Day 16-Feeling Frustrated

[jessicalynn]

I'm on day 16. The last few days I've had a lot of stomach upset and been super, super tired. Where the heck is this tiger blood and boundless energy I keep hearing about? I've stuck to the program completely, unless something non compliant crept in at a restaurant a few times I've been out, but I don't think that's what happened. I'm getting really frustrated. If my stomach isn't better eating this way, then what is the point? 

 

Here is pretty much what I've been eating:

 

Meal 1:

3 eggs with sweet potato hash (or an avocado, or butternut squash hash)

crio bru

 

Meal 2:

meat, sweet potato, vegetable (cauliflower, brussels sprouts, or asparagus usually, or some salad)

or spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, spinach, and ground beef

 

Meal 3:

 

Different meat than Meal 2, vegetable side, sweet potato or white potato or an avocado if I didn't eat one at breakfast

 

I haven't been snacking much, although I have had a few lara bars here and there during situations when I couldn't get home for dinner until late. 

 

I've been drinking hot tea and trying to drink enough water.

 

 

[GFChris]

Food looks ok - is each meal keeping you satiated for 4-5 hours?  Are you consistently including a fat at both meal 2 and meal 3?

On the water, aim for 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of body weight, daily.

Are you exercising at all?  How many hours of sleep are you getting nightly, on average? How's your current stress level?  Any medical history that could be impacting your energy?  How different is Whole30 eating from how you were eating prior?

 

[edgymama]

Funny, I just posted in my log for today which is day 16 for me how my stomach is super bloated and LOUD today....but I had cabbage past two days and think that is the culprit! Maybe lay off the cruciferous veggies and chug the water and see if that helps?

[GFChris]

Good catch by edgymama!

 

I'd further suggest to drop the raw vegetables and switch to all cooked vegetables for a few days and see if that at least helps your stomach upset.

Bone broth may be your friend too, on this aspect.

[jessicalynn]

Food looks ok - is each meal keeping you satiated for 4-5 hours?  Are you consistently including a fat at both meal 2 and meal 3?

On the water, aim for 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of body weight, daily.

Are you exercising at all?  How many hours of sleep are you getting nightly, on average? How's your current stress level?  Any medical history that could be impacting your energy?  How different is Whole30 eating from how you were eating prior?

 

I was really hungry the first few days, so I tweaked my portions around and my meals have been keeping me full until it's time to eat again. I exercise about 3 times a week. I had a pretty stressful weekend.

 

As far as the differences between my usual diet, before whole 30 my diet was:

 

meal 1-2 eggs on toast, coffee with cream and sugar OR breakfast at work-egg and cheese sandwhich

lunch-meat, vegetable, potato OR something from work cafeteria like a sandwich with cheese or pasta

Dinner-meat, veg, potato or salad with meat and avocado OR dinner out 

 

and I would snack on cookies or pastries during the work day a lot as well.

 

Funny, I just posted in my log for today which is day 16 for me how my stomach is super bloated and LOUD today....but I had cabbage past two days and think that is the culprit! Maybe lay off the cruciferous veggies and chug the water and see if that helps?

 

I will try cutting out the cruciferous veggies (even though they are my fave.) I"m not sure this is the cause because I've been eating them this whole time and haven't been having these stomach issues this whole time.

 

I think I'm just feeling frustrated I'm not seeing amazing results right now but I"m trying to keep in my it hasn't been 30 days yet. 

[GFChris]

Depending on the type/intensity of exercise you're doing, you might want to consider adding pre and/or post workout meals, per the meal template.

Do you have some ways for managing stress to integrate into your life?  You could start with the basics like sleep hygiene/8 hours of sleep nightly, good in person social support, getting outside/in nature.
 

[ultrarunnergirl]

Great points from GFChris and Edgymama.

 

One more thought: Is it unusual for you to have sweet potatoes at every meal? That's not necessarily a problem, but some people who are sensitive to nightshades can have a reaction to sweet potatoes too. Maybe try cutting back there to see if that makes a difference?

[jessicalynn]

Sorry I should have been more specific about sweet potatoes. I am generally eating some kind of starchy veg or an avocado but I change it up. So, it might be butternut squash for breakfast, an avocado with my lunch, and sweet potato with dinner. Before whole 30 I wasn't eating sweet potato every single day though, that's definitely been a change.

[chezjulie]

Hi Jessica. I felt miserable from about Day 10 through Day 16 and then started to feel a lot better on Day 17 so hang in there! One of the mods told me that some of us are simply behind the timeline. The main changes I made were to eat more in general at each meal, and to take a digestive enzyme to help with digestion.