Whole30 Success with a partner?

porcelanmermaid

My Fiance and I plan on starting Whole30 in a few weeks. We aren't starting now for a multitude of reasons.
1. We don't know where we are going to be living in two weeks
2. Because of this we have to pack and purge
3. Fighting enough over stupid money related things without adding carbflu into the mix
4. I'm on academic probation-lots of school stress
5. For some ungodly reason we have a billion "just add water" packs of everything that whole 30 forbids and a lot of freezer food, cant afford to donate it, don't want to move it so trying to burn through it in the next few weeks and just focus on logging during that time.

Once we move we are doing whole30.
After whole30 I am going to try to keep a LowCarb plan because I am supposed to be on metformin(evil evil pill) and anything carby makes me regret life. I'm not totally sure what FI is doing after the 30 days but currently his mom is begging him to get gastric bypass or lap band surgery because of his weight.

What I'm hoping for is success stories. Tips, tricks, how to keep on track, how to avoid killing each other during carbflu, is carbflu even real? are there macros that we need to try to aim for? Is there any types of exercise we need to try to avoid (he plans on walking, I have a gym membership) Is this plan even likely to jump start weight loss or just develop a better relationship with healthy food?

Also, in the past when I first started trying to eat healthy because of metformin making me sick, I would make food for me and then an entirely different (unhealthy) meal for him. Would I be completely terrible if he falls of the wagon or after the 30 days is up if I refused to do that this time around? I know one perk of us waiting a few weeks is we will have less "bad" food in our new home. So the temptation to just make ramen wont be there

My other issue is he wont get on any type of calorie counting thing at all. I meal plan and preportion meals, he weighs about 35% more then I do. So when I'm portioning should I just put 35% more food in a container for him? or is it more complicated then that?

Alatariel75

The whole 30 is an elimination diet to establish food intolerance. It's not a weight loss diet. After 30 days you're supposed to reintroduce food groups one at a time. Its also not low carb. It discourages weighing, tracking or expecting to lose weight.

I'm actually starting in 10 days and have come to terms with not losing weight, because I'm doing it to establish what's flaring my psoriasis.

porcelanmermaid

So it would probably be good for me to use to be able to figure out what I can and can't eat while taking metformin and what foods screw with my sugar. But my fiance would not benefit?

bamber04

I believe that It will help him on the fact that it teaches you to incorporate Whole Foods with no preservatives/ fillers/ unnecessary added sugar and still be able to be satiated! It makes you more aware of the kind of food that you put into your body and in the end you ultimately feel better from the inside. Just from that you will see a change if he is having an issue with weight. My mother is over 220lbs and the last time she went on the whole 30 she had lost about 10-15 pounds without cutting calories/ skipping flavor and only doing light workouts! As long as he is committed and wants to I️ think he would have great benefit! Good luck

dmcfarland27

This is my second round of whole30. It's an elimination diet. If you want to learn more about your health or eating habits then this will be good. If you're trying to lose weight, you might lose a few pounds. But it's not really about weight loss. They talk a lot about non scale victories, such as better sleep, learning to curve your cravings, expert meal prepper, etc. for me it's getting off my blood pressure meds. This second round I've only lost maybe 4-5 lbs at day 20. but I feel fantastic! Last year I lost a total of 8 lbs. so it's a good stepping stone in terms of learning about your eating habits.

CharlesS6730

I take Metformin. My A1C was at 11% and I had serious symptoms. I am 20 days into Whole30 and it has changed my life. I have lost 20lbs from 1/1/18 and feel amazing. I plan on keeping most of these eating habits once I’m done with Whole30. I think it’s amazing!

Also the diabetic symptoms are gone too. I get retested next month so we shall see.

NannylouG

I am on day 14 of my first Whole30. Although I want to lose weight I am fully aware this is a reset and elimination approach and not a weight loss thing. I also had reasons to wait until Jan 16 to start, so I understand setting a date that makes sense with upcoming events.

It has already exceeded my expectations. No sugar cravings. Sleeping better! My sinuses are clear for the first time I can ever remember. Usually this time of year in Miami I cannot breathe. I am talking at least 30 years of this. My aches and pains have disappeared. I also seriously feel my belly is flatter, and with no exercise. I am curious as to what will turn out to be my sinus triggers but I suspect dairy (hoping it is not wine! LOL). I also have skin issues but so far I cannot tell if this is clearing it up or not.

Depending on my frame of mind after day 30, I may extend to 60 or 90, or transition into Paleo since I know this is not intended to be a lifelong thing. All depends on the reintroduction and what my triggers are.

PAV8888

I've seen a lot of MFPeops log Whole 30 diets. Every single one of them, when they adhered, logged a significant amount less calories than they normally do. Every single one. By at least 500 Cal. This is observational based on a limited sample. But regardless of what whole 30 is designed/supposed to do, it looks to me that eliminating a whole whack of foods and working with more limited choices steer most adherents into creating a (significant) caloric deficit.

As to the OP: you can create two accounts: one for your fiance and one for yourself.

Enter his stats and see how many more calories than you he should be eating. Since he will be walking and not logging exercise separately, consider getting him a(n entry level) Fitbit or similar and connecting it to the account. An overweight male walking sufficiently can burn a significant number of calories--my average TDEE during my first year on MFP based on observed results was over 3200

If obese, set your deficits to 20 to 25% of your TDEEs... and get going Exercise doesn't *have* to be vigorous to see results. Even moderate exercise (activities with MET values in the 3.0 to 6.0 range) in sufficient quantity and in conjunction with a caloric deficit will do wonders for your blood work!

Timshel_

My wife did it and I didn't, but was still on my caloric deficit. We both lost pounds. My colleague at work is doing it with her husband and she is in her second round and lost 7 pounds while her husband lost only 1. To me the big issue is the lack of caloric understanding.