Just starting and not feeling great

[Ariel523]

Hi everyone,

Today is technically my first official day of Whole30, but I used the last week to ease into it. Now, I'm not feeling great at all.

Last week I ate mostly compliant. The non-compliant items I had was cereal (with almond milk), yogurt and 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee for breakfast. I resisted sweets and cravings. One day, I had Tyson Chicken Strips for dinner but scraped off breading as much as I could. I felt mostly fine, just hungry a couple hours after eating. Compliant food I had was sauteed chicken, roasted bell peppers and onions, eggs, chia seed pudding, fresh fruit, etc.

Yesterday (Day 0, if you will), the only non-compliant thing I had was 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee. Otherwise, I had banana chia pudding with blueberries, an egg, a handful of nuts. Then I started feeling uncomfortable. Bloated, loss of appetite, a sort of pressure-feeling in my stomach, etc. I almost didn't want to eat dinner. I had some "Digest-Zen" essential oil in water and it helped. I was able to eat dinner (filet mignon, sauteed asparagus, and garlic roasted red potatoes, then later a bit of pineapple). I'd burp when I could, and it'd be the forceful, large burps (which I usually don't have).

Overnight, I woke up at 3 AM really uncomfortable. I thought I was going to be ill but wasn't. I half slept for the rest of the night.

This morning, (Day 1, officially), all I could eat for breakfast was a few bites of pineapple, a hard boiled egg, and some almond milk. I still feel greatly uncomfortable, mostly bloated, and still burping if/when I can in that forceful way, upset stomach, that pressure feeling is still there.

I read about others experiencing similar to this on day 7-8 or so, sometimes halfway through. Since I eased into it for a week, could I be experiencing these things now? Am I eating more fiber than I used to? I'd appreciate any feedback or anything to help alleviate this. 

I would get stomach aches every now and then before trying this challenge. I was hoping Whole30 can help me alleviate those symptoms and help me determine what I can and cannot eat.

Thank you.

[SweetEnough]

50 minutes ago, Ariel523 said:

Yesterday (Day 0, if you will), the only non-compliant thing I had was 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee. Otherwise, I had banana chia pudding with blueberries, an egg, a handful of nuts. Then I started feeling uncomfortable. Bloated, loss of appetite, a sort of pressure-feeling in my stomach, etc. I almost didn't want to eat dinner. I had some "Digest-Zen" essential oil in water and it helped. I was able to eat dinner (filet mignon, sauteed asparagus, and garlic roasted red potatoes, then later a bit of pineapple). I'd burp when I could, and it'd be the forceful, large burps (which I usually don't have).

Overnight, I woke up at 3 AM really uncomfortable. I thought I was going to be ill but wasn't. I half slept for the rest of the night.

 

Hi, it's Day 1 for me too! I am not an expert, but this is my second round of Whole30, and my first time around, like you, I eased into it with several days of practice meals. It helps in some ways, but it does make it tricky as far as day-count goes when you're trying to figure out the weird symptoms at the beginning. Two things: 1) Discomfort in the beginning is normal and it does pass, so just be kind to yourself and stay compliant. I know for SURE I lost my appetite after about a week, so I think you're on the right track. You're doing good! And 2) You said you had a handful of nuts. I never knew before Whole30 how sensitive I was to nuts, but I learned right away that eating nuts/nut butter upset my stomach even though I enjoyed them. Just food for thought! 

I hope you feel better and sleep better tonight!!!

[Ariel523]

4 minutes ago, SweetEnough said:

Hi, it's Day 1 for me too! I am not an expert, but this is my second round of Whole30, and my first time around, like you, I eased into it with several days of practice meals. It helps in some ways, but it does make it tricky as far as day-count goes when you're trying to figure out the weird symptoms at the beginning. Two things: 1) Discomfort in the beginning is normal and it does pass, so just be kind to yourself and stay compliant. I know for SURE I lost my appetite after about a week, so I think you're on the right track. You're doing good! And 2) You said you had a handful of nuts. I never knew before Whole30 how sensitive I was to nuts, but I learned right away that eating nuts/nut butter upset my stomach even though I enjoyed them. Just food for thought! 

I hope you feel better and sleep better tonight!!!

Thank you! It helps knowing it's normal/I'm not alone. I think the nuts is what did it for me too, because after them, things started getting uncomfortable. I just didn't think the symptoms would linger this long!

I'm now feeling somewhat hungry after nursing some mint tea, so I'm having a small portion of Whole30 riced cauliflower and chicken meatballs with a side of sweet potato. The cauliflower is making me a bit nervous, since I've heard it contributes to bloating. I'm going to hope for the best, here.

If you have any other suggestions of how you got through the discomfort, please let me know! Otherwise, I'll just try to take it easy with eating small portions, and drink lots of water, mint or ginger tea, maybe some cinnamon... 

[slc_melissa]

Are you eating any fats besides nuts and seeds? They are notoriously hard on digestion for some people.

I would guess you are also flat out not eating enough, which can also be hard on digestion.

Also, Chia pudding is technically compliant ingredient wise, but is not recommended: 

 

[Ariel523]

11 minutes ago, slc_melissa said:

Are you eating any fats besides nuts and seeds? They are notoriously hard on digestion for some people.

I would guess you are also flat out not eating enough, which can also be hard on digestion.

Also, Chia pudding is technically compliant ingredient wise, but is not recommended: 

 

I track my food (contrary to Whole30 preferences) and its saying I'm hitting my goal of about 50 grams of fat. It's trying to have me consume 30% fat, and I seem to be a bit over that. But I only had nuts and chia pudding two days. Otherwise, I had chicken and eggs. 

I may not be eating enough, but it's hard to eat more when I feel this uncomfortable. I eat as much as I can and until I feel full. The pre-week, I would feel relatively hungry a couple hours after eating, so I would have an egg and fruit. But I was also trying not to over eat, either. I wonder if it's a learning curve for me?

Thank you for sharing that link! That's good to know about chia pudding. I was hoping for an easy breakfast go-to. I'll do my best to limit or keep it out.

[slc_melissa]

I'd still recommend cutting nuts and chia seeds and following the template and adding fat at every meal. (Cooking fat mostly gets left in the pan, add more to your actual plate.)

[ladyshanny]

17 hours ago, Ariel523 said:

I track my food (contrary to Whole30 preferences) and its saying I'm hitting my goal of about 50 grams of fat. It's trying to have me consume 30% fat, and I seem to be a bit over that.

How does a computer program that has never met, talked, seen you, know exactly how much fat (or anythign else) you should eat? We really, really discourage this sort of tracking because it puts your focus on an arbitrary app rather than getting you to check in with yourself. YOU will know how much to eat because you should be paying attention during a meal and in the hours afterwards.  This is a self experiment where no one is an expert except for you. We really encourage you to turn away from this sort of thing for 30 days. As you'd said, in your pre-week you were hungry after 2 hours. This is a sign that either your meals were too small or not composed well for you. This is the sort of data that you review and then make changes based upon.

That said, if I eat chia-anything, my digestion is a mess for days. Nuts and seeds are recommended to be limited. That's a closed handful every other day at most. 

[Ariel523]

2 minutes ago, ladyshanny said:

How does a computer program that has never met, talked, seen you, know exactly how much fat (or anythign else) you should eat? We really, really discourage this sort of tracking because it puts your focus on an arbitrary app rather than getting you to check in with yourself. YOU will know how much to eat because you should be paying attention during a meal and in the hours afterwards.  This is a self experiment where no one is an expert except for you. We really encourage you to turn away from this sort of thing for 30 days. As you'd said, in your pre-week you were hungry after 2 hours. This is a sign that either your meals were too small or not composed well for you. This is the sort of data that you review and then make changes based upon.

That said, if I eat chia-anything, my digestion is a mess for days. Nuts and seeds are recommended to be limited. That's a closed handful every other day at most. 

Actually, a personal trainer (a human!) set those macronutrient goals for me based on my lifestyle and body type. :] And it's just a rough estimate to help me see if I'm actually consuming the correct foods for the correct nutrients, and not treated as the gospel truth.  It also can help me pinpoint what and how I've been eating so if I'm not feeling great, I can go back and see what I ate instead of potentially forgetting what I ate. I believe this will greatly help me if I decide to go to a doctor after this if I'm still not feeling good at all. I can let the doctor know what/how I ate with complete accuracy. 

And just as you said, I can review this data and say, "Hey that's not enough food! I should eat more. Instead of one chicken thigh, I'll have two." Or, I can easily see I need more protein meat/fat for breakfast or what-have-you, especially since the app breaks down macronutrients per meal. If someone suggest I need more fats in meals, I can see which exact meals are lacking.

Thank you for the concern, but I'm not going to be using it as my focal point. It's literally just tracking/diary keeping for me and general guidance to help me learn what and how to eat. 

And thank you for the tip on seeds/nuts. I really didn't know they were so typically burdensome. 

[SweetEnough]

On 7/24/2017 at 3:41 PM, Ariel523 said:

If you have any other suggestions of how you got through the discomfort, please let me know! Otherwise, I'll just try to take it easy with eating small portions, and drink lots of water, mint or ginger tea, maybe some cinnamon... 

I discovered Peppermint tea during my first round, and wow is it effective for tummy aches!