Whole30 and Alternate Day Fasting

Hello all--

I know I have been conspicuously absent the last week or so, but I am here to reassure you that I am still on Whole30, my camera is not working well, so no pictures, but I am pretty much sticking to the menus I have already posted.

I did change one thing.

After the first two weeks, even though Whole30 frowns on it, I weighed myself.
(I know, I shouldn't have, but it can be addictive).

Frighteningly, I realized I was gaining weight! This freaked me out a little bit. I feel like everything I am doing is not making any difference, and that I am just getting bigger and bigger with no stopping point in site. I have gained over 40 pounds since I moved back to the US, and I was already about 20 pounds overweight when I came back...During the last four years, I have focused a lot on trying to deal with my autoimmune condition, and letting weight loss be more of a secondary goal--but I can't do that anymore. I need to take some serious action.

To that end, I started doing alternate day fasting (I started it last week on Monday). While I am not actually "counting calories" I am keeping track of exactly what I am eating, and trying to keep calories on my fast days at about 25% of my daily calories. I am also eating low carb paleo for the satiation value of that approach. I am eating until I am full, but not stuffed.

On my fast days I allow myself coffee with coconut milk in the morning, then skip lunch, and eat dinner around 6pm. I am eating a normal meal for dinner--it is averaging at about 500-600 calories including the coconut milk in the morning. It has been chicken thighs with asparagus, zucchini & mushrooms, or broccoli.

My non-fast day breakfasts have been eggs with Whole30 compliant sausage, bacon, or leftover meat, and maybe a veggie--tomatoes or mushrooms, with coffee and coconut milk.

Lunch is a salad with 2 cups of mixed greens, cabbage, or arugula, 1 small avocado, and about 3-4 ounces of meat. Dressing is olive oil with vinegar.

Dinner is pretty much the same as fast days, except that I vary the meat that I am eating, and eat more of it. One day I had 1 pound of salmon with 2 tablespoons of pesto, another time, I had about 10 ounces of pork shoulder. I always eat lots of non-starchy veggies, although my carbs never exceed about 30 grams.

Fasting while doing paleo is easy and enjoyable. It also cuts down considerably on the money that I spend on food which is always good. I have been weighing myself on the mornings after my fast days, and I have lost a total of 6.5 pounds in the last 7 days.

I am going to continue to follow Whole30 until the 23rd (Thursday this week), at which point I have an appointment with a weight-loss specialist. (She is Paleo-friendly from what I understand.) I have been doing this on my own for years now, I think it is time I need some professional support. I feel like I am doing all the right things, but overall it is just not working...It may be that she takes a look at what I have been doing over the past week or so and tells me to keep doing it--or she may have me go in a completely different direction. I plan to continue the alt/day fasting if I can, it will be very useful on my trip to England in a couple of weeks as well--since there will doubtless be very little to eat on the plane...