Start: Aug 1 / Goal: 100 lbs in 1 year

[wp3]

Start: Aug 1 / Goal: 100 lbs in 1 year

Go big or go home, right?

 

Hello Whole30 Community! My name is Christine and I am going to jump into this diet for 365 days. I guess you could call it my Whole365. My goal is to lose 100 lbs in a year. Currently I am at around 261 lbs. I am a 46 year old 5ft 6 in female.  I am not particularly attached to the end weight as long as I feel healthy and at my ideal weight, whatever that may wind up being. But for now 160 lbs will be my end goal. The ideal range (per the internet) seems to suggest around 122 - 149 lbs, but I'll get to my goal and see where to go from there.

I actually tried the Paleo diet before but crashed and burned because of the sugar dragon. I wasn't doing a true Whole30 since I allowed myself to have one cheat day per week. I think that was my downfall. I have too much of a sweet tooth to allow the cheating. I read somewhere that giving up sugar is harder for people than giving up cocaine. While I have never had a drug habit like that, and I am not sure if that is actually true,  I do know how painfully difficult it is for me to give up sugar. 

 

I lost 14.6 lbs in 71 days during my former Paleo challenge. That was an average loss of about 1.4 lbs per week if my calculations are correct. If I average out the daily weight loss for a year that will give me a 75 lb loss, but I also am not planning on having the weekly cheat day, so that should make a big difference. The only days I might cheat a little on are holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. I will attempt to still eat plenty of veggies on those days, but if I bend the rules a bit on those days I'm not going to worry about it too much. I guess technically I will only be doing true Whole30s on months that don't have those holidays then.

 

My start day will be on Aug 1.  I am planning on writing my experiences in a diary and posting those experiences here once per month until I hit my goal. Hopefully this is the appropriate place to do that.  I need to be accountable or I might slide. I hope the people here will keep me accountable.

 

My biggest concern is getting through the sugar cravings. I am hoping to eat more than the advised amount of sweet potatoes and fruit in the beginning in order to get through that. I don't know if that is considered cheating or not. I also have a fairly physical job and I am concerned about crashing and burning if I don't have enough fuel to last. I work at company where I sometimes am lifting 50 lb bags of oats, flour and sugar into a mixer, often in hot environments since I am working next to machinery. It's not unusual for the temps to get around 90 - 100 degrees in the summer. I need to be on a diet that can sustain me through that.

 

I am also planning on doing some juicing. I know juicing isn't technically considered Paleo but I read somewhere that drinking lots of celery juice can help your body deal with hot temperatures. I am quite curious about whether that is true or not. I also want to increase my vitamin and mineral intake without having to eat ridiculous amounts of vegetables so I will be drinking some sort of combination of celery/kale/collard/ beet green juice right after I eat one of my meals. The 3 cups of veggies I am planning on eating per meal should still provide me with plenty of fiber. I think that should be OK since I won't be adding fruit to my juices.

 

So, here are my goals:

 

- I want to feel better physically. Actually, I want to feel amazing with tons of energy and strength. For the past two years I've really been dragging. I've felt lots of fatigue. My naturopathic doctor recommended I take an HCL supplement since she didn't think I was properly digesting proteins and that helped quite a bit, actually. But I know I can feel much better than I do. I feel like I am at this turning point where my body just can't tolerate being abused with bad food anymore. If I don't do something drastic I am worried my health will continue to get worse. I also have aches and pains in my feet and joints and it takes a while for everything to warm up in the morning so that things start to feel better. It shouldn't be that way.

 

- I want to not have to be stressed over my weight and my health. I have to keep stretching out my shirts to get them to fit since I am refusing to buy a larger size. My thighs are too fat and constantly chafe (TMI, I know, sorry). I have some low self-esteem issues when it comes to how big I have gotten. It would be so refreshing to not even think about my weight.

 

- I have no energy to accomplish my personal goals. After work I am pretty exhausted.  I have a goal to write a novel and get published. Writing takes mental focus for hours daily and my mind can wander. I need to be able to lock it in mentally.

 

- After I lose the weight I want to get really strong. I've always enjoyed lifting weights (although I don't have the energy to do it anymore). I'd like to crave working out after a long day at work. Not sure how possible that is at my age, but that is my goal.

 

- I'd like to be less anxious and depressed. I never was a social butterfly, but it seems as the years go on I keep getting more and more antisocial and anxious around people. It's getting pretty bad, actually. I hardly get out anymore unless my family drags me out to a family event. I'd like to be more confident in myself.  I think diet has something to do with that.

 

- I'd like to stop losing so much dang hair. About a year ago my hair started to shed like crazy. It's actually amazing that I still have a full head of hair although it is not near as thick as it used to be. I should be bald by now with how much hair I lose in the shower and in my hairbrush. When I went Paleo before I did see a bit of improvement, so I am hoping by getting strict on my diet it will stop the hair loss completely. Otherwise there will be a wig in my future. That would be horrible.

I guess that's about it. Sorry for the long post. If anyone has any recommendations on how to handle my potato and fruit intake (quantities recommended) for a job that requires intermittent heavy lifting for an entire 8 hour work day, I'd definitely appreciate it.

It is dawning on me that I am really about to do this. *Feeling the fear*

[Elizabeth33]

It is a great journey you are on. This is an example of what I am doing and I hope it helps in the recommendation area. I have done one complete whole 30 in 2013 and after that many false starts. I am going to get on a thread and post daily with that group. If I haven’t created one I get on one that has good number of people for support. I post every day especially what I am eating. This way if there is an issue or I have questions a moderator will be able to help. I It also helps me stay compliant. I prefer to stay on this forum and not go to Facebook or other places because there aren’t any moderators there. I got the daily book which is amazing with all its helpful tips in it. I will do that daily.

I am doing several as well.  I have the long term goals but as I start I keep it very simple.  Mine are making compliant meals and not going out to fast food every morning (I have a VERY opinionated negotiator who is hard to shut up), do my PT daily, walking and stretching 4 out of the 7 days a week, keep my food log, things like that. Something I can keep track of and see. I am also going to keep track of my daily wins or as some call them NSV.

This is a great supportive community and welcome. I will be on the thread starting on the 4th. It’s a good ideas we all join forces on which ever thread that  starts the 1st week of Aug. then we can all support each other. 

[wp3]

That sounds like a great idea. Anyone starting on the first week of August should feel free to post their progress here if they want. 

[CaseyD]

From one sugar addict to another, let me give you some advice on that end: Do not quit sugar using fruit and sweet potato. Quit it using bacon, avocado, Whole30 mayo, steak, eggs - basically fat and protein. If you are going to eat a little extra of something for a bit to quit sugar, this is what you "overeat". Eating sweet potato and fruit just hits that craving and it is soooo much harder and longer to get through. I know, because I've done it both ways! Yes, it will suck more at first, but the suck will no last as long. It is hard to be 15 days in and STILL be craving sugar like it is day 4 because you're using fruit and starches to feed the dragon instead of telling it to shut up with fat and protein. So, eat your carbs at times when you are most definitely NOT craving. It is really worth the short amount of suck, I promise you. 

Also, I hope you take the no weighing rule very seriously. It is truly life changing to stop weighing yourself and helps change the way you see both food and your body. 

I'll be looking forward to your posts!!

[wp3]

Thanks for the advice. It makes sense. I do need to break the addiction. My biggest concern however is keeping up with a physical job doing that. I felt lots of energy drain at work in the first couple of weeks when I did the Paleo diet before. It's possible I just need to push through that and it will go away but it's also possible I might crash and burn on the job. It's my understanding that fat is more slow burning energy and I might need the more fast burning/ instant energy from fruit/potato to keep up with my job. I might just go the moderate route and have a couple of portions a day of fruit/potato and then max the fats and see how it goes. I can always tweak it later as I go. If anyone has personal experience with a physical labor job and has input I'd be interested to hear your experience.

[DawnF]

On 7/28/2018 at 12:08 PM, wp3 said:

Start: Aug 1 / Goal: 100 lbs in 1 year

Go big or go home, right?

 

 

 

Hello Whole30 Community! My name is Christine and I am going to jump into this diet for 365 days. I guess you could call it my Whole365. My goal is to lose 100 lbs in a year. Currently I am at around 261 lbs. I am a 46 year old 5ft 6 in female.  I am not particularly attached to the end weight as long as I feel healthy and at my ideal weight, whatever that may wind up being. But for now 160 lbs will be my end goal. The ideal range (per the internet) seems to suggest around 122 - 149 lbs, but I'll get to my goal and see where to go from there.

 

 

 

I actually tried the Paleo diet before but crashed and burned because of the sugar dragon. I wasn't doing a true Whole30 since I allowed myself to have one cheat day per week. I think that was my downfall. I have too much of a sweet tooth to allow the cheating. I read somewhere that giving up sugar is harder for people than giving up cocaine. While I have never had a drug habit like that, and I am not sure if that is actually true,  I do know how painfully difficult it is for me to give up sugar. 

 

 

 

I lost 14.6 lbs in 71 days during my former Paleo challenge. That was an average loss of about 1.4 lbs per week if my calculations are correct. If I average out the daily weight loss for a year that will give me a 75 lb loss, but I also am not planning on having the weekly cheat day, so that should make a big difference. The only days I might cheat a little on are holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. I will attempt to still eat plenty of veggies on those days, but if I bend the rules a bit on those days I'm not going to worry about it too much. I guess technically I will only be doing true Whole30s on months that don't have those holidays then.

 

 

 

My start day will be on Aug 1.  I am planning on writing my experiences in a diary and posting those experiences here once per month until I hit my goal. Hopefully this is the appropriate place to do that.  I need to be accountable or I might slide. I hope the people here will keep me accountable.

 

 

 

My biggest concern is getting through the sugar cravings. I am hoping to eat more than the advised amount of sweet potatoes and fruit in the beginning in order to get through that. I don't know if that is considered cheating or not. I also have a fairly physical job and I am concerned about crashing and burning if I don't have enough fuel to last. I work at company where I sometimes am lifting 50 lb bags of oats, flour and sugar into a mixer, often in hot environments since I am working next to machinery. It's not unusual for the temps to get around 90 - 100 degrees in the summer. I need to be on a diet that can sustain me through that.

 

 

 

I am also planning on doing some juicing. I know juicing isn't technically considered Paleo but I read somewhere that drinking lots of celery juice can help your body deal with hot temperatures. I am quite curious about whether that is true or not. I also want to increase my vitamin and mineral intake without having to eat ridiculous amounts of vegetables so I will be drinking some sort of combination of celery/kale/collard/ beet green juice right after I eat one of my meals. The 3 cups of veggies I am planning on eating per meal should still provide me with plenty of fiber. I think that should be OK since I won't be adding fruit to my juices.

 

 

 

So, here are my goals:

 

 

 

- I want to feel better physically. Actually, I want to feel amazing with tons of energy and strength. For the past two years I've really been dragging. I've felt lots of fatigue. My naturopathic doctor recommended I take an HCL supplement since she didn't think I was properly digesting proteins and that helped quite a bit, actually. But I know I can feel much better than I do. I feel like I am at this turning point where my body just can't tolerate being abused with bad food anymore. If I don't do something drastic I am worried my health will continue to get worse. I also have aches and pains in my feet and joints and it takes a while for everything to warm up in the morning so that things start to feel better. It shouldn't be that way.

 

 

 

- I want to not have to be stressed over my weight and my health. I have to keep stretching out my shirts to get them to fit since I am refusing to buy a larger size. My thighs are too fat and constantly chafe (TMI, I know, sorry). I have some low self-esteem issues when it comes to how big I have gotten. It would be so refreshing to not even think about my weight.

 

 

 

- I have no energy to accomplish my personal goals. After work I am pretty exhausted.  I have a goal to write a novel and get published. Writing takes mental focus for hours daily and my mind can wander. I need to be able to lock it in mentally.

 

 

 

- After I lose the weight I want to get really strong. I've always enjoyed lifting weights (although I don't have the energy to do it anymore). I'd like to crave working out after a long day at work. Not sure how possible that is at my age, but that is my goal.

 

 

 

- I'd like to be less anxious and depressed. I never was a social butterfly, but it seems as the years go on I keep getting more and more antisocial and anxious around people. It's getting pretty bad, actually. I hardly get out anymore unless my family drags me out to a family event. I'd like to be more confident in myself.  I think diet has something to do with that.

 

 

 

- I'd like to stop losing so much dang hair. About a year ago my hair started to shed like crazy. It's actually amazing that I still have a full head of hair although it is not near as thick as it used to be. I should be bald by now with how much hair I lose in the shower and in my hairbrush. When I went Paleo before I did see a bit of improvement, so I am hoping by getting strict on my diet it will stop the hair loss completely. Otherwise there will be a wig in my future. That would be horrible.

 

I guess that's about it. Sorry for the long post. If anyone has any recommendations on how to handle my potato and fruit intake (quantities recommended) for a job that requires intermittent heavy lifting for an entire 8 hour work day, I'd definitely appreciate it.

 

 

It is dawning on me that I am really about to do this. *Feeling the fear*

I’m with you girl.  Let’s do this together Whole 365....I’m in

[pags98]

My wife and I are on day 22 of our Whole30.  We plan on continuing the lifestyle as much as possible while allowing ourselves to enjoy life and food freedom.  It's interesting.  I started the plan and she begrudgingly joined me.  Now she's the one that really wants to continue.  We will be doing our food reintroductions, because for us this was about finding dietary triggers more than losing weight.  But we've definitely slayed our sugar dragon (even while eating Sweet Potatoes and Fruit).  We have enjoyed the extra energy, better sleep and focus.  The weight loss has been a nice addition.  

Make sure to read Melissa's posts about not doing Whole365 etc.  It definitely has the potential to set yourself up for failure.  

As a reformed cheat meal/cheat day/cheat weekend person myself I've found that the rigid nature of a true Whole30 has been extraordinarily helpful to keep myself mindful of making food choices, not food reactions or responding to food habits.

[wp3]

I appreciate the advice not to do the Whole365 but I don't think the way I am living is sustainable. As months go by I keep feeling worse and worse. My body is letting me know I have to get it together from now on for the rest of my life or I'm gonna suffer. It may not be a good idea for a lot of people but I need to give myself a big challenge to feel inspired. Glad Dawn F is going to join me. Woot!

[pags98]

I'm in no way discouraging you from trying it.  As Dallas & Melissa say in the book this whole thing is an experiment on YOU.  That's something I've taken to heart.  It will be great to watch your journey as we each do what's right for our bodies/lifestyles.  My plan is that over time I'll do whole30s a few times a year to have the rigidity and then allow myself to eat off-plan for periods of time while maintaining a mostly whole30 diet.  So, in a way I'll be on board at the same time as your whole365.  

[nicpadua]

Hi guys!

 

I'm also starting Whole30 on Wednesday. Hopefully, we have more people here to support each other! It's really hard for me to do it by myself.

I live with my husband and he's not going to do it with me. Also, I smoke weed regularly, so that's another thing that I will have to change while doing the W30 and I'm soooo worried I won't be able to.

[wp3]

Welcome! The more the merrier. 

Just got my before photos taken yesterday (ugh) and I will take my measurements and weight tonight before I go to work (I work night shift so I wake up at around 8 pm). I've been cramming in all the bad foods last minute before I start. LOL. Hello cheesecake from my favorite bakery. And I have all this non-approved bacon I just realized I need to eat pronto so it doesn't get wasted. I'm probably going to give myself a heart attack before I even start.

[mare777]

My husband and I are starting tomorrow as well.  We've done paleo and clean eating challenges several times when we were doing Crossfit.  During each challenge, we lost weight, improved our sleep, etc. but immediately went back to our old habits.  We're both at the heaviest we've every been and need to get our health in check before it gets even more out of control.  

Looking forward to feeling better and hopefully sticking with this after 30 days.  

 

 

[SugarcubeOD]

4 hours ago, wp3 said:

Welcome! The more the merrier. 

Just got my before photos taken yesterday (ugh) and I will take my measurements and weight tonight before I go to work (I work night shift so I wake up at around 8 pm). I've been cramming in all the bad foods last minute before I start. LOL. Hello cheesecake from my favorite bakery. And I have all this non-approved bacon I just realized I need to eat pronto so it doesn't get wasted. I'm probably going to give myself a heart attack before I even start.

You may want to reconsider the cramming - the worse your diet in the days leading up to the program the worse the suck of the first week or so is going to be.  Why not put that bacon in the freezer?

[nicpadua]

1 hour ago, mare777 said:

My husband and I are starting tomorrow as well.  We've done paleo and clean eating challenges several times when we were doing Crossfit.  During each challenge, we lost weight, improved our sleep, etc. but immediately went back to our old habits.  We're both at the heaviest we've every been and need to get our health in check before it gets even more out of control.  

Looking forward to feeling better and hopefully sticking with this after 30 days.  

 

 

I’m also my heaviest right now, and I’m feeling so crappy! Good luck to us! 

I actually started whole30 today, I didn’t feel like having one more day to eat whatever and I was anxious to start soon! I meal prepped this weekend, so everything is set! I’m really excited to change my eating habits. 

[LJK72]

I'm starting tomorrow, August 1!  I'm very nervous and am truly in need of some victory in the weight-loss arena. I hope to find some amazing support on this site. It's been awhile since I've used a Forum so I need to practice!

[wp3]

And we're off!

Good luck everyone!

Official start weight: 263.4

I'm going to keep my body measurements to myself for now. They are horrible.

First thing I want right now is a soda but I'm going to stay strong.

 

[wp3]

Hey all,

Just thought I'd check in. First day I had sugar cravings but did a great job avoiding caving on that. Had some chili spiced mango pieces I had forgotten in my lunch bag but gave them away to a coworker. Had to go through about an hour of arguing about it in my own head before I did the right thing with that. Felt a weird mix of energized and fatigued at the same time. The fatigue was probably my body just adjusting to not having a constant influx of sugary drinks and foods. I almost crashed energywise by the end of the work night. I had to literally force my legs to move when I just wanted to sit down. 

Fortunately the next day was the beginning of my weekend.It's given me a chance to get adjusted energy wise. And I did feel tons better on day 2. I started dancing around to music which has not been normal for my energy levels recently. A good sign. 

I am struggling with eating early in the morning and getting all 3 meals. I am going to make smaller portions. My meat portions are larger than they need to be and I am using more fat in my meals than I did last time. Hopefully with a few tweaks I will get more consistent with meals.

It might be because I am using more liberal amounts of fat this time, but a few hours ago I started to lift some weights at home. I didn't feel this motivated to work out so early on when I did this diet before. But I am also going 100% organic this time and eating a bunch of kale so I might be getting lots of vitamins I wasn't before. 

My feet and joints are also feeling a little bit better today. 

It's amazing how quickly things are changing for me. It seems like a quicker adjustment than last time. 

So far so good!

Hopefully everyone is doing well.

[wp3]

Oh, and I forgot to mention I had a bad leg cramp but I'm taking a magnesium supplement and I think it's helping.

[Elizabeth33]

I was hoping that we could combine our groups since we have several that started this week. I am in the group "Round 2 of whole 30 starting Aug 4. Anyone with me?"  And the feed has been going for a bit. Would you all like to come and join ours, or we come to you, or should I start a new one for all of us to join? Let me know. Having a good number of people is always very helpful. 

[wp3]

I am more than happy to follow your feed if the other two folks who are following this feed are cool with that.

[Elizabeth33]

That would be awesome. 

[SugarcubeOD]

8 minutes ago, wp3 said:

I am more than happy to follow your feed if the other two folks who are following this feed are cool with that.

You're welcome to post in both feeds (as long as not copy/paste messages).  We don't generally combine groups so everyone is able to find a group that works well for them... feel free to stay here or go to the other group or keep both... your perogative! 

[wp3]

I think I'm going to jump to the other one. Hopefully the other person following this post comes along!