Day 21- struggling: is anything really going to change in 9 days

[BethM120]

Hi

I am on day 21 of my first Whole30.  It has not been as hard as I expected.  Meal planning, prepping, cooking, shopping, chopping, etc has been incredibly time consuming but I have gotten used to it and try to see it as doing something good for myself.  

Unfortunately, I'm becoming frustrated and am wondering if anything monumental is really going to happen in the next 9 days.  I am not going to quit, but I'm losing enthusiasm.  

I absolutely had the hangover on day 3.  I also caught the worst cold of my adult life.  I was sick for 10 days (day 3-13ish) and missed 5 days of work (for a cold!?!?! It was that bad and I rarely get sick).  I took advil cold and sinus and finally after not sleeping for multiple nights I caved and took nyquil one night (I was trying so hard not to give in due to the sugar and alcohol, but I hit a wall).  I slept and started feeling better.

During the course of those 10 days I stayed on plan and could tell certain things felt better- vague hip pain gone, shoulder pain much better, reflux minimized, etc.  I was glad to feel those improvements even though I felt poorly from the cold.  On about day 15, the heartburn and reflux were back and without rolaids I again couldn't sleep.  No improved sleep here.  No tiger blood.  Nothing.  I read the forum and saw people discussing similar challenges and digestive enzymes always seemed to be the suggestion so I got some.  I've taken them for 5 days and there is probably some improvement but not resolution. The shoulder pain was back with no reasonable explanation.  Again thanks to the forum I looked into nightshades...  I was eating tomatoes in multiple meals in the course of few days, so I cut that out.  Nothing is worse, but the improvement seems so negligible.  

Normally if I cut out all refined sugar, desserts, snacks, etc I would have lost 10 pounds in no time and clothes would fit better.  Not a single piece of clothing feels any better, not even a bit.  Yes, I am infinitely more aware of my food choices, hidden sugars, foods triggering how I feel, etc, etc so this has been time well spent in that regard, but I feel like I'm missing the big win.  

Is it really fair to hope that anything is going to change in the next 9 days? Any other tips or suggestions anyone has?  I completely failed to keep a food log (I'm not sure what I was thinking- I know I should do that).  I generally have eggs and some sweet potato hashbrowns cooked in coconut oil for breakfast.  Lunch is curry chicken salad with a side of broccoli or a leftover burger with guac and a side of veggies.  Dinner protein and veggies.  I am sure I am not eating enough vegetables but I have more than quadrupled my veggie intake, so it's a win for me. 

Any thoughts? 

Thanks for reading this insanely long post. 

[missmary]

maybe this will help? http://whole30.com/2014/01/whole30-tough-love/

[Physibeth]

First of all I want to encourage you to hang in there. I've read so many stories of people who didn't start seeing real results until the very end of their 30 days. This article might be encouraging to you: http://whole30.com/2014/01/do-you-really-want-to-quit/

 

Second, I'm not getting a great idea of portions from what you posted about your food. When you have eggs is it as many as you can hold in your hand? Are the other proteins at least the size of your palm (all 3 dimensions)? If you suspect nightshades might be a problem for you than you might want to remove curry as well for a while.

 

Being sick, the nyquil, and the rolaids could all very well make it such that you need a little longer on Whole30 to see improvements. If you are still having issues with heartburn that is actually a sign of low stomach acid and taking an antiacid is actually counter productive. I would suggest a Tbs of raw apple cider vinegar mixed with water when you have heartburn. It works for me.

 

What about other factors in your life? The problems you have had with sleep are probably a major reason why you still feel like nothing has changed in your weight. I've personally found that having most of my starchy vegetables in the evening helps me sleep better. Others find morning to be better. You can play with that for sure. A magnesium supplement like unflavored natural calm might help as well. What is your stress like right now? Activity level? How much water are you drinking?

[ShannonM816]

I'm not sure you'll find it helpful or not, but  I remembered seeing this thread recently about how it took longer than 30 days to feel the tiger blood. (I know you want results in 30 days, so maybe seeing that it took longer isn't quite as encouraging as you'd like, but it's really just to say hang in there.)

 

For myself, I know during my first W30, I was convinced I was gaining weight for a lot of it, and definitely didn't feel like I'd lost any until maybe the very last couple of days. I tried to pay attention to other things, like aches and pains that went away, or better energy -- although I was never sure I really got tiger blood. For me it was much more subtle, not needing coffee midafternoon to get through the day, or getting up in the morning more ready to go rather than just dragging. 

[Physibeth]

Another useful read: http://whole30.com/2014/04/tiger-blood/

[BethM120]

Thank you! You all are the best- so quick!!  I knew you would have helpful information/answers.  I probably should have title my post as “I need a pep talk and reality check”. 

 

Thanks for the heads up on curry powder- I didn't even check spices.  Now that I have I’m shocked.  It also includes paprika and cayenne which happen to have been in both dinner last night and the lunch I just ate- so much for thinking I cut out the culprit.  This is exactly what I needed- something actionable1

 

I think portion size is ok- good portion of protein with probably a barely adequate portion of veggies (but still an improvement).  Fruits are thrown in there as well, but not too much.  

 

I ordered naturally calm and it should arrive today- fingers crossed.  

 

I actually haven't taken any rolaids (but I did take one dose of the NyQuill and I was so desperate I’m willing to suffer the consequences if there are any).  When I read about low stomach acid, so much of it made sense to me that I wonder if I'd been undermining myself for years with the rolaids- so sad, but now I know.  

 

I'm not known for being especially patient so some part of me felt that giving this 30 days was plenty of time.  The interesting thing is that the only thing I want on day 31 is a Starbucks Passion Iced Tea- sweetened, but I’m not even sure if I am going to get one, so that’s a good sign.  I do know that it took more than 30 days for my sleep pattern to fall apart or the shoulder to start hurting, etc, etc, p the reality check was needed and welcomed.  The article links are very helpful.  I thought I had poked around the site a lot but I hadn't seen these.  

Thanks to your encouragement, I'm going to try to focus on everything that has been a success and do my best to let the rest go.  Many thanks! 

[missmary]

some part of me felt that giving this 30 days was plenty of time.

 

BUT, you aren't on day 30 yet! You are just on day 21, remember? 

[BethM120]

100% understood (and agreed) and now I'm good to go for 9 more days or maybe it needs to be 45:)  (I never thought I would say that)

 

 

PS- This whole nightshade thing is blowing my mind! I absolutely wasn't eating these spices in the first 15 days (I was barely cooking and I certainly wasn't making anything exciting) and I felt better.  

[MeadowLily]

Yes.

[Physibeth]

One of the many many reasons I've stuck with mostly paleo eating is because I was a chronic heartburn sufferer before I changed to this style of eating and now it is very rare so I completely understand. I would pop tums like candy. At least 2-4 every day. So crazy when I really think about it.

 

I was also a frequent drinker of cinnamon dolce latte's from Starbucks and now on the very very rare occasion that I have a sweetened drink there I ask for only one pump because otherwise it is so sweet it makes me feel sick. It is amazing how our bodies change.