Brewer5

People with IBS tend to do much better keeping an eye on FODMAPs. All coconut products (except for oil) are on the "be careful" list. So my best advice is to proceed with caution.

For my son's 11th birthday recently, we made ice cream in our homemade maker using JUST (unsweetened, canned) coconut milk & chopped up chocolate sea salt RX bars in it. That's the only time we've had them in this house, and... even to my 3 boys... that tasted like a birthday treat. They may be "technically compliant" ~ but they will not help anyone tame their sugar dragon. The idea is to get your blood sugar steady & your body good at burning fat, so that there should no longer be a food "emergency" ~ regardless of your circumstances.

Larabars, RX bars, and trail mixes with dried fruit will absolutely keep your sugar dragon alive & well.

If you don't do well with low-carb, your goal is not ketosis, and you have figured out in the past that you feel best with 50-100 grams of carbohydrate daily -- then you beat it without a fruit binge by being *proactive* instead of reactive. Plan your carbs with each meal throughout the day. Include various potatoes, carrots, squash, plantains, etc. Don't wait until you feel like crap and then scramble to try to fix it. The goal is to keep your blood sugar steady throughout the day, to keep your energy level and mood consistent throughout the day. You do this by combining the right amount of carbohydrate WITH your protein and fat. It takes longer to be digested & absorbed, and is less likely to cause the blood sugar spike and subsequent crash you are experiencing by eating carbohydrate alone.

@Dragonslayer -- thanks for the mention of the "Broken Brain" documentary. Wanted to let you all know that it is available on youtube and I'm watching it here: https://brokenbrain.com/01-epidemic/ I'm not far into it, but I see one of the first speakers is Dr. Datis Kharrazian, who wrote Why Isn't My Brain Working? -- a book that I've had for a few years. It's beefy, and I don't think I ever finished it, and I haven't pulled it off the shelf for awhile. But lots of good stuff in there. I look forward to hearing what all they have to say. Have a great day!

@NikayaSmith ~ I must say, as long as you are feeling good and determined ... I disagree with the advice that you cannot / should not do this right now. There is no such thing as a "perfect" Whole 30 ... it is different for each of us, and if you do repeated rounds ~ you will find that each one of them is unique, as well. There is A LOT of learning involved in the beginning. But because you have committed to do this for your body for 30 days, you are motivated to learn and in a way, you must learn ... you have to focus on your body and what it is telling you, what it needs, and how you can make it happen. Everyone has their own set of circumstances: We have different jobs, kids, finances, stress levels, different tastes, likes, dislikes, feelings, skills, and available resources. Yet we've all had successful Whole 30's. We make it work. Ok, so ~ you gave me one clue here when you said "can't do butter & sour cream" ... so a fat you would probably like would be GHEE. Girl, you can melt your butter down, and make your own ghee! It's not hard. We even found grass-fed ghee as a "special item" at Aldi. You can order it from Amazon, Vitacost, probably a million places, and have it in a couple of days. And re: cooking a white potato. Hey, no judgement here. We all have to start somewhere. You can cut it in quarters & boil for (I don't know?) ~10 minutes, OR put it in the microwave on a plate with just a *tiny* bit of water for maybe 3 minutes. Experiment and see how many minutes suits your desired texture. Some in my family like their potatoes very mushy and I like mine a little bit on the firmer side. If you're adding canned tomatoes, etc to your meat as you cook -- dice up a white potato and it will cook just like cauliflower or any other vegetable in there. I'm not sure why you think you have to specifically "bake" a potato... To my knowledge, the rules just don't want you deep-frying and making them into chips. They don't want us to do that with ANY fruit or vegetable.

Just to add a few thoughts to the other great suggestions you've gotten here: 1) I don't know if you had time to look up cruciferous vegetables. I know you have a lot of things going on in your mind right now. So I will just tell you that cauliflower and brussels sprouts are both cruciferous vegetables, along with broccoli and several others. Many people have trouble digesting these, especially if you're eating them raw ~ but sadly, even if you are eating them well cooked. Just be aware of it and maybe limit your quantities while you are trying to explore other vegetable options. That really should help cut down on the gas. 2) I don't know what your eating has looked like prior to Whole 30, and I don't know the details of your first attempt and what made you fall off the rails. But if I had to guess, I would guess that it had a lot to do with not consuming enough fat. See, here's the thing. The majority of your energy is going to come from carbohydrates or fat. Protein is used mostly for building tissues and repair. So, it makes sense that if you are cutting your carbohydrate intake quite a bit, you need to up your fat to keep up your energy as well as your satiety. If you are feeling grumpy, if your energy is waning, if you feel like you are making it through this but just barely, the answer really is to add in more fat and possibly more carbohydrates to feel satisfied. 3) I also just wanted to add to the caution that you have read about regarding nuts as a fat source. Since you are already having digestive issues and a lot of gas, nuts could just make this problem worse. Too many people fall into relying on them to get through their days, and then wonder why their belly is so darn upset. They are hard to digest. That's part of why you will see many articles out there about soaking them prior to consuming them. So don't feel bad if you can't afford to eat them every day, it is certainly not a requirement ~ and you are probably better off if you are going to have them, only having 1 ounce per day or something like that. That makes a bag of nuts last quite awhile, too.

I'm not saying that any of you are "trying" to be ketogenic (or that you are) -- but, if you're interested in learning, maybe google "physiological insulin resistance" + "keto" and read through some articles about it. See if you think it fits. If you are not ketogenic but instead are consuming a lot of starchy vegetables, that may be your answer right there. Potatoes make my blood sugar do crazy things. Another thing to be aware of is that it is common to experience higher than our normal blood sugar surrounding that time of the month. Lots of articles out there about that, too. Clearly this doesn't explain the other days of the month ~ but it is something I learned along my journey that I thought may help anyone who finds themselves confused about that.

"Tupperware" ... yes.

Helen, just a thought: a lot of people with arthritis find that it improves greatly when they remove nightshades. If you have been eating more potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc. it may be worth investigating. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Elana, counting calories and macros is not a sustainable lifestyle. Listening to your body IS. You learn how to do this on a Whole 30, if you follow the rules and recommendations. You've already said you feel awesome. GO with that. Keep going forward & don't look back. What you are doing is clearly working! Try to remember all of the reasons you were led to Whole 30 to begin with. If you haven't written them down yet, do so. Journaling can be a powerful tool -- whether it is here on the forum, in a notebook, or even just on "notes" on your phone. Instead of trying to look ahead to day 31 and wondering, "what if?" ... try to live in the moment. What am I feeling NOW? You're feeling good. Roll with it. You mention your fat intake has increased. GOOD. Fat is satiating in a way that grains and sugar are not. And your body needs that fat. The membrane of every cell in your body is made up of fat (lipids). Reading about the problems people have with reintroductions ... should help you know you are on the right path. Whole 30 cleanses the body of these inflammatory substances to the point that when you have them again -- your body lets you know *quite clearly* if it is a problem food for you. What you decide to do with that information is up to you. If you eat dairy on reintro and find that it makes your sinuses fill up, or it makes you bloated and gassy -- that wasn't *caused* by Whole 30. That was *revealed* by Whole 30. So, at that point, you know exactly what you are choosing if you choose to eat dairy. Before Whole 30 -- you don't really know what is making you feel bad, all you know is that you don't feel good. That is what led you here. So follow through with your plan. This is just 30 days of your life + reintro experiments. You will gain knowledge about your body that will be invaluable for the rest of your life. Don't you deserve that?

Lol, cool kids... well, I guess so.

kirkor ~ the kids and I watched the LHOP series long ago. It always cracked us up when Pa comes in from a long, hard day of work, gets in bed, and Ma says, "you want some coffee?" He sits there in bed, drinks his coffee while they chat... then they blow the candle out & go right to sleep. Will this be part of your LHOP Whole 30?

Julie, I think it is easy for people to underestimate the drastic changes brought about in your body by Whole 30. You are doing your FIRST Whole 30 ... transitioning from all of the typical things a "sugar burner" uses to fuel runs. AND training for your first 50k on January 20 -- day 20 of your Whole 30. (31.25 miles, right?) Your body is stressed. Between the sickness, the training, and the Whole 30... it is stressed. And clearly letting you know, as evidenced by your heart rate. Whole 30 is a time to slow down, a time to refocus on yourself. To rest. A lot. It's a time to heal. And it's a big job -- all by itself. It's a time to be forgiving with yourself. It's a time to listen to your body and respect what it is telling you. You may reach a point where you have to decide which of these two goals is most important to you. One of them may just have to wait. If you decide to push on -- it would be good for you to post your food here and get some feedback from others. You may need to be eating A LOT more carbs than you currently are, and a lot more food in general.

@littleg Hello, friend. I just popped in here tonight for the first time in awhile, and see I had a mention. I don't know why I get no email notifications from the forum at all. They've made a lot of changes. I'm so glad you remember me as a source of support during some of your most difficult days. Thank you. And I see I'm (almost) just in time for little guy's BIRTHDAY! Woo hoo -- congrats! My "baby" will be 11 on Monday. I didn't remember their birthdays were so close together. I hope your friends don't mind me posting here. I don't really have "a place" anymore. My old thread is just so... old. Lol. I obviously have not read everything here in 19 pages. But I'm glad you all have found each other. The support of others around the world going through similar struggles can help save your sanity at times. When no one IRL understands what you are feeling, it's great to know *someone* does. Seriously, can you imagine life before the internet? In my years here at Whole 30, I made some really good friends. Happy New Year & take care, all!