New here...questions re paleo/whole 30

[Cricket]

Hi there. I've been lurking for a while but am just starting to post. I'm a 40 year old mom of two who works full-time and runs occasionally. I struggle with my weight, and it seems to really go up and down when my life changes. I gained and lost a lot of weight (40 lbs) with both pregnancies, and I was doing pretty well until last summer. Then work changed, and my car/commute time got a lot longer, and I stopped watching/eating healthily and exercising, and now I'm paying for it. I've gained weight (a lot!) and I feel sluggish. 

I want to recommit to being healthy. Counting calories seems harder than it has been before so I'm thinking about trying something like paleo or whole 30 or

I'm looking for suggestions about how to structure my eating so I can lose this extra weight and feel better. And, while I'd love to just eat healthier, I'm not doing so well on my own. I need some form of structure, some sort of plan that will help me to relearn what's ok and what's not so ok for me.

so, what plans/approaches/types of eating might be helpful?
I've heard a lot about whole30 and I'm interested. Should I try it? If so, any tips to help me get started would be much appreciated.
and what about paleo? Has it helped you to lose weight and get healthier?

Any suggestions, websites, blogs, book recs etc would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[wambam]

Hello.

I have eaten paleo for over two years now and it's a lifestyle that really works for both me and my husband. I have a wheat allergy and he is allergic to legumes, so it's a fairly natural extension for us to eat this way. I have never been healthier or enjoyed food so much. It's not for everyone, I realize that, but it definitely IS for me!

I have completed several Whole30s. I usually do it as just a "reset." I definitely recommend completing one so that you know exactly how certain foods affect you. You will learn a LOT about yourself and your response to foods.

I think the best books are It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig and The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. They are both scientific enough so you know why you're doing what you're doing but also entertaining enough that it's not a burden to read them.

Please let me know if you have specific questions. I'd be happy to talk to you about them.

[pag41989]

Thanks for posting this! I have been thinking about trying Whole 30 myself. After eating a ton of crap for Valentine's Day then following that bad eating into the weekend I feel TERRIBLE (and managed to gain 8 pounds last week.. ugh). However, I read the list of everything you can't eat and it seems so restrictive! Is there a large list somewhere of everything I can eat? The restrictive list really freaks me out!

[appleaday]

I've had great success eating a plant-based vegan diet. No meat, no dairy, I just eat plenty of starches/grains, vegetables, and fruits with the occasional coconut ice cream/vegan dessert. The best part for me is I don't limit the amount I eat or count calories. There are a TON of recipe resources online, a few of my favorites: Finding Vegan, Happy Herbivore, and John McDougall's website.

[wambam]

Feb 17, 2014 9:15:05 GMT -5 pag41989 said:

Thanks for posting this! I have been thinking about trying Whole 30 myself. After eating a ton of crap for Valentine's Day then following that bad eating into the weekend I feel TERRIBLE (and managed to gain 8 pounds last week.. ugh). However, I read the list of everything you can't eat and it seems so restrictive! Is there a large list somewhere of everything I can eat? The restrictive list really freaks me out!

Here's a shopping list. whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Shopping-List.pdf

[Cricket]

Feb 17, 2014 9:15:05 GMT -5 pag41989 said:

Thanks for posting this! I have been thinking about trying Whole 30 myself. After eating a ton of crap for Valentine's Day then following that bad eating into the weekend I feel TERRIBLE (and managed to gain 8 pounds last week.. ugh). However, I read the list of everything you can't eat and it seems so restrictive! Is there a large list somewhere of everything I can eat? The restrictive list really freaks me out!

I found a helpful list here: 

whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Shopping-List.pdf

the page was slow to load but once it finally came up, it was excellent.

for breakfast today, I had three eggs and a pile of veggies, mostly because it was the healthiest thing I could come up with from what we had in the house. I'm going to go out to Whole Foods and buy some of the essentials (and the book if they have it) and I'm going to give this a try. I have lots of questions, but I need to do this and I need it now. 

wambam, thank you! I'm going to go buy the book today but can you tell me what the recommendations are for water? How much should I be drinking? And does the book talk about exercise at all? 

[wambam]

Feb 17, 2014 9:27:26 GMT -5 Cricket said:

Feb 17, 2014 9:15:05 GMT -5 pag41989 said:

Thanks for posting this! I have been thinking about trying Whole 30 myself. After eating a ton of crap for Valentine's Day then following that bad eating into the weekend I feel TERRIBLE (and managed to gain 8 pounds last week.. ugh). However, I read the list of everything you can't eat and it seems so restrictive! Is there a large list somewhere of everything I can eat? The restrictive list really freaks me out!

I found a helpful list here: 

whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Shopping-List.pdf

the page was slow to load but once it finally came up, it was excellent.

for breakfast today, I had three eggs and a pile of veggies, mostly because it was the healthiest thing I could come up with from what we had in the house. I'm going to go out to Whole Foods and buy some of the essentials (and the book if they have it) and I'm going to give this a try. I have lots of questions, but I need to do this and I need it now. 

wambam, thank you! I'm going to go buy the book today but can you tell me what the recommendations are for water? How much should I be drinking? And does the book talk about exercise at all? 

Drink whenever you're thirsty. Stop when you're not. You shouldn't be drinking much else other than water (coffee or plain tea perhaps). 

It doesn't really talk much about exercise. It's more about food.

[jennysmitten]

I just started my first Whole 30 today. I don't eat wheat now but cutting out diary will be the biggest challenge for me. I am doing it more as a reset for my system. I was particularly happy to start today after being glutened on Saturday.

[lauren170]

I lost 160lbs and never counted calories. I ate a lot of protein and vegetables. Chicken, ground turkey, salmon, steak... You can eat these foods until you feel full and not worry about counting calories. However, I did give up bread, cereal, crackers and basically any kind of refined sugar. I'd have one dessert a week and maybe 2 glasses of wine a week.

Later on in my weight loss I did paleo and Whole 30. They are great too, but even more restrictive than what I needed to lose the first ~140lbs.

My blog is in my signature if you're interested. The pictures aren't working right now though.

[spunkypenguin]

I've done two Whole30s now and am eating mostly Paleo. I chose this route after getting frustrated with calorie counting - it just wasn't working for me anymore. I like the program. I feel great when I eat this way and crappy when I eat processed junk now. I have not lost much weight on it (and I definitely need to drop some pounds!) - mostly just maintained. I also found that long distance running and paleo were not working, so I added back in a carby dinner the night before my long runs and a carby breakfast. I'm going to do another Whole30 in April after my half marathon and switch gears to more strength training. The only time that I don't feel like I have energy for my workouts is long-distance running. Spin, lifting, HIIT, other cardio, etc all feels great...even interval running.

[Cricket]

wow, thanks everyone. I'm on day #2 of whole30 as an attempt to fix the messy eating. I am tracking what I eat but not limiting, because I want to see where Im coming in in terms of amount (I know my idea of portions and hunger is not quite right these days)

yesterday, I had a few too many larabars (3, as snacks am/pm/eve, so it wasnt a larabar binge or anything, but I need to watch and make sure I'm not focusing too much on the whole30 version of candy bars. Other than that, it feels pretty good.

is anyone else currently on a whole30?

[daisybuchannan]

Feb 18, 2014 10:13:16 GMT -5 Cricket said:

wow, thanks everyone. I'm on day #2 of whole30 as an attempt to fix the messy eating. I am tracking what I eat but not limiting, because I want to see where Im coming in in terms of amount (I know my idea of portions and hunger is not quite right these days)

yesterday, I had a few too many larabars (3, as snacks am/pm/eve, so it wasnt a larabar binge or anything, but I need to watch and make sure I'm not focusing too much on the whole30 version of candy bars. Other than that, it feels pretty good.

is anyone else currently on a whole30?

I'm in week 2 of my Whole 30! I've posted a few recaps and recipes I've made in my blog. It's been hard in a lot of ways, mainly snacks and lunch bc everything I used to grab (string cheese, yogurt, apple and pb, etc) are off limits. I tend to graze for lunch instead of having a full meal. Over the weekend my H and I felt pretty frustrated bc we were both always hungry. I think a lot of it was mental, bc in week 2 I'm feeling great. My sleep has been amazing, which is so appreciated since I've had sleep issues for a long time. We are going out to dinner this weekend and are going to try our best to stick to the program food wise, but we will indulge and have a few drinks.

One hard part for me is finding a balance between enough food and not over doing it. I am a fitness instructor and sometimes teach 2 intense classes in one day, so I need to fuel properly.

[MrsE]

Several of us did a January Whole 30. If you search Whole 30 the posts with links should hopefully pop up for you. I'm on the ap, otherwise I would post them. Several ladies were super helpful with food recs and recipe ideas. GL!

[hws05]

I'm new here, but wanted to chime in since my husband and I started Paleo last week. It's been tough. I miss my coffee with milk and sugar, but we're hanging in there. It's getting easier on week 2 since we know what to expect.
It's time consuming since pretty much every meal you have to make from scratch. Plus we have to go to 3 different stores to find all the ingredients (which gets expensive too).
But we both feel great! What really helped us was planning out the meals for the week in advance, so we know what to make and we're not just sitting around hungry looking for a quick meal.
Good luck!

[wambam]

Feb 19, 2014 10:54:15 GMT -5 hws05 said:

I'm new here, but wanted to chime in since my husband and I started Paleo last week. It's been tough. I miss my coffee with milk and sugar, but we're hanging in there. It's getting easier on week 2 since we know what to expect.
It's time consuming since pretty much every meal you have to make from scratch. Plus we have to go to 3 different stores to find all the ingredients (which gets expensive too).
But we both feel great! What really helped us was planning out the meals for the week in advance, so we know what to make and we're not just sitting around hungry looking for a quick meal.
Good luck!

I promise it gets easier! It took us a few months before we felt like we had the "hang" of things. 

[Cricket]

Well I'm still on track. I don't feel great but I don't feel horrible either. I'm not hungry but I really want to bake up some French fries and eat them with a lot of cheese

I'm not getting any 'detox' type symptoms, and I don't feel better or worse than before. Is this how it went for you? Because everything I've seen/read says I'm supposed to be feeling it somehow.

[wambam]

It may be coming, it may not. When I've been on a bender before a Whole30, days 5-7 are the worst for me.

[mandiespharm]

I didn't feel tired and grumpy until days 6-8/9. Everyone is just a little bit different you just have to remember that.

I have to agree with everything that wambam has said - you shouldn't have to "track" what you are eating you get enough nutrients and calories if you eat a big enough meal. The first couple of days I was hungry and I realized I wasn't getting enough good fats. As soon as I added an avocado and some more protein I felt a lot better.

Stick with it. And don't cheat. If you have a glass of wine or a beer here or there you aren't doing this. Do you really want to start all over???