Hi all! I'm having to jump off our bandwagon a bit early due to ongoing medical problems...I'm currently taking some meds that really upset my stomach, and so I'm sipping on diet gingerale and nibbling on graham crackers. I've been eating some yogurt too on the advice of my doctor for the probiotics. So...I ALMOST made it to the 31st! Ah well. I'll post a weight on that day. Keep going strong, everyone else!

Sorry to hear about your problems Sue, I hope you feel better soon.
Oblong, I wouldn't stress too much, you may be very surprised at how well you've done when you see your stats!

As for my final weigh and measure, despite a very wobbly time over the last month, 2 planned days off and more small slips besides, I'm quite stunned at my results. Granted, having never really kept track before I have no benchmark. I also measured last night and was surprised at the difference this morning - how is this, I guess eating and drinking during the day add a bit of bloat?! Off on holiday tomorrow and no hope of staying on the paleo wagon, but I hope to motivate myself to limit it to minor damage. If not, it's back on it when I get home!

Anyway - Abdomen, lost 9.5cm, bottom lost 4cm, thigh lost 4cm (each!), waist lost 5.5cm and weight lost 9.8lbs or 4.4kg!

I'm off to find that table to paste it below and add the first end result!

..................July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs
mfish...........153 lbs.....................................................................
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5.................................................
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................

Wow! Those are some spectacular results tiger

I'm not stressed in the slightest at my falling off plan for a couple of days. I'm glad I didn't shove my face in a cake!!!

I won't take any body measurements until Sunday but this morning I weighed 181.8lbs, so that's almost 10lbs I will have lost.

Good work Oblong! If you did want to fall face first into a cake, you could definitely make paleo cake after Sunday!

I may just be posting my chocolate and raspberry paleo cupcake recipe once I figure out the weights of the ingredients I use!

OMG! We made it! Well, most of us, anyway! I jumped ship a bit early, but I started early too, so what the heck, I count this as a DEFINITE success! I am in my goal jeans, and most of the weight I lost came right off my gut. I am thrilled, and thank you thank you thank you Manaloa! I'm going to post immediately after this just to update the stats sheet that BlueSojrn had going for us. WE DID IT!

For me, the most amazing thing was learning I could EASILY live without dairy, and EASILY live without diet soda. I am really going to try to stay off of these. I've been sipping on diet gingerale lately as my stomach has been problematic, but find it so sweet...switching back to Club Soda...I can always soak some ginger root in it, I suppose!

I'd love to know what other folks got out of this challenge...did you surprise yourself? Was it really hard? (Sometimes it was for me, but mostly because of medical/stomach issues). Will you do it again? I'm thinking of doing it again in September.

July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs
mfish...........153 lbs.....................................................................
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5.................................................
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................171.5
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................


Hmm...seems I lost most of my weight in the first 10 days! I started on June 20 at around 184.

Well, I got busy and haven't checked in for a while. I finished my 30 on July 15th, and have spent the last 2 weeks tweaking to figure out Whole WOE celtia-style.

I really didn't get any physical benefit from my 30 days (except a higher than norrmal weight loss). In fact I experienced a return of symptoms like joint pain and heart palps, and the onset of extremely painful dry eyes. Who knew giving up Diet Coke would cause all that?!?! Joking, of course. I think the problems were caused by not getting much starch since I couldn't have white potatoes and don't really care for sweet potatoes. So I now eat white potatoes/white rice, per the Jaminets, and try to get carbs between 50-75 2-3 days a week.

I've also added butter back into my cooking fats/oils selection, and a serving of cheese 2-3 times a week. But I continue to avoid grains (excepting the rice), legumes, industrial seed/veg oils, and soy, just like I was doing prior to my 30.

My benefits were mostly mental. It was so liberating to not have to wonder if I should eat something at social gatherings. If an item was off-limits then it was simply not an option, and I didn't have to waste mental energy on it. And for the last two weeks, I've discovered that I can make my own potato chips and fries, and I've even tried the Jaminets' Cambridge Fried Rice recipe, which is fabulous. I don't need industrially-processed foods because I can cook!

During my 30 whole days and 16 tweaking days, I've lost 10 pounds. Before, I was barely averaging 1 pound a week, so I'm pleased.

I hope everyone else is pleased with their results and new insights!


July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................162
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs
mfish...........153 lbs.....................................................................
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5.................................................
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................171.5
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................

I have found the experience to be liberating and it has helped me to lose a lot more weight than I thought I was capable of doing. I had been stuck in a rut, maybe losing 1lb a week if I was lucky. I started at 190.2lbs and by last Friday I got down to 181.8lbs. I have lose an inch from my chest, stomach, hips and thighs.

Unfortunately, I blew it at the weekend. I had an incredibly stressful day at work and ended up eating chocolate, drinking red wine and I went out for a chinese meal which I'm sure contained a lot of monosodium glutamate. I even at a little dessert. Saturday was a friend's 40th birthday party. I managed to stay away from the cake but I drank 5 glasses of red wine and ended up eating a late night burger. With the bun It is also my TOM. I have managed to get back up to 187.8lbs in these two short days. I realise it is water weight, but I'm not impressed with myself for falling off the wagon so spectacularly.

Throughout this whole process I have felt amazing. I have eaten more carbs than I have in the past 3 years when I've been trying to stick to Paleo. I have been eating berries almost every day, and lots and lots of vegetables. Butternut squash and sweet potatoes have sneaked their way into my diet too and I feel all the better for it.

So I will continue with the Whole 30 mindset indefinitely. I will eat strictly Paleo from Sunday to Thursday and then relax on Friday and Saturday when I will allow a little alcohol and some dairy.

July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................162
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs
mfish...........153 lbs.....................................................................
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5....................................181.8lbs, 38/31/39.5
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................171.5
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................

July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................162
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs................................................................201.8
mfish...........153 lbs.....................................................................
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5....................................181.8lbs, 38/31/39.5
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................171.5
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................

Love seeing the positive experiences!!

I lost weight a bit quicker than usual. Not sure if that is due to cleaner eating, or the tons of walking I've been doing weighted down with a baby and a backpack, probably a bit of both.

I discovered that dairy is a problem food for me, it contributes to my belly bloat and gives me heartburn. I'd weaned off of PPI's a couple of months ago and have been symptom free most of that time, until I reintroduced cheese. So cheese needs to disappear forever now.

I managed to give up my coffee for a couple of weeks during the challenge. I tried drinking it black (I'm a splenda + HWC kinda gal) and that was the most vile stuff I'd ever put to my lips, blech. I then stumbled on a brand of coconut milk that I really like, and it's awesome in my coffee, and seems to add a little natural sweetness too. While coffee doesn't seem to affect my weight loss, I did noticed that it affects the way I smell. When I'm not drinking coffee I can go without using deodorant, even with walking around and getting sweaty in the heat. Add the coffee back, and if I forget to use DO I will end up realizing it by the end of day, he he.

I really like what eating clean has done for me these past 6 weeks. I've been able to add a few more "no-no" food items to my list. I have fully implemented using EVCO and coconut milk. Most recent was my try at making coconut yogurt and it turned out great, the second batch just became ready and is even better than the first . I think I would like to continue within the eating guidelines for the most part. I am getting closer to my goal weight now much quicker than I ever would have expected, which is a great feeling, the idea of having lost weight is just starting to really sink in and I am a little excited about it !



July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................162
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs................................................................201.8
mfish...........153 lbs..................................................................... 147
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5....................................181.8lbs, 38/31/39.5
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................171.5
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................

Wow! Lots going on in the past couple of weeks. I have not been present because I have been to VA and back (to TN) and am now moving back to VA. Haven't gotten on the scale but diet has been awful! Traveling, eating out, packing, eating what is in the house. I probably won't be back here for a week and then I start my new job.

Keep up the great work!

July 1 Weight/Measurement........................................July 31 Weight/Measurement
BlueSojrn.....151 lbs.....................................................................
celtia...........168.5 lbs (actual start June 15)...................................162
Kay Bee ......150 lbs.....................................................................
Manaloa ......226 lbs....................................................................
Mandra........203.8 lbs................................................................201.8
mfish...........153 lbs..................................................................... 147
oblong.........190.2 lbs, 39/31/40.5....................................181.8lbs, 38/31/39.5
Sue333........174.5 lbs (actual start June 20)...................................171.5
tigerh..........156.4 lbs, 100/83......................................................146.6, 90.5/77.5
weisser4......196.6 lbs...................................................................19 3.4