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Hello again, Whole30 community! Since finishing my first Whole30 in January of this year, I've been drawn toward going another round. I learned a lot the first time and felt great afterwards, but I quickly realized that I am not much of a moderator and I need to establish some hard and fast rules. My biggest struggles during the program were transitioning from vegetarian to omnivore, cutting sugar, and eating enough vegetables. I was sick for the first two weeks at least and didn't have the greatest experience overall. I started feeling horribly sick from chicken and eggs. It wasn't until the end that I really felt the positive effects. Naturally, since I didn't feel awesome during, I wasn't too stressed about a strict reintroduction because I just wanted to feel better. A fast track reintro soon turned to "eh, does it really matter?" and subsequent binges on chocolate, ice cream, and bread. I know I don't feel good after having large amounts of sugar and dairy, but the mental reward outweighed that. In terms of my climbing ability, I was doing great for a long time! Recently however, my muscles have had a harder time recovering and my forearms have even locked up on the wall to the point where I couldn't hold on. That's not a sign of a healthy body. I'm now in the planning stage for my next run, which I've dubbed "Spring Cleaning." This time I'll be starting April 7th with the extra challenge of reducing my meat intake from the last time. I know that it's one of the most effective sources of protein, especially on this plan, but I'm also participating in the EcoChallenge, which cites reducing animal proteins as one of the best ways to reduce one's carbon footprint. There's a chance I'll have to give up on that goal, because if it's between the two, I'm going to do what's best for my body. I'm still having trouble eating eggs so breakfast or lunch is going to be a little off the suggested plate each day. I'll need protein in my other two meals of the day to fuel my body enough for my climbing and biking! This time I'll be going for less starches, less fruit, and more greens. My Goals: Determine a way of eating that I can stick with in the long term. Find new and better ways of incorporating veggies into my meals. Improve my climbing skill and stamina. My Posts Will Consist of: Sleep Meal 1 Meal 2 Meal 3 Energy Physical symptoms Mental symptoms I'll be using the colors above to reference back to my goals within each post. Feel free to follow my progress! I always appreciate tips, commiseration, and support!

I'm on day 27 and I'm plagued by doubt about the program helping me. I was hoping it would help with my skin (lifelong acne) but it hasn't yet. I'm terrified I'll be in the 3% of people who gain weight on this program. My clothing is tighter than before I started. My digestion and energy level are still giving me issues. I've been taking a gymnastics class since September but this last month it feels like my flexibility has decreased. I'm so tired of trying things that work for everyone else and being told I must be the exception that doesn't work.

Hello! This is my first time doing whole30. I went through the bloating, tired, cranky, and then saw some energy with better sleep. But this week I haven't felt great. I've been doing 3 personal training workouts a week which makes me incredibly sore. I also teach so I know that causes some stress. It's highly unmotivating seeing as that i'm already half way through. I've tried my best to not cheat but I might have unknowingly??. I'm getting worried and confused as to why i'm so tired/cranky/don't feel like i've lost any weight. I know that weight loss isn't the main focus but I thought going from drinking almost every night to nothing and totally changing my diet I would feel some pounds come off! Here's what I had today as an example: 7:30 breakfast: 2 egg cups, handful of sweet potato hash, half an avocado, half a grapefruit. coffee with nutpods 10:00 mid morning snack: banana or apple with almond butter 11:40 Lunch: leftovers from dinner or premade whole30 meal from Territory (similar to snap kitchen) examples: stir fry with cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash with ground turkey 3:00 Mid afternoon snack: epic meat stick, or pork and sage balls before I go workout. Was doing an apple with almond butter but tried to stop having fruit after lunch. 7:00 Dinner: burger with mayo, lettuce, sweet potatoes, avocado, and maybe one slice of bacon Is there anything that I can be doing differently to see the energy spark in the last 12 days? I would greatly appreciate any help!! I workout after I get done teaching. I do have a pre workout (promix) because of the high intensity of it all. Could just 10.5g be ruining my results? If it is I can stop drinking it! Please help make the tiger blood happen!! Thank you!!

Im about halfway through my first whole 30 right now. I’m eating plenty of all the right foods suggested to be fueling my workouts as I’m training for a half marathon that is just a few days after I complete my Whole30. I strength train a few days a week and run a few. I ate fairly healthy and exercised regularly prior to beginning the whole 30. My issue is that I rarely have enough energy and motivation for a good workout. The instant I begin a run I feel drained and struggle to complete the run. I’m wondering if this could be a result of the whole 30 or something I’m doing wrong? I’m on day 16 and had hoped this would pass by now. I’m getting worried because now I haven’t gotten the proper training runs in that I should have by now. Any advice or suggestions as to why my energy levels have dipped so dramatically as I thought they would have picked up by now? Or any similar experiences? Thank you!

I’m on Day 22 of my first Whole30. The plan has not been a drastic change of diet for me and I’ve been taking barre about 5 days a week for the past several years. I felt fine during week 1 (the withdrawals were not bad for me). During week 2, I felt great: good consistent energy, but not necessarily what I would think of as “tigerblood”. During week 3, I was very irritable but I still had consistent energy, for the most part, for the first few days. However, my workouts were not the best. Then, things just started to decline. Now starting week 4, I feel like I have less energy than before and barely have energy to workout (I’m dreading something that I love to do). Also, my mood is still all over the place. There are some positives: less brain fog, cravings are manageable, and I’m seeing physical results (waistline). I just want to feel tigerblood/consistent energy. That and taming my sugar dragon was my motivation to start the program. I’m too stubborn to quit, but I’m struggling to keep it together. My husband keeps asking me if I’m ok or upset about something. I’m eating more than I ever did before the program and I try to eat the recommended portions at each meal, but making it 4 hours between meals with no snack is a struggle on most days. I know that not eating enough seems to be the best explanation. However, at the end of each meal, I feel full. And I think if I kept eating, I’d be overly full. Example meals: Breakfast: Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil (1 tsp) and 1 scoop of Collagen in my coffee. PLUS 2 eggs with at least a handful of spinach or other veggie and a piece of fruit (sometimes I don’t eat a fruit) Lunch: Salad (2 handfuls of leaves) with shredded chicken (maybe a cup) or other protein, 1/2 an avocado, and other random veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, bell pepper) OR Soup/chili (maybe a cup and a half) with 1/2 an avocado and I always add a handful of spinach to my soups PLUS Fruit (if I didn’t eat it at breakfast) Dinner: It’s always a protein serving + a veggie + a starchy veggie. Sometimes I’ll eat 1/2 an avocado with dinner. If I don’t, I try to increase the oil or ghee I’m using, and/or use a fattier piece of meat. Snacks: I am T R Y I N G so hard not to snack, except for after a workout. It’s typically a meat stick or a boiled egg and a purée veggie pouch (the ones typically for kids/babies). If possible, I eat sweet potatoes after my workout. I’m desperate to find out if I’m doing something wrong. Today was one of my worst energy days: it felt strenuous to walk up one flight of stairs and complete minimal household chores. That can’t be normal, right?

It’s Day 31 and I am absolutely floored by my results! Day 1 measurements: 191.4 lbs Waist: 35” Hips: 44” Day 31 measurements: 179.0 lbs Waist: 31” Hips: 41” Honestly I knew I lost weight but I would have never imagine 12.4 lbs in 30 days!! (For reference I am 5’ 7”) I definitely had some advantages helping me - I am allergic to tree nuts so snacking on nuts and any emergency type bars were out of the question for me. I almost never snacked and kept up with my healthy fats which I think helped a lot. I worked out about 7 times throughout the 30 days - after the first week hump I worked out for the next two weeks (3 & 4 times a week for about 45 min). The last week was super busy and I was getting sick so I was slacking. I can only imagine how much more I would have lost! I am absolutely amazed by my results, not just weight loss but my energy, mood and the sleep is awesome. I will definitely be continuing my journey!

Hey all, I’m on day 21 of Whole 30 and struggling with a few issues. Background: I’ve had horrible constipation issues since my 20 month old was 1 month old. My midwives had me taking 4-5 calcium/magnesium supplements per day that were giving me very soft/loose stools all through pregnancy. I stopped them when my daughter was 1 month old because I feared calcium supplementation would throw off other vitamins/minerals in my body. (Lots of info online about it, but I don’t have specific links.) When I stopped taking them, I started experiencing horrible constipation. I just had zero urge to go whatsoever. When I would finally go, the stools were huge and hard. They tore me open and brought me to tears. 3 months later I cut out dairy with no change. About 7 months after that I went paleo with very minimal improvement. In December I completely let loose and was eating anything and everything with no significant reaction to anything. I’ve been Paleo for about 9 months now (aside from the December mayhem) and this is my first whole30. I wasn’t getting any relief about 2 weeks in, so I started taking alcohol free Swedish bitters, adding sauerkraut to my diet (about 1/4c throughout the day) and a probiotic supplement at night. I drink kombucha but I worry about the sugar dragon so only once in a while right now. I also take magnesium malate during the day and magnesium glycinate at night along with triphala powder. I’m still not going regularly but when I do go, the stools are difficult to pass and “sandy,” like lots of small particles floating around that do not look like undigested food. I also have unbearably foul gas in the afternoon but mostly in the evening. It seriously could clear a neighborhood. I wasn’t having this gas before whole30. Im also ridiculously exhausted. I stay home with my child and do childcare and there are times when all I can do is lay on the couch. Walking up the stairs is impossible. Not always though, sometimes I get bursts of energy that I can’t explain or connect to any certain food or meal. I am 5’5 and 117 lbs. I have pretty small hands (1”x3”x4”) and I do my best to follow the meal template but I’m wondering if I need to add or subtract something. I’m also still nursing my 20 month old about 3-4 times per day and all through the night. I do maybe 20 minutes of cardio exercise 4 days a week and although I said above sometimes I can’t get off the couch, I am far from sedentary due to having to look after the children. I’ve lowered my fodmap intake but not completely eliminated. Here is a typical day: breakfast (7am): 3 eggs, 3/4c hash browns, 1c kale all cooked in ghee lunch (11am): 1 can of salmon mixed with mayo and herbs, mixed greens (~4c), fried plantain lunch (2pm): 1 chicken breast, 1c potatoes, 1c kale (potatoes and kale cooked in ghee or coconut oil) Dinner (6pm): 2 slices of meatloaf, 1.5c chard, 1.5c roasted beets (again all cooked in ghee or coconut oil) i go to bed at 10 and wake up at 6:30 or 7 every day (though sleep is interrupted due to nursing) I use at least 2T of cooking oil at every meal but I don’t add any additional fat. My meals often seem pretty heavy and oily. I usually have a healthy appetite before each meal, but I’m not starving between or anything. I’ve read about enzymes and hcl but hesitant to use them because I know your body can stop making them and that concerns me. If anyone has any other insight I would be so appreciative!!

So I am coming up on the end of my 3rd week of my first round of Whole30. I know that there is a patch where you will have an energy drain in the beginning, but I'm wondering how long that lasts? I've had an issue with being overwhelmingly tired where I could sleep 12 - 14 hours at a time, longer if I let myself. After a battery of tests which all came back negative, the cause of the extreme sleep is unknown. This was one of the reasons I turned to Whole30, wondering if what I was eating at that time was the cause. I will say, that since the first week, even though I am so tired I could sleep for 12 hours, when I'm awake, I am awake. I don't have the fog, or disconnected feeling I would frequently get which I think is a huge improvement. I'm just curious if the lack of energy could continue for the whole 30 (no pun intended) days? Typically, my breakfast is 2 hard boiled eggs, a mix of carrots/mushrooms/onions and fruit (an apple, orange, pear, mango or banana). Lunch could be chicken breast/lean beef/lean turkey cooked with onions green peppers and mushrooms, and fruit. With dinner typically the other half of what I made for lunch, or could be an omelette with fruit. Protein portions are the size of my palm, with double the amount in vegetables. I'm not a snacker, but on the rare occasion I have that urge, I'll usually snack on a cup of vegetables or fruit. I'm planning on doing a second round after this one finishes, only because I'm actually enjoying it a lot and really want to make sure that I'm clean before I start to slowly reintroduce things. Just want to make sure that at some point, the need for 12hrs of sleep or more will go away lol