Day 3: Not Hungry?

[natathia]

Hi all! I am on Day 3 of my first Whole30 and absolutely not hungry and feel like I've been run over by a bus and can't move. So far I have been eating way more than I normally would because I'm worried of getting hungry. This is what I have eaten today:

 

Day 1:
Brunch: Spinach frittata with avocado and a side of fruit

Snack: Larabar (I know I am not supposed to but I was travelling)

Supper: Zoodles, shrimp and romesco sauce.

Then I was starving an hour later, so I had a few veggies, and almond butter.

 

Day 2:

Breakfast: Spinach frittata with avocado and a side of fruit

Lunch: Protein salad traditional with salmon, apple and almond butter.

(was not overly hungry)

Supper: Zoodles, shrimp and romesco sauce and half avocado.

 

Day 3:

Brakfast: Two sweet potato slices with 1 mashed avocado, 1 slice of prosciutto and two eggs, with a side of sautéed spinach and mushrooms and a few grapes. (not really hungry for lunch but ate anyways)

Lunch: Mexi Tuna in Romaine leaves (3 leaves) and two dates.

Came home and felt super low blood sugar and felt like I was going to pass out so I had a handful of raisins while making dinner, but I am not even hungry.

 

Help! Is this normal?

 

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[jmcbn]

Some loss of appetite is fairly common on Whole30 but not generally this early on in the game.

You say you are eating loads, but it's difficult to tell portion sizes from the foods you have listed

How many eggs are in your frittata? When eggs are your only source of protein in a meal a serving would be the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand without dropping - so one serving of your frittata should have 3 eggs.

What fruit did you have, and how much? Note that fruit when eaten at meal one can often cause a spike in blood sugar & can mess with hunger signals & energy levels.

How much shrimp did you have? And how much zoodles? (bearing in mind that one zucchini looks like a HUGE amount of zoodles on a plate, but nutritionally amounts to very little.)

Your snack of a larabar - which was not substantial enough to be lunch - it would have spiked your blood sugar, again followed by a crash - it's no wodner you were hungry later that evening.

Your salads unless they are HUGE are not big enough to satiate you for 4-5hours - how much protein are you eating for instance? Consider how much salad greens reduce down when chewed. 
 

Your dates are also little sugar bombs which will have effceted blood sugar.

Also, in three days I see only two slices of sweet potato - we would recommend at least a fist sized serving a day, especially in the early days, and more if needed - this will help with the transition form the old diet to the new & keep your moods more stable.

Are you drinking at least a half an ounce of water per pound of body weight daily? Are you salting your food?

I'm guessing that you're not eating enough food in general, and that the nausea is from hunger.

[natathia]

Hi jmcbn, thanks for the reply! My frittata had 6 eggs and I ate just over a third of it. That's good to know I should be eating more eggs. I have been eating about 2 per day but I'm a pretty tiny person. I'll try three tomorrow. The side of fruit was a handful of raspberries and grapes.

For the shrimp and zoodles, I just followed the recipe in the book and split it, there was probably 10 large shrimp in each serving roughly. Zoodles probably filled about 3/4 of the plate. 

 

The protein in the salads is about 1.5 cans of tuna or salmon with veggies and nuts to fill the rest of the plate. 

 

And that's good to know about the sweet potatoes! I will try that. Do regular potatoes have the same effect? Are we allowed to eat those? What are other foods similar to sweet potatoes that have the same effect?

 

And I have been drinking tons of water and salting my food. I can increase the amount of salt and see if that helps. 

 

Thanks so much for the help. You are a life saver!!! I feel like every time I eat, I am so stuffed that my stomach hurts. 

[jmcbn]

 I feel like every time I eat, I am so stuffed that my stomach hurts. 

This makes me think it's maybe not so much an issue of not eating enough, and rather more an issue of what you are eating...

I'm wondering if FODMAPs might be an issue for you as I see a few listed in your food log, and I know this is a symptom I get if I eat more than I should - I feel stuffed, but I'm not actually full...

Things listed above that might cause you to feel the way you do if high FODMAPS are an issue would be:

Avocados

Mushrooms

Dried fruit (also in your larabar)

Onion (I'm guessing in your salad)

Garlic (in your Romesco sauce)

You might want to avoid these over the next few days and see how you go. Many people find they can tolerate high fodmap food in small quantities but problems can arise when there is any kind of a build up in the system.

Hope this helps!

 

[GFChris]

I would also watch overstuffing yourself for fear of being hungry between meals. You shouldn't feel overstuffed at the end of a meal: aim for pleasantly satisfied.

If you do end up hungry between meals (litmus test: you could eat something bland like steamed fish and broccoli), it's completely ok to have a mini-meal of protein, carb and fat.

[msame213]

If you do end up hungry between meals (litmus test: you could eat something bland like steamed fish and broccoli), it's completely ok to have a mini-meal of protein, carb and fat.

hi Chris - what would that look like?

[GFChris]

hi Chris - what would that look like?

Off the top of my head:

- hard boiled egg, sliced peppers and olives

- tuna, chicken or salmon salad with homemade mayo. Sweet potato on the side.

- sardines in olive oil with sauerkraut

- prosciutto, melon and sliced avocado