Anyone trying the Wahls Protocol?

[sarahinparis]

I did a month of AIP and am now transitioning to Wahls Paleo Plus (I've been primal for more than 6 months before AIP).

Weight loss is still a pressing issue for me and I've had good results from lower carb, which is why Wahls Paleo Plus appeals to me - it keeps a lot of the nutritional density of AIP (which I liked) but dials back the starch and fructose (which I need) and ups the fat.

I'm only 10 days in but so far so good.

I'm doing a few reintroductions of foods that are allowed on Wahls that aren't on AIP (black pepper for example). In particular I want to get another month without egg before I try reintroducing it.

[sftreat]

I have been on WP since Novemeber and love it. I feel the healthiest on the program. I am trying to do the Wahls Paleo Plus, but I find it really difficult. I miss the variety of vegetables; I am OK with the low fruit requirement.

I guess I don't have too much to add now, but I am a Wahls Warrior too. She and Sarah make a great combination.

[janandsheri]

I am in the process of reading the book, but have not started the diet as of yet. I want to start on the Paelo diet first before I try to go up to the plus version. My daughter has MS and that is the reason we are starting the program. Guess I just don't know where to begin. Want to go gluten free, but there again I don't know where to begin, when you give up gluten what do you use to take it's place for bread?

[greystorms]

Apr 27, 2014 18:55:11 GMT -5 janandsheri said:

when you give up gluten what do you use to take it's place for bread?

Nothing.  You learn to find other foods that are just as enjoyable and even better for you.  I think that there's no sense in replacing bread with a gluten-free version of the same, instead it's far better to find other foods.  There are some gluten-free bread recipes out there - Sarah has one on her site, and Russ Crandall's flatbread recipe is supposed to be outstanding, but in general I think that gluten-free baking is far too much of a hassle to deal with regularly.  

[sarahinparis]

Apr 27, 2014 18:55:11 GMT -5 janandsheri said:

. Guess I just don't know where to begin. Want to go gluten free, but there again I don't know where to begin, when you give up gluten what do you use to take it's place for bread?

One of the things I really like about Wahls' book is that she is not all-or-nothing. Begin where you can. 

Personally I find paleo and ketogenic diets easiest if I'm not trying to replicate high-carb foods like bread, but I've been at this for a while. 

Wahls designed her her program to ease you in, first step Wahls diet, then Wahls Paleo, and Plus only after that for most people. I went straight to Plus only because I'd spent years as Primal first and has already made the switch and eliminated eggs, dairy and other stuff with AIP. 

So if you need non-grain bread in order to make this feasible, do that for now. As you get more experienced you'll begin to see which of the replacement products you can just eliminate. I got so used to not having rice with stir fry and Indian dishes hat I just don't see the point of making cauliflower rice, for example - but some people swear by it. 

Good luck!

[petravonderelbe]

This is my forum! I have MS but am determined to walk again. Am not in a wheelchair like TW was but stumble around a lot and those around me probably wonder why I don't use a walking stick.
For me this is the turning point. I have just a week ago said bye to all things sugary, even fruit except berries and coconut. I believe it's sugar that made me sick. No way I can prove that.
Am on day 8 now of strict AIP, although I think that chilli and black pepper would be okay for me. It's more what you add that makes the difference.
I agree that a long search for replacements for what you 'gave up' is counter-productive. I never thought that I could breakfast on a grated carrot and tin of makerel, and wash it all down with a tin of coconut milk. But now I do and think nothing of it. Our previous way of eating was learned, so we can learn a new one.

[janandsheri]

Thanks everyone for your responses, I have been so hung up on trying to find replacements for what we need to give up, I can see now it has slowed me down. petravonderelbe, not sure I am ready yet to have a carrot and makerel for breakfast, but you never know.

[sarahinparis]

Apr 29, 2014 12:06:56 GMT -5 janandsheri said:

Thanks everyone for your responses, I have been so hung up on trying to find replacements for what we need to give up, I can see now it has slowed me down. petravonderelbe, not sure I am ready yet to have a carrot and makerel for breakfast, but you never know.

I understand this mindset. The thing that was blocking me from going AIP was figuring out how I'd handle breakfasts with no eggs and all the other AIP restrictions. When a solution to that came to me (a recipe I love that freezes well and I can face in the mornings) suddenly all the other elements didn't look so impossible and I could get my head around starting AIP. 

I then hen took a similar approach when I moved to Wahls Paleo Plus. 

I'll share here exactly what I did, in hopes this approach can help someone else. I did this for both AIP and WPP.  

I wrote down all the rules I saw that I planned to follow (and I purposefully left off some, like organ meat, that just felt way too difficult). Then I categorized them all into "easy" "moderate" "hard" and "very hard". 

So this is what it looked like (coming from AIP to Wahls Paleo Plus)

Already removed : all grains, all legumes, processed foods, all dairy, all eggs

Easy :
- no new restrictions!
- daily berry requirement
- 5T coconut oil (need to work out coconut equivalents in coconut milk, coconut butter & coconut chips)
- adjust supplements (just requires buying the right ones, haven't read that chapter yet)

Moderate :
- specific vegetable recommendations - I love vegetables, it's not a problem to eat them, as much as it's a challenge to have them around, prepped, cooked and ready to be eaten all the time. And Wahls has specific requirements for green, colored & sulfur vegetable categories, that will require some practice to get right.
- bone broth (just requires advance planning and organization to regularly make broth, and make it into soup that I can eat daily. Totally do-able, just needs some organizing and kitchen time)

Hard :
- reduce protein slightly (I've been exceeding my protein goal all month, and Wahls goal is slightly lower than my own, so work needed here...If I can get to 2 meals per day this will be do-able)
- 12 hour intermittent fasting (easing into this one too)
- fermented foods (not a problem to eat them, as much as a problem to source them or make them all the time)

Very Hard :
- organ meats (not planning this for April)
- no snacking (planning on easing into this in April, 2 days a week to start)
- seaweed (I've been gagging while eating it, this is going to be more difficult than I first thought...)

[zan]

My husband has MS and I have thyroid issues. We have both seen improvements by following Dr. Wahls/Paleo ways of eating.

sarahinparis - I like your 'easy to very hard' method and may have to try that. My husband and I are somewhere in between WP and WPP but fully leaping into WPP seems daunting.

Seaweed - I started with dried seaweed. It was definitely an acquired taste but the texture was much easier to handle. I also eat fermented seaweed and add it to salads so that it just kind mixes into the whole medley of flavors & textures.


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[kezza]

Sarah,

you can use coconut flour for some snack recipes, and I've seen plantains used also.

[jeanne]

Hi all! Nice to see some fellow Wahls Warriors here! I've been following the Wahls Protocol since January so I've added back a couple of things such as eggs, luckily I don't have an allergy to them! No change with them after a few months without. I don't have GF bread often, but every now and then I'll have some insane craving for a BLT and I've found it much better if I just have it. I got some really good GF bread from New Grains GF Bakery in Provo Utah that I froze in 4 slice packs that I can pull out when I absolutely must have a sandwich, like when I pick that first beefsteak tomato off my vine in a few weeks!

My biggest challenge is still getting those three cups raw. I just struggle with that much salad. Much easier for me to cook them down with some garlic and coconut oil. I have a really yummy rainbow chard recipe I'll be happy to share.

My solution to the organ meat requirement was easy when I saw Dr. Wahls had clams on that list, I love clams! I have a terrific gluten free clam chowder recipe that I make with double the clams and there's a Fish Market restaurant near my house that makes a tasty clams pesto dish that is to die for! Once a week having either of those is easy!

For seaweed I use the Dulse flakes Dr. Wahls recommends in the resources section. Just sprinkle them in soups or I put them on my crispy Brussels sprouts. 

[zan]

I found Paleo bread at our Whole Foods - freezer section. I agree - wouldn't be summer without BLT sandwiches!


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[susankaye]

Jeanne, please share your rainbow chard recipe! I bought some at the local farmer's market and used it instead of kale in Sarah's Bacon-Braised Kale recipe. I used the rainbow stems chopped up like celery in my daily salad.