ShannonM816

This is fine.

Some people do find their cycle changes during a whole30, so that is definitely possible. If there's anything that is worrying you about it, if you have a heavier flow or it's more painful or anything that seems off, obviously you'd want to talk to your doctor, but if it's just the timing is off, it's probably due to diet and exercise change. Weight loss wise, try not to even think about that aspect until the very end. I know that's hard to do, but thinking about it or worrying about it isn't going to make you lose more or faster, so try to just let it go for a little while. Is there anything in that pre workout mix that is not whole30 compliant? If it isn't compliant definitely stop using it, and read this: https://whole30.com/2014/06/really-start-whole30/. Pre workout, have some protein and/or fat, not a full meal's worth, just a few bites. Post-workout, have some protein and maybe some starchy vegetable -- so for instance chicken and sweet potato, again not a full meal, but a few bites. This explains more about post-workout food: http://whole9life.com/2015/02/eat-post-workout/ Food wise, you should be able to go 4-5 hours between meals, so you should be getting from your 7:30 am breakfast to your 11:40 am lunch without a snack. If you're truly hungry halfway between those meals, make your breakfast bigger. It's hard to tell serving sizes from what you've listed, but if eggs are your only protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in one hand, so probably 3-4 for most people. You should be aiming for 2-3 cups of vegetables at each meal. If you've got the protein and vegetables right, try having the whole avocado.

Hi, @Lainey18 -- hang in there, you'll get through these cravings. Do something nice for yourself, whether that's reading a favorite book or magazine, working on a hobby you love, pampering yourself with a bubble bath or your favorite lotion, or whatever works for you. Changing habits is not easy, but it is worth it, and you are worth the effort it takes to be healthier.

I'm not sure gelatin would be listed in the nutritional section of most foods. Gelatin is what you get when you boil animal bones in water, it's what makes homemade broth get thick and, well, gelatinous when you put it in the fridge to cool. In general it is fine for whole30 purposes, as long as there's nothing non compliant added to it. If someone is very sensitive to msg, they might also be sensitive to broth, even if there's no msg added to it. It is great that you're wanting to be as informed as possible, but remember that for whole30 purposes, it is enough to follow the rules and information you can download here: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/. If you feel like your research is adding to your experience, keep going, but if at any point you feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information out there, it is okay to just decide what you are going to follow based on what makes sense to you, do that for a few weeks or a month or so, and then evaluate if you think there are changes you could make to improve your experience.

I'm sorry you're not feeling well. It's hard to say what might be going on here without more information. If you give us an example of a day or two of typical meals, including specific vegetables and portion sizes, we can see if anything stands out that might be causing this. In general, are you eating 2-3 cups of vegetables at each meal? Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes may help with the diarrhea, and in general, cooking vegetables rather than eating them raw can be easier on the digestive system. Are you drinking plenty of water? Salting your food? These things are important anyway, but especially if you're having bouts of diarrhea you don't want to get dehydrated. For now, try to stick to fairly bland foods until you feel better. Baked potatoes or sweet potatoes with a little oil or ghee and salt, baked chicken, broth, maybe scrambled eggs or egg drop soup. If you need to take something like Imodium, do -- you don't need to be miserable.

In general, onions are okay, no matter how you cook them, but double check the ingredients on the Pam because many nonstick sprays contain soy lecithin or other ingredients that are not okay. You can find some downloads here that address some of the ingredients that you might see on labels: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/ As far as searching, the easiest way is to use Google and search for whole30 plus whatever you're looking for, or whole30 forum plus whatever you're looking for. Typically this will bring up replies on the forum or from the official whole30.com site among the first few results.

Whole30 is unlikely to be hurting your recovery, but it is understandable that when you feel unwell, you want the foods you are used to using to feel better. It is ultimately up to you whether you choose to stop whole30 now, but if you do I hope you'll try again when you're feeling better. For now, foods that might be easier to eat and may help you feel better would be things like baked potatoes or sweet potatoes with ghee or oil and salt, grilled or baked chicken seasoned simply with salt and pepper, broth or soup, maybe some scrambled eggs or a simple egg drop soup. Peppermint or ginger tea may help with nausea. While we still don't think you shoul be eating tons of fruit, bananas or unsweetened applesauce might be good. I would avoid nuts and products with nuts, like the Larabars, because they sometimes are hard to digest.

I'm going to say you shouldn't need to start over. If they said there were definitely peanuts added to them, that would be different -- unfortunately your body doesn't know the difference between accidental, unplanned ingestion and intentional -- but if it's just a possibility of some contamination, that sounds equivalent to an allergy warning about things being made in factories that also process peanuts, and those things would be okay on whole30.

Rice flour is not, because rice in any form is not okay. Potato flakes with no non-compliant ingredients are okay.

Being hungry in the morning is good. But instead of a bunch of snacks, make your breakfast bigger, and then if you do still need to eat between meals, try to have a mini meal of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three.

I'm sorry your grandmother is ill, that has to be stressful for you and your whole family. Epic bars, jerky, cans or pouches of tuna or salmon or other fish or maybe even chicken would be easy, shelf-stable proteins. Pouches of olives or nuts for fat. Some vegetables would probably be okay for several hours even cut -- like carrots, or cherry tomatoes or snap peas that don't need to be cut. Or if you're comfortable taking some whole fresh vegetables, a knife, and a small cutting board, whole vegetables will definitely last at room temperature for a couple of days, and you could do avocado too. If you have a thermos, you could pack soup, stew, or chili for something warm. If you have a cooler or insulated lunch box, that would give you more options for taking leftovers and keeping them cold. This is also the kind of situation where you may find that you cannot stick to the rules 100% and that is also okay. If you find yourself at the hospital longer than you expected, or for some other reason need to eat food that isn't 100% Whole30, that is okay. Life happens. Make the best choices you can from what is available to you and don't worry about it.

Read this and then decide for yourself how to proceed: https://whole30.com/2014/06/really-start-whole30/

Yes.

It's great as a dip for roasted vegetables. Or in deviled eggs or chicken or tuna salad. Or there's some ideas for flavored mayos, dips, and sauces here: https://whole30.com/2014/08/mayo-ghee-sauces/. Just in case you need some ideas.

@plantsower try going here: https://forum.whole30.com/notifications/options/ and check out your settings. If you scroll down there's options for what you want emails for and what you just want in the notification list here on the site. If you need someone to reply to this again or send you a message or something to check that it's working, let us know. (In case that link doesn't work, in the upper right hand corner, click the drop down next to your name, go to Account Settings, and near the middle of the page on the right hand side click Notification Settings. That's where that link ought to take you.)

First, ditch the smoothie and have a breakfast with lots of veggies (aim for 2-3 cups at every meal), a palm-sized serving of protein or two (or as many whole eggs as you can hold in one hand, likely 3-4), and 1-2 of the fat options listed on the meal template. If you have fruit, limit it to two servings a day, where a serving is the size of your closed fist. Starting with this for your first meal of the day will more than likely mean you don't need a snack midmorning, but if you are hungry between meals, have a combo of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three. Make sure the rest of your meals also meet the template. Salt your food, enough that it tastes good. For water, aim for 1/2 oz per pound if body weight, so 70 oz is great if you weigh about 140 lbs. I don't know exactly what is causing your headaches, but the fruit heavy breakfast is probably not helping.

We've had chefs and other people who needed to taste non-Whole30 foods do this. It definitely won't ruin your Whole30.

It can take a couple of weeks for people to get to the point where they're fat-adapted, and during that time workouts can definitely feel harder and be slower. Starchy vegetables can be helpful, either as part of post-wo or just in general. Most people seem to do well with one fist-sized serving per day, but people who are more active may need more. Also, I don't know if it applies to you, but during the week or so leading up to their period, many people find they need more food in general and more starchy vegetables in particular, so if that's something that could be going on, eat as much as you need to, even if it feels like you're eating way more than usual, and know that it'll go back to normal in a week or so. This article about post-workout food might be helpful: http://whole9life.com/2015/02/eat-post-workout/.

You can definitely eat more, there's no reason to be hungry. Be sure your meals are matching the meal template at a minimum, and it's fine to have bigger meals if you need them: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/ -- one thing we notice is people sometimes skimp on the fat, and that can definitely lead to being more hungry. Be sure you add one or two of the fat options to your meal, in addition to whatever oil you cook in.

I don't know about treating studying as a workout, but if you are hungry, it is okay to have something to eat. Be sure you're actually hungry -- as in you'd eat something boring, like plain steamed fish and broccoli -- not eating from stress or boredom or because you're tired. Eating won't make you less tired, for that you need rest. If you do eat, have a mini-meal with protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three. Definitely avoid having fruit on its own, and be careful with things like nuts or seeds that can be easy to eat mindlessly so that you don't realize how much you've really had.

Are you cooking your zoodles? Because a lot of times I feel like they work better if I don't actually cook them, but just put hot foods on top of them and let that warm them up. This works well with soup or stew or chili for sure. For a few things, I'll cook everything else and just before serving throw the zoodles in the hot pan with everything else, stir for just a second to combine, and then serve. There's also the method used in this recipe that works well but is kind of a pain so I only do it for something like this where the zoodles basically are the whole dish: http://meljoulwan.com/2011/08/18/comfort-noodles/

Olives, an avocado, some premade guacamole (check ingredients), a small container of nuts or seeds, coconut flakes. Depending on what type of soup it is, you could stir in coconut milk.

FODMAPS aren't the only things that can cause gas. Some people have to limit how many cruciferous vegetables they eat, like broccoli, cabbage, kale, or cauliflower, because those cause gas for many people. Raw vegetables are more likely to cause gas than cooked, cooked ones are just easier to digest, so if you've been doing many raw vegetables maybe try going to cooked ones for a few days and see if that helps. It's definitely possible an increase in meat can be hard to digest for some people. You might look into digestive enzymes, which can help with that. For probiotics, you could try adding fermented vegetables like sauerkraut or kimchi, some pickles (Bubbies is one brand that ferments theirs rather than using vinegar to pickle them), or kombucha or water kefir (more on those: https://whole30.com/2016/08/kombucha/). There are yoga poses and stretches that are said to help with gas, you can Google something like yoga for gas pain if you're interested in trying that. Going for a walk may help.

Have a look at the meal template, and try to make each of your meals accordingly: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/ So at breakfast, you need vegetables. Eat 1/2 to a whole avocado as your fat source. And when eggs are your only protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in one hand, so probably 3-4. Or if you don't want that many eggs, you can have two eggs plus some other protein. Lunch doesn't mention protein, I'm assuming there's some fat from salad dressing, but it would be okay to have the dressing plus some other fat -- some olives or avocado or nuts. Dinner again needs a serving or two of fat, in addition to whatever oil it was cooked in. For snacks, either at school or after supper, if you need them, try to have a mini meal of protein, fat, and vegetables or at least two of the three. Things that might be easy to carry include packets of olives or guacamole, cans or pouches of tuna or salmon or you might be able to find chicken, jerky or meat bars like Epic bars, carrot or celery sticks. You could take soup in a thermos, or take some leftovers as well, it just might mean carrying a cooler or insulated lunch bag. There are some insulated bags that look like purses or bags that would be easier to carry than a traditional hard plastic cooler. As for water, we recommend aiming for 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so at 128 lbs, you need more like 64 oz, and obviously if you work out or live somewhere hot or humid you'll probably need more than that.

The ingredients don't say anything other than coconut and water. All you need to look at is the ingredients. Ignore all the stuff under the Nutrition Declaration. This is fine, no matter how many grams of sugar, because they have not added any sugar to the coconut, coconut just happens to contain naturally occurring sugars, just like any other fruit does.