Maintaining healthy weight after initial weight loss

[logan-halle]

Hello all,

I’ve been moving along with the program for about 3 weeks now, with a plan for 8 weeks total. The diet has massively improved some of the symptoms of my autoimmune disease, among other positives—however, I’ve become worried that I’m closely approaching an unhealthy weight for my age and size.  I know that it’s common to lose a few pounds in the first week just from the loss of some water weight and inflammation in the body, but I’ve definitely lost more than that since.  Now, before anyone says anything about stepping on the scale being against the rules—I’m fully aware that the Whole30 guidelines forbid it, but I was at the doctors last week for a check up and I certainly wasn’t going to refuse her, especially since I‘m concerned about the way the program is affecting my weight/body composition.

I’m 24, 5ft 5in tall, and engage in regular, daily, moderate exercise (I walk literally everywhere, we don’t have a car). Before I started Whole30, a healthy weight for me was about 130lb-135lb.  By the end of week two—when I went to the doctor—I weighed 119lbs. At minimum I’ve lost 11lbs, a lot of it probably body fat/inflammation/water weight according to my doctor.  Knowing my body, that’s scary, and I’m very worried that if I keep going on the diet without adjusting my caloric intake or actively trying t gain back the weight, that I’ll just keep losing body fat. 

Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what’s the solution? What fats should I be adding into the diet? Should I be eating more calories or more meat? 

Thanks for any help

 

[ShannonM816]

You might find this article helpful:  https://whole30.com/2013/12/keeping-weight-whole30/

In general, be sure you're eating at least the minimum on the meal template at each meal and it's fine to have more -- in other words, be sure you're eating at least one palm-size portion of protein, but you can have two or even more if you need to. Make sure you're adding fat in addition to the oil you cook in at each meal. Have at least one serving of starchy vegetables each day, and it is fine to have more. Moderate exercise may not necessarily call for a pre- or post-workout snack, but if overall you're very active, it's okay to add either or both of those, or just have an extra meal or mini-meal. If you find you're not hungry but still need to increase your calorie intake, fat-based sauces that don't have a lot of volume may help you up the calories without feeling over-stuffed -- so drizzle oil or melted ghee over your vegetables, or make things like pesto or chimichurri that you can pour over meats or vegetables. Choosing fattier options of proteins can also help increase calories without changing the volume of food you're eating, so choose a fatty fish like salmon over a leaner one like tilapia, or choose dark meat poultry over white meat.