Day 11 - where is my energy/motivation?!

[Claire_NL]

Hi guys, I'm on day 11 and just SO tired... Couldn't fall asleep yesterday at all. When my alarm went off I barely got myself out of bed to shower and make breakfast. The workday has never felt slower and when I got home I didn't feel like doing anything. Making dinner was such an effort (only needed to heat up my meatloaf and sautée spinach) and now I just can't get myself to the cleaning up. I don't want to quit this, but seriously: how do you guys do it?!

[ShannonM816]

Could you give us a couple of days' worth of what you've eaten, including approximate portions sizes as they relate to the meal template? Also, are you drinking plenty of water (aim for 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so if you weigh 120 lbs, drink at least 60 oz)? Are you salting your food?

 

For the sleep itself, start trying to incorporate good sleep hygiene habits.

 

In general, eat your first meal within an hour of waking up in the morning, try to get some light exercise at some point in the day, and try to spend time outside in the sunshine as early in the day as you can.

[Claire_NL]

Yes, sure! Here it is:

 

Monday

M1: 4 eggs scrambled in 1/2 thumb ghee (seasoned with pepper & smoked paprika), 1 sweet potato & 1,5 red bell pepper sauteed in 1/2 thumb olive oil

M2: the chili recipe from the Whole30 book (exact measures as in the book for 1 person) with a salad of lettuce & cucumber and a dressing of olive oil & vinegar

M3: NomNomPaleo meatloaf 2 slices (approx 1,5 palm ground beef, spinach and mushrooms plus a few crumbs of bacon) with a side salad from lettuce, cucumber, bell pepper, same dressing as before

 

Tuesday
M1: 1 pork sausage, 2 eggs (fried in coconut oil), 2 tomatoes, a big handful of mushrooms and about a palm size of fresh mango

M2: Tuna salad: 1 palm canned tuna in water, 1/2 tbsp mayo, lettuce, cucumber, baby spinach, tomato, capers

M3: Pulled chicken with salad & sautéed vegetables. About 1 palm chicken, bbq sauce and a big salad and sautéed courgette and spinach

 

Wednesday

M1: 3 eggs (scrambled in 1 thumb ghee with fresh parsley and chives), mushrooms & courgette sauteed in 1/2 thumb olive oil, handful of blueberries

M2: Tuna salad: 1 palm canned tuna in water, 1/2 tbsp mayo, lettuce, cucumber, baby spinach, tomato, capers

M3: NomNomPaleo meatloaf 2 slices (approx 1,5 palm ground beef, spinach and mushrooms plus a few crumbs of bacon) with sautéed spinach in 1/3 thumb olive oil, 1 palm olives

 

Having a kidney condition I only salt my food a little bit, I try to get my food tasty by using other herbs & spices. For most of the recipes I use half of the reccommended amount of salt. Oh and the water: my goal is to drink at least 2,5 litres of water every day. Which I almost always reach. I get to the 2l on every day for sure.

 

I've been following the sleeping hygiene habits religiously since the start (also did this a bit before starting W30). Yesterday I did cycle 30 minutes back & forth to rehearsals and got back home late, might be why I couldn't sleep. Normally I sleep like snow white.

[ShannonM816]

Your meals mostly look pretty good, but you could definitely up your fat some -- 1/2 tbsp. of mayo is really not much, especially when you're having a lower fat meat like tuna. Many times the oil you cook in doesn't really count because it stays behind in the pan and isn't consumed, and the same can be true for some salad dressings, if you ever get through the salad and look down and there's a bunch of dressing on the bottom of the bowl or plate.

 

The only other thing food-wise that I notice is there aren't a lot of starchy vegetables listed -- usually most people seem to do best with a fist-sized serving each day. Some people need more, some do fine with less. I only see one sweet potato listed, so you might try having a serving consistently every day and see if that helps.

 

With the salt, obviously, don't have more than you're supposed to. Do make sure you're getting enough. If before Whole30 you were eating very many processed foods (anything from canned veggies with salt, salsas, deli meats/sausages, boxed meals like mac & cheese or hamburger helper if they even have that kind of thing where you are, or prepared meals in restaurants), and now you're not, your salt intake could still have gone down. I don't know if that's the case for you, if you were already pretty careful about it, there may not be much difference, but I know many people don't take that into account and end up not getting enough salt. Again, I'm not a doctor and can't advise you in your particular case, but just kind of keep it in mind, because too little salt can cause symptoms like fatigue and just generally not feeling well.

[Claire_NL]

Thank you so much for your extensive answer! I added a closed handful of walnuts to my breakfast this morning (read your reply while preparing breakfast), avocado wasn't ready yet. Had some olives with my lunch and will have avocado and a small sweet potato with my chilli tonight. Hoping this will help! Though I already feel a lot better! I had quite a few canned beans before I started my W30, (kidney beans, chickpeas etc.) so I upped my salt level a little bit too. If it doesn't feel right after a few days, I will bring it back down. Again: thank you so much!

[tmhampton1]

One other thing I noticed about your diet is that it is nightshade heavy (think tomatoes and bell peppers). I have a nightshade sensitivity and if I load up on them or eat a lot at night I have horrible insomnia.

 

I do suffer from insomnia and was a regular ambien user until my dose kept increasing (it's addictive). Once I started tracking what I was eating throughout the day and how I slept I noticed the correlation. Since my first W30 in March and watching my nightshade intake I now just have to have a cup of magnesium (Natural Calm warm) and night about 1/2 hour before bed and I sleep great. 

 

Another thing is that I'm trying to see if I actually have gluten sensitivity or if it's just a nightshade allergy as the symptoms can overlap. I'm almost certain I do have gluten issues and the nightshades just exacerbate the symptoms.