Confused why I'm not feeling differently

[Courtsabina]

This is my first Whole30 and I am truly LOVING this new way of eating! That being said, I am not feeling the results that I keep reading about. I'm on Day 25 today and I'd say the best I've felt was during weeks 2 and 3. For the last week and a half, my stomach feels bloated, my acne has worsened and my sleep is terrible-my mind is active the entire night, like I'm watching my dreams or thinking about events of the day all night long. I'm trying to get the 8 hours of sleep, but I'm not falling asleep until11:30pm and am WIDE awake by 6am.-Which is resulting in less energy during my Bootcamp workouts. There is nothing stressing me out, so this is not the cause of lack of sleep-I have been this way for a long time and was looking forward to the Whole30 improving my sleep. I have had moderate acne since early teens and was really hoping that illumination of foods would finally tell me what causes it, but this too has not changed. Also, I was hoping to have a more toned and trimmed stomach by Day 30 like I see in so many people's Whole30 pics, but I'm doubtful that this will change over the next 5 days when my 30 is over. I have not cheated AT ALL, however there have been three incidents where something has crept in. First, 2 turkey bacon pieces in my first week I found out had dextrose in them. Second, a side salad I had at a restaurant, i came to find out afterwards that the dressing contained a tiny bit of sugar. Third, 5 days ago after eating Salmon at my Mom's I realised that she'd put a dill paste on top which contained dextrose and whey-likely I had 1/2 tsp in total spread on top...I am super upset that these mistakes occurred without my knowing until it was too late, but I do t think theses were enough to cause ZERO improvements over the 25 days so far. Any thoughts? Is it common to see no results at this point and all will be different by Day 30?

[Courtsabina]

*elimination of foods (autocorrect)

[PamH]

I really wonder if there are food issues that arise during Whole30 that were not apparent when we were eating the gluten/dairy/soy/sugar, etc. Also, I fully believe in the detox process, so I have no problem thinking that there will be times during the Whole30 process where fat stores are releasing garbage (toxins) that are then recirculated in our bloodstream to cause (temporary) problems. Acne would be one of them. Very unscientific, simplistic explanation but I believe it to be true at some level.

Bloating has been an issue for me as well. Nuts are a huge culprit, even though they are Whole30 legal to some degree. At this point, it doesn't even take more than a few nuts to make me feel 'off'. That wasn't apparent before I started Whole30, but I had the sugar doing a lot of damage at that point.

30 days is a drop in the bucket for a body to acclimate and recover. I know you will finish the Whole30, but consider either very, very slowly adding a little bit of gluten, dairy, soy, sugar over the next 30-60 days or continue the Whole30 for an entire 30 days without any slip ups. For me, Whole45 or even Whole90 is probably needed. Ugh.

Sorry you aren't getting the results you were hoping for. I wasn't either, so I regrouped and took out more stuff (raisins, nuts, coconut water) that were OK on Whole30 but problematic.

p.s. If that is truly you in your picture, you look healthy and thin! Sometimes I think we exercise too much, which effects our cortisol levels and can disrupt sleep. Lack of sleep can effect weight and appetite. Living in a chronic state of inflammation can be damaging from too much cardio. I know I am guilty. You talk about your boot camps: do you do those daily or do you take a break? If you have had any babies, fat distribution is certainly different, and that flat belly we once had could be a distant memory!

Pam

[Courtsabina]

Thanks Pam, your thoughts on the acne make total sense to me! I do want to continue this further past the 30 days, so hopefully things will change and i will continue to learn what foods affect my body in different ways. I have been drinking more coconut water this past week, so funny you said that is a problem for you-perhaps i will try omitting it and see what happens. I do have children, and my belly was something I really hoped would change...oh well. I do Bootcamp 4-5 times a week-only half an hour a day early in the morning-not sure if that's a problem for my sleeping-and I'm always awake before my alarm, so getting up that early isn't what's ruining my sleep. And, yes that is truly me in the pic thanks!

[PamH]

Coconut water is sugar. Good for you, but for Whole30 purposes it is sugar. I asked that question the other day and the answer made sense to me. I cut it out for now.

And my belly? It went flat after each of my 3 kids, but something happened after I hit 40. I now have his tiny pooch of fat deposit right below my belly button that is not going anywhere. Blech.

Still, in the grand scheme of things, we look awesome and we feel awesome compared to the majority of women our (well, at least my) age.

[Javagal78]

I really wonder if there are food issues that arise during Whole30 that were not apparent when we were eating the gluten/dairy/soy/sugar, etc. Also, I fully believe in the detox process, so I have no problem thinking that there will be times during the Whole30 process where fat stores are releasing garbage (toxins) that are then recirculated in our bloodstream to cause (temporary) problems. Acne would be one of them. Very unscientific, simplistic explanation but I believe it to be true at some level.

Bloating has been an issue for me as well. Nuts are a huge culprit, even though they are Whole30 legal to some degree. At this point, it doesn't even take more than a few nuts to make me feel 'off'. That wasn't apparent before I started Whole30, but I had the sugar doing a lot of damage at that point.

30 days is a drop in the bucket for a body to acclimate and recover. I know you will finish the Whole30, but consider either very, very slowly adding a little bit of gluten, dairy, soy, sugar over the next 30-60 days or continue the Whole30 for an entire 30 days without any slip ups. For me, Whole45 or even Whole90 is probably needed. Ugh.

Sorry you aren't getting the results you were hoping for. I wasn't either, so I regrouped and took out more stuff (raisins, nuts, coconut water) that were OK on Whole30 but problematic.

p.s. If that is truly you in your picture, you look healthy and thin! Sometimes I think we exercise too much, which effects our cortisol levels and can disrupt sleep. Lack of sleep can effect weight and appetite. Living in a chronic state of inflammation can be damaging from too much cardio. I know I am guilty. You talk about your boot camps: do you do those daily or do you take a break? If you have had any babies, fat distribution is certainly different, and that flat belly we once had could be a distant memory!

Pam

I so agree with your points! I have also noticed some bloat and facial puffiness some mornings and it seems to coincide with my nut consumption. I have also experienced some burning in my mouth with the nuts in the last 10ish days or so. Previous to whole 30 (I'm on day 25), this only occurred with walnuts.

I hope you can pin down what is the issue, Courtsabina!

[calee]

Coconut was a big culprit for bloating me. One day I toasted 1 ounce of shredded coconut. I ate half in the morning and half in the evening. Later I looked several months pregnant. I sat watching my belly grow. The next day someone told me to rub coconut oil on a rough patch of skin on my face. I woke out of a sound sleep thinking something in my bedroom stank. Turned out I had a reaction to the coconut oil and it repulsed me. I've stayed away from coconut since then.

I'm not feeling amazing results either except that today I thought my face was glowing and radiant. I guess thats a great sign if health. I'm on day 26 and think I will continue WholeWhatever. Thirty is probably when my body is gearing up to do its best work.

[PamH]

Coconut was a big culprit for bloating me. One day I toasted 1 ounce of shredded coconut. I ate half in the morning and half in the evening. Later I looked several months pregnant. I sat watching my belly grow. The next day someone told me to rub coconut oil on a rough patch of skin on my face. I woke out of a sound sleep thinking something in my bedroom stank. Turned out I had a reaction to the coconut oil and it repulsed me. I've stayed away from coconut since then.

I'm not feeling amazing results either except that today I thought my face was glowing and radiant. I guess thats a great sign if health. I'm on day 26 and think I will continue WholeWhatever. Thirty is probably when my body is gearing up to do its best work.

If coconut turns out to be problematic for me, I will cry. Literally. I am pretty confident I am OK with it since I use coconut in many forms every day. I do think raw coconut flakes are a trigger for me, though. I'll stick to using the oil and butters for cooking.

I like WholeWhatever.

My skin also looks fantastic. I treat myself to a facial every 3 months, and the woman commented on how hydrated my skin looked this time. I have noticed it is much clearer and fresher looking.

This journey can get so complicated!

[calee]

I read that while coconut meat might be problematic, oil and milk seem less so.