Not Eating Correctly?

[lolygagha]

Hello Everyone!

 

I'm on Day 9 of Whole 30 and honestly haven't had any cravings at all. I'm wondering if I'm eating enough/eating too much of a certain food group, because I feel like I should be having some sort of internal struggle/craving. I drink LOTS of water throughout the day (I've never been a soda drinker and I've never drunk coffee). 

 

Not sure if this is relevant, but I exercise for 45 minutes to 1 hour between breakfast and lunch. 

 

Here's what I've been eating pretty much every day:

 

Breakfast: 

3 hardboiled eggs OR 3 sunny-side up eggs

 

Lunch:

1 banana

1 large sweet potato

 

Between lunch and dinner I'll have 1 La Croix drink. 

 

Dinner:

4 pieces of lettuce each with a piece of turkey, some avocado, some onions and some tomatoes

3 sunny-side up eggs

 

And then about 30 minutes after dinner I have a small bowl of strawberries and blackberries. 

 

Any help would be much appreciated - thank you!

[kirkor]

Need more protein & vegetables

[lolygagha]

6 eggs a day plus some turkey isn't enough protein?

[MeadowLily]

As the Mods say, one slice of turkey (especially if it's the deli style) needs to be the thickness and size of your palm.  One wafer thin slice is not nearly enough protein.  If you think about a deli package, that's almost the entire thing.

 

A banana and sweet potato - no protein.  Thirty minutes after dinner,  fruits...which indicates still hungry.  Fruit should be eaten directly after meals to avoid the natural fruit sugar bump which makes one hungry every two hours for snacks.   

[lolygagha]

I was just eating the fruit after dinner to space it out a little (which I thought was good for some reason), not because I'm hungry. However, if it makes a difference, I'll start eating the berries right after dinner instead of waiting.

 

What if I add eggs to my lunch? I'm not much of a meat eater, so I don't want to start piling on the meat. I'd rather eat 10 eggs per day than force myself to eat lots of meat. 

 

Also regarding eggs: is there a limit to how many yolks I should be consuming? Sometimes i eat hard boiled eggs but throw away the yolk because I heard it's not good to eat lots of yolks...

[kirkor]

6 eggs a day plus some turkey isn't enough protein?

Meant re: following the meal template in general ... M2 needs protein, M1 & 2 need veggies

[MeadowLily]

You could do that but easily become so burnt out on eggs after a few days.  The yolk should not be thrown away.  Thirty days of egg whites would be more in tune with the Vegan Version. Do you want a Vegan Whole 30?

[AmyS]

Hello Everyone!

 

I'm on Day 9 of Whole 30 and honestly haven't had any cravings at all. I'm wondering if I'm eating enough/eating too much of a certain food group, because I feel like I should be having some sort of internal struggle/craving. I drink LOTS of water throughout the day (I've never been a soda drinker and I've never drunk coffee). 

 

Not sure if this is relevant, but I exercise for 45 minutes to 1 hour between breakfast and lunch. 

 

Here's what I've been eating pretty much every day:

 

Breakfast: 

3 hardboiled eggs OR 3 sunny-side up eggs

 

Lunch:

1 banana

1 large sweet potato

 

Between lunch and dinner I'll have 1 La Croix drink. 

 

Dinner:

4 pieces of lettuce each with a piece of turkey, some avocado, some onions and some tomatoes

3 sunny-side up eggs

 

And then about 30 minutes after dinner I have a small bowl of strawberries and blackberries. 

 

Any help would be much appreciated - thank you!

You will want to acquaint yourself with the meal template:

1. 1-2 palm-size portions of protein

2. 1-2 or more thumb-size portions of fat

3. 1-3 cups of veggies

 

Do that three times a day, the first time within one hour of waking.

 

Fruit is optional on Whole30. If you are going to have fruit, have 1-2 fist-size pieces of fruit per day, with or immediately after meals.

 

Your daily exercise is entirely relevant, so you get two additional meals per day: pre-workout, a mini-meal of protein and fat (say, for instance, a hard-boiled egg); and post-workout, a mini-meal of lean protein and carbs (say, chicken breast and sweet potato).

 

It's great that you're not experiencing cravings or other things that feel negative to you! One thing you will need to re-think as you go forward, though, is how you look at Whole30. It is not designed to be a restrictive way of eating. Sure, it's a clean eating program for thirty days, but we do ask that you eat. As you can see, based on our meal template, you are not eating nearly enough food.

 

To give you an example, here are some ideas for taking your meals and and re-working them according to the template:

 

Meal One: keep the three eggs and add 1-3 cups of veggies of your choice (many Whole30ers swear by sweet potatoes in the morning, others like the traditional omelette fillings of mushrooms/tomatoes/onions/spinach, but anything is possible)

 

Meal Two: 1-2 palm size portions of a protein of your choice; 1 sweet potato; a cup or more of steamed greens (for example); and a fat source of your choice, say a good olive oil drizzled over your meal, or half of an avocado; you can keep the banana if you wish but remember not to let fruit push other things off of your plate

 

Meal Three: protein and fat look good here (make sure that your turkey, if it's deli turkey slices, is compliant - almost none are); do not count your lettuce leaves, but instead haul out your large mixing bowl and fill it with lettuce - when you are eating uncooked leafy greens you will need to add significantly more than 1-3 cups because otherwise you will not get enough - you need to eat lots of lettuce if that's your main vegetable

 

And remember your pre- and post-workout meals - you can experiment here to see if you need them, depending on what exercise you do and how intense it is.

 

Each meal should satisfy you for 4-5 hours.

 

You can drink La Croix, no problem. Lots of water is good too.

 

Many people come to Whole30 believing that it's a diet, and that this means that you are not to eat much food. Start to re-train your brain that this is a clean eating program designed to give your body optimum nutrition throughout the day. Expect to eat, and eat very very well, for 30 days.

[lolygagha]

AmyS - Wow, terrific advice! I understand what you're saying about pre and post workout meals, but I exercise really soon after my breakfast so wouldn't my breakfast count as a pre-workout meal? I feel like I don't want to eat just to eat if I'm not hungry is the only thing. 

 

I LOVEEE sweet potatoes and had never thought of having them in the morning - I'll look into that!

 

Are there sources of protein I can add besides meat (and eggs, which I eat a lot of already)?

[MeadowLily]

There's the Vegan Version, that's the only plan I can think of without meat and eggs.  The Omni version recommends that yolks be eaten with the whites.

[GFChris]

 

Are there sources of protein I can add besides meat (and eggs, which I eat a lot of already)?

 

Seafood

[AmyS]

AmyS - Wow, terrific advice! I understand what you're saying about pre and post workout meals, but I exercise really soon after my breakfast so wouldn't my breakfast count as a pre-workout meal? I feel like I don't want to eat just to eat if I'm not hungry is the only thing. 

 

I LOVEEE sweet potatoes and had never thought of having them in the morning - I'll look into that!

 

Are there sources of protein I can add besides meat (and eggs, which I eat a lot of already)?

Beef, chicken, fish, shellfish, pork, lamb, duck, pheasant, capon, lobster, crab, clams, mussels, oysters, shrimp, etc.

 

If you're gonna eat Whole30, you're gonna eat an omnivorous eating plan with actual protein at each meal. That means eating meat.

 

You can eat about a bathtub full of eggs per day before it gets to be too much.

 

Make sure you understand the point of Whole30. It's a Paleo-based eating plan featuring meat, vegetables, and fat. So you are going to be eating meat.

 

And yes, plenty of sweet potatoes! Remember that Meal One can include any food you like. I ate roast beef and roasted potatoes with guacamole for Meal One today. That might not suit you, and that's fine, but eat good food all day.

 

As for pre- and post-workout meals, you can experiment to see if/when you need them.

 

Eat up!

[AmyS]

I was just eating the fruit after dinner to space it out a little (which I thought was good for some reason), not because I'm hungry. However, if it makes a difference, I'll start eating the berries right after dinner instead of waiting.

 

What if I add eggs to my lunch? I'm not much of a meat eater, so I don't want to start piling on the meat. I'd rather eat 10 eggs per day than force myself to eat lots of meat. 

 

Also regarding eggs: is there a limit to how many yolks I should be consuming? Sometimes i eat hard boiled eggs but throw away the yolk because I heard it's not good to eat lots of yolks...

Fruit is optional on Whole30. We recommend 1-2 pieces, fist-sized, per day, to be eaten with or immediately after meals. Do not let fruit push vegetables off of your plate.

 

You can eat eggs for lunch. A serving of eggs is how many you can hold in your hand, so for most people that's 3-4. If you plan to eat eggs as your main source of protein, you'll be eating close to a dozen a day. Some Whole30ers do that, but Whole30 is a truly omnivorous eating plan involving the regular consumption of animal protein.

 

Egg yolks contain all of the nutrition of the egg. Do not throw them out. Many people have been terribly misinformed about eggs. They are very healthy. Look for the healthiest eggs you can find in your area, and eat the entire egg.

[Tom Denham]

AmyS - Wow, terrific advice! I understand what you're saying about pre and post workout meals, but I exercise really soon after my breakfast so wouldn't my breakfast count as a pre-workout meal? I feel like I don't want to eat just to eat if I'm not hungry is the only thing. 

 

I LOVEEE sweet potatoes and had never thought of having them in the morning - I'll look into that!

 

Are there sources of protein I can add besides meat (and eggs, which I eat a lot of already)?

 

You are not eating enough. Review the meal template itself: http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf

 

PWO meals are bonus meals that you are supposed to eat because you workout. The nutritional demands added by exercise are real and you hurt yourself by not accommodating them. 

 

I eat 2 dozen eggs per week, so I am not a person who fears eggs. However, you really should eat a variety of animal proteins. You can develop problems from eating eggs as your protein exclusively and you should not increase that risk by excluding other proteins from your menu. 

 

You might benefit from reviewing http://whole9life.com/2013/02/eating-meat-a-primer-for-the-meat-challenged-2/.

 

Plant proteins simply do not measure up nutritionally to animal protein. They are a second-rate substitute and not acceptable during a Whole30.