Whole30--week one result (disappointing)

I gained three pounds, despite eating very strict Paleo each day and walking 4 miles.

Perhaps the scale is not a good indication of how I am doing in general--My LS seems fine this week, although I felt extremely stressed out for several days--which I think must have been some sort of hormonal fluctuation related to Menses.

I have noticed I have been really sensitive to the sugar in the fruits I am eating lately, (when I get hungry, I get shaky) You may notice I didn't eat that much fruit this week, so it was surprising to me and I have decided to cut out fruit for the next couple of weeks to see what happens.

I can't go too low on my carbohydrates, because it affects my LS symptoms, but I am going to try out a stricter Paleo menu with a goal of about 30-35 grams of carbohydrate per day, and about 27 grams of protein per meal. I have a theory that I could probably raise my carbs to even 50-ish if I don't eat fruit. Anyway, for the next two weeks I will be aiming for 30-35 carbs, and the only fruits will be avocado and a small amount of tomato.

Today I am fasting until dinner this afternoon, then I will weigh and measure myself to see where this week will lead me.

As Dr. Dan mentioned in his new blog recently, and I think Astrogirl has also commented on, a lot of people feel like the Paleo diet is the answer to everything, and if people don't immediately have success with it there are always people ready to jump out and say, "you must be doing something wrong."

The truth is, as Dan points out--it is not as simple as merely eating a Paleo diet. Not all of us become immediate success stories. If weight loss is one of your goals, and you don't lose weight in the beginning--it is easy to get discouraged.

I started this blog in part because I consider myself to be pretty average. I weigh more than I should, but I am not extremely obese. I walk most days, and do yoga intermittently, but I am not a "crossfit-er". I eat unprocessed foods, but I cannot afford to buy all organic vegetables, all grass fed and pastured meat, eggs, and dairy every day.

I have an autoimmune disease.

I "cheat" about once or twice a week. Therefore, I follow the rules 80-90% of the time.

I think I am a good candidate for how well a Paleo diet might work on an average person. Unfortunately, it isn't re-creating me in the image I would like. It helps my LS, but doesn't seem to do much for the extra fat I am carrying. It has been 5 months since I went pretty strict Paleo with M, yet the weight isn't falling off--my body is clinging to it desperately. Part of the idea of Paleo is that your body will "know" somehow when it is satiated. That you will stop eating when you are full. There are lots of low carb books out there that state that you cannot overeat protein and fat. (I'm not sure that is entirely true for me. Sometimes, I think I could eat an entire chicken if I let myself.) I suppose if I strictly ate nothing but protein and fat that my appetite would decrease drastically after a while. Carbohydrates are what make me hungry, mostly fruit and starchy carbs. This is something that Gary Taubes talks about in his lecture at Swedish here.
So, long story short, I suppose I need to focus on a more boring diet for a while. Vegetables, meats, and fat. Yay. I suppose the boredom of it alone could make me lose my appetite.

I probably won't be posting pictures, but I will list what I am eating still, for the record...