Leg cramps

[scitex]

Day 5 of my second whole30 and looking for some help. I played about 2 hours of tennis this morning, and it was a hot one, temps in the 90s and heat index easily 100 on the court. I had a good breakfast before (eggs, bacon, applesauce), ate a mini-Larabar part way through, and drank lots of water--at least 40 oz. 

After I got home and showered I had the WORST leg cramp of my life. It went on for 15 minutes, horrible pain through my thigh, calf, and into my foot with muscle spasms. Husband mixed up some SF electrolyte drink for me and gave me a banana and a leg massage, and it finally let up. (I realize the drink isn't whole30 compliant, but it was an emergency.)

Any ideas on what I could have done to prevent the cramps? I've been playing all summer without a problem, so I don't if I'm missing out on something by doing whole30 this week. Previously I was doing mainly compliant, probably 85%.

[amberino21]

Cramping could be due to a few things - dehydration, low salt, low magnesium, low potassium.

For a hot day, where you were active for two hours, 40oz of water isn't a lot. If drink that, if not more for an hour or so of lifting weights! If you are very active and losing a lot of water, you could try having a bit of coconut water - it is like a natural "sports drink", and helps replace some electrolytes.

You also need to replace the salts lost - if you've cut out some processed foods, you may be lower in sodium. Do you salt your food with a good quality salt?

You can supplement with magnesium/potassium, but they are both present in many whole 30 foods - dark leafy greens, salmon, nuts, squashes and pumpkin, sweet potato, berries, banana etc.

Another pointer - you mention you had a "good" breakfast, but haven't included any vegetables! You should be aiming for 2-3 cups per meal

[scitex]

I don't like coconut water---any other drinks that would work?

 

Eating 2-3 cups of vegetables would make it impossible to play 2 hours of tennis in the heat. Too much in the tummy to digest. I'd vomit.

 

I wasn't eating processed foods---I was 85-90% compliant, with the deviation being a date night meal with my husband and eating an english muffin with the breakfast mentioned above before I went to play tennis. When I'd eat the muffin, I usually didn't need a Larabar during the match.

 

I take Natural Calm for magnesium every night and eat a lot of the foods you mentioned on a regular basis.

[GFChris]

Could you have at least one cup of vegetables per meal?
 

[scitex]

Do you think if I'd eaten a cup of veggies I wouldn't have gotten cramps? I do eat plenty of veggies at lunch and dinner, just not for breakfast before going to play (I have at least some veggies with breakfast the rest of the time).

 

If there's some sort of pre-match veggies that would prevent the cramps, I'm willing to give it a try. I just never want to experience the pain I had on Saturday again. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had cramped up like that when I was driving home from the match. I think I could have lost control of the car and had a bad accident. I really need a fix to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[GFChris]

The idea would be to try potassium-rich vegetables or a banana, as part of your breakfast.

[Physibeth]

Have you tried more than one brand of coconut water? They are all different. I usually buy the O.N.E. brand (plain) and cut it 50% with water for my long runs or runs on hot days. I don't like it straight up but I like it enough that way.