Whole30 round 2 - just as much of a waste as round 1

[NJdieter]

Day 25 here and while I’m going to finish, whole30 round 2 has turned out to be just as much of a waste of time as round 1 last year. Once again I’m gaining weight judging by how my clothes (don’t) fit, and my non-scale victories include horrible insomnia, constipation/gas pains, foul moods, poor workouts, and no change in craving hot cocoa. Also I eat a lot but never feel satisfied/full. 
 

Yesterday I ate the following:

Braised beef with 2+ cups of roasted veggies (onions, peppers, eggplant, sweet potatoes), guacamole as a fat

 

Full fat coconut milk based Thai curry with chicken and lots of broccoli and squash as a veggie (2+ cups)

 

3 eggs scrambled with an Ethiopian cabbage dish and more roasted veggies (2+ cups), cooked in coconut oil. I was so miserable after that that I ended up taking some homemade coconut yogurt and mixing in some raspberries to feel full. This was the first time I have had fruit in a week or so. 

I have tried taking Natural Calm to sleep/go to the bathroom but even taking a TBSP doesn’t help. Eg I had been awake from 1130pm the night before, only managing about 2 hours of sleep before that and then again from 4:20-4:45 when my alarm went off  

My husband wanted to do another round of whole30 this year after he did so “well” on it last year (he basically starved himself for a month because he missed eating carbs and doesn’t like protein so he lost a ton of weight) but for me once again it is many calories, not nearly enough benefit, and a pretty miserable experience all around. 

[NJdieter]

I have 5-10lbs to lose to get back to where I was over the summer, whereas my husband has 25-30 to hit his goal weight. It’s pretty sad that he will probably get there long before I do. Maybe whole30 just doesn’t work as written for people who don’t need to lose that much weight because it is just too many calories. 

[SchrodingersCat]

Well, to be fair, it's not a weight loss diet, it's an elimination diet to establish food intolerance. Many people experience weight loss, especially those with a fair bit to lose, but even people who don't need to lose do it, to work out what foods bother them.

 

[Jihanna]

I'm going to second that it's not a weight-loss diet, per se, despite the fact that many do lose at least something while following it.

From what you're describing, though, it sounds like there might actually be some food sensitivities/issues going on with you that are compliant to Whole30 but simply don't work for your personal body (personally, I found that I need more starchy veg on a daily basis than is written into the suggestions, and up to around twice as much depending on where I'm at in my cycle). Playing with how much you're getting macro-wise and/or removing specific compliant foods that seem to be a trigger for symptoms might be a good thing to do, at least in the time you have remaining since I doubt you'll be extending. It might be worth looking into the low-FODMAP diet for more information on how compliant foods could be causing issues nonetheless... if you're interested in digging deeper on it.

If you're really just interested in losing weight, however, I wish you well in finding a weight-loss dieting method/system that works for you.

[NJdieter]

“It’s not a weight loss diet” is pretty ridiculous to say when paleo is, and whole30 is effectively a more strict version of paleo. 
 

[SchrodingersCat]

You sound really angry about this diet. It certainly sounds not for you. Whole30 and paleo are not magical weight lots diets, you still need to eat less calories than you burn to lose weight. Evidently you weren't, which is common in people who don't have much to lose. Some people eat paleo for life, they don't stop when they get goal, which they'd have to if you automatically lost weight doing it.

People of a perfectly healthy weight do Whole30.

[Jihanna]

I know quite a few people who follow the paleo lifestyle, rather than using it as a "diet" to lose weight... and none who have chosen it as a weight loss diet.

Whole30 was not created as a weight-loss diet, according Melissa Hartwig Urban herself. If we can't believe the co-creator of the diet on that particular matter, then I'm not sure what we should do.

Weight loss does often occur for those who follow Whole30. Sometimes this is a positive side effect, and for others it's actually bad so they find themselves trying to stuff in more calories to help maintain a healthy weight during the program. This is an elimination diet, plain and simple. For most people, the first round is used to prepare for a reintroduction phase to help determine food sensitivities or other similar issues, which can help them make informed decisions about their diet in the days to come... and eventually many will come back for a "reset" when they feel they've gotten derailed, just to bring themselves back into balance and remind themselves of how much better they feel when eating in a way that promotes better health.

Again, it's entirely possible that there are things that are compliant for Whole30 but don't work for you personally. For me, it's worth knowing things that affect me badly... like how I'm allergic to dairy and that even includes ghee (for me), or that eating 3 meals in a row that include cruciferous vegetables will make me feel like a blimp, or that I can't sleep well if I drink coffee after 3pm. I also have to keep reminding myself to drink water, because I'm really bad about not getting enough... the official suggestion is to drink at least half our weight number in ounces (so for me that'd be just under a gallon per day), so my current goal is to reach that intake before I even do another round -- that way it's already habit, and will be easy to continue  

I truly do hope you find something that works for you, because you deserve to feel good and have a positive self-image.

[Jihanna]

As an add-on to my previous post -- it's also possible that your particular body actually needs something that's removed by Whole30. That's another reason why following up the elimination with reintroduction is so very important, because it lets you see the effects... sometimes that's a negative effect like constipation or headache, but sometimes it's actually positive like better bowel movements or improved sleep.

For me, doing Whole30 was all about learning enough to create a sustainable way to move forward in my continued health journey. It's never been about losing weight (despite having plenty to lose), but rather about gaining better health. Unfortunately, there is no one diet that will work for everyone because we don't all have the same body system. The "perfect diet" for each individual will be an entirely individualized thing, and will even vary for that individual if the goal changes.

Although you haven't achieved a great testing environment for the reintroduction, I would still suggest doing one simply so you can see if any of the eliminated food groups help to improve your overall well-being in all of this.