Day 4 - Headaches and No Appetite

[Kfriedla]

I'm on day 4 and I've been waking up with headaches since the second day. I had already cut out all added sugar/sweets for a month prior to starting this, so I don't think it's that. And I don't normally get headaches, so this is strange. I'm not physically hungry so I think I'm eating enough (2ish cups of veggies + palm size of protein + fat) for my meals. But I have NO appetite. Nothing appeals to me and nothing tastes good and I'm just feeling pretty yucky and down overall (including a bit teary). I'm sleeping better than normal, but I am SO tired I could crawl under my desk and go to sleep.  

 

Thoughts? Encouragement? Help!?!

[Physibeth]

Some of this is normal at this stage - the Kill all the things stage usually occurs on days 4 and 5. Are you getting starchy vegetables in the mix? Could you post what your meals have specifically been for the past few days + sleep, activity, water, and stress?

[Kfriedla]

Breakfast has either been 2 egg scramble with ground beef + veggies (onions, broccoli, peppers) using ghee as the fat or 2 hardboiled eggs + veggies (cold carrots or warm butternut squash) + 1 cup black coffee

 

Lunch is some variation of ground meat (beef or turkey) + veggies (various steamed veggies or spaghetti squash or roasted pumpkin) + olive oil or ghee + 2 kiwi

 

Dinner has varied - chicken salad in a big green salad, Mexican ground beef + veggies + avocado, shepherds pie (from Well Fed)

 

Drinking water with lemon all day/evening and I have had a late afternoon almond snack (small handful) because we eat late (7:30-8pm).

 

I have terrible insomnia, which is part of the reason I started this. I slept maybe 4 hours Monday night, more like 6 Tuesday, and 7 and some change last night (which is really good for me).

 

I normally do a 30-minute intense weights/cardio routine before work 5x/week, but have only managed it twice so far this week b/c of headaches/fatigue. But we have dogs so they've been getting their usual walks twice a day, which equals a 2-3 miles/day.

 

Work stress is average - nothing out of the ordinary going on.

[Physibeth]

A couple of things to tweek...when you don't add another meat/protein to your morning meal you need to eat more eggs...3 or 4 at least - as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand without dropping them. I would advice skipping the afternoon almond snack. If you need a mini meal to make it to meal 3 than eat protein and fat - nuts alone are just fat and they cause gut issues for many. If you can eat a larger meal 1 and meal 2 you might be able to make it to meal 3 without a mini meal but if you can't just have something like a hard boiled egg with carrot sticks or some leftover meat and mayo etc. The improvements in your sleep are going to help immensely so keep focusing on that. Are you eating your first meal within and hour of waking? When you do your intense workout make sure you have some lean protein and starchy vegetable immediately afterwards for recovery. Exercise fatigue is quite common at this stage...make sure you don't fuel your workouts with pre-workout starch (within 45 minutes before). Adding a little more starchy vegetable overall will probably help as well.

 

Hang in there, you are doing pretty well and I'm guessing you will start to feel better soon.

[Kfriedla]

Thanks for the advice. I really don't love meat, and there's no way I could stomach 3-4 eggs in one sitting, so I'm going to have to figure out a solution to that. I think it's all the meat that's killing my appetite - just the thought of it sometimes makes me feel queasy. And I don't eat before I workout - I have to take morning meds on an empty stomach and wait an hour before eating. And if I don't work out right away upon awakening, it'll never happen. I've tried, trust me. And I feel horrible when I eat before working out; I get terrible stomach cramps and it actually makes me feel sluggish, even if it's just a small snack.

 

I appreciate the encouragement and advice! Praying things improve over the next week...