Day 16 and Worried

[LindaLee]

I'm on Day 16 and I'm actually started to feel quite anxious. Though I haven't finished a Whole30 yet, I have gotten to the two week point - even to 20 days - and I have never felt like this this far along, at least not that I remember.

The biggest things are bloating and puffiness. My entire body just feels like it has a layer of puffy over it, and my tummy is consistently swollen after meals. When I wake up in the morning, my hands are puffy to the point that I can see an outline of my wedding ring on my finger. It dissipates almost right away - as soon as I get up and start moving around - but it's disconcerting, to say the least. I feel like I'm having a sort of "Groundhog Whole30," LOL, where I'm living Days 1-5 over and over.

I take Natural Calm every night, and I don't think I eat a ton of salt. I have had virtually no nuts this time around precisely because at my age (51) I'm prone to inflammation anyway, especially in my back.

I haven't eaten gluten, except in rare cases, in over a year, but to be brutally honest, I probably had half a half gallon of ice cream nearly every night for two months before I started this Whole30.

Before that, we were on a Paleo challenge that went as it usually does - I had a good week, then a bad week (ice cream), then two perfect weeks, and by the end of the two perfect weeks I felt fantastic and had lost five inches.

Before that challenge, I probably had two months of nightly ice cream.

The only difference I can pinpoint this time is that I have had more coconut milk than in the past, so I'm eliminating coconut completely for the rest of the Whole30 to see if that helps. If it doesn't, I'm going to my doctor, who luckily is a Paleo fan.

Any other advice or obsevations would be greatly appreciated!!

[HHWholeLife]

I have no suggestions but I'm experiencing all of the exact same things!  I'm 40 and have a bad back too.  All of this water retention/swelling etc is making my pain a lot worse.  I wasn't eating Paleo before W30 but I have Celiac and was already gluten free.  I'm on Day 13 and have started to avoid coconut and nut products to no avail. 

 

I started Natural Calm two days ago and while it has helped constipation, I'm still just as swollen. 

 

It all started on Day 2 or 3 of Whole 30.

 

Maybe we have to ride it out like some sore of detox??? 

[Bethany Lannon]

Have either of you looked into digestive enzymes? I just started taking them less than a week ago. I'm already noticing subtle improvements.

LindaLee, when you say your tummy is swollen nearly after every meal, it sounds like you could benefit from them. I am taking Now Foods brand Super Enzymes. There is a blog somewhere on the Whole9 site "Everything you wanted to know about digestive enzymes". Search for that and see if you think you could benefit from them. At the least, they can't hurt you!

Good luck to both of you!!

[LindaLee]

I haven't - thank you for the suggestion! I am taking coconut in all forms out of my diet completely this week, to see if that will help.

[Renee Lee]

What else is going on? How's your hydration, how's your salt intake? (you might actually need more, not less) How often do you exercise? How's your carb intake?

[LindaLee]

My hydration could be part of the problem - normally when I'm doing a Paleo challenge, I have at least 72 ounces of water a day. The last few days I've been monitoring my water intake, and if I don't count my tea, I'm probably more around 50-60. 

 

That's a good point about the salt - I've been limiting it, so maybe I need to try more.

 

Last week I went to Crossfit three times, the week before twice. That was after a week off to give my joints some recovery time. Normally I go at least four, sometimes five times a week. 

 

I think my carb intake is okay. For breakfast, I made the turkey apple hash from the Success Guide, but in addition to the squash and apples in the recipe, I usually toss in a few other things - this week, mushrooms and kale. I divide that into a little over five servings, so I think it works out to about five-six ounces of meat and then veggies. I add a handful of baby carrots and a handful of olives. This week, I also put half an avocado in each serving, to help me get some more good fat.

 

I don't normally snack. Usually I'm too busy and I'm trying to stay away from nuts because of the inflammation thing. 

 

Preworkout I had a hardboiled egg

Postworkout I had a small (about 1/3 cup) of salmon (from US Wellness) and a handful of sliced jicama

 

For lunch: I made another hash, but this time with half ground beef and half ground bison (2 pounds total meat), plus onions, turnips, mushrooms, and kale. This made about six servings, so probably about five ounces meat plus veggies. I also have a salad - spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, and celery - with Paleo mayo. Finally, half an avocado and a banana.

 

I was very hungry when I got home so I did have a meat snack stick from US Wellness while I was making dinner.

 

Dinner tonight: probably about 4 ounces salmon, plus broccoli, tomatoes, and olives:

 

 

I also had about 1/2 a green apple. I actually was full before I finished all of this - this is something new that's been happening to me.

 

The stomach issues are a little less today; I took coconut completely out of my diet and that seems to have helped, though I'm still kind of bloaty. I don't know if that's just the natural consequence of two months of eating ice cream every night - I suspect that's a big part of it.

 

The other thing I'm working on this week is my sleep hygiene; I haven't been as diligent about it as I used to be, so I'm trying to be better about it.

 

As I said originally, I would welcome any advice!

[Renee Lee]

I'd keep coconut out for now and try to get more water and a little salt. See how that works.

Next, probably unrelated to your bloating, but w crossfit 3-5x/week, I don't think your starchy veggies are close to adequate. Your veggie intake looks great, but it's def light on the carb count.

Don't change too much at once though!

[LindaLee]

Thanks, Renee (I don't know how to put the accent on there)! I had an extra sweet potato at dinner tonight with some Paleo mayo - boy, was that good. I also was up to 88 ounces of water, so I'm hoping that helps. And it's nice to be able to add salt to stuff - I'm so used to watching my salt intake, I haven't salted my food in forever, and I've halved the salt in most recipes. Duh! 

 

I wonder also if my Natural Calm intake was part of the problem too - I am still working to adjust the laxative effect.

 

The stomach discomfort after my meals has definitely dissipated - praise the Lord and hold the coconut for a while, LOL. The bloating seems to be a bit better; I was able to comfortably wear a pair of pants that were not so comfy a week or so ago.

 

I said elsewhere, but it's worth repeating: in a way, I'm grateful for the bloating. In prior attempts, after a couple of weeks, I've lost enough inches and gained enough energy to make it easy to go offrails. That hasn't happened this time, because I don't want things to get even WORSE, LOL!

[LindaLee]

Hello - checking in here, and still confused and unhappy.

 

The digestive issues had resolved for a little while, but now they're back. Not as bad as that first week, but still troubling. I'm still experiencing puffiness, especially in the morning, and wonder if the salt is actually causing that to worsen. Worst of all, after a few days of feeling as if I were finally starting to lean down, I now feel like I'm actually gaining weight. Yesterday I absolutely felt FAT. 

 

This is unprecedented in my Whole30 experience. I admit I've never gone past day 15 (or maybe 18), but that's been because by day 15 or 18 I had lost inches and gained energy and strength, which I always used as an excuse to go off-rails. That may make this experience a blessing in disguise, since it's keeping me on-track, but I'm just miserable. 

 

Please, please help!

[Renee Lee]

What did you change that seemed to have helped? Did you deviate from whatever you were doing?

 

Did we already rule out your period? Or maybe it wasn't the case before, and you fixed it with salt and more water, but now it IS that time of the month, so it's reappeared?

 

Are you back up to your normal workout level again? You may need the extra starchies for energy as well as regularity...

 

Lots of moving pieces here Linda, sorry I can't point to ONE thing for you

[LindaLee]

Renee, you are helping me enormously! No, it isn't my period - I'm postmenopausal, and couldn't even tell you the last time I had a period! It does feel a lot like it, though...puffy and tired and extra-emotional.

Getting rid of the coconut definitely helped, and I have been drinking more water...but I'm not consistent with it, so maybe that's a big part of the picture. I also was drinking water with my meals. Which I stopped doing today, so I'm hoping that might help with some of it.

Perhaps some of the puffiness is my body adjusting to the increase in salt? It's not like I'm pouring salt on everything, but I really was limiting it before.

I am up to my normal workout routine - hit Crossfit four times this week, though was tired and even nauseous a couple of days. It also has been hot and humid, though, so that could be the reason for that. I ran two miles Tuesday at high noon and thought I was going to die by the time I was done - it definitely wasn't my best time. On the other hand, I ran a mile Friday with a 10-pound medicine ball and actually made pretty good time.

I'm concerned that I've become really insulin-resistant after so many ice cream weeks, and my body hasn't kicked into fat-burning yet, which is why I'm kind of afraid to increase my starchy carbs.

Again, this is very, very helpful, Renee...please keep offering suggestions and ideas. I know we'll figure this out!

AND THANK YOU!!!!!!!

[LindaLee]

I drank water like a crazy woman today! I had 44 ounces before I even had breakfast, and I think over 100 ounces so far today. It sure made me pee, but I was noticeably less puffy this morning. I'm starting to hope that I'm turning the corner at last. I'm still tired, but I think there are a couple of causes for that...heat, workouts, and tick bites. 

 

Digestively...I was good after breakfast and after lunch both yesterday and today. Yesterday, I tried to lay down shortly after dinner, and that definitely stirred things up. 

 

My sleep hygiene was much better last night, too, and I slept longer without waking up.

 

As I said, I'm daring to hope that I'm turning the corner here!

 

I'm hoping this experience will be something I remember if I am tempted to go on another two-month ice cream bender...everyone here is free to remind me...