Not eating enough? Making me tired?

[frankie]

Hello,

I'm on day 24 (of probably a Whole60 since my family wants to start one now too), and one problem I can't seem to shake for more than a couple days is that I keep getting hungry. Actually hungry, not I just feel like eating because I'm bored hungry. I'm eating about 5 oz. of meat and about a cup of vegetables at each meal. Is this enough? I don't really exercise (though I am starting a martial arts class so that'll change), so I don't feel like I need an abundance of calories, but about an hour or two after breakfast I'm starving and have to have a snack (either a few nuts or a piece of fruit), and mid-late afternoon I'm hungry again and and feel about-to-fall-asleep-at-my-desk-exhausted from like 2-4, then I'm fine. The last several days I've felt exhausted from like 2-9pm though when I finally just go to bed! My sleep isn't off so I don't think that's it. I'm not feeling satisfied by my lunch (like my stomach starts growling while I'm eating and it doesn't stop for a half hour lol- I'm feeding you, stop growling at me!), so I guess I need to start by adding in there, but what can I add in? More vegetables? I don't like having nuts and fruit as snacks, since nuts bother me if I eat very many and fruit is just sooo sweet and I don't want to just rely on carbs continually for energy. Am I waiting too long between meals? Am I not getting enough or too much carbs? Not enough food?

Breakfast at 5 is typically chicken, maybe 3/4 cup veggies, and a sweet potato.

Lunch at noon is fish with 1-1.5 cups of vegetables.

Supper at 6 varies, but some sort of meat and more veggies.

All my vegetables are cooked in coconut oil, sometimes olive oil.

Fruit is usually blueberries or strawberries, maybe an apple.

Nuts are almonds or pecans, sometimes cashews.

~Frankie

[Tom Denham]

You need to eat more. The meal template explains how much you should be eating: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

[msssjenna]

eat more, and would add more fat to your meals. i cook my meats in coconut oil, and still eat 1/2 avocado.

[frankie]

I feel like I am eating that much though, or am I supposed to be eating like 2-3 cups of vegetables?

~frankie

[frankie]

I cook my chicken in CO but I don't do much with my fish, mostly because I don't actually like fish and have no idea how to cook it. I just put some olive oil on it, but maybe I'll start heaping some CO on that too. Fats are probably the hardest for me to get in, because I don't really eat any outside what I cook things in. I think there's some coconut milk lurking in the cabinet though so maybe I can drink some of that...

~frankie

[Bethany Lannon]

eat more, and would add more fat to your meals. i cook my meats in coconut oil, and still eat 1/2 avocado.

I second this thought...

You could try upping your protein by adding an extra ounce at each meal, and add 1/2 avo or 1/4-1/2 c. canned coconut milk (perhaps pour over your fruit at meals that have fruit included) to each meal. For my veggie intake, I can safely say that I will usually eat a minimum of two full cups. I sautéed a 16oz bag of brussel sprouts & onion one night for dinner... I probably ate a good 2/3 - 3/4 of that dish with my dinner. I don't know what mods & W30 vets would say, but I would be inclined to say that you can't eat too many fibrous (ie, non-starchy) veggies.

Would love an update in the next few days to see what changes you made and how you feel!

[frankie]

I'll up the veggies and fat then and see how it goes! Another question, if I'm finishing my martial arts class (two hours long, twice a week) at 8:15 at night, should I still be eating post-WO even though it's so close to when I'd go to sleep (around 10)? I hate exercising so late but with my work schedule it's the only chance I have.

~frankie

[Bethany Lannon]

You could still do a mini-meal, even if its tuna and 1/2 a sweet potato. Your muscles will still benefit from the protein more than if you starve them post-WO. Since you'd be going to bed soon, you could experiment with no sweet potato (no starchy carbs) afterward and either have a small bowl of fruit or no carbs at all. But at the very least you will want the protein.

[Tom Denham]

The meal template calls for filling your plate with veggies in addition to a palm-size serving of protein. I think filling a plate properly would take 2-4 cups of veggies. And if you are getting hungry, you should be looking at increasing the protein from 1 to as much as 2 palm-size servings.

Fish can be tricky to cook, so you might want to try one of my super easy poached fish recipes. The most recent one I've published is at http://www.wholelifeeating.com/2013/05/dover-sole-poached-in-marinara-sauce-with-yellow-bell-pepper-green-olives-and-sweet-yellow-onion/ I add green olives to the dish to increase the fat content since white fish has almost no fat. I have been getting three meals out of this recipe lately and have been known to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and supper on the same day.