Day 18 - Light headed

[MRM2407]

Hi everyone - I searched through the forum but didn't see much addressing light headedness.  Before my Whole30, I ate a paleo-ish diet but didn't exclude dairy or natural sugars and occasionally still ate legumes and grains.  I have loved the Whole30 and feel great, with the exception that I've been getting light headed for at least the past week whenever I stand up (almost passed out over the weekend).

 

I never experienced this previous to starting my Whole30 so it's a little concerning.  My husband thinks it might be low BP (mine has always been right where it should be) and suggested I eat more salt?  But I feel like we eat a lot of salt already, all of our meals are salted (we use Real Salt) so I'm not sure.  Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated!  Below is my last couple of days worth of meals (90% organic) to give you an idea of what I've been eating (I drink water throughout the day as well, not listed). 

 

Monday:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, scrambled in c-nut oil with sug/nitrate free sausage, kale, peppers, and onions. 1/2 orange. Coffee blended w/1 Tcoconut oil.

Lunch: Lg bowl of soup made w/homemade chicken broth, sug/nitrate free chorizo, kale, leeks, coconut oil. 1/2 orange. coconut flakes and a few nuts.  I was still a little hungry after, so I had a 1/2 mug of soup around 2:30pm.

Dinner: Grass-fed beef meatloaf, roasted sweet potato w/olive oil, stewed home-canned tomatoes w/ghee. Herbal tea before bedtime

 

Tuesday

Breakfast: 2.5 eggs (hubs and I split scramble made with 5 eggs), in ghee with sausage, kale, peppers, and onions. Half an orange. Black Coffee.  Half an orange. coffee blended w/1 T coconut oil..

Lunch: Leftover grass-fed beef meatloaf, 1/2 roasted sweet potato (in olive oil), tomatoes. A few black olives.

Dinner: 5 Venison meatballs w/spaghetti squash sauteed with peppers, onions, tomato, and 1 "dippy" egg cooked on top. 1+ C Roasted Broccoli. Herbal tea before bedtime

 

Wednesday

Breakfast- 2.5 eggs, scrambled in ghee  with sausage, kale, peppers, and onions. Half an orange. Black Coffee. 

Lunch: 4 Venison meatballs w/spaghetti squash sauteed with peppers, onions, tomato (& C-nut oil). 5 black olives. Half an orange. Rooibos Tea

Dinner: crock pot bone in chicken breast, 1+C cauliflower roasted with curry/turmeric/olive oil, 1-1.5 C sauteed chard w/c-nut oil, onion, paprika, raisins, topped with c-nut oil toasted almonds.

 

Thursday (today, so far)

Breakfast: 2.5 eggs w/sausage, kale, peppers, onions, & 1/2 avocado. 1/2 orange. 1 tiny kiwi w/coconut flakes. black coffee.

Lunch: leftovers from Wed dinner, 1 tiny kiwi. 

 

Thank you so much!!

[Tom Denham]

The three big ideas I ever have for feeling dizzy is 1) eat more, 2) drink more, 3) use more salt. I guess the fourth idea would be illness that may be hitting you softly.

 

The guideline we offer for how much to drink is 1/2 of water per pound of body weight, so a 100 pound person would need to drink at least 50 ounces of water per day. And drinking 100 ounces is okay. 

 

The meal template offers guidelines on how much to eat and you should never eat less. http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf  What you are eating looks good.

 

I don't have a specific guideline for how much salt, but I do recommend salting food generously.

[MRM2407]

Thanks! By that guideline, I should be getting more than enough water, but I'll up it to see if that helps.  And I certainly don't feel like I don't eat enough, sometimes I wonder if I'm eating too much! Hopefully I can get this figured out.

[ali_lew012]

I experienced the same thing about a week into my Whole30. Was cooking dinner then suddenly BAM--I thought I was going to pass out. I tried an emergency tiny glass of OJ, ate a few berries and quickly recovered, so I know it was low blood sugar for me. I wasn't eating enough carbs for my activity level so I added more sweet potatoes (which it looks like you do a good job of) and a small portion of berries or half a banana after breakfast and lunch. I never had another spell after that. I also have to watch my blood pressure as it has dropped significantly since I began a regular intense exercise routine, so like Tom said, try adding some more good quality salt to your diet. A lot of people are so afraid of salt nowadays that most of us actually aren't getting enough. Like too much salt, too little can have adverse effects as well.

 

Also, just another observation, you might could use a little more added fat in your meals. I cook nearly every meal with coconut oil but will also have either half an avocado or a recipe that uses full fat coconut milk. This especially helps keep my hunger/energy/blood sugar levels stable between lunch and dinner. Good luck!

[MRM2407]

Thank you!!  I checked my BP during all of this bc it had me worried and it was just fine.  So I started to try to add some more salt into my diet and get a bit more water throughout the day.  So far it's either working, or whatever was causing that 1.5-2/ish week spell has passed.  Thank goodness!  Now I'm Day 26, full of energy and happy as a clam!!