The weight loss 'wall' - keep banging my head :-/

[DebSP]

On a different thread some one suggested "It Starts With Food". It has a plan called "Whole30". I had read it a while ago but just wasn't ready to jump in. Pretty much goes against everything I had been doing. I just trained myself to eat 5 times a day. That's out. I eat low fat. That's out. I had just started to have a couple of vegetarian days a week. That's out. I have been between 149 and 155 lbs. for a couple of years now NO MATTER WHAT. I gave the Whole30 a chance. I am on day 16 and I know I am losing weight because my pants fit better. (I am not supposed to weigh myself). If nothing else, it sure makes me think about all the processed foods in my diet. I gave up dairy, sugar, legumes, grains, certain oils and avoid certain additives to food. (I didn't do it so much for weight loss at this time. I am not sleeping. I have low iron. I am tired all the time. The doctor wants me on cholesterol meds. Those are my reasons for starting it now.) Anyways, I know I won't stick to it strictly when my Whole30 is up, but I will certainly not go back to some of those foods. I am still craving sugar a bit, and I miss bread a lot! I am going to try to stick pretty close to the diet but I really want my morning coffee with cream! But I plan to go back to the doctor in 6 months and get my levels checked and see if I am improving which is incentive to carry on or stop because my levels are not better. My husband says I am definitely getting skinnier. I weighed 150 the morning I started and I have 14 days before I am supposed to step on the scale. It is a lot of extra work at the beginning. You basically can't eat anything unless you prepare it yourself. But it does get easier once you start freezing things to eat. Tulip do you ever eat sugar or bread?

[tulip]

Tulip do you ever eat sugar or bread?

I did a similar program, although I didn't know it had a name. No sugar and no bread/pasta and it made a huge difference. I see no problem with cream in my coffee--I did not give up dairy, although I drank less milk because I gave up cereal (grains) and hot chocolate (sugar). Fake sweetners were not in the program!

I did it really strictly for 30 days, and then eased up because I went on a multi-week bike tour and my choices were limited. Then I just got lazy--and gained back 5 of the 9 lbs I had lost. But I'm back on it now. Sugar is the hardest to give up, but the most effective. Bread and pasta and cereal are also hard but not as hard as sugar for me. Rice--that was hard to give up.

Fats are fine, but once you remove the sugar and the grains, you really eliminate a whole range of unnecessary and unhelpful foods. I ate as much fruit and vegetables as I wanted, and ate chicken and fish and occasionally beef. I eat kale like 3-4 times a week. Eggs are fine, so is cheese (but not the crackers or bread, so I didn't eat much cheese by itself). The hardest part for me are breakfasts; I often make a smoothie with yogurt, frozen fruit, yogurt and Spirutein powder (the only processed food that I allow).

[Crankin]

I'm getting pretty frustrated with trying the above type of eating and nothing is happening this time. Like Tulip, I haven't entirely given up dairy, but I never had a lot of it to begin with; an occasional piece of really good cheese or a sprinkle of cheddar on something. I drink almond milk and for the first time, I've found a "milk" beverage I like and my stomach can tolerate. I did a have a cheat day on Sunday, but other than that, I think I'll be able to handle 30 days of no grains or sugar, except for my nordic ski trip. Even going out for dinner isn't too bad, if I choose carefully.
So, why is my weight up 2+ lbs. every weekend and then by Friday it's down. The weight just fell off when I did this last winter.

[Catrin]

I am considering tightening things up for a couple weeks to reset - cut out all fruit and dairy. I think our bodies get accustomed to whatever our choice of diet is and we need to mix things up from time to time to get its attention. Though I must admit, a 128 pound plateau is MUCH better than the plateaus I've seen in the past

[GLC1968]

As most of you know, I'm eating in the paleo bent and have been since August of 2011. I did a Whole30 last June while still with a boot on my broken foot (ie, no real exercise) and I lost 9 lbs in those 30 days and felt fan-freaking-tastic. I slept better, my skin improved, I had great energy, etc...even though I was already paleo (no grains, no legumes, no soy and only natural sugars and the occasional high quality dairy).

Whole30 is more than super strict paleo. It is ZERO sugar (I mean, you can't even have anything that has added sugar even though there are no sugar grams listed). It has zero preservatives. No grains, no corn, no soy, no seed oils. No making paleofied versions of things (like pancakes with almond flour), no smoothies for breakfast, no liquid juice, etc. It's about resetting your hormonal response to food and it truly works. Some people get there in 10 days, others in 16, others in 29 and still others need 45 or longer...it depends on your body. The best part about the Whole30 (and It Starts With Food which is the book about it and a great read!) is that it teaches you to figure all this out FOR YOUR OWN BODY. As we all know, everyone is different. The Whole30 teaches to how to remove all the noise and listen...and from that, you can learn volumes. Plus, feeling truly vibrant can be a life-changing experience. I thought I felt damn good before I did it...but it took me to a whole new level of awesome.

I'm on day 39 of my second official Whole30 (I'm going to day 44, having a birthday treat and then doing some travel before I start a Whole75 at the end of the month). I lost 8.5 lbs in the first 30 days. I weighed on day 31 and I'll weigh again on the morning of day 44. My goal is to learn to make this a true lifestyle. Until I did my first Whole30, I considered myself 'paleo with exceptions' because I thought being 100% would be too hard and unrealistic. Whole30 taught me that it's not too hard at all!

Anyway, while the Whole30 isn't about weight loss at all, that is often the result so for anyone looking to shake it up a bit, maybe it's worth a try?

[Catrin]

hmmmmm GLC, that is a mighty strong recommendation! I've been trying to figure out the difference between my existing diet and the Whole30 and this is quite interesting! I will check out the book - and I think that what is going on for me is that noise you mention.

[Crankin]

I have given up soy (tofu), sugar, corn, and grains. I plan to do this until we go away next Thursday and resume when we return on Sunday. It's actually not that hard, except for snacks.I do admit, that even after just the "modified" Paleo for most of the last year, I feel much better, in terms of things like upper respiratory stuff, colds, and my stomach issues are better. I am in the throes of a cold and it just isn't that bad. My DH was deathly ill last week, so if anything, my immune system (which sucks) may have improved.
Good thing I like to cook. I spent the morning searching for a pork shoulder and now I have assigned the task to DH as he is leaving work at 3 and I have to actually go and do some real work...

[tulip]

It is ZERO sugar (I mean, you can't even have anything that has added sugar even though there are no sugar grams listed).

This is key for me, and the hardest part for me. But on my 30 days (not the Whole30--just my own thing; I had never heard of Whole30 until this thread) I lost 9 lbs and felt really great--energy was up, mood was up, sleeping great, concentration was way better...

I did have smoothies for breakfast, however. It's about the only thing I can eat for breakfast. I don't know anything about the Whole30 program, but whatever I did worked for me, and that included smoothies (no sugar of course) and dairy (half-and-half in my coffee and yogurt, mostly).

I do think it's important to have ZERO sugar. I mean ZERO. Doing so resets the pancreas somehow, and once you get over the hump, it's pretty fantastic.

[Catrin]

I now have the Nook version of the book and am looking forward to reading it before I take this on. My diet has been pretty darn clean since July, so it will be interesting to see what my body thinks of things. I will probably start a Whole30 journal on MDA to help me keep track of things - and it is good to get input. For MDA members I am Catrin there as well.

Sleep and stress relief is also key and can certainly affect our weight and weight-loss activities in ways that aren't obvious.