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Otis fad diet thread — yoga, fasting, and kevzilla walking on🚶♂️ (11 Viewers)
- Thread starter Otis
- Start date
Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
@Otis, the wife and I did around a hundred days of Whole30 last year. I really like it. Even after the 100 days we still did mostly Whole30 while adding in rice or other grains and red wine occasionally. The last half of the year we had some personal stuff come up and ended up drinking often and the Whole30 went by the wayside. By the holidays we were eating all kinds of crap.
I will say we both lost a lot of weight and I don't think either of us gained it all back by the end of the year.
We restarted Whole30 on Jan 2 this year. Its been real easy to start back up.
When I travel for work, I travel 3-4 days at a time. I try to do my best on the road, I just avoid grains and sugars (and alcohol) while not worrying about what type of oil my food was cooked with. So breakfast is eggs, bacon, and fruit. Lunch is chicken on a salad (no cheese!). Dinner is some type of protein and veggies. Its not 'true Whole30' but it seems to work well enough.
I assume your wife is on Pintrest and finding recipes. Here's a few I like.
Turkey Basil Meatloaf
Tuscan Chicken Spaghetti Squash
One Pan Balsamic Chicken with Veggies
Frittatas (several versions)
Nachos with Plaintain chips (look up a homemade taco seasoning)
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Chipotle Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
I will say we both lost a lot of weight and I don't think either of us gained it all back by the end of the year.
We restarted Whole30 on Jan 2 this year. Its been real easy to start back up.
When I travel for work, I travel 3-4 days at a time. I try to do my best on the road, I just avoid grains and sugars (and alcohol) while not worrying about what type of oil my food was cooked with. So breakfast is eggs, bacon, and fruit. Lunch is chicken on a salad (no cheese!). Dinner is some type of protein and veggies. Its not 'true Whole30' but it seems to work well enough.
I assume your wife is on Pintrest and finding recipes. Here's a few I like.
Turkey Basil Meatloaf
Tuscan Chicken Spaghetti Squash
One Pan Balsamic Chicken with Veggies
Frittatas (several versions)
Nachos with Plaintain chips (look up a homemade taco seasoning)
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Chipotle Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
Otis
Footballguy
@Poke_4_Life thanks a million for sharing, and I will relay those recipes to the missus (yes, she’s all over Pinterest and all sorts of websites, and I sent her to the reddit as well; she’s also reading the book, which I haven’t yet, but plan to).
Day 6 and it couldn’t be easier. Last night was my first temptation, but it wasn’t food — was craving that near-the-weekend Thursday night beer or scotch or wine. I wasn’t even close to giving in — feeling very committted here — but it was the first real craving.
So far it’s been super easy. I eat what Mrs. O makes for breakfast and dinner; for lunch I have a Whole30-compliant bar (there’s an Rx bar with dates and cocoa and nuts and sea salt that tastes great). I’m going to start working in a little more fruit, a banana or apple in the afternoon. But after eating a full healthy meal at night, I have zero craving for junk food, and I’m usually pretty full.
Woke up feeling great again — went to the gym this morning, which was the first time I’ve made it there for Day 4 in a week in a long while (been pretty steadily making 3 days at least).
We’ve also discussed that we want to extend this beyond the 30 days and never go back. Mrs. O who can be sometimes flaky about my crazy fad diets is super committed, which makes it so much easier to stay on. I’d like to do what you’re suggesting in terms of extending it after the 30 days — basically keep the same eating habits, with some looser allowances for a few things, but an approximation of Whole30, and allowing alcohol on the weekends or special events (but no more guzzling bottles of red wine on the couch at night 7 days a week...).
This is very doable. I’m going to stick with this lifting and eating program for an extended period of time, and I have no doubt it will completely change how I look and feel, and my general health. Psyched for that.
Thanks again for the post, I’ll pass those recipes along to Mrs O. Good luck.
The Gator
Footballguy
JuniorGong
Footballguy
I believe the O/U on you sticking with the diet was 13 so those that went under (37 out of 38 bets) have to be feeling good.
GregR
Footballguy
Celebrated a birthday with a guilt-free (well, low guilt at least) and pizza-heavy weekend. Was down another pound going in but the pizza negated that and a bit more, but I'm back to about where I started last week.
Have done really well this week since. Planning out my meals in advance helps quite a bit. Not sure what I'm doing for the Super Bowl yet, but I think I'm going to make it a test of my willpower and stay low calorie.
dino259
Footballguy
NutterButter
Footballguy
Item that was added to the simple meal rotation a few months back. Cup of noodles, a few servings of steamed broccoli, one serving of costco frozen chicken (I've pimped this stuff before. My predominant protein source. Pretty much add it to everyone from salads to zucchini pasta to this ramen concoction. You name it). Looking at max 500 calories, 28 grams of protein and whatever a few servings of broccoli has. Downside is 50% sodium but could be less sodium and calories b/c there's some ramen mixture juice left that I don't drink. Takes about 5 minutes and is pretty damn tasty. I'd highly recommend.
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Otis
Footballguy
Went to the steakhouse. Drank water the whole time while clients enjoyed some beer and wine. That was the hardest part. Otherwise asked them to not cook my steak in butter (wasn’t nearly as good) and had it plain without any sauce; ate Brussels sprouts and asparagus too, again, all the good stuff on the side.
So, still at it. Today is Day 13. Tiger Blood time soon.
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Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
You got this.
I was on day 31 yesterday. Had a piece of cake in the office and didn't really enjoy it. Sticking with Whole30 pretty closely for the foreseeable future, maybe a weekend drink from time to time.
culdeus
Footballguy
I'm gonna guess the sprouts and asparagus were loaded with butter. But honestly I can't imagine it mattering.
Otis
Footballguy
No, I had a discussion with the waitress about this. She was making suggestions about what I could have. Was cooked in olive oil.
JuniorGong
Footballguy
Starting this up in another week with my wife, just waiting to get past her birthday next weekend. We have a work reward in Cabo towards the end of March so we both want to be in good shape.
Booze is going to be the hardest part for me.
Otis
Footballguy
Yeah. We are very seriously debating adding booze back in on weekends. I’ll do Whole90 — don’t give a crap about the food — but damnit taking away our booze....
may have a drink or two tonight...
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GregR
Footballguy
Was really good during the Super Bowl.... until the Patriots lost and then it was celebrating without concern for the consequences. Doh!
Still managed a win for the week.
dino259
Footballguy
221.4
Had a bit extra for the superbowl but already had a better day at work not constantly snacking on chips. Also trying to limit soda but should just not have any.
Chaka
Footballguy
How the heck did this post go four days without comment?Yeah. We are very seriously debating adding booze back in on weekends. I’ll do Whole90 — don’t give a crap about the food — but damnit taking away our booze....
may have a drink or two tonight...
Otis
Footballguy
So I'm something like 20 days in. We did drink alcohol this past weekend, but never deviated diet-wise, despite the bag of dark chocolate Milano cookies staring at me from the cubpoard every night, and some restaurant meals out.
I think I've come to understand what is great about Whole30 and what is awful about it, and partly this is from reading up on it more in the past couple days.
What's great about it is it teaches you about your weak spots and bad habits. For me, it's clear as day that the two things that have killed me most are (1) junk food snacking (mostly at night on the couch while watching TV) and (2) overdoing it with the alcohol every night. I've gone without that for almost three weeks now, and I realize I don't NEED any of it. Like, I can still hang out on the couch with my wife and watch some TV at night without guzzling a bottle of wine and a scotch or two, and without jamming a rack of Oreos into my face. And the added benefit is you wake up the next morning actually feeling GOOD for a change. Been a while since I experienced that on a regular basis. Also, sleep has been better at night.
So, the great thing about it is you can find your bad habits, and learn to correct them because you learn you don't need them. I'm hoping this lesson sticks, because even if that's the only thing that comes from Whole 30, it will be a massive overall improvement to my health and well being. I'm down about 10lbs since the start, probably will lose another 5 before it's done, so losing 15lbs is a nice little fringe benefit as well.
What's bad about it is that it's not a great diet. This article is what got me to thinking more about it, and it links to a US News survey and ranking of all diets. Whole30 ranked #37 in the list of best diets. That's, like, not good. The doctors all bash it as basically being a gimmick -- the exclusions from your diet are completely arbitrary, and include lots of things that are good for you, like legumes and whole grains. They say there is no science to back up any of the claims. Ultimately they say it's just two people who don't really know what they're talking about who came up with a diet and it became a fad.
For me, I've noticed that, for example, my workouts have been worse. That's probably in part because I'm eating a whole lot less, but I've also found I've lost some strength on my lifts and my recovery time is longer -- usually I'm sore days later now where, in the past, I might not be.
So this morning I decided to start slowly deviating from it, by putting some whey protein in my banana and almond milk smoothie (I'm so sick of eggs for breakfast). If the diet tells me not to add protein to my food, I'm thinking probably that's a stupid diet. I also decided to do it after reading this article last night indicating a recent study that said especially if you're over 40, you should overdo protein in your diet. In other words, after that age, added protein has a dramatically increased effect on performance and muscle growth. So, I'm going to start slowly weaning off Whole30 and adding in a protein shake probably each morning.
But in general, I'm glad I did this. I'm near the end, and basically have completed the diet other than the alcohol that one weekend. It's taught me where me weak spots are and I think, hopefully, has helped me correct some bad habits. We'll see if that part "sticks," but if it does, it was well worth it.
I think I've come to understand what is great about Whole30 and what is awful about it, and partly this is from reading up on it more in the past couple days.
What's great about it is it teaches you about your weak spots and bad habits. For me, it's clear as day that the two things that have killed me most are (1) junk food snacking (mostly at night on the couch while watching TV) and (2) overdoing it with the alcohol every night. I've gone without that for almost three weeks now, and I realize I don't NEED any of it. Like, I can still hang out on the couch with my wife and watch some TV at night without guzzling a bottle of wine and a scotch or two, and without jamming a rack of Oreos into my face. And the added benefit is you wake up the next morning actually feeling GOOD for a change. Been a while since I experienced that on a regular basis. Also, sleep has been better at night.
So, the great thing about it is you can find your bad habits, and learn to correct them because you learn you don't need them. I'm hoping this lesson sticks, because even if that's the only thing that comes from Whole 30, it will be a massive overall improvement to my health and well being. I'm down about 10lbs since the start, probably will lose another 5 before it's done, so losing 15lbs is a nice little fringe benefit as well.
What's bad about it is that it's not a great diet. This article is what got me to thinking more about it, and it links to a US News survey and ranking of all diets. Whole30 ranked #37 in the list of best diets. That's, like, not good. The doctors all bash it as basically being a gimmick -- the exclusions from your diet are completely arbitrary, and include lots of things that are good for you, like legumes and whole grains. They say there is no science to back up any of the claims. Ultimately they say it's just two people who don't really know what they're talking about who came up with a diet and it became a fad.
For me, I've noticed that, for example, my workouts have been worse. That's probably in part because I'm eating a whole lot less, but I've also found I've lost some strength on my lifts and my recovery time is longer -- usually I'm sore days later now where, in the past, I might not be.
So this morning I decided to start slowly deviating from it, by putting some whey protein in my banana and almond milk smoothie (I'm so sick of eggs for breakfast). If the diet tells me not to add protein to my food, I'm thinking probably that's a stupid diet. I also decided to do it after reading this article last night indicating a recent study that said especially if you're over 40, you should overdo protein in your diet. In other words, after that age, added protein has a dramatically increased effect on performance and muscle growth. So, I'm going to start slowly weaning off Whole30 and adding in a protein shake probably each morning.
But in general, I'm glad I did this. I'm near the end, and basically have completed the diet other than the alcohol that one weekend. It's taught me where me weak spots are and I think, hopefully, has helped me correct some bad habits. We'll see if that part "sticks," but if it does, it was well worth it.
mr roboto
Footballguy
Great synopsis Otis. I agree with most of what you say.
I put no stock in the diet rankings. Whole30 is basically an anti-inflammatory reset program vs a long term nutritional plan. It’s meant to teach you how certain foods impact your body/brain/energy/sleep. Grains, dairy, bad oils etc.
Re:lifting and loss of strength. This is to be expected. You are probably in a calorie deficit and your body has much less stored sugar than you’re used to. You aren’t going to see gains while eating like this (unless you were untrained beforehand which it sounds like isn’t the case).
Lift less. Give more time for recovery. Think of this as the cutting phase. Lose the body fat then focus on bulking.
I put no stock in the diet rankings. Whole30 is basically an anti-inflammatory reset program vs a long term nutritional plan. It’s meant to teach you how certain foods impact your body/brain/energy/sleep. Grains, dairy, bad oils etc.
Re:lifting and loss of strength. This is to be expected. You are probably in a calorie deficit and your body has much less stored sugar than you’re used to. You aren’t going to see gains while eating like this (unless you were untrained beforehand which it sounds like isn’t the case).
Lift less. Give more time for recovery. Think of this as the cutting phase. Lose the body fat then focus on bulking.
mr roboto
Footballguy
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
Kale recipes, whatcha got?
Short Corner
Footballguy
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
Otis
Footballguy
It's a fake diet some guy and his wife made up, with a bunch of totally arbitrary rules. NO PEANUTS, BUT YES CASHEWS OMGGG!!
I'll happily put my own little arbitrary twist on it -- a little alcohol at the midpoint, and some whey protein -- if it better suits me.
Chaka
Footballguy
This is a very thoughtful post, particularly from you. Typically I have come to expect little more than "POTATOES!!! BAM! SUCK IT!" or "Ugh, I can't believe I ate the whole thing..." posts from you in these threads. So the fact that you went into detail and even provided your own research links says a lot to me.
That being said a couple things stand out. Ranking this diet #37 seems pretty arbitrary as well. There is nothing that legumes, dairy or whole grains that provide that will have any negative impact on your health by skipping them for 30 days. Particularly when you are eating nothing but vegetables, unprocessed proteins and healthy fats. Whole 30 is essentially the foundation of every single legitimate, effective healthy eating lifestyle in the history of mankind. Eat vegetables, lots of them, plenty of unprocessed protein and healthy fats. That's it.
Finally, not to be too much of a Richard but no, you really haven't done it. You had alcohol on day 15 and on "day 20" you are making another compromise. No compromises is part of the lesson.
Getting through 30 days is kinda the whole point.
Chaka
Footballguy
GregR
Footballguy
What has worked for me:
1) Actually look at the calorie count of stuff I'm eating so I'm informed, even if I don't track it daily. Though better to track it.
2) Look up online how many calories maintain my current weight, and how many to take in for losing 1-2 pounds a week.
3) Find foods I enjoy that fit in that calorie count. For me, concerned about diabetic stuff, this also means low carb things I enjoy.
4) Find what sates my hunger so I'm not fighting the urge to eat. For me this mostly involves some amount of fat each meal (cheese works great), and avoiding artificial sweeteners.
5) Realizing that some starchy carbs (like pizza crust) just stick around in the digestive track for 4-5 days, which is really disheartening on the scale if you don't expect it to happen. (Example: My birthday weekend pizza splurge, had 3 pizzas over 4 days. Enough extra calories to account for no more than a pound or so. The scale went up *** 13 pounds *** by Sunday night. By Thursday night the weight had mostly all passed and I was back to where I'd started.)
6) Exercise where I can. Aerobic, calorie-burning, but something I can do and enjoy. For me that was an exercise bike in front of the TV while I watched sports, movies, or binge watched.
And the great thing about all of this is... it's not a diet, it's not a fad that I'm going to grow tired of. It's something I think I can make a lifestyle change and stick with. The whole thing hinges on finding foods I enjoy that sate me that I can eat in quantities I like without it hurting me on the scale. If you're happy with what you eat, you're going to stick to it a lot better than you are doing fad diets.
1) Actually look at the calorie count of stuff I'm eating so I'm informed, even if I don't track it daily. Though better to track it.
2) Look up online how many calories maintain my current weight, and how many to take in for losing 1-2 pounds a week.
3) Find foods I enjoy that fit in that calorie count. For me, concerned about diabetic stuff, this also means low carb things I enjoy.
4) Find what sates my hunger so I'm not fighting the urge to eat. For me this mostly involves some amount of fat each meal (cheese works great), and avoiding artificial sweeteners.
5) Realizing that some starchy carbs (like pizza crust) just stick around in the digestive track for 4-5 days, which is really disheartening on the scale if you don't expect it to happen. (Example: My birthday weekend pizza splurge, had 3 pizzas over 4 days. Enough extra calories to account for no more than a pound or so. The scale went up *** 13 pounds *** by Sunday night. By Thursday night the weight had mostly all passed and I was back to where I'd started.)
6) Exercise where I can. Aerobic, calorie-burning, but something I can do and enjoy. For me that was an exercise bike in front of the TV while I watched sports, movies, or binge watched.
And the great thing about all of this is... it's not a diet, it's not a fad that I'm going to grow tired of. It's something I think I can make a lifestyle change and stick with. The whole thing hinges on finding foods I enjoy that sate me that I can eat in quantities I like without it hurting me on the scale. If you're happy with what you eat, you're going to stick to it a lot better than you are doing fad diets.
mr roboto
Footballguy
Yeah but then you’ve kinda completely bailed on the whole point of it.
Also not surprised you’re too good for it.
Short Corner
Footballguy
Chaka
Footballguy
And, you're rationalizing.
It's called Whole 30 not Whole Everyday for the Rest of your Life.
DocHolliday
Footballguy
That's impressive
NutterButter
Footballguy
Big bag of kale (one I was using from costco was 8 servings)ScottNorwood said:
2 slices of thick cut bacon diced up
Half an onion diced up
Couple cloves of garlic diced up
Fry bacon, onion, and garlic in a big soup pot. Throw a few cups of water in and the bag of kale. Cook on low covered for like 10 minutes. Stir around on occasion to mix all that fried goodness together. I liked still having some water left after cooking so that I could throw in some potatoes and basically have somewhat of a soup but you can adjust to your preference. Was eating this like crazy as my main veggie for awhile, but I've since switched to steamed broccoli. Might have to circle back soon.
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NutterButter
Footballguy
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