Day 15 and hating it

[rachelalia]

This is my first whole30 and it started out great. I have been following every rule, loving every meal I have made and am trying to love my sugarless and creamless coffee. Had a few side affects and cravings, but nothing I couldn't handle. Now, a day before the "tiger blood" is supposed so start, I find myself wanting to quit. I will be honest, I only got in to this to loose weight in a healthy way. I am now half way through and all my clothes still fit the same. I know that I am not going to magically loose 10 pounds in the next 15 days, so whats going on? I am also not sleeping. At all. I get in bed around 11 and won't fall asleep until 3am. Then I am waking up every hour. I spend the rest of my day lying on the couch with the most excruciating headache that gets worse when i move and I walk around like a zombie until its time for bed and I start the whole thing over again. How is this good for me? I am not seeing any of the positive things everyone talks about How is this worth it?

[Karen_Suep]

What are you eating? How much water are you drinking (1/2 oz per lb of body weight)? Are you salting food?

If you post a few days worth of meals, including quantities of everything and specifics of your meals (like roasted broccoli and cauliflower, about 3 cups (totally normal for me but not everyone)) we can help trouble shoot more.

You mentioned not sleeping well... Other than whole 30, are you stressed about anything?

As far as losing weight, that doesn't always "melt off". There may be other physical things preventing it and some see weight loss happen in the last couple of weeks if it happens at all.

[rachelalia]

Since I stopped sleeping and starting getting headaches, food hasn't been to appealing. Usually breakfast will consist of 2 eggs with some pesto on them and a piece of fruit. Or fruit and some smoked salmon. Coffee with coconut cream.

Monday lunch was some zoodles and cucumber with shrimp toped with sunshine sauce. Dinner was sautéed chicken with potatoes and salad.

Tuesday lunch was turkey, an apple with almond butter, some avocado and cucumber. Dinner was marinated steak, prosciutto wrapped asparagus and a baked sweet potato.

Wednesday lunch was leftovers and dinner was almond crusted fish with a salad. 

 

I use salt when the recipe calls for it and I drink lots of water - a lot of it is La Croix though. 

 

I do have a couple of big life events coming up but I don't feel stressed over them. I'm getting married in October, but thats all planed out. Might be stressed about being a chubby bride but thats it.

We also just bought a house and are moving next month. Might be stressed about having a smaller closet. These aren't things that should prevent me from sleeping. 

[Karen_Suep]

Without knowing quantities of food (except for eggs) it's difficult to say.

But my guess is you aren't eating enough. Eggs when they are your only protein should be as many as you can hold in your hand, so for most women... That's 3-4.

Also fruit is ok with a meal but shouldn't replace veggies. Aim for 1-3 cups of hearty veggies (or a giant bucket of salad) per meal (yes... Even breakfast). Veggies, protein, and fat are key to success, and having enough will help. Fruit should be an extra and nuts a cameo. You may also do better having fewer starchy veggies.

You also may need MORE salt, especially if you were eating a lot of processed stuff prior to w30.

And it's likely you may need to up fat too. Most of your meals have fat in them, just make sure all of them have 1-2 servings at every meal.

Also try to eat three meals a day. I know it's not easy when you have a headache. Often the last thing I want to do is eat, but skipping meals isn't going to help hormones.

I'd also work on drinking more water and saving lacroix for an occasional drink (but that's me. An admin may say differently and if go with what they say over me)

So, recap, up veggies, up fat, up salt, reduce fruit (you are eating a lot) and possibly reduce starchy veggies. Aim for 1/2 oz per lb of body weight of water a day (so for me currently, that'd be 115 oz a day, thank you post pregnancy weight)

[Chachers04]

Great advice, I'd just like to add that fizzy water makes me and many people bloated, that may be the cause of your clothes not fitting any better. You can add some pieces of fruit to regular water if you like a little flavour.

[Karen_Suep]

Great advice, I'd just like to add that fizzy water makes me and many people bloated, that may be the cause of your clothes not fitting any better. You can add some pieces of fruit to regular water if you like a little flavour.

I didn't even think about fizz causing bloat!

Infused water is one of my favorites. If you find you need to use up fruit, put it in water and let the flavor seep through. Or use frozen berries (make sure there's no sugar or sucrose in them!) as ice cubes in your water. Mmmmmm. Now I wish I have more things to infuse my water with at home.

[jmcbn]

Headaches are most often caused by four things: lack of fat, lack of salt, lack of water or lack of food in general. A lack of appetite is often par for the course for many during the 15 days, but not eating when there's a lack of appetite only perpetuates the problem, so whilst the two issues could be unrelated I'm guessing that in this case the one is not helping the other...

For the sleep are you taking a magnesium supplement? It acts as a muscle relaxant and since most of us are magnesium deficient it certainly won't do any harm adding it in - and since it works as a muscle relaxant it also may help with those headaches.

Re your clothes not fitting any better - I'd remind you that this is a 30 day programme, and many people don't lose weight as that is not the focus. Many people lose weight as a side effect of the programme, but a number of things could be preventing you from that which I'll list for easy reference:

Stress - as much as you think you aren't stressed, moving house is known to be the biggest stressor in the modern world, and whilst you're stressed about ANYTHING weightoss is less likely to happen, and if you're stressing about weight you're more likely to [sub-consciously] eat less.
Sleep - whilst you're not sleeping (& stressed) weight loss is less likely to happen.
Lack of vegetables - optimally you should be eating 3 cups of veg per meal - these provide fibre & keeps things moving. When you replace the veg with fruit you're also taking on board fructose, and a lot of it can skew results.
Lack of fat - all of your meals look low on fat to me.
Lack of food - again with the lack of appetite perpetuating a lack of appetite the body then slows down to preserve what fuel you are providing - you need to eat enough to sustain your body, and then some. Plate up template meals, eat as much from them as you can, then wrap up the remainder to eat as soon as you feel able -ie. don't wait until you feel hungry.

In short, add more food - especially fat - add salt, and add magnesium. Then work on sleep hygiene to ensure you're getting a decent night's sleep - many people seriously underestimate the impact that lack of sleep will have on their overall health - go to bed & waken at a regular hour  (even on the weekends), no screen time for an hour before bed, ensure your bedroom is a little cooler than your living space, dim the lights in your living space to mimic the sunset, try some breathing calming techniques just before sleep, try to get outdoors for 15mins upon wakening (maybe breakfast al fresco?) or get outside for at least 15mins (no sunglasses and more if it's cloudy) at the same time each day.

The La Croix by the way is fine so long as it is not causing you to feel bloated.

[fastwalker]

This thread is so helpful!!!! I am not eating enough vegetables! I've been so focused on making sure I get at least 4 oz of protein and enough healthy fats, I've been eating only about half the veggies recommended. No wonder there is a whole thread about huge bowls for eating salad. (I'm on day 12 BTW.)

[ladyshanny]

This thread is so helpful!!!! I am not eating enough vegetables! I've been so focused on making sure I get at least 4 oz of protein and enough healthy fats, I've been eating only about half the veggies recommended. No wonder there is a whole thread about huge bowls for eating salad. (I'm on day 12 BTW.)

How does "4 oz" relate to the length, width and thickness of your palm? 

[fastwalker]

Just saw your response today. Actually 5 oz of tuna is smaller than my palm so maybe I'm not eating enough protein. For the most part I have been using my hand to measure the amount of meat I eat. I guess I just assumed 4 oz.

 

In the last few days, I was starting to think that maybe I'm really not getting enough healthy fats. Over the last couple of days, I've been trying harder to be sure I'm using butter and olive oil on veggies wherever possible, adding olives to salads and when I'm having trouble eating breakfast, I might eat a handful of nuts or some coconut.

[ladyshanny]

Just saw your response today. Actually 5 oz of tuna is smaller than my palm so maybe I'm not eating enough protein. For the most part I have been using my hand to measure the amount of meat I eat. I guess I just assumed 4 oz.

 

In the last few days, I was starting to think that maybe I'm really not getting enough healthy fats. Over the last couple of days, I've been trying harder to be sure I'm using butter and olive oil on veggies wherever possible, adding olives to salads and when I'm having trouble eating breakfast, I might eat a handful of nuts or some coconut.

By "butter", you mean clarified butter or ghee, right? No standard butter permitted on Whole30.

 

If you're having trouble eating breakfast what you should be doing to combat that is eating breakfast. Seriously.  Plate up a full template meal, eat around the plate as much as you can and then wrap it up and take it with you to eat again as soon as you feel able (don't wait for hunger to strike, just as soon as you feel able to eat it).  The only way to train yourself to get used to eating a first meal is by eating a first meal.