Results from my Whole 25

By Christina Routon

I did not complete the Whole 30 challenge. I got through day 25 and I'd had enough.

The Whole 30 is not easy to complete. It wasn't just about giving up the grains and the sugar as I'd already been wheat-free and sugar-free for some time. It was actually harder for me giving up the dairy - the cheese in my eggs, the cream in my coffee. To do this takes planning and preparation, and it seemed the more the month went on it just became more difficult and time consuming.

I learned a lot about myself, and this trumps any results I had with weight loss or inches lost. I learned about emotional attachments I have to food. After a rough day, I wanted pizza and ice cream. The last thing I wanted to do was go home to chicken and vegetables and spend another hour in the kitchen prepping for the next day. However, I know that food will not make me feel better and I believe doing this is helping me break those attachments.

Since going without any type of sugar or sugar substitute for almost a month, now that I can use the sweetener again I find my taste has changed. Before I used about four packets of Splenda in a cup of coffee or tea, trying to mimic the sweet taste of sugar. Now, I may use one and it tastes fine.

I was surprised at how many foods contain sugar, wheat, and other additives. I will definitely continue to read labels and make the best choices possible when buying groceries.

I've learned a new appreciation for vegetables, including vegetables I never would have tried before. My husband makes excellent mashed cauliflower. I love the recipe for jicama home fries and chocolate chili from the cookbook, Well Fed. I've eaten sweet potatoes, butternut and spaghetti squash, broccoli, cauliflower, jicama and so many other vegetables I can't remember. I've learned new ways of cooking and new ways of seasoning food to make it taste good and be interesting every day. I've learned shortcuts such as prepping vegetables ahead of time in containers, pre-cooking ground meat to use in a variety of recipes and using my slow cooker for a roast or chicken. I've made homemade mayo and salad dressing. It was definitely an experience.

As for physical results, I lost two pounds. I'd hoped to lose four or five, but I know lipedema slows weight loss and as I was already wheat-free and sugar-free I didn't expect to lose as much as those going from a typical SAD diet to a Whole 30 plan. I did lose inches, mostly on my arms. I did some exercise, not as much as I'd liked, but I plan to include healthy movement into my days. It may not be a scheduled exercise program, but I am going to do something to move my body and keep it healthy.

I did notice recently my calves feel softer than they did before. I've been using lotion on my legs and for a long time my calves had felt hard. This is important, because lipedema fat on the calves tends to get hard (fibrotic) and lumpy and this affects the way lymphatic fluid moves through the legs. The fact that my calves are softer and actually jiggle (who would have thought I'd be happy to have more jiggly fat?) tells me my body is changing, even if I can't see it.

I'm going to continue a more primal style of diet, predominately paleo but including cheese and butter. This is going to be my diet 95 percent of the time. I'm going to include corn on a limited basis, more in the form of corn tortillas and grits than whole kernal corn, and until Stevia is a bit more affordable I'm going to have to stick with Splenda as a sweetener, if I use one at all. I'm learning more about Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats as well, which I'll share soon, and plan to add more Omega 3 fats to my diet.

I'll probably do another Whole 30 in the fall, maybe around August or September. I'm glad I did it. I learned a lot for my first go round and I'm looking forward to seeing what changes take place as the year progresses.

Giving up Grains

by Sylvie from Lipedemic Me

First, I need to say that because of the magic of the Internet and of, yes, Facebook, I met many wonderful ladies suffering from Lipoedema from all over the world!

We have support groups on Facebook, some of these women have websites, blogs and we are building up a strong community!

On the Lipese website...the idea came of starting a Lifestyle Challenge, which is all about making some changes in our eating habits, exercising, experimenting with supplements, treatments, etc...that can be resumed in 3 words: MANAGING OUR LIPOEDEMA.

My own personal changes started in November 2012, when I decided to go wheat and sugar free. Thought I would go nuts and end up like "Grumpy" but hey, was I in for a surprise!! I lost 10 pounds in a month!! Of course I had withdrawal symptoms: diarrhea, headaches, abdominal cramps but I persisted and now if I have something sweet I go "NAH!...this is WAY too sweet". Never thought I would pronounce this words in my sweet teeth's life! 

My January challenge was to give up all grains!! At this point, in time, I no LONGER have bowel issues, no more loose stools, no more massive abdominal cramps. I had all of these even before giving of wheat!

I exercise 3 times a week too. And jog on my mini-trampoline. So far, this month, I have lost another 4 pounds. My non-lipedemic fat is melting!!

I also go to me MLD treatment once a week and do regular SLD!  

I'm really proud of myself! Never thought I would have the determination to do all of this.

Halfway through January Lifestyle Challenge

By Tatjana van der Krabben

I’m on board with the inflammation theory. I acknowledge sugar and wheat are bad news and only fuel inflammation. Did I give up on sugar and wheat? Not exactly. I cut back a lot and am virtually off sugar and take some wheat. Awkward pause…

For January Lifestyle Challenge I tackled my last source of artificial sweeteners: soda. No ifs, ands or buts here: I cut out soda January 1^st and stand by it. Soda was my is-it-somewhere-6-o’clock-yet? thing. So it was a habit. Giving up on it gave me cravings, first for soda and when I did not cave: sugar. I did cave there a few times, but regrouped after a week. I now sometimes take a glass of sparkling water, as I get tired of flat water, tea and coffee. I have not lost weight or inches, but I feel better. More relaxed, more energetic, despite an insane workload. Apparently I cut something useful out.

Now I’m at a crossroads. About 2 years ago I was leaning towards RAD diet. Unfortunately, as I made progress, I did not feel better. I went from not being much of a meat eater to horrendous cravings for meat in my almost vegan phase. I lacked energy, had trouble with the liquid food bit. I do feel fighting inflammation is key. I also support additive-free eating, which is promoted by RAD, but I needed to find a new way. When attempting RAD I did not even get around to cutting out wheat to the present extend (addicted? me?).  

Stopping all together is hard. It’s not just addiction. It’s about being wheat-free in a wheat world with a wheat-husband and wheat-craving kids. I can’t see it. I get lost in the how and work around it. I buy spelt bread. Technically that’s a type of wheat, only less modified and usually tolerated better. I bought gluten-free pasta a few times. Still starchy, obviously. I also get menu requests with noodles. I tried rice noodles. It’s like eating noodles soaked in wall paper glue! Imagine that in your gut. Yuk! I bought kelp noodles. I cooked them for a great length of time to try softening them. I only got to ‘trying’…

Am I weak? Making excuses? There’s light at the end of the tunnel. You need guidelines, a source for recipes. I now lean towards Paleo/Primal. I don’t know what to think of the specifics like the nightshade veggies or dairy. I’m not there yet. I stopped forcing myself to eat fruit every day. That was a relief. Now I enjoy eating fruit again, when I do. I eat more animal protein. I hate plain eggs, but looked for recipes to incorporate more eggs. That’s working out fine. Meals high on protein, also almond flour or meal, work well for me.  After taking in more protein and healthy fats, I did manage to cut back on wheat a lot.

December and January brought more change. I also stopped taking sugar in my coffee and creamer, since I learned most powdered foods contain aluminum. I also switched baking powers for that in January. I finally allowed the nagging feeling to sink in that the low-fat margarine spread did contain an awful lot of funny ingredients to be that healthy. I did something last week that felt soooo wrong: I switched to real butter from grass fed cows for the occasion I do eat bread. Real butter goes against EVERYTHING I was taught growing up. But it’s yum, satisfying and hours later I need to remind myself to eat again. I also started taking rutin again last week, to see if it does more after quite literally cleaning up my act. What else? In December I changed shampoo. This new one I used to buy for the kids when babies. It contains about half the ingredients my old shampoo had.  

I’ve cleaned up my act so much the takeout pizza from last weekend hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. The scales were unforgiving: 4 lbs up, completely bloated. I looked on the website: Domino’s doesn’t do gluten-free crusts. I will have to make my own. I have a recipe. I do. But I do enjoy the occasional takeout, a I-don’t-have-to-cook day. Cooking from scratch takes dedication and time. And going wheat-free completely and losing my last bit of tolerance for it scares me a little. The less I eat it, the worse I feel when I do eat it. How do you deal with vacations? Day at an amusement park? Visiting people? Always packing your own food? It’s a wheat and sugar world and I’m not ready to be wheat-free and sugar-free in that world. At the same time I try my hardest to – otherwise – clean up my act and detox. It’s working: my legs are feeling better.