I needed a little reboot. I was slipping into some minor bad habits and paying for it with how I felt. I'm on day 6 of whole30 and feeling awesome. I do miss cheese.... but I'm dropping weight again, so I'll take the trade-off! I plan to keep the whole food emphasis and add a tiny bit of dairy back in, at the end of the 30.
I've never heard of it, and though generally I'm pretty skeptical of diets, I think it's great that you noticed an issue and stopped it before if got out of control. So if this is what you need to get you going again, it sounds like a good plan! (and adding the dairy back afterward is a great idea -- you never want to have a food group out of your reach)
It's a whole foods diet excluding grains, dairy, sugars, and legumes. I feel so clear-headed when I cut them out. It's crazy! Eating mostly meats, fats, fruits, veg, and seeds.
I have NO problem cutting foods, and entire food groups, out of my diet that make me feel like bootay. If they have to permanently stay out, I feel that's more healthy for my body. If my body is telling me (with how I feel) that a certain food is incompatible, it's incompatible.
I'm just curious. Do you find that eating this way is more expensive/less expensive/about the same as not excluding those food groups? I tend to eat a lot of beans and rice as a poor student, hehe.
Rachella - I'm also a poor student. I find that if I really plan out weekly meals based around what fruits/veggies/meats are on sale at the nearby grocery store I can eat super healthy and still do it on a budget.
I eat SUPER cheap. I get a CSA basket and farm deliveries. There's no extra snacks or junk to buy. Even my kids eat like this. I spend a LOT less now than I did when I was eating processed foods.
I find processed foods to sometimes be a complete waste of money. You can buy a list of ingredients for the price of one ready made meal in some cases. I'm definitely all for fresh food!
Glad you're seeing results with this diet and that your kids are liking it to! Win win.
I'm not in my 20s (in my 30s, actually), but I just wanted to chime in that I am thinking of doing it!
I eat pretty clean already, but I've been in the 164-166 range for about a year. I can go up to 168 or down to 162, but I can't seem to get out of the 160s.
I "discovered" the whole paleo/primal world back in January of this year I think and since I eat pretty clean, nothing that's on the list except for the whole grains/legumes is really anything shocking.
But because I do eat legumes and brown rice and I have stayed at this weight for about a year or longer now, I wanted to see if I do the Whole30 if I can either shock my system into going down or if I discover that I have a food intolerance to something.
As it stands, I think I have one to dairy... specifically cheese! I don't think I react to milk or yogurt as much.
So, I'm going to start the Whole30 to confirm it, but I need to plan it first -- the menus, the grocery shopping lists, the whole thing, otherwise, it'll be very easy for me to resort to my whole grains and dairy!
I am on my 2nd day of whole30 so far so good. My diet was pretty clean before but I am in the same position of fluctuating in the 160s. I also hope to feel a boost on energy.
Some Paleo eaters will still eat other foods that are not "paleo." The Whole30 is focused on eliminating those non-Paleo foods (sugar, dairy, legumes, grains, white starches) from your diet, so you can bring back (after the 30 days) those items and test if there are any allergies or sensitivities to those foods.
If you don't have any, then you can eat some of them sparingly. If you do find you have an allergy/sensitivity, then you know to keep them off your diet.
I've been eating paleo for 6 weeks now and it's been great. Just finished eating chicken and green beans and it was very delicious.
I have eliminated dairy from my diet entirely, for example, since I seem to have some kind of allergy to it. I have eaten rice every once in a while (I've eaten it 2 in the last 6 weeks) and I've been fine with rice. I also ate some cupcakes last weekend which took forever to get off (in terms of water weight).
I lost on it in the beginning, but now I have to count calories too. I guess my body adjusted to paleo.
I count calories because at some level, it DOES matter if you eat too many calories -- it doesn't matter if it's "healthy" calories or not.
The reason they tell you (the Paleo community) not to count calories is because if you're switching from the SAD to Paleo, hopefully, the higher protein and fat will satiate you and you won't overeat (kind of like the whole intuitive eating thing).
But I eat when I'm bored, when I'm stressed, when I want to procrastinate, so I need to count calories because I'll eat even when I'm not hungry!!!!
I count calories because at some level, it DOES matter if you eat too many calories -- it doesn't matter if it's "healthy" calories or not.
The reason they tell you (the Paleo community) not to count calories is because if you're switching from the SAD to Paleo, hopefully, the higher protein and fat will satiate you and you won't overeat (kind of like the whole intuitive eating thing).
But I eat when I'm bored, when I'm stressed, when I want to procrastinate, so I need to count calories because I'll eat even when I'm not hungry!!!!
Yes, me too! I eat just because I love food, not because I'm hungry. Healthy paleo food, i am thinking about the leftover roasted eggplant in my fridge riiiight now! So I keep track of my cals in my fitness pal. I had metabolic testing done so I know where I need to be.