I have a lot of questions

[emilyinchile]

I've read the book, so I understand the basics, but I have personal experience-type questions. I have never been particularly interested in Whole30/paleo even though everyone says they feel "so much better" because I feel fine now, and I cannot really conceptualize how I could feel better enough to make it worth giving up many things I like to eat. If I do this, it will be primarily because it sounds like it might help with tendinitis/inflammations (I have always been prone to this kind of stuff) and acne (just that one little patch that never quite goes away). I would give up cheese (   ) to be injury-free and prettier.

So can any of you share your results with changes in your skin?
What about inflammation-related injuries that have gotten better?
Also, I am really focused on improving in Crossfit right now, and wambam I know we mentioned this a bit on H&F - what is doing a Whole30 going to do to my athletic performance?

Thanks for sharing any of your experiences with this!

[sicilygirl]

I'm on day 22, and I'm still waiting on my acne to clear up. It's actually been quite a bit worse than normal for the past couple of weeks, so I'm hoping this is a "it gets worse before it gets better" situation. I'll keep you posted, haha.

On the other hand, I usually have lots of knee pain/inflammation, and I do feel like it's a little better.

I'm interested in others' responses too!

[wambam]

Also, I am really focused on improving in Crossfit right now, and wambam I know we mentioned this a bit on H&F - what is doing a Whole30 going to do to my athletic performance?

You may initially have a dip in performance depending on what you've been eating prior to W30. It is temporary, but may take some tweaking. A few things that will help mitigate this:

1. Eating enough. Follow the W30 meal template - 1-2 palms of protein, 1-2 thumbs of fat, 1-2 cups of vegetables, and sometimes fruit. Every meal. If you eat less than this, your dip will be a trench lol.

2. Eating plenty of starchy vegetables (sweet potato, potato, squashes, etc) throughout the day, but in particular, post-workout. Do not skimp. Do not restrict.

3. Not restricting fruit too much.

[ilovebed]

I don't have injury related inflammation but I have always been prone to swelling. Even though I sit all day at work, my feet and ankles would always be swollen. My wedding rings never fit, my stomach wAs always bloated. I have not experienced any of that since I started.

[emilyinchile]

Good luck, sicilygirl! Please do let me know how it goes - I will cross my fingers that you wake up with magical clear skin soon

wambam, that all sounds doable, thanks. I've already been trying to eat fewer simple carbs, so hopefully my dip won't be too big.

My other slight concern is that I have been trying to eat 45% carb/30% protein/25% fat based on what I've read about upping carbs when you're trying to gain muscle. I should admit that I don't really know how well that works for me since I started that while injured and haven't trained 100% on that diet, but I don't know if it's going to be counterproductive to go lower carb (which would probably happen on Whole30, right?). Haha, I just want to be buff and not hurt and not broken out, is that too much to ask?!

[wambam]

Oct 13, 2014 13:33:50 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Good luck, sicilygirl! Please do let me know how it goes - I will cross my fingers that you wake up with magical clear skin soon

wambam, that all sounds doable, thanks. I've already been trying to eat fewer simple carbs, so hopefully my dip won't be too big.

My other slight concern is that I have been trying to eat 45% carb/30% protein/25% fat based on what I've read about upping carbs when you're trying to gain muscle. I should admit that I don't really know how well that works for me since I started that while injured and haven't trained 100% on that diet, but I don't know if it's going to be counterproductive to go lower carb (which would probably happen on Whole30, right?). Haha, I just want to be buff and not hurt and not broken out, is that too much to ask?!

If you're following the W30 meal template, you'll probably end up around 40-50% fat and an approximately even split on protein and carbs. If you don't add quite as much fat and eat a lot of potatoes, you could make your current macro ratios works. However, I would encourage you to take 30 days and do W30 as RX'd in the meal template and see what happens. You may not put on muscle mass, but you definitely won't lose it. And it's only 30 days.

[cgpm]

My skin wasn't horrible to begin with, but I think overall I break out less now. My breakouts used to be hormone related near my period and that doesn't seem to be so bad anymore (I continue to eat as compliant as I can even though I'm done my Whole30).

As for exercise, I run and cycle. I have found that my running has gotten better. Not only am I faster because I lost some weight, but I can run longer. I keep feeling like I get a second wind in the middle of my run and that I could just keep going forever! Before, I'd trudge through my 3 miles and be done with it. But I did 4.5 miles yesterday - no problem!

[emilyinchile]

Oct 13, 2014 14:00:50 GMT -5 wambam said:

If you're following the W30 meal template, you'll probably end up around 40-50% fat and an approximately even split on protein and carbs. If you don't add quite as much fat and eat a lot of potatoes, you could make your current macro ratios works. However, I would encourage you to take 30 days and do W30 as RX'd in the meal template and see what happens. You may not put on muscle mass, but you definitely won't lose it. And it's only 30 days.

You're right. Thanks.

[Deleted]

My skin wasn't too bad, either, but I would get those stupid breakouts on my chin - you know the ones, that hurt like a mother and leave a nice little red mark as a reminder.

Well, I haven't gotten a single breakout since I started, even though I've been done w/W30 for a little over a month.

I also felt like I had more energy (better "fuel", obviously) and slept better.

[emilyinchile]

@beachgal, that's exactly where I have the never-ending breakout cycle. I think I'm at the gearing up stage and may actually go for this soon.

[Deleted]

emilyinchile, I won't lie - the first week was the toughest (the first weekend on it sucked because I wanted to eat my usual junkie mcjunkieson food) but after that, it was pretty darn easy.

Planning/prep is key - what helped is doing a bunch of cooking on the weekend to freeze/store, etc. so you aren't so crazed during the week.

But if I can do this, ANYONE can.