Running out of steam....

[jmh]

After doing my first whole 30 my energy levels were so wonderful I encouraged my husband to try it. He is a runner, biker and works out as often as he can. He has a job where he works more then full time and is also attending school at night. His schedule is as follows.. 4 days a week he leaves for work at 6am, leaves work at 5pm or 5:30pm heading straight for school and returns home at 9pm or 9:30pm. He then runs 5-6 miles eats and goes to sleep shortly after that. Sometimes he will get his run in before work and hit the gym when he gets home. He also has an extremely high metabolism (so not fair) and eats like crazy.

 

We started a whole 30 together Jan 6th after I encouraged him about how much better he would feel. He eats pretty healthy and does not have an issue with food. He is having a real problem with "running out of gas" as he calls it. I have been cooking like crazy, following the templates and packing him so much food he needs 2 lunch bags. For example the meal I sent today with him was grass fed roast, stir fry broccoli, cauliflower and mush mix, sweet potato, large bag of nuts and raisins and then to eat before school I sent along 3 hard boiled eggs, 4 pcs of bacon, spinach, watermelon and an apple. Then when he gets home he eats a huge meal also not to mention what he eats for breakfast. I am cooking like crazy and having 3 little boys, and him not being here, makes it hard to keep up with the amount of food he needs. I double recipes, do cook up days and all that fun stuff. Even after doing all that he is losing weight that he does not want to and is not able to keep up with his schedule and running as well as he used to. My main point in doing this is to show him how much better he feels and that is not happening right now.

 

I have 2 questions. First I would really like to stay on the whole 30 so if anyone has any ideas of something quick and easy I can fix for him that would be great and not super expensive. Our grocery bill is running out of control. I just can't add any more meat it is getting too $$. Since we are doing this for health and energy reasons and not because he has an issue with food could we add in some things (like white rice and paleo muffins) and come out with the same healthy full of energy feeling?? I know he can not say he completed a whole 30 but that is not important to us. Being healthy and having energy to keep up with his schedule and the things he loves is. Any suggestions about anything?? We need help!! He also has to have food that can be transported and eaten quickly. Thanks!!

[annabel]

My husband is super active as well, physical job and a high metabolism and I feel like I'm in the kitchen all the time too.

 

From another post today about how to not lose weight on a Whole 30.  http://whole30.com/2013/12/keeping-weight-whole30/

 

There was a link to some butternut squash, sweet potato and coconut milk soup that I think I'm going to try for part of his breakfast.  Quite calorie dense, and hopefully not too filling so that he wants to eat a smaller breakfast or can't manage lunch.

 

Having only finished a week though, you might be a bit too early to see any of the energy benefits.

[mdraeger]

I'm a triathlete who has a similar training schedule to your hubby. It definitely takes me a little time to get adjusted to the lower carb of W30. My solution was to increase my starchy veggies and be patient with the process. The first weeks are tough, so I just try to listen to my body and not put any big expectations on myself. He may need to lower the intensity on his workouts and experiment with his pre WO meals to figure out what works best. Eventually, the body adapts to burning fat as fuel and he'll start feeling better. 

 

I'd encourage him to give it at least another week before throwing in the towel. 

 

Good luck!

 

Michelle

[jmh]

For some reason it is not letting me quote things??

 

@annabel- Thanks! The higher calorie food article is really helpful. I never thought of doing squash or sweet potato soup and loading the calories up with coconut milk. He is always hungry so getting in the way of his eating other food will not be a problem and the soup is something he could take with him and drink on the way to school. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever leave the kitchen:)

 

@mdraegerPNW- Thanks! He likes to do triathlons in the summer when he is not in school. In reading the "how you are feeling day to day" I think he expected his energy to go back up faster then it is. He is not ready to quit but he is not happy to be running out of steam before he is ready. I will tell him to give it some more time and try to add some more starchy veg and calorie filled soups because he does not have much fat to burn. I wish I could do the things you all do but my idea of distance running is to the end of the driveway to my mailbox:)

 

Very helpful!!

[Physibeth]

Getting to fat adaption takes about 2 weeks. His workouts are going to feel like crap for about that long. So maybe around the 20th he should start to see an improvement. My first 2 weeks of paleo were awful. Dead legs on runs and felt weak in the gym. But after those 2 weeks were up I started to see a huge improvement! 

 

Also he may want to consider if he might be over training. Sleep and stress management are also very important to our health and energy levels.

[AliElmer1]

I'm a triathlete who has a similar training schedule to your hubby. It definitely takes me a little time to get adjusted to the lower carb of W30. My solution was to increase my starchy veggies and be patient with the process. The first weeks are tough, so I just try to listen to my body and not put any big expectations on myself. He may need to lower the intensity on his workouts and experiment with his pre WO meals to figure out what works best. Eventually, the body adapts to burning fat as fuel and he'll start feeling better. 

 

I'd encourage him to give it at least another week before throwing in the towel. 

 

Good luck!

 

Michelle

I had a question- any suggestions on pre WO meals?

I am in my first Whole 30, day 4 and I work out 4-5x a week at a studio where we do treadmill, water rower and floor exercises. I noticed the past two mornings- I work out at 5:30am- i had NO energy. I typically do not eat that early in the AM as I perform better with little to nothing in my stomach. Just works for me- I have done 1/2 marathons and 2 Tri's and I working on starting my training for my  3rd Tri.

 

Any suggestions on good pre- WO meals that would be light in my stomach but give me some energy? I did come home this morning and had scrambled eggs with salsa and black olives with a sweet potato and black coffee.

 

Thanks so much!

[Physibeth]

I had a question- any suggestions on pre WO meals?

I am in my first Whole 30, day 4 and I work out 4-5x a week at a studio where we do treadmill, water rower and floor exercises. I noticed the past two mornings- I work out at 5:30am- i had NO energy. I typically do not eat that early in the AM as I perform better with little to nothing in my stomach. Just works for me- I have done 1/2 marathons and 2 Tri's and I working on starting my training for my  3rd Tri.

 

Any suggestions on good pre- WO meals that would be light in my stomach but give me some energy? I did come home this morning and had scrambled eggs with salsa and black olives with a sweet potato and black coffee.

 

Thanks so much!

 

This might just be something you have to get used to. The suggestion for pre-workout is fat and protein. A good suggestion would be hard boiled egg and mayo or something of the sort. Eating something within an hour of waking is really important in helping balance your hormone levels. It doesn't have to be a lot, but something with protein and fat and not a smoothie. 

[bamawhitney]

Your workout in the morning sounds like mine (OTF?). I work out at the 5 or 5:30am class and have found having a hard boiled egg as I drive there does make a difference in  how I perform.

[mdraeger]

I had a question- any suggestions on pre WO meals?

I am in my first Whole 30, day 4 and I work out 4-5x a week at a studio where we do treadmill, water rower and floor exercises. I noticed the past two mornings- I work out at 5:30am- i had NO energy. I typically do not eat that early in the AM as I perform better with little to nothing in my stomach. Just works for me- I have done 1/2 marathons and 2 Tri's and I working on starting my training for my  3rd Tri.

 

Any suggestions on good pre- WO meals that would be light in my stomach but give me some energy? I did come home this morning and had scrambled eggs with salsa and black olives with a sweet potato and black coffee.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Hi Ali!

 

I find that workout nutrition can vary a lot from person to person. I don't tend to workout early in the morning, so I can't comment on that aspect, but I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes/ghee with some kind of protein as a pre-workout meal. 

 

M

[Physibeth]

Hi Ali!

 

I find that workout nutrition can vary a lot from person to person. I don't tend to workout early in the morning, so I can't comment on that aspect, but I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes/ghee with some kind of protein as a pre-workout meal. 

 

M

 

That is fine to do outside of W30 but it doesn't fall in line with the W30 recommendations. Just a PSA as this is in the W30 section of the forum.