Day 31, only 3 lbs weight loss

[mandalion91]

Sorry this is so long, i just wnated to give some background information!

Currently:

Age: 26

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 148.4

I went from 150 lbs to about 168 lbs in about a year my sophomore year of college. The following year I lost the weight by starting to work out 5-6 days a week (mostly cardio), limiting myself to 1200 calories during the week, and relaxing on my eating on weekends with pizza, thai noodles, fast food, etc. Once I graduated college I dropped to 148 (probably the lack of booze 2-3x a week) and have remained there ever since. I carry my weight in my stomach and do not have hardly any tone in my stomach. It has always been frustrating for me to be thin everywhere else but my stomach.

Currently, I do HIIT workouts (Kayla Itsines BBG) 3 days a week and low intensity steady state cardio 3 days a week. I will also start half marathon training soon so throwing in some more running instead of power-walking and maybe one less BBG workout a week (TBD). Starting weight on Whole30 was 151.4 (had put on a few lbs with holidays and a january vacation, prior to that I was always 148.4).

Prior to W30 my diet was Whole30/paleo-ish Monday-Friday at 5 (would have plain cream in my coffee, occasional peanutbutter, broths or sriracha with added sugar, and probably some nitrates.. but didn't eat grains, dairy, or alcohol) and then starting Friday night until Sunday i would have all the foods I'd been craving during the week but weren't "healthy". I wouldn't "binge" when looking at the amounts I would eat, but I would use the weekends to have drinks, pizza, fast food, sushi, pasta... basically not worrying about what I ate. Part of starting Whole30 was because I wanted to break this cycle and achieve food freedom by eating good food all the time and treating myself when its "worth it" - not just because its Saturday. I didn't experience a lot of the bad symptoms that the timeline in the book describes. I was sick with bronchitis but no carb flu or rage/headaches. 

Here we are on Day 31.. stepped on the scale for the first time the whole 30 days weight was 148.4. So, I lost 3lbs, but didn't accomplish greater weightloss with eating extremely clean and not drinking all the time vs only 4.5 days a week. 

I feel pretty disappointed. For years I basically threw out my healthy habits for 2.5 days a week and have remained the same weight. I don't have any more tone or definition in my stomach than I did before Whole30. I do have a few NSVs such as: not ONE pimple for entire 30 days, sleeping better, no mid-afternoon slump, and a better mood, but not what I would describe as "tiger blood". I am a believer in eating this way, but I want to do so in a way that lets me lose weight and achieve my body composition goals in addition to my NSVs. I am hoping for some advice here. 

Here is what a typical day of eating on Whole30 looks like for me:

Breakfast: 

Coffee with coconut milk and cinnamon. 

3 eggs mixed with W30 mayo, salt, and pepper over a bed of greens with avocado. OR 3 eggs fried in ghee with zuchinni and potatoes

1 cup of berries

 

Lunch:

Big salad with romaine, 6-8oz grilled chicken, 1/8 C sunflower seeds, bell pepper, avocado, kalamata olives and olive oil or W30 compliant ranch.

1 orange

 

Dinner: 

6-8 oz of shrimp tossed in coconut aminos, ghee and garlic with sauteed broccoli and onion with more coconut aminos and garlic/ghee mixture. 

OR

1/2 baked spaghetti squash with W30 compliant tomato sauce and 8oz of ground beef. 

 

Thoughts? I'm doing the "fast track" reintroduction but would like to follow the "food freedom" outlined in the book. However, I really do want to lose 5-8 lbs without counting calories obsessively like I was before W30. 

 

 

 

[ladyshanny]

Hi there, please remember that the Whole30 is not a weight loss diet. Some people do benefit from some weight loss by doing the program but it is not designed for that and as such we don't make recommendations on how to better use it for weight loss.

I would say that based on your height and weight listed that you are at a healthy weight and losing 3# is actually fairly significant, especially considering that you didn't count calories obsessively (I assume). If you kept going the way you were and lost even 1-1.5#/month, you would have lost your requisite 5# in 3 months. Is that not suitable?

[mandalion91]

11 minutes ago, ladyshanny said:

Hi there, please remember that the Whole30 is not a weight loss diet. Some people do benefit from some weight loss by doing the program but it is not designed for that and as such we don't make recommendations on how to better use it for weight loss.

I would say that based on your height and weight listed that you are at a healthy weight and losing 3# is actually fairly significant, especially considering that you didn't count calories obsessively (I assume). If you kept going the way you were and lost even 1-1.5#/month, you would have lost your requisite 5# in 3 months. Is that not suitable?

Hi ladyshanny, thank you for taking time to read and reply.

Yes that would be sufficient, I am just skeptical that that would happen because this is the weight i've always plateuaed at in the past and I'm pretty sure I will just stay here. I guess time will tell! Hopefully reintroduction does not cause any issues. 

[Lexsolofs]

Hi!

I would suggest maybe switching up your workouts. The high intensity along with cardio may be causing a cortisol spike. Weight lifting is very healthy and really does help more with weightless than cardio. I use to do something very similar and could not loose weight, it wasn't until recently I started doing more weight lifting. Just a suggestion.

Best of luck. Remember trust your body, it does amazing things for you