Anyone else depressed on Whole30?

[VictoriaFitzy]

I posted this in response to another thread, but I wanted to start this in a new thread as well...

 

Anyone else suffering from depression/sadness/blues on Whole30?

 

I'm on Day 13 and while I was all bouncy and happy for the first few days, I have been progressively feeling more sad and depressed.  I am eating appropriate amounts of the right foods, following all the suggested portion guidelines etc.  Lots of veggies, good fats, palm-palm1/2  sized meat portions etc.  I haven't been eating  a lot of fruit, but I am probably eating 1, maybe 2 servings a day, mostly berries.  I have just added some sweet potatoes to my routine, about 1/3 slice with every meal, but so far it is not helping my mood.  

 

I am exercising (90 min Bikram yoga 2-3x a week)  and even that is not helping much...I am normally 100% happy and stoked to be alive after yoga.  That yoga bliss has been absent since I've been on Whol30.  Feeling this sad is very unusual for me.  (I had trouble with depression in the in my youth, but I was never on medication.  That was also years ago, a decade or more, when I was in my twenties.)

 

Before starting Whole30, I ate a primarily Paleo diet to begin with...with occasional grains (mostly oats, rice and corn), legumes, and some Paleo sweets, dark chocolate.  I also didn't sweat a bit of sugar in my ketchup or my Chicken Apple sausages etc.  I eat amost 100% organic, pastured etc.  The reason I don't omit grains completely is because I have found that I feel best when I do eat some grains, but I thought 30 days without them would be no big deal.  Whole30 isn't that different from my normal diet except I am probably eating fewer carbs?  

 

I wonder if I am having the same low serotonin problem due to decreased carb intake that was discussed in other threads?  I just feel wrong, off...bad.  I'm normally so cheerful, but I haven't felt that way since Day6 or7.  My energy is physically fine, I'm not tired or anything, but I also feel so sad and blah that there's definitely no pep in my step.  

 

I am obviously feeling very disheartened by this.  I was completely committed to completing the Whole30, but I don't want to feel like this for another 17 days!  I am going to keep eating the sweet potatoes and maybe add a smidge of fruit, but I have no interest in being this sad for much longer.  My 3 year-old daughter keeps asking me if I'm ok? :-(

 

I'd like to find a way to make this program work.  So far I am sleeping about the same, my energy is unchanged or lessened due to sadness, my digestion is the same (maybe a bit less gas due to no beans), and I am incredibly depressed.  My skin is a bit glowy, which is nice, but that's the only improvement I've noticed.

 

Suggestions?  Ideas?  I'd like to stay the course, but I won't if the program is more harmful than beneficial...

[Tom Denham]

Others are likely to have more to say on this, but I would say add a lot more starchy veggies to your diet while you are feeling so depressed. Like one or two whole baked sweet potatoes per day! Or the equivalent. Some people really need carbs to feel right and 1/3 slice of sweet potato at each meal is not enough. You can always cut back after you feel better to see what the amount you need is, but going over board is appropriate now. Berries are not very carby, so you are not replacing much there. Think in terms of sweet potatoes, winter squash, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, beets, plantains...

[VictoriaFitzy]

Ok, I will try that!  I have some plantains I was going to bake and I have lots of carrots and 1/2 acorn squash as well.  I'll eat a bunch of starchy carbs with my meals for the next few days and see if my mood improves. (fingers crossed)

[CRCBN]

It took me quite a while to find my carb 'sweet spot' but now that I have i know that I have to have at least 1 cup and most of the time two cups of starchy veg and a fruit at every meal (I know, it isn't recommended that you eat fruit 3X a day but it works for me) If i go too low on carbs I get depressed, have panic attacks and feel like crawling in a cave and never coming back out. If I go too heavy on carbs I just feel lazy and blah.

 

If I were you, I would go overboard on the carbs for a few days then start dialing it back until you find what makes you feel best. Or you may want to consider dropping the Whole30 for now (call it a successful Whole13) and then start again in a few weeks - your second time may be easier for you to handle.

[GlennR]

When I first switched to Paleo (pre-Whole30), I was starving all the time because I was eating a lot of salads and non-starchy veggies, which weren't very satiating. Once I incorporated at least 1-2 servings of starchy veggies a day, everything righted itself.

 

For reference, here's a list of Paleo dense carbs (obviously omit white potatoes for Whole30).

 

Good luck the rest of the way!

[VictoriaFitzy]

Thanks.  I am adding starchy veggies and a serving of fruit to every meal.  But I've been feeling perfectly full and I am not normally hungry between meals.  

[monicav]

Yes I've been super depressed.

[Beets]

Starchy veg! Every time I start getting depressed or anxious I try to remember the last time I ate starchy veg. It makes a HUGE difference for me. I cannot do VLC. I know a lot of people with depression or mood issues have the same experience. Get those starchy veggies in!

[AllyB]

I was depressed too.  I thought it was from missing sugar and alcohol

 

I did add more starchy veggies (sweet potatoes, plantains and roasted acorn squash.)  It also helped my workouts.