Feeling pregnant but not - day 9 of 30

[lcar28]

This is my first whole30. I have PCOS and since I had my son 10 months ago have had debilitating migraines, for which I can't take the medicine I'd usually take because I'm breastfeeding. Out of desperation I'm trying this at the recommendation of a friend - huge shift for me as I've been vegetarian/vegan for the past 8+ years.

Pretty much from the start I've been weepy, fatigued, unfocused, sometimes lightheaded and almost constantly hungry, but also at times just nauseated. Basically feel very similar to when I was pregnant, so much so that I took a home test this morning to be sure I wasn't.

My question is, is this normal? Is there anything I can do to make it better or should I just ride it out? I'm pretty active workout wise, but with a sedentary full time job. I've probably been eating between 2500-2800 calories a day (rough estimate, not tracking it) and trying to incorporate fat and starchy veggies at each meal/mini-meal. Advice welcome!

[jmcbn]

Hi lcar & welcome to Whole30 - I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with this - it sounds to me like you're probably not eating enough...

When you're BFing you really need to be eating 4 meals a day rather than the usual 3 - you also need to be drinking more water than is normally recommended (1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight, daily), and for the weepiness etc make sure you are including AT LEAST a fist sized serving of starchy veg daily - think all varieties of potato, turnip, pumpkin, parsnips, beets, carrots etc - and don't be afraid to add more if you feel you need it, particularly until you get your moods/emotions settled, and especially seeing as you are also working out. Remember also that fat is your friend here.

Are you including pre/post WO meals on the days that you are working out? Also, what day are you on?

If you'd like to post a few days worth of your food/liquid intake, indicating portion size, along with your sleep/stress/activity levels we can take a look and maybe help you make some tweaks - this is not supposed to be easy, but it is also not supposed to make you feel miserable either...

[lcar28]

Thanks for the reply. Here's a typical day:

4:30 wake up, have a hard-boiled egg pre-workout

4:45-5:35 exercise

By 6, post-wo: either bone broth or another egg, 1/2-3/4 c starchy veg (pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, etc)

7:30ish breakfast - leftover meat/veg dish (chili, soup, stir fry, etc) or salmon salad, 1/2 avocado, yam or sweet potato

Between 10-11, mini meal of a protein, 1T ghee or coconut oil in my coffee, maybe a small apple

Between 12:30-1:30 lunch - leftovers again, plus a starch (squash or potato), coconut milk or a few handfuls of coconut, and grapes

Sometime between 3:30-4:30 same

Between 6:30-8 dinner - meat, lots of veggies, cooking fat, 1-2 servings of additional fat, maybe fruit or coconut if I'm still hungry

Bedtime is usually between 9-9:30

My stress levels are pretty healthy and I usually sleep around 7 hours a night during the week, sometimes 8 on weekends if my son allows it. Exercise is a mix of weights, yoga, HIIT and running. I probably produce about 30-35 oz of breast milk a day and I am neither overweight nor underweight.

Thanks again!