Day 24- bloated and comstipated

[Elissa W]

I am on day 24 and starting nighttime of day 22 I have been extremely bloated, feel like I have a rock in my stomach and feel constipated. Prior to this I was down weight and felt great. But now Im just discouraged. I ate sausage out at a restaurant on Saturday night- could this be the culprit? What could be causing this? And will it get better and I'll see the positive results again?

[ShannonM816]

It's certainly possible that the sausage you ate had something non-compliant in it, but if that was Saturday night and you started feeling like this on Monday, it seems unlikely that that's the cause. It could be something else you've eaten. Have you eaten anything else new other than the sausage, or increased how much of something you're eating? Can you list a few days' worth of food, including approximate servings sizes based on the meal template? Someone here might notice something that might be causing this.

 

In general, things that might be causing your symptoms could be nuts or cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, or brussel sprouts, or it could be that you're not drinking enough water (try for 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so if you weigh 120 lbs, aim for at least 60 oz of water). It could also be something like coconut, or nightshade vegetables (like peppers and onions) -- sometimes these things are okay for people in small quantities, but if they eat a lot more of them than usual they have a reaction.

[LisaPT]

I'm in the same boat but on day 28 and 29 had this. I'm discouraged and so close to my 30. For me, I am wondering about egg whites now. They were my main protein in my last 2 meals. (Running out of options).

[jmcbn]

Just to add to what Shannon said, are either of you drinking iced water, or seltzer? Or eating a lot of raw veg? Have you been unusually sedentary?

 

Just a couple of other things to consider, but as Shannon said really with out the food log it's difficult to determine for sure.

[Marj K]

Hi, ShannonM816! Joining this thread to ask more about my big bloating issue that I've mentioned elsewhere. I don't even know if I can call it bloating...it's here all the time. It doesn't go up and down as far as I can tell. It's just distended, like I look preggers.

My main intentions for W30 were to address fatigue and bloating and the fatigue is pretty much gone! It's even energy throughout the day. It's awesome. There are a lot of NSVs. But back to the bloating...I want to be clear that I had pretty much exhausted all medical things, so I'm really dedicated to this. 

There's a list of items you guys have mentioned eliminating in different places on this forum...

• FODMAPs
• Nightshades
• Eggs (I eat a lot of them)
• Coconut (I've been eating a lot on W30)
• Nuts (was eating a lot until 3 days ago)
• Raw veggies
• Cold water/selzer.
• Brassica vegetables, which says kale and bok choi are in the cabbage/brocc/caul family, even though they are in the green FODMAP column. Ugh. 
• Other? 

I'm noticing a lot of stress around this, which isn't what we're going for. Things felt very workable/doing and light on W30 and this feels restrictive...but I might be able to handle it if it's only for a week. I guess my big question is do you recommend going off ALL of these? and, if so, for how long?

I know I sound like I'm looking for some kind of magic answer or guarantee, but I just don't want to waste this opportunity to do the most I can do for my body. 

I'm on day 24, which is why I'm tacking this here. 

Thank you!! Marj

[ShannonM816]

Hi, @Marj K. No, you definitely don't need to try to go off all of them at once, that would be pretty overwhelming for anyone. I would pick one, or maybe two, that you feel comfortable doing and try that for a couple of weeks. If you see no improvement in a couple of weeks, it's probably not those things, and you could move on. If you see some improvement, then you'd want to keep doing whatever you're doing, and decide whether to give it more time doing just that to see if you see complete improvement, or whether you want to try something else in addition to those things.

There isn't really a guarantee in any of this. Everyone's body is different, so what makes a huge difference for one person, may make no difference at all for another.

When you're trying to decide where to start, look at what you're eating. You say you're eating a lot of coconut now -- is that a big change from before? Something that is a big change from what you were doing before is one place to start, especially if the symptoms got noticeably worse after you started Whole30. Are you eating a lot of raw vegetables right now, or are you mostly eating cooked vegetables? If you're mostly eating cooked vegetables already, and raw vegetables occasionally, eliminating the raw vegetables will probably not make a huge difference, but if you're eating salads at every meal and other raw veggies (especially if you're eating raw cruciferous vegetables), eliminating them could make a huge difference. Are you drinking a lot of carbonated water? If not, ellminating an occasional glass of seltzer is probably not going to make a huge difference, but if you're drinking a lot of carbonated water all day, eliminating it could make a big difference. So you could go through what you're eating and drinking and pick something that you're having pretty often to change. 

If you only cut out nuts three days ago, you might wait a couple more days to see if there are any changes. It could take a week for anything to make a difference. What you definitely don't want to do is change something for a couple of days, decide that's not doing anything, change something else for a couple of days, then something else -- that's not going to give anything time to work. 

[Marj K]

Thanks, @ShannonM816!

My bloating has been here for years. It's not new with W30, so those symptoms haven't gotten worse or changed on this. I've always been a huge coconut fan, but was just having a lot more whole fat C.milk and some raw coconut chips on this.  

I've been mainly eating cooked veg...figured that one out a while ago. The only big change is that I'm eating MORE vegetables (and protein), more regularly and at every meal with some starches and fat (meal template).

But I've been moderate/light with nuts/seeds, dried fruit and fruit for at least a week now. Dropped nuts/seeds, dried fruit, seltzer a few days ago and off FODMAPS for 2 days. I was so excited to hit day 30 of W30, but I think I may need to extend. It's for a higher purpose, so...wish me luck

Happy mom's day for whatever kind of mom you might be

Marj

[MichellePollino]

HELP! 

 

I'M ON DAY 15 half way thru and I feel awful, bloated constipated...tired achy i can see folds under my bra, all my clothes are tight my belly is distended i am seriously about to scream......  ..I started this plan with the intention of really listening to my body, and clearing out all of the screamers (i.e., alcohol, sugar, etc.)I've seen my co workers drop weight and they look great and that was also a motivator as I  was a calorie counter. eating nothing but greens and fish and eggs for quite some time..but now here I am day 15, and my body is screaming in discomfort, my legs have marks in them from my socks...and I feel just gross...I've also upped my coffee intake for fuel -from like 1-2  to like 4 cups with nutpods creamer

i drink plenty of fluids..90-100 oz's a day for my small frame i literally allow myself one treat a tablespoon of nut butter in the afternoon everything else compliant

what am i doing wrong help help help 

yesterday

2 eggs/ sausage -am coconut oil apple

tuna with salad and egg and avocado oil dressing 

turkey with brusssels beets sweet potato ghee butter

today

eggs (2) leftover sweet potato and beets

leftover turkey with salad (tomatoes avocado lettuce )

dinner salmon with zuchini noodles

[Marj K]

Hi, @MichellePollino. I'm so sorry you're having a tough time right now. Many folks struggle at day 15, as well as the very last week, so try to be gentle with yourself and also be mindful about comparing yourself to others. I know it's tough, especially if you're doing it with coworkers. Oy. The Day by Day book is helpful--I bought it half way through and it's been comforting. She talks about comparisons and also expectations, both of which you mention. 

Your intention of listening to your body is so great! What is it telling you right now? 

I'm not a moderator, but I'll pass on what I've heard over and over by this stage (I'm on day 26). 

With today's example, if eggs are your only protein for any meal, you need "as many as you can hold in your hand" which is usually 3-4. I was shocked too, but I upped my eggs and it helped my energy a lot. Also, you want to make sure you have a little fat. Not sure if you had enough in your meals above, accept maybe at lunch. With dinner and maybe lunch, you may need more carbs/starch. 

I didn't realize how important the meal template proportions were until a few wks ago. I've felt much more balanced, energy wise, when using those.

I don't have the answers on bloating/constipation, since clearly I'm still dealing with that, as above. Read those tips, because they're good overviews on bloating/IBS.

Coffee can be dehydrating, but also a laxative...so, hmm...

[MichellePollino]

HI Marj;

 

Thanks so much for this, perhaps I should up my egg count to 3 or maybe have 2 then another mid morning-I will also re examine the meal template and start to use that daily as a guide but im def having enough fats - i have one to two thumbfuls each meal, Its good to know others are having similar issues with bloating and constipation