gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I'm on day 5 and had a terrible night last night trying to fall asleep. I suffered from anxiety/insomnia 6 months ago and it took a while to recover and now that I've been recovered for several months I do not want to go back to that cycle but it is starting up again. Yesterday I had Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs with coconut milk, spinach and veggies, avocado, and half a banana. Lunch: one can tuna with homemade Mayo and veggies on spinach, grapes. Snacked on cashews. Very hungry in afternoon Dinner: chicken with curry sauce, backed potato with coconut cream, green beans. I was still hungry after dinner so had all natural bacon with guacamole, half banana with almond butter, and a hard boiled egg about an hour and a half before bed. Just not sure if I can stick with this is my anxiety and insomnia begin to return. Will I get over this hump soon? Anything I can do differently in my diet? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madness Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I have chronic insomnia (and anxiety issues too). The first week, my sleep was weird. I had restless arms and just couldn't get comfortable. But that passed - soon I was sleeping 11 hours at night! I didn't like that either but it only lasted a few nights. I'm on Day 29 now and the last 3 weeks have been the best sleep I can remember in years. Your body is adjusting in the beginning. Give it time and don't worry! I've seen a lot of other people post about sleep issues during those first few days. You'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 I think you need to eat more... you don't say how many or what the vegetables are in your meals but my guess based just on this is that you're not eating enough which can cause anxiety in those prone to it. The snacking and hodged together late meal tells me that too... Do your meals match the template? Do you work out? If so, do you do pre and post workout meals? Let's get a bit more detail and see if we can help, okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 I had a handful of spinach with my scrambled eggs. A handful of spinach with half a carrot and a few diced tomatoes with lunch and a handful of green beans at dinner. I walked for 30 minutes yesterday and had a hard boiled egg and a handful of cashews pre workout and a handful of diced butternut squash afterward. Had the equivalent of a whole avocado throughout the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 Madness, thank you for that encouragement. As you may know, it doesn't take much for the cycle to begin, so I don't want it to begin again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 Okay, thank you gr8cate! As I suspected, you're not really eating enough. The template asks for 1-3 cups of veggies... from experience we know that if it's leafy greens it needs to be a heck of a lot more... think about spinach when you wilt it... it goes from tons to nones... A handful of veggies is not enough... we really want you to FILL your plate with veggies... In the case of what you're going through and trying to head off, I would also suggest that you increase your fat... olives, half an avocado (per meal), lots of yummy mayo based dressings etc... Nuts are not ideal and can do a number on a person's stomach as well as become food without brakes... they're recommended to be limited to a closed handful every other day at most so try replacing those with other fat sources. Post workout, try and add some lean protein (tuna, chicken breast) to compliment the starchy carb (which was a great choice! Good job!). In all, I think you really need to just honor your body and increase your consumption to see if that helps... it can be as madness said that you're just going through the adjustment period but having anxiety about going back there isn't going to help so removing other factors like not eating enough will really help. Also, water is recommended to be 1/2oz per pound of body weight... make sure you're getting that too... It might sound like this is all silly and it's not going to help, but reorganizing and balancing hormones takes these things to work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 I will make those changes and see how it helps. I try to eat as much as I can at mealtime, but I have never been good at eating a lot. I know snacking isn't recommended but during these first few weeks, that may be the only way I'm going to get all of this food in. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madness Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 It probably took me 2 weeks to actually be able to eat a true template meal at one sitting. I'm shocked at the size of protein salads that I now sit down to enjoy - and finish! The advice I was given was to keep plating up template meals even if I knew I couldn't eat it all. Put any unfinished food aside and then eat it as soon as I felt able - before my next meal. Sometimes this worked, sometimes it didn't. But it got me through to where my appetite caught up. Keep up the starches and fats. Both good for mood/anxiety! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 Good to know! I will buy more sweet potatoes today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 I'm also experiencing a lot of back and joint pain today. Is that normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 I'm also experiencing a lot of back and joint pain today. Is that normal? Not especially... are you drinking enough water and salting your food? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 I drink a lot of water but haven't really been tracking it. I add salt to my foods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 And crying. Lots of crying today. Between the loss of sleep, anxiety build up, and aches and pains,I'm not sure this is the thing for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted May 3, 2016 Moderators Share Posted May 3, 2016 Aw honey, sorry to hear that! I swear, eat more... your hormones WANT to be balanced and happy... eating appropriate quantities of whole foods will help that. Personally, I would suggest that you eat now... mini meal of fat and protein, veg if you can... It will get better, I promise... there's nothing that eating processed, packaged or inflammatory foods is going to do to make you healthier... stick it out but really, eat up. The other question is (tmi) are you at or near your period? In those times, women often need up to twice the amount of food and if that's where you are right now, the crying makes sense because you're already underfed and then add in period hormones and watch out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I'm on day 5 and had a terrible night last night trying to fall asleep. I suffered from anxiety/insomnia 6 months ago and it took a while to recover and now that I've been recovered for several months I do not want to go back to that cycle but it is starting up again. For the anxiety try & include foods naturally high in trytophan & serotonin in your food rotation - oily fish, oysters, turkey, white potatoes, mushrooms, walnuts & bananas are all good for starters as they are natural mood enhancers. You could also take a magnesium supplement if you are not already doing so - this acts as a muscle relaxant & aids sleep as well as keeping things moving in the bathroom department, plus the vast majority of us are magnesium deficinet anyways as modern farming techniques deplete the magnesium in the soil. Also, try holding any starchy veg back until meal 3 - there is lots of anecdotal eveidence that this also aids sleep. Hang in there!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 No, I'm not close to my period. I am forcing myself to eat some chicken with coconut curry sauce with a lot of spinach and carrots with homemade ranch dressing. Problem is, as anxiety goes up, appetite goes down. I just did not anticipate this so I appreciate the support and suggestions. I use magnesium oil before bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madness Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I completely understand about anxiety and appetite. During my most awful anxiety period, I lost 35 lbs in a 6 week period. Anxiety hasn't been a big problem for me for several months so I didn't start the Whole30 with that as a "symptom" I wanted the diet to help. I would say that my anxiety hasn't changed during the 29 days though (no more, no less). So hopefully the anxiety you are experiencing is just part of the stress of the initial transition into this way of eating. There's nothing about the diet itself that should increase anxiety. From my own experience, lack of sleep was a big contributing factor to my anxiety levels (and that whole thing is a vicious cycle since anxiety causes sleep problems!). Focus on eating the proper amounts, drinking enough water and get plenty of rest (even if it's not sleep). If you are like many others who have posted here, the sleep troubles shouldn't last long and you will soon be getting incredibly restful sleep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 Exactly. The loss of sleep is what sets off my anxiety. I think my body is returning to fight or flight mode which prevents sleep. I also lost a lot of weight due to anxiety but as i started to het well, i started packing on thw pounds because i had been ised to eating whatevee I wanted. I have been well for 5 months now and do NOT want to go through it again for any length of time. So today I have been taking everyone's advice and eating as much good foods as I can, increasing fat and veggie intake and will have a sweet potato with dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 If you don't already you could also be sure to practice good sleep hygiene.Have a read at these two articles for some tips:http://whole9life.com/2015/04/mental-health-sleep-1/http://whole9life.com/category/sleep/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8cate Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 Thank you. I do practice good sleep hygiene. Something I learned when I first got insomnia last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.