veggies, lemon tahini dressing

(If I have a snack in the afternoon, it would be like a hard-boiled egg, or some prosciutto, and half and avocado, or some coconut butter, occasionally an RX bar)

Dinner: Zucchini Noodles with chicken and "peanut" sauce made with coconut aminos and sunflower butter; or Kale soup with Adele's chicken apple sausage added.

At the beginning I would have a few dates as dessert, but my craving for a sweet after dinner has slowed down in the second week. I had a grapefrut the other night because I was still hungry after my soup.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[ShannonM816]

My guess is your pants are fitting tighter because the large quantities of nuts and seeds you're having is causing you to be a bit bloated.

Instead of having the porridge for breakfast, have a meal that matches the meal template -- 1-2 palms of protein (if eggs are your only protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand); 1-2 thumbs of oil (or 1/2 to a whole avocado, or a heaping handful or two of olives or coconut flakes, etc., as laid out on the template -- pick a couple of fats at each meal); and then fill the plate with vegetables. Many people find it helpful to stop thinking of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and instead think of meal1, meal2, and meal3 -- anything you can have for one meal, you can have for any other meal. So if you don't want eggs and vegetables, make yourself a soup with lots of vegetables, and either have your protein and fat on the side, or mix it into the soup. Or have leftovers.

Try leaving out nuts and seeds (and stuff made from them like nut butters or milks) for a few days to a week and see if you don't feel better. Then, if you add them back in, do so in smaller quantities. They're a fat source, but not the best fat source -- they can cause digestive issues for some people, they can easily be a food without brakes, meaning it's easy to overeat them without really realizing that you are, and they don't have a great ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6.

In addition to that, be sure you're drinking plenty of water. If you do have cravings for sweets, don't have something sweet -- if you're not hungry, don't eat anything, but if you're hungry, still don't have something sweet, have a mix of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three.

[JenLDer]

Great. Thank you. I will try leaving the nuts and seeds out and see how it goes!

[JenLDer]

I wonder if this means I should start over from the beginning?

[ShannonM816]

13 minutes ago, JenLDer said:

I wonder if this means I should start over from the beginning?

The only reason you'd really have to start over is if you ate something that was against the rules, and it doesn't look like you have. For right now, try what I've suggested above, and see how you feel when you come to the end of your 30 days. If you're feeling better, but feel like more time could improve things even more, you can always keep going at that point.