Little disappointed by the scale

[zzravizz]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share and get feedback about my Whole30 results, mostly in relation to the scale.

I have done a previous strict Whole30 and a not-so-strict Whole30 before. I had lost 20 pounds on the first one and about 10 pounds on the not-so-strict one. This Whole30 I did textbook-strict and I only lost a whomping 2-5 pounds on the scale. I don't remember how much I was exercising the previous ones, but I would say I could have done a lot more exercise this round.

I did notice many many non-scale victories however. My clothes are fitting much better, I feel like my jeans waist size has gone down 1-2 waist sizes, I have had zero sugar cravings (I have a bad sweet tooth), my cooking skills are way better and I feel good about the work i'm doing to better myself, and even at the doctor's office my weight was down to a point where my doctor noticed progress so I am not disappointed at all about doing the Whole30 and continuing it.

However, I know this is not a good way of thinking, but it feels a little disappointing to do all the work and get on the scale and see a weight that is only 2 pounds less than the weight 30 days before. 

Has anyone ever had an experience like this? 

Thank you.

[chichi]

On 12/9/2019 at 9:38 AM, zzravizz said:

Hi everyone, I wanted to share and get feedback about my Whole30 results, mostly in relation to the scale.

I have done a previous strict Whole30 and a not-so-strict Whole30 before. I had lost 20 pounds on the first one and about 10 pounds on the not-so-strict one. This Whole30 I did textbook-strict and I only lost a whomping 2-5 pounds on the scale. I don't remember how much I was exercising the previous ones, but I would say I could have done a lot more exercise this round.

I did notice many many non-scale victories however. My clothes are fitting much better, I feel like my jeans waist size has gone down 1-2 waist sizes, I have had zero sugar cravings (I have a bad sweet tooth), my cooking skills are way better and I feel good about the work i'm doing to better myself, and even at the doctor's office my weight was down to a point where my doctor noticed progress so I am not disappointed at all about doing the Whole30 and continuing it.

However, I know this is not a good way of thinking, but it feels a little disappointing to do all the work and get on the scale and see a weight that is only 2 pounds less than the weight 30 days before. 

Has anyone ever had an experience like this? 

Thank you.

It sure seems like you haven't quite grappled with whole problem of the scale--if you are exercising more, and your clothes fit better, and you feel better, it's likely that your body composition is changing. Your health and wellness isn't determined by that number because the number doesn't have any more information inside of it. Muscle weighs more than fat, bone density, water retention, hormones, and blah blah blah. (And frankly, how does that number measure happiness? Like, how?) But fundamentally, this isn't about losing weight in 30 days. It's a lifestyle change--not necessarily that you will eat strictly this way for however long, but that you will approach eating differently, with attention, with sincerity and forgiveness, and sometimes, scientific detachment, in order to eat in a way that supports your best life. Moreover, the changes your body makes, in my experience, are long-term. I think some of my 'tiger blood' experience was the same kind of weird energy one gets at a certain point while fasting--the body reacts to what it perceives as a drastic change in the availability of food. Tiger blood didn't last for me, and honestly I'm glad, it was too manic. What I access now with returning to W30 eating (I haven't done one for over three years, but I return to no dairy, no grain, and very minimal added sugar whenever I need to) is the sustained clarity of mind and better sleep, and really valuing those parts of my life over the scale. Full disclosure, I'm average size and haven't weighed myself in a few years (also haven't been to the doctor in that long, cheers to shit health insurance and dumb luck), and I don't have any medically mandated weight goals. Like anybody, I used to have ideal weights for myself, but I didn't *have* to continue dedicating any more valuable space in my brain to that pretty meaningless number. If you don't *have* to--and I really think nobody should, because all the ways people try and manipulate weight are crazy-making--then I would say, stop tracking your weight. It is not an indicator of your health, or happiness, or value, or strength.