Day 2 and very very hungry

[peacefrog]

I feel just like the very hungry caterpillar.

 

This my first Whole 30. I'm coming from a pretty SAD diet, although I have had bouts of paleo/primal eating in the past. I am 40 years old, female, 5'0", about 122 lbs, and nursing my 11 month old baby (who also eats solids).

 

Am trying to avoid snacking, but am so hungry!

 

Yesterday

7am: Wake-up and black coffee

 

8am: Bone broth, one egg, about 1/3 c asparagus chunks, 1/2 cup roasted sweet potato

 

12pm: BIG salad (about 4-5 cups greens, another 1 cup veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes, olives, olive oil, vinegar, whole avocado, grilled chicken breast, 1/2 cup ground taco beef)

 

4pm: Famished, so I drank 1/2 cup bone broth. Already cheating with a "snack."

 

8pm: 3/4 pound shrimp stir fried with about 3 cups mixed veggies (broccoli, onion, mushrooms, carrots), 1/2 cup cauliflower rice, sesame oil

 

11pm: Went to bed, and stomach already grumbling

 

Today

6:30am: Wake-up and black coffee

 

7:30am: 2 eggs fried in ghee, 3 cups spinach, 1/2 cup roasted sweet potatoes

 

12pm: 2 small venison/pork sausages, 4 leftover shrimp, 1/2 chicken breast, big salad with hard-boiled egg, lettuce, olives, olive oil, and vinegar

 

Now it's 5pm and I'm famished again! And I wasn't planning to eat dinner until 8pm.

 

Any suggestions? Should I add a mini meal or just wait it out?

 

[GFChris]

Short answer: eat more.   

First, avoid having coffee before meal 1, as that acts as an appetite suppressant.

 

When eggs are your protein, the serving size is the number of eggs you can hold in one hand. That's usually at least 3. 

Have 1-3 cups of veggies for every meal.  Salads may fill you up initially but tend not to satiate you for long. Try adding a cooked veggie when you have a salad.

Note: the need for a snack isn't cheating. It's typically a sign that your earlier meals need to be bigger.  If you are genuinely hungry between meals (a good test is to ask yourself if you could eat steamed fish and broccoli), have a mini meal containing a protein and fat.

 

Play with your protein, veg and fat portions until your meals satiate you for 4-5 hours.

 

Also, are you drinking enough water?  Aim for drinking 1/2 an ounce per pound of your current body weight, daily.

 

[snowflower]

Also......many nursing mothers eat 4 meals a day following the recommended template with each one.  Even with an older nursling, you need the extra calories!

[peacefrog]

Thanks!

 

I added in one mini meal and that seems to have helped, but both Hubby and I agree that we feel full but not satisfied. Does that make sense?

[CaGirl]

your not eating enough.  Get that book out and review the meal template. (if you don't have the book I suggest you get it)  

[Guest WholeStanley]

o man i would be so hungry (and tired and grumpy) if that was all I was eating - and I don't even have a little one to look after!

 

I think the big thing you need to tackle is your breakfast - 1-2 eggs would never get me through the day, plus I dont see any dedicated fats in either of your breakfast (cooking in ghee doesn't count as the majority would stay in the pain). You need to up everything - up your fats, up your protein and up your veg and starchy veg! Why are you only having half a cup of sweet potato? Have a whole one!

 

This morning I had half a chicken breast, half a cabbage sauteed in 2 tbsps of coconut oil, 2 fried eggs, half a sweet potato (I wanted more but that was all I had left in the fridge ha), half an avocado, half a red pepper and a handful of tomatoes.

 

If you told me that before my whole30 when I just about got through a small bowl of porridge I wouldn't have believed you but I am on day 32 now and feeling great, losing weight and never going hungry! It is a huge adjustment eating such big meals but if you're only having three a day they have to keep you full for 4-5 hours.

 

These early days are when you tinker with your meal plans to find out what works for you - don't worry you'll soon work it out and don't beat yourself up about any mistakes. If you are reaaaally hungry (not just craving food) then have a mini meal and then adjust your meals for the next day.

 

My top tips:

 

-The meal template is your friend! When I plan my meals I go through a tick box in my head: AT LEAST a palm size protein (or as many as I can hold in one hand) CHECK, at least a portion of fat (remember if eating olives thats a HEAPED handful) CHECK, and about 2 -3 cups of veggies (make sure you get your leafy green and starchy variety in the mix) CHECK.

 

- Don't rely on lettuce - I think I've hardly had any lettuce during my Whole 30 - and if I have its just a little extra on the side and in addition to my 2-3 cups of veg. You just have to eat soooo much of the stuff to get the nutrients and energy you need from your serving of veg. I remember mod Tom once saying how whilst lettuce fills your plate, how much of a cup would it actually produce if you put it in a blender? Hardly anything! Thats what I always try to think about when I'm making sure I've got enough veggies in each meal.

 

 

Hope that helps, good luck with the rest of your whole30 and feel free to ask on the forum for more advice - its such a lifeline during the whole30 process!

[Guest WholeStanley]

p.s. I just looked at your meal times again - if you have to eat lunch at 12:30 I wouldn't wait till 8 for dinner - can you bring it forward at all??

[peacefrog]

Thanks the the suggestions and thoughts!

 

I've done some tweaking. Added in more sweet potatoes and carrots. More fat. More protein (red meat, in particular, which I have always found satisfying), and more veggies. Typical day now goes:

 

Breakfast: two eggs fried in ghee, about 3 cups raw spinach sauteed down to a pile, 1/2 baked sweet potato, a homemade pork sausage patty or a couple of meatballs (this leaves me feeling absolutely stuffed)

 

Lunch: Burger on a portabello mushroom with a big salad, or leftovers from dinner

 

Dinner: 2 lbs of snow crab legs (yesterday's treat) with 1/2 cup of roasted sweet potatoes and a bunch of roasted asparagus. Another common dinner is meatballs cooked in bone broth, a baked sweet potato, and roasted brussels sprouts.

 

I am not nearly as hungry--in fact, I feel stuffed most of the time. Although when hunger does strike, it strikes hard and fast.

 

Now my problem is that I feel fatter. Like... way fatter. I just don't get it. Although I was eating pretty SAD before, I wasn't exactly the worlds worst eater. I only ate grains a few times a week. I didn't eat beans/legumes at all. I avoided any obvious sugar (I don't have a  sweet tooth and never drink sugary drinks). So why, oh, why, am I feeling as if I am GAINING weight?

[JJB]

Well...it's only been a few days, right? It's unlikely you've really put on weight. But it seems like you may have gone from one extreme to another, from meals too small to too large? I don't know that it's good for you to routinely feel "absolutely stuffed" after a meal. You might want to keep tweaking your portions until you feel comfortably full and you're not hungry again for 4-5 hours. You could try moving the sweet potato from breakfast to lunch...I always find that carbs like that first thing in the morning increase my appetite for the whole day. Also, if it's standard for you to go from noon to 8 PM between lunch and dinner (I do this on work days too), I don't think you should fret about having an afternoon snack. That's a long time to wait for a  meal. I always have a hardboiled egg and a bunch of vegetables around 5 PM...if I didn't, I'd be gnawing on my arm by the time dinner came around.