Day 21 - Headaches, Tired, Dragging

[Cajun Gypsy]

This is Day 21 for me, and for the past few days, I have been totally dragging, even after getting over 8 hours of sleep, I struggle to wake up in the morning, I develop headaches throughout the day, and cravings have begun. 

 

I have been pretty meticulous about following the rules, and have not deviated. I have no other aches and pains to suggest an illness of some sort, but pretty much have had carb flu-like symptoms for the past five days or so.

 

Exercise has really only been walking and daily yoga.

 

Any thoughts or ideas? I had read somewhere that maybe I'm not getting enough fat. I do add fat to every meal, but maybe not enough?

 

[Carlaccini]

Are you able to post a couple of days worth of meals along with water consumption.

 

My initial guess is that you are not eating enough.....

[Cajun Gypsy]

Trying to go backward:

 

Sunday: Two eggs, bacon, pan fried squash (in bacon grease) about 2 cups; sweet potato, pulled pork (lunch); dinner - sweet potato, salad with oil &  vinegar, chicken, lara bar 

 

Saturday - breakfast - chorizo, peppers, onion, olive, scrambled eggs, avocado; llunch - asparagus, large salad with oil & vinegar, salmon; dinner - pulled pork stuffed sweet potato, broccoli

[Cajun Gypsy]

Can't remember beyond that - I should probably keep a diary.

 

Breakfast this morning was a large salad with homemade goddess dressing; pulled pork, olives.

[Carlaccini]

Okay - my guess is that your protein amounts are low. Make sure the protein amounts are the height, width and depth of your palm (this is a minimum).  When eggs are your sole protein in your meal, they should be the amount of whole eggs you can hold in one hand without dropping them.  For most people that is 3 to 4 eggs.

 

When salad is you main veggie in your meal - make sure your salads are huge - think mixing bowl size.

 

Are your meals holding you for at least 4 to 5 hours?

 

Are you salting your food - not getting enough salt can give you some interesting reactions.

 

Water intake:  Make sure you are consuming half your bodies weight in ounces daily.  So a 128 lb person would drink eight 8 ounce glasses daily.

[Cajun Gypsy]

Yea - I have been forcing myself to eat meals, and to eat enough. My appetite has definitely decreased the past two weeks - I find myself feeling not hungry and filling up rather quickly.

 

And my salads are HUGE - usually 3-4 cups of assorted chopped veggies.

 

I will up my protein and see how I feel in a couple of days. 

[jmcbn]

Just to add to what Carlaccini has said above I'd add that some of your meals also look low in fat to me. And with the cumulative effect of the low volume of protein you'd soon be feeling low in energy. Protein & fat are also what keep the cravings at bay so hopefully by upping the volume of both you'll soon be back on track.

Oh, and that larabar didn't escape me.... 

[Cajun Gypsy]

Just to add to what Carlaccini has said above I'd add that some of your meals also look low in fat to me. And with the cumulative effect of the low volume of protein you'd soon be feeling low in energy. Protein & fat are also what keep the cravings at bay so hopefully by upping the volume of both you'll soon be back on track.

Oh, and that larabar didn't escape me.... 

LOL - yes I admit to the Lara Bar. 

[Cajun Gypsy]

Okay - upped my non-lettuce veggies, my protein and my fats, seemed to sleep better last night, and definitely not dragging. Emotionally stressed due to outside factors is the one thing standing out right now and may have contributed to my not eating enough. I do feel way better today.

[janbigham]

I am also on day 21 and have issues with energy and headaches.  I have been totally compliant andI am eating plenty.  I also drink quite a bit of water.  I find that my sleep in restless.  Today I had 4 eggs with onions and peppers covered with salsa.  Lunch was lettuce cups with compliant turkey slices, guacamole, tomatoes and bacon. Dinner was cauliflower rice with a chicken stir fry that included about 5 different veges, also a small baked potato with glee and bacon. I am diabetic and having problems with my leg so I exercise in the pool 3-4 days a week.  Any suggestions?

[SugarcubeOD]

Hi Janbigham;

From what i can see just of your meals today, your M1 has no added fat and your M2 probably didn't have enough veggies unless you 1-3 cups of tomato. Your M3 looks closest to a template meal to me.

What is 'quite a bit of water'? The recommendation is 1/2oz per pound of body weight. Are you hitting that?

Do you want to post a few more days of meals as they relate to your own palm size along with fluid consumption and maybe we can tweak your last week a bit for you to start feeling better? Energy and headaches this late in the game is often due to not eating enough.

[janbigham]

Meal one is light on veggies but the eggs are cooked in ghee and it is in the eggs not the. Pan.. Meal two is on lettuce cups and I usually add carrots on the side. I eat 4-5 large Romaine leafs. I have a large cup that I fill probably hourly. I even take to bed and drink during the night. My breakfasts and lunches are pretty much the same each day I do add a banana or piece of fruit at breakfast sometimes. Dinner is usually meat, potato with ghee and roasted Veges or I will do one of the recipes in The Whole Thirty. I haven't been hungry since the first week except at mealtime.