Serven Guidelines

"Also, don’t get freaked out about overeating starch if you are going by the serving  Serven guidelines."

I've been waiting for you to pop your name in somewhere Jeff... missed opportunity

haha! you got me. 

Hello,

@Jeff Serven your message about you won't gain weight from eating starches couldn't have come at a better time for me...I'm up 6 pounds over the past 2 weeks. Yes, I've gained 3 pounds each week for two weeks in a row. I weigh myself daily on the same scale at the same time of day.

This is AWFUL news as I'm already 25 pounds overweight. Yes, I'm not just saying that - I am actually 25 pounds fat. I gained 50 after a rough year of multiple surgeries and am working to lose those pounds.

I thought Thrive would be a very healthy way to recalibrate my system after all the trauma, but I have to be honest, I can't remain at my current weight (unhealthy for me, my spinal fusion, too heavy for GST, & none of my clothes fit). I'm telling myself to stick with it, but I can't have another week of weight increases. I'm hiking for 350 - 900 calories a day (I can't get up a 4AM to add in more time for calorie burning) and instead of my 7 days a week of crossfit & pole I'm down to 3-4 days of GST but training for much longer periods of time on those days ugggggggg. I'm weaker than ever before, & I'm making slower gains (Ok, I'm actually not making any gains - I can't move up in any of my workouts). 

I guess this has turned into a plea for help - I plan to remove the starch today adding back in 1 serving of it a week. I also plan to remove the yogurt I've been having for breakfast & will go back to fruit. I'm also very tempted to drop GST & return to crossfit even knowing that weight lifting will not be great for my fusion. I just don't know what to do.

I work out longer than ever before and am gaining fat, getting weaker, and feeling irritable in general. I've also checked all my blood work and it's "perfect". 

I'm trying to believe this is a good program for me, but after these months, I'm thinking it's not. Oh by the way I used to eat a huge bag of kettle chips each week, a large tub of gelato, and random chocolates...I no longer eat ANY treats because I can't believe how quickly I'm gaining weight.  YES I measure my servings - I eat less than what Jeff recommends. And I guzzle water. I drink at least 1.5 liters a day - usually more with the hiking in hot weather.

So as I sit here busting out of the shorts I bought last week because my old ones were too small (I mean seriously, I just can't financially afford this weight gain!), I wonder...has anyone else gone through such a difficult 6 month transition with GST? And if so, what do you recommend?

Thanks,

Kathy

39 minutes ago, Katherine Zodiaco said:

Hello,

@Jeff Serven your message about you won't gain weight from eating starches couldn't have come at a better time for me...I'm up 6 pounds over the past 2 weeks. Yes, I've gained 3 pounds each week for two weeks in a row. I weigh myself daily on the same scale at the same time of day.

This is AWFUL news as I'm already 25 pounds overweight. Yes, I'm not just saying that - I am actually 25 pounds fat. I gained 50 after a rough year of multiple surgeries and am working to lose those pounds.

I thought Thrive would be a very healthy way to recalibrate my system after all the trauma, but I have to be honest, I can't remain at my current weight (unhealthy for me, my spinal fusion, too heavy for GST, & none of my clothes fit). I'm telling myself to stick with it, but I can't have another week of weight increases. I'm hiking for 350 - 900 calories a day (I can't get up a 4AM to add in more time for calorie burning) and instead of my 7 days a week of crossfit & pole I'm down to 3-4 days of GST but training for much longer periods of time on those days ugggggggg. I'm weaker than ever before, & I'm making slower gains (Ok, I'm actually not making any gains - I can't move up in any of my workouts). 

I guess this has turned into a plea for help - I plan to remove the starch today adding back in 1 serving of it a week. I also plan to remove the yogurt I've been having for breakfast & will go back to fruit. I'm also very tempted to drop GST & return to crossfit even knowing that weight lifting will not be great for my fusion. I just don't know what to do.

I work out longer than ever before and am gaining fat, getting weaker, and feeling irritable in general. I've also checked all my blood work and it's "perfect". 

I'm trying to believe this is a good program for me, but after these months, I'm thinking it's not. Oh by the way I used to eat a huge bag of kettle chips each week, a large tub of gelato, and random chocolates...I no longer eat ANY treats because I can't believe how quickly I'm gaining weight.  YES I measure my servings - I eat less than what Jeff recommends. And I guzzle water. I drink at least 1.5 liters a day - usually more with the hiking in hot weather.

So as I sit here busting out of the shorts I bought last week because my old ones were too small (I mean seriously, I just can't financially afford this weight gain!), I wonder...has anyone else gone through such a difficult 6 month transition with GST? And if so, what do you recommend?

Thanks,

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

would you mind sharing with us your current weekly training schedule? When and what are you training and also in which progressions are you? I read in other post you where training core 4 times a week and this definitely won t allow you to progress if you ve kept doing the same. Can you also please share what are you eating in a normal day and if you make some cheat meals or not at all? I read already one of your post about what you ate and didnt look too much for me. How much do you size/weight?

3 pounds a week is pretty much, it s hard to believe someone can gain so much wait eating good, doesn t matter if Thrive, vegetarian, paleo or whatever. Generally gaining this weight in fat means one is overeating junk food. Not your case. Are you sure you are gaining fat, not water or muscle? The last 2 weeks you gain fat, all right, but what is the general tendency since you started Thrive? losing, remaining or gaining weight?

Also, why do you want to drop GST? You don t progress or you think u ll burn more fat with Crossfit? You say you are hiking everyday for 350 - 900 calories everyday? How many hours do you hike?That s probably too much doing 7 days a week, specially if you feel you don t progress with GST and you feel tired. If you are eating good and you feel your digestion is good, maybe the tiredness you are feeling is totally normal and you should simply rest. Whenever I feel tired i rest or even have a nap, I don t force myself. I want to be active if I feel active, but if I feel like sh*** for physical reasons then I rest. If it s a mind thing, then is totally diferent and one should move his ass from the coach.

I see you are passing through a bad time. I have also passed and I ll tell you the mind/soul is 90% of the equoation. Doesn t matter how good you eat or how healthy one tries to be, one will become sick, tired or unhappy if one is living a hard situation. In 2012 I weighted 220 pounds and I didn t like myself. Now I weight 155 pound. It tooks 2 years for me to lose all this weight. But I kept doing what I should in the long run. About GST maybe it will help you to know that I started the program around 8 months ago and in the time I ve been sick twice, all together for more than a month and I ve had lower back pain for more than 2 months. I ve been restarting many times and feeling very sore once and again. I m stucked on PE1 for the most of the exercises and only in PE2 in 2, mainly due to extreme lack of mobility and until I don t become more flexible it ll be almost impossible to progress with core exercises for me. And yet I ll continue with GST because is the best you ll ever find for a healthy and balanced body. If I have to spend a whole year just to meet a minimum mobility requierement fine and 2 years for F1 then great. This simply means each person start at a diferent starting point. One lack something or the other. It doesn t matter where you start or how slow you progress. The importan thing is the attitude and constancy you develop. You must have faith and believe in the program on your way. Think as a whole life investment.

Also if you have the oportunity to learn for some time in an affiliate I d do it. If you are doing a good job then try not to get obssessed with your weight. I know it s easy to say, I was also obssessed.

Hope things will get better soon!

Hello @Antonio Alías Montoya, Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful reply.

"And yet I ll continue with GST because is the best you ll ever find for a healthy and balanced body. If I have to spend a whole year just to meet a minimum mobility requierement fine and 2 years for F1 then great. This simply means each person start at a diferent starting point. One lack something or the other. It doesn t matter where you start or how slow you progress. The importan thing is the attitude and constancy you develop. You must have faith and believe in the program on your way. Think as a whole life investment."

What a quote! And everything you wrote is super helpful. I so totally agree with you about the gaining weight - it's freakin' weird. I thought I was lying to myself about not eating junk food so I started a food journal 2 weeks ago. I thought I was lying to myself about how much the scale said so I weigh myself daily & record it in my phone. I thought I was under training ... then over training... hence my plea to the community. 

I find what you wrote about the mental / emotional component and weight. TOTALLY agree. And I won't rule that out. That could be the most significant factor for me.

I'm realizing that while I may want GST to be the training program for me, maybe it's not the right fit for my body. While I feel a bit sad about that I also feel relief. (and that says a lot!)

Thank you,

Kathy

It s the right fit for everyone s body, specially if it s hard for you. Definetely is not the fastest way.

Oh you're good!  and I think you're right. Body weight exercises are so difficult for me whereas throwing weights around comes easily. I'm trying to change my wicked ways and it's hard. Boo boo. 

Ok, my friend, I'll give myself some breaks - my weight is what it is, keep eating healthy & I'll be healthy. Keep doing GST but allow myself breaks to lift weights when my head needs it. 

Thank you for sharing your wisdom & experience with me. It really helped!

-Kathy

I m glad it helped you!