[skinnyscow]

I have been doing the whole foods diet for 2 weeks now. I did not cheat with processed foods, or at least not enough to count, except for one day which was a week after I began the diet.
I gained some weight on this diet, and I'm not sure why, maybe you can help.
Foods I ate
-one day I ate eggs and tuna
-lots of fruit in the beginning but never mixed with other carbs
-barley and oatmeal-not with other carbs
-yogurt
-almonds
-cottage cheese
-peanut butter
-100% whole grain english muffins
-vegetable burgers, not with other carbs
-steamed veggies
-chicken- plain
-vegetable soup
-salsa, sour cream, cheese
dairy has been low fat, everything is plain elements with no added oils or sugars.
I don't even eat a large quantity of food per day, although I am not precisely counting cals. Could I be not getting enough calories even with the high calorie content of some of these foods? The frequency of my eating and the type of foods have made my energy constant but by no means high. No blood sugar soars but no lows.
Please help if you can, thanks!

I forgot to mention too, that I am very puffy. I feel like I have loose flabby puffy skin around my frame all over, which is different from 2 weeks ago. Even on my back which is usually pretty slim.
My nails have grown strong and superb, and I have gotten over the digestive issues. I think my skin is good perhaps a bit less oily in the face? Probably too soon to tell.

[seagirl]

Try counting calories for a few days on something like Daily Plate or Sparkpeople, which will also show you how much protein, fat and carbs you are eating.

Why aren't you eating oils? Those are essential.

And you can roast the veggies for more flavor, or squeeze and orange in while it cooks.

Whole foods doesn't mean steamed, plain and boring. It just means eating close to the source.

One of my favorite recipes:
Cut brussels sprouts in half, lay cut side down in saute pan with some butter over medium heat. Let sit until they brown a little, then pour on a little soy sauce and 1/2 cup OJ, put a cover on and simmer until they are cooked. Drizzle a little honey on top, and boil without lid to reduce liquid before serving.

All whole foods, but not steamed and not boring.

[kaplods]

Not everyone loses weight on a whole food diet. For several years (during my refusal to diet years) I maintained my way-too high weight on a primarily whole food diet (I was eating white rice and a few other non-whole foods). I ate healthfully, but I still ate too much.

I'm also insulin-resistant and quite carb-sensitive. I cannot eat fruit or grains in unlimited quantities, and I can't eat them alone. If I eat high-carb (even good-carb) foods like fruit or grains without fat and protein, I'm hungry again in an hour or less (so I eat more, and lose less or not at all).

I need a portion-control element, so I use an exchange plan for balance and to control calories, and I use paleo and whole food principles to guide my choices.

You may be able to tweak your plan without having to resort to calorie, exchange, or point counting. Some people limit grains and/or fruits or even fats to a specific number of servings per day (and then don't count anything else).

That may or may not work for you. Personally, I can overeat anything (except maybe leafy grean veggies) to the point my weight loss can stall.

[Suzanne 3FC]

Whole foods are more nutritious and most people will feel a lot better. Could the puffiness be due to that time of the month? Or maybe too much salt and not enough water? Some of the foods on your list can be high in sodium. I was personally surprised by the amount of sodium in cottage cheese. Canned vegetable soup can also be very high. I eat it, but I balance it throughout the rest of the day with lower sodium meals.

You mentioned you are not sure how many calories you are consuming, so I would start there if I were you. Go ahead and measure everything for a week or two and check the calories online. Sometimes it's easy to miscalculate in one direction or the other. After a couple of weeks of measuring, you should be able to eyeball it from there. You might need to replace some of the calorie dense foods with vegetables. Lots of salads and broccoli and yummy foods like that

Keep us updated!

[skinnyscow]

Thank you for the suggestions! I'm tracking now and trying to meet lower daily cals so I will report back. Either sodium or the nut cals are my guess based on your responses so I'll try to lower those and use more veggies. @suzanne I think eventually I'll feel much better too!

[giselley]

There is an awful lot of fat and carbohydrates in that list of yours. I don't see any green vegetables. You need to count calories if your diet is going to be all cheese, peanut butter, and oatmeal.

[Zemelle]

Hopefully I won't get called a bee for this, but, I find Sparkpeople helpful in counting calories. I used to put nuts and an avocado and those lovely little tortilla strips in my salads, in addition to chicken strips, 2 tsp of blue cheese crumbles and then I saw how much an avocado added to the calorie count, so cut it out and the seeds/nuts and the tortilla strips. Seeing it broken down really helps in determining what you will eat and how much. I'd lose the sour cream and go for greek non fat plain yogurt, healthier for sure.

[girl81]

Have you considered a more Paleo approach?

[HeatherEljohari]

Is the peanut butter regular? there is alot of sugar in regular pb. I make mine homemade or get natural {check the label for sugar content}. You can add honey or any natural sweetener.

[MissKoo]

Originally Posted by Zemelle

I used to put nuts and an avocado and those lovely little tortilla strips in my salads, in addition to chicken strips, 2 tsp of blue cheese crumbles and then I saw how much an avocado added to the calorie count, so cut it out and the seeds/nuts and the tortilla strips..

Avocado is a healthy fat and good for you! Don't give up healthy foods that are high calorie! Maybe eat less of it, for sure.

I'm sure no one would call you a "bee" for what you posted. I'm not even sure what that means Sounds better than calling you a hornet, a wasp or a yellow-jacket.

P.S. I'm loving my juicing regimen (just mornings, for now). I just pushed my tracker down FIVE POUNDS and my allergies are way down, as well. Happy me