I don't get it. Baffled.

[Romana]

I have been on the Whole30 since January 15. Today is march 22. My nutritionist suggested this bc I am 51 and working on post menopausal weight gain and fatigue. she found out I have adrenal fatigue. She put me on a whole bunch of supplements and hopes to change up my circadian rhythm to get up earlier and get to bed earlier. 

so, I have had ONE slip in 2.5 months: one pint of lowfat frozen yogurt. I have never had any sugar of any kind but that. (and it was worth it.)

I had lost 2.5 lbs in all that time, and now just weighed myself and I gained it back. So I have lost zero pounds in 2.5 months of being religious. RELIGIOUS that even my dr is impressed. 

I plan my meals, barely eat potatoes, no sweet potatoes, one piece of fruit a day, mostly chicken, I don't drink alcohol. I'm at my wits end. The doctor says not to do strenuous exercise bc of my adrenal fatigue so I just do yoga and walking. i'm so exhausted in the evening, and now she wants me to do the 21day fix workout routine? 

I can understand the weight coming off at a snails pace, but gaining it all back? 

[SugarcubeOD]

As I'm sure you know, the Whole30 is not a weight loss diet.  It's an elimination diet meant to change your relationship with food as well as determine how certain foods affect you.  When you come to Whole30 for any length of time with something like Adrenal Fatigue, you're not starting from a common place like a lot of people.

It's possible that you're exhausted because you are not eating enough, which incidentally can also cause weight gain.  If you would like us to give you feedback on your meals, please list out a few days of what you've been eating including portion sizes, specific veggies, fruit, fat and protein, fluid intake etc. 

The other thing to consider is whether or not your body WANTS to weight less.  It's not possible to tell from what you've said but is it possible that the weight you want to lose is vanity weight and not actually necessary to your body?  Additionally to that, if your body is attempting to heal from something like Adrenal Fatigue, it's unlikely to be dropping weight at a time when it is putting its resources towards healing.  With no intent to diminish the weight loss, 2.5 pounds could have been a fluctuation in the scale over time - instead of thinking of 'gaining it all back', consider the non scale victories if you've had any.  Is your skin better? Mood better? Sex drive? Ability to plan meals, grocery shopping ease, learnt to read labels etc... there are many things that I'm sure you have noticed in 2.5 months that isn't just about 2.5 pounds on a scale... how about listing some of those out as well?

[Romana]

Thanks for the quick reply! The diet is for overall health referred by my nutritionist as I"m feeling very sluggish. The weight loss is not "vanity" it's more worry, as I'm 5'2" and 10 lbs in a year is a lot and it keeps climbing so I need to find a way to fix it. Also, the weight is putting a lot of pressure on a bad foot problem. And, of course, I'm very uncomfortable and none of my clothes fit. the only good thing I notice is that I have no appetite. no cravings. sometimes I have a very small dinner bc I'm not hungry. Or, I eat too light a breakfast (like one egg). So maybe i'm not eating enough? I also only have 3 glasses a water a day as I keep forgetting. 

typically I eat:

2 eggs and chicken sausage/frittata with veggies

vegetables and meat for lunch (either chicken or pork chop)

stir fry veggies with meat, piece of fruit, or salad with protein avocado, whole30 dressing. the meat I cook is mostly chicken, then pork chops/pork, bacon (3 strips a week) and then beef in that order. so last night I had a taco salad with 1/4 lb of beef.  I tend to eat 1 lb of beef leftovers within 3 days. 

I do eat a lot of nuts (3 handfuls 3x week) and sometimes have a handful of raisins 5x week for cravings. the 2nd week i stopped the other dried fruit bc I was overdoing it. 

I eat potatoes about 1x week. I don't do sweet potatoes. 

I've made almost every recipe in the fast Whole30. 

I did have a late night  once where I forgot to eat dinner and after I got back from a long night out, I scrambeled eggs and cooked 2 strips of bacon (around 3am!) 

anyway, I like the food, so I'm not going to stop, but I was hoping to feel more "pep" to kick off more yoga/strength training, but I still feel super sluggish. My nutritionist says my thyroid is on the cusp of being high, so she's put me on thyroid medication. 

thanks for "listening" 

[racheleats]

9 hours ago, Romana said:

Thanks for the quick reply! The diet is for overall health referred by my nutritionist as I"m feeling very sluggish. The weight loss is not "vanity" it's more worry, as I'm 5'2" and 10 lbs in a year is a lot and it keeps climbing so I need to find a way to fix it. Also, the weight is putting a lot of pressure on a bad foot problem. And, of course, I'm very uncomfortable and none of my clothes fit. the only good thing I notice is that I have no appetite. no cravings. sometimes I have a very small dinner bc I'm not hungry. Or, I eat too light a breakfast (like one egg). So maybe i'm not eating enough? I also only have 3 glasses a water a day as I keep forgetting. 

typically I eat:

2 eggs and chicken sausage/frittata with veggies

vegetables and meat for lunch (either chicken or pork chop)

stir fry veggies with meat, piece of fruit, or salad with protein avocado, whole30 dressing. the meat I cook is mostly chicken, then pork chops/pork, bacon (3 strips a week) and then beef in that order. so last night I had a taco salad with 1/4 lb of beef.  I tend to eat 1 lb of beef leftovers within 3 days. 

I do eat a lot of nuts (3 handfuls 3x week) and sometimes have a handful of raisins 5x week for cravings. the 2nd week i stopped the other dried fruit bc I was overdoing it. 

I eat potatoes about 1x week. I don't do sweet potatoes. 

I've made almost every recipe in the fast Whole30. 

I did have a late night  once where I forgot to eat dinner and after I got back from a long night out, I scrambeled eggs and cooked 2 strips of bacon (around 3am!) 

anyway, I like the food, so I'm not going to stop, but I was hoping to feel more "pep" to kick off more yoga/strength training, but I still feel super sluggish. My nutritionist says my thyroid is on the cusp of being high, so she's put me on thyroid medication. 

thanks for "listening" 

There might be some other things here, but at a quick glance, you're not having any fat with breakfast and lunch, so that might be contributing to your sluggish feeling. Try adding plated fat (avocado, olives, mayo sauce, dressing) in addition to whatever you're using to cook with. Pesto goes really well with roasted veggies!

[laura_juggles]

Also, if your thyroid is not acting normally, that's going to through potential weight loss out the window. 

I'm not sure of your portion sizes, but it looks like you might be undereating (consciously or subconsciously) in an attempt to kick more weight loss into motion. 

[Crastney]

if by 'pep' you mean the 'tiger blood' which gets talked about on here - that's usually a lot more likely if you eat oily fish as part of your meals.  I would certainly aim to drink more water, and probably also eat more food.  I know, you're trying to lose weight, that eating more seems a stupid idea.  it is counter-intuitive, but if your body doesn't think it's getting enough food to survive then it'll make more of an effort to store any food for later use.

[Romana]

Yes, all of this has calmed me down. I def need ot eat more, but I forget and am never hungry (oh the irony!) So if anyone can recommend some fast filling high protein snack bars or whatever, I'll eat them! (I eat so many eggs...) Does anyone thing almond butter would be a good choice ?  also, pesto! why didn't i think of that. thanks all! 

[laura_juggles]

There aren't any bars that are compliant and not designated as for emergencies only. Just make sure that you're prepping enough food and set an alarm on your phone to remind you to eat if necessary. There isn't going to be a quick fix for this. That you're never hungry shows that your hormones (and your thyroid as indicated by your doc) are messed up. 

[lwolford]

Eating a lot of nuts will make me gain weight SO quickly. Also, are you eating organic meat? If you're eating a lot of conventional meat, be mindful of all the hormones the animals are pumped with to make them grow... we eat it, and it makes us grow, too.

[SugarcubeOD]

1 hour ago, lwolford said:

Eating a lot of nuts will make me gain weight SO quickly. Also, are you eating organic meat? If you're eating a lot of conventional meat, be mindful of all the hormones the animals are pumped with to make them grow... we eat it, and it makes us grow, too.

Lets be VERY careful about espousing ideas like this that conventionally raised meat is going to make you grow.  I'm sure there are studies out there, paid for by invested parties that are going to suggest this.  There's also a difference between organic and grass fed.  We want this program to be attainable to as many people in as many circumstances as possible which includes buying the meat you can afford - often that is conventionally raised supermarket meat and there is NOTHING wrong with that, nor would we want anyone to feel that they were doing something wrong in how they were doing the program on their own budget.

In addition, you would have to eat a LOT of meat for any animal growth hormones to impact your body to the degree that you gain weight over 30 days.  It also doesn't make sense because this person is assumably coming from a background of eating meat (as they don't mention having been vegetarian).  

Can you provide some scientific peer reviewed studies that show that over time, conventionally raised meat is going to cause weight gain in people over organic?

[laura_juggles]

In providing advice to people, we need to be mindful of the details. The FDA does not allow growth hormones or steroids to be used in raising dairy cows, veal calves, pigs, or poultry. Hormone use in poultry was banned in the US in the 1950s. In beef cattle, cows are implanted with a pellet in back of the ear and the pellet dissolves over 100-120 days. Beef cattle are typically in the feedlot for 100-200 days, for perspective. 

The fact is, Whole30 singlehandedly removes the largest source of added hormones in our diet by removing soy and soy-containing products. 3.5 oz of soy protein contains over 5 times the amount of estrogen in my daily birth control pill (which is low dose, it's over 2x the amount of normal and high dose birth control pills). Comparatively, 3.5 oz of soy protein contains over 100,000 nanograms of estrogen. 3 oz of steak from implanted beef contains approximately 1.9 nanograms while 3oz of potatoes contains approximately 225 nanograms. 

Citation: Handa, Y., H. Fujita, Y. Watanabe, S. Honma, M. Kaneuchi, H. Minakami, and R. Kishi. 2010. Does dietary estrogen intake from meat relate to the incidence of hormone-dependent cancers? J. Clin. Oncolo. 28:15s. 2010 (suppl; abstr. 1553).

 

[Romana]

Thank you all for the very generous feedback. I am trying to eat more: adding more avocado and olives as well as chicken. I still feel sluggish but am attempting more exercise. I am staying away from nuts for the foreseeable future until I start seeing a difference. The meat I buy is only Halal so pretty good by all standards. I'm using avocado oil, olive oil, whole30 mayo. How do we feel about potatoes? I have 2 servings a week at most. and almond butter? I sometimes have that with apple or banana when I'm hungry.