Day 14 frustrations

[littlebluehouse]

Hi there! So I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for going strong for 14 days so far. I've never been much of a cook so that's my biggest NSV so far, I'm cooking a lot!

A couple frustrations though. I'm waking up every morning with a mild headache. The first couple of days it made sense but I'm surprised it's still happening on day 14. I drink a lot of water, seltzer, and herbal tea.

Also I'm looking for an accountability buddy - someone who is on or near day 14. I could really use a pal to chat and exchange recipes and success and frustrations with. Anyone interested? I don't feel super comfortable posting frequently in a public forum, and I tried to join the November Facebook group and my request is still pending after two weeks!

Thanks all!

[Activexpat]

Hi, I'm on day 14 too and am proud of myself, but also missing my afternoon mocha. I didn't wake up with a headache today, but did over the weekend.

Today I'm looking over the food template as well as the suggested menu to make sure I'm making my meals complete. I was literally sick with a cold and then a bacterial infection the first two weeks, so I hadn't been exercising. Today I was in the pool for about 20 minutes and will start doing "body pump" on Wednesday. So I need to make sure my meals are the right size. I have snacked today, but I ate compliant. Just am a little blah and need a kick in the butt because I need to remember to be proud because I have followed the plan for 14 days...I want to see NSVs!

[GFChris]

A couple frustrations though. I'm waking up every morning with a mild headache. The first couple of days it made sense but I'm surprised it's still happening on day 14. I drink a lot of water, seltzer, and herbal tea.

 

What's "a lot" of liquid? Can you quantify how much water you're drinking daily?

Also, what are your meals looking like? Can you post a few days worth of your meals, including portion sizes?

Are you salting your food?

How much sleep are you getting nightly? How is your current level of stress?

[littlebluehouse]

Activexpat do you want to be my buddy?

GFChris - hmm good questions. I don't think I can quantify it. Maybe I should start keeping track! In general I try not to drink too much because I have a tiny bladder, but do you think maybe the headaches are related to dehydration?

I'm definitely salting my foods. That's what I'm supposed to do right?

I've been very tired around 9 or 10 pm. But I often wake up at 4 or 5 and can't go back to sleep. Or I'll wake up at 4 or 5 and fitfully sleep til my desired wake up time (6:30/7ish).

Some sample meals (I usually have a cup of half-caff a day):

Breakfast - 3 eggs scrambled with 1/2 cup compliant tomato/onion salsa and maybe a cup or two of other veggies (spinach, broccoli, etc), half an avocado

Post-workout 2 hard boiled eggs and a cup of sweet potato/squash soup

Lunch - two cups of the soup (with full fat coconut milk) with a hand sized portion of grilled chicken. Handful of olives.

Dinner- large spinach salad with tomatoes onions peppers cucumbers and three hard boiled eggs, with homemade ranch dressing

Breakfast - aidells chicken sausage with two cups broccoli and ghee

lunch - baked sweet potato with ghee, 3 scrambled eggs, baby carrots

Dinner - coconut curry with chicken (the recipe from the book) with a cup or two of roasted butternut squash and Brussel sprouts.

I'm usually not hungry between meals but when I am I try to snack on a hard boiled egg and a handful of macadamia nuts, or a banana with almond butter (but I started craving this snack so I've stopped!)

Thanks in advance for your guidance!

[Activexpat]

Hi LBH, I responded to you and yes would like to be your accountability buddy.

I don't know if this is the right place for a moderator to see my questions, but I'll ask them anyway.

I'm on day 15 today. Literally the day I started I got a cold, but I was compliant with my food. I did take ibuprofen (Tylenol does nothing for me) because I had a terrible sore throat, headache and chills). This cold then progressed to a secondary bacterial infection so I am taking antibiotics, have today and tomorrow then will be done with that.

I haven't had any cravings for sweets, and I can say it's the first time in my adult life as I have a huge sweet tooth and grazing on sweets at night was what I typically did. I am exhausted at night and have been sleeping better, but the last three or four days I wake up with my eyes feeling tired. I've slept through the whole night, but my eyes and head are tired. I have reread the meal template and stick to it pretty well. I eat breakfast about an hour 1/2 after waking because I'm busy getting hubby and two kids fed and out the door,..plus I want to prolong it so I'm not starving at 1:00. Today I ate breakfast at 8:05 am. I may not be eating 3 cups of veggies, but I am eating a lot of them. I have been eating at least one potato a day, avocado. Today I had two eggs, mushrooms, red pepper and zucchini with 1/3 avocado made with ghee.

What do you think is causing my tired eyes and head? I have only exercised three times since starting. I usually exercise 3-4X per week.

Thanks.

[GFChris]

GFChris - hmm good questions. I don't think I can quantify it. Maybe I should start keeping track! In general I try not to drink too much because I have a tiny bladder, but do you think maybe the headaches are related to dehydration?

 

You could be dehydrated, which can cause headaches  - that frequently happens.  Our recommendation is to drink 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of body weight, daily.  (And yes, you are supposed to be salting your food, so that's a good step.)

 

 

Some sample meals (I usually have a cup of half-caff a day):

Breakfast - 3 eggs scrambled with 1/2 cup compliant tomato/onion salsa and maybe a cup or two of other veggies (spinach, broccoli, etc), half an avocado

Post-workout 2 hard boiled eggs and a cup of sweet potato/squash soup

Lunch - two cups of the soup (with full fat coconut milk) with a hand sized portion of grilled chicken. Handful of olives.

Dinner- large spinach salad with tomatoes onions peppers cucumbers and three hard boiled eggs, with homemade ranch dressing

Breakfast - aidells chicken sausage with two cups broccoli and ghee

lunch - baked sweet potato with ghee, 3 scrambled eggs, baby carrots

Dinner - coconut curry with chicken (the recipe from the book) with a cup or two of roasted butternut squash and Brussel sprouts.

 

When are you having the cup of half-caff?  We recommend not having caffeinated drinks after noon.  Also, avoid drinking caffeine before your first meal of the day, as that can act as an appetite suppressant.

The post-workout recommendation is protein and optional veg carb, no fat.  The yolk in hard boiled eggs is considered a fat.  As such, I'd recommend changing your post-workout protein to egg whites or another lean protein. If the sweet potato/squash soup had fat in it, choose another way to get your veg carb in.

You'd have to eat a lot of soup and a lot of salad to meet the veggie recommendations (on the latter, think HUGE mixing bowl size).

How many sausages did you have at breakfast? I'd recommend at least 2.

Your starchy carb and fat consumption at meals looks good. Other items that could impact your tiredness (besides water consumption), could be if you are stressed. 

 

[GFChris]

I haven't had any cravings for sweets, and I can say it's the first time in my adult life as I have a huge sweet tooth and grazing on sweets at night was what I typically did. I am exhausted at night and have been sleeping better, but the last three or four days I wake up with my eyes feeling tired. I've slept through the whole night, but my eyes and head are tired. I have reread the meal template and stick to it pretty well. I eat breakfast about an hour 1/2 after waking because I'm busy getting hubby and two kids fed and out the door,..plus I want to prolong it so I'm not starving at 1:00. Today I ate breakfast at 8:05 am. I may not be eating 3 cups of veggies, but I am eating a lot of them. I have been eating at least one potato a day, avocado. Today I had two eggs, mushrooms, red pepper and zucchini with 1/3 avocado made with ghee.

What do you think is causing my tired eyes and head? I have only exercised three times since starting. I usually exercise 3-4X per week.

Thanks.

It would help to get a bigger picture of what all your meals look like. For starters, when eggs are your sole protein, the recommended serving size is the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand without dropping them. For most people, that's 3-4 eggs.  The recommended avocado serving size is at least 1/2 an avocado.

Can you post a few days worth of your meals, including portion sizes and water consumption?

[Activexpat]

The last three days (Sat-Monday) I had two pork sausage patties which I made (2 in diameter), two eggs,, a potato and 1/3 avocado. For lunch on Sat and Sun I had Veg salad with Kale medley from Costco (Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage and radicchio) with scallops and 1/2 grapefruit and guacamole and avocado. Made a dressing with olive oil and vinegar. Saturday Dinner was zucchini noodles minced beef and tomato sauce from the Whole 30 cookbook. Dinner Sunday was left over minced meat and Tom sauce on a baked potato. Monday lunch was small as I was running late, sautéed chicken breast with broccoli which I didn't finish. I ate it when I got home. Then two hrs later ate a steak, sautéed mushrooms and onions and baked potato with ghee. I've been eating similarly throughout my Whole30, but I was also sick and my activity level lower. I'm drinking water and mint tea. I also drink two cups of coffee in the morning with coconut cream and sometimes I put a teaspoon unsweetened cocoa in it too. Probably not drinking enough water.

[littlebluehouse]

Thanks GFChris for your answer! I'm not particularly stressed, so I'll try upping my water consumption. I'm drinking the half-caff after breakfast, sometimes with coconut milk.

 

I don't have trouble falling asleep, but trouble getting back to sleep when I wake up too early...

 

I'm confused about the egg thing. When I have eggs for a meal, I still have to add a fat (the yolk doesn't count as my fat) but for a post-workout snack it's too fatty? 

 

Thanks again!

[GFChris]

 

I'm confused about the egg thing. When I have eggs for a meal, I still have to add a fat (the yolk doesn't count as my fat) but for a post-workout snack it's too fatty? 

 

 

On your 3 daily meals, it comes down to satiety. Ideally, you want to create meals of protein, veg and fat that satiate you for 4-5 hours. When whole eggs are your protein at those meals, start with adding a fat from the meal template possibilities. If that keeps you satiated more than 5 hours, then pare back on your portions.

On your post-workout meal, you don't want any fats at all.  You're not eating to quell hunger in this case. The idea of the post-workout meal is to replace the muscle glycogen stores. If you eat fat in your post-workout, your body's ability to absorb the protein will be inhibited. 

[littlebluehouse]

Thanks GFChris! Another question - can you clarify the veggie portion I'm supposed to be eating at each meal? The template says to fill the rest of my plate with veggies - but I have different sized plates. You said a couple posts ago I would need to be eating a mixing bowl sized salad to get my veggie allowance? For each meal?!

[GFChris]

Thanks GFChris! Another question - can you clarify the veggie portion I'm supposed to be eating at each meal? The template says to fill the rest of my plate with veggies - but I have different sized plates. You said a couple posts ago I would need to be eating a mixing bowl sized salad to get my veggie allowance? For each meal?!

Yes, on salads, the volume that ends up in your stomach is small, which is why, in that case, we recommend a large mixing bowl size.

In general, aim for 1-3 cups of veggies per meal, adjusting for satiety as I explained above.