Need some insight

[MorganLouise]

I'm on day 32 of my second W30 and looking for some insight. I completed my first W30 in January this year, and after the 30 days I felt better, had plenty of NSVs but never really shook my fatigue. I was diagnosed with a vitamin D deficiency in March, had my thyroid (family history of Hashimoto's) and cortisol levels checked and have seen 3 drs over the past few months unable to explain my extreme fatigue/generally feeling lousy. The vitamin D supplement from my dr helped some, but not enough for me to feel like myself again. I do have elevated thyroid antibodies, but after seeing an endocrinologist, they're not high enough to treat.

 

I do Crossfit 4-5 mornings a week and I've added 60-80 miles of biking to my week recently as I train for a 100 mile ride in August. I really enjoy working out and after having a body composition done, I have about 30lbs of fat to lose. Weight loss is definitely a goal for me on my Whole30 journey, but feeling better is my priority.

 

I started another round hoping to finally shake this fatigue and start feeling alive again. On day 32 I'm having great NSVs again, cravings totally gone, sleeping better, clearer skin, but still so darn tired. 

 

My typical meals from the past few weeks:

 

5:30am - handful of nuts before the gym (all I can stomach that early)

7am - RXbar (I know this is technically emergency food, but it's what works for me that I can stomach after a workout. I've tried chicken and carrots/sweet potato, but I just couldn't do it)

8:30am - M1 - frittata full of veggies (broccoli, peppers, potato, sometimes sausage, with coconut milk for fat) or chicken breast with roasted veggies, sweet potato and pesto or avocado. I also have a cup of tea with breakfast, my only caffiene for the day.

1pm - M2 - Turkey/steak with broccoli/sweet potato/brussels sprouts/beets/asparagus and half and avocado or olives

6pm - M3 - Beef and broccoli with cauliflower rice/ salad with ground turkey, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and tessemae's/ bologense sauce with zoodles

 

I follow the meal template with usually a palm or more of protein, usually 2 cups of veggies and a fat source.

 

I really want to stick with this and keep going with my W30, but I'm wondering if either my meals need some real adjustment

to help give me some energy? I really believe in the W30 program, but I'm seriously struggling with this fatigue and hoping a pro can help provide some insight.

[ShannonM816]

Your meals look pretty good. If you're staying satisfied for 4-5 hours between meals, you've probably got about the right amounts of food. If you are getting hungry earlier than that and just toughing it out til your next meal, you might try adding more fat, especially in meals where you're having leaner meats like turkey or chicken.

 

Things to consider -- an RXBar post-workout is not optimal for your recovery. Read this article for more on that, and see if you can't come up with something better than the bar that will work for you. What was it about the chicken/sweet potato option that you didn't like? Is it a texture thing? could you make egg white/sweet potato mini quiche type things, or meatballs made with ground chicken and sweet potato together instead?

 

Also, take a look at this article on rest vs recovery and think about whether at this point, as you are fatigued and not feeling well, if you might be better served by taking some days off from crossfit and doing something like gentle stretching or yoga, or even just getting more sleep if you need it. 

[hezzer78]

I'm new here and not a pro by any means (I also don't know much about dealing with vitamin deficiencies), but just curious as to how come you don't eat fruit?

 

Is it just a preference or a medical reason...? 

[Karen_Suep]

I'm new here and not a pro by any means (I also don't know much about dealing with vitamin deficiencies), but just curious as to how come you don't eat fruit?

Is it just a preference or a medical reason...?

There's nothing nutritionally in fruit you can't get from vegetables. And for a lot of people, fruit feeds the sugar dragon.

[MorganLouise]

Thanks for the replies. My meals are keeping me full until the next one for the most part, but I'll definitely try adding in more fat with the leaner meats and see if that helps. I did forget to mention that I have about 2 servings of fruit a day, usually with M1 and M2.

 

I know my post workout meal needs some work, but I have about 5 minutes in the car to eat it while I drive to work from the gym (my work has a locker room where I shower). It needs to be fast and easy to eat while I'm driving. The cold chicken and sweet potato/carrots I was doing for awhile just made me gag that early in the morning and I just couldn't get it down after a couple weeks. I'm not a huge egg fan and even struggle with the frittatas I make sometimes for M1, I have make them very rarely. Any ideas for post-workout meals are welcome, the RXbar is just something I can eat in the car that I'm able to stomach because it has a harder texture. 

 

It's definitely worth considering taking some days off from the gym, however before I started on W30, I was able to keep up this training routine with no problems. I'm pretty aware of when my body needs extra sleep and I'll skip my morning workout when I think I need it. I just don't like having to skip a workout more than one day a week when it was never a problem before. I do go to a restorative yoga class once a week and I try to make it to a vinyasa class as well. My body actually feels better and I'm less sore when I'm able to go 5x a week and that's partially why I don't want to have miss more days.

 

I know that W30 doesn't end up being for everyone and I'm wondering if I could be one of the people whose body just can't get with the program? I'm not ready to give up, but being unable to shake this fatigue is wearing on me. Could there be some kind of nutrient I'm missing in my current meals that's making me feel so exhausted?