Day 22 and still having intestinal issues,achy joints and inflamed jaw

[Cloutier]

I began the Whole 30 in the strong hope that it would heal my gut issues..thinking I was lactose intolerant.  I also have constantly aching joints in my hands and TMJ.  THE GOOD of the Whole 30 is that [moderator edit to remove scale results] and kicked my sugar addiction and cravings...The frustrating part that's got me feeling defeated is the I am still bloated all the time and my hands and jaw still hurt.  I wonder why I am not feeling the healing from all of that like so many others have...?

[ShannonM816]

I began the Whole 30 in the strong hope that it would heal my gut issues..thinking I was lactose intolerant.  I also have constantly aching joints in my hands and TMJ.  THE GOOD of the Whole 30 is that [moderator edit to remove scale results] and kicked my sugar addiction and cravings...The frustrating part that's got me feeling defeated is the I am still bloated all the time and my hands and jaw still hurt.  I wonder why I am not feeling the healing from all of that like so many others have...?

 

First, a reminder that it is a 30-day program, and also that sometimes, people with underlying medical issues take longer to feel results than others do.

 

A little tough love -- one of the rules of the program is to stay off the scale. Please stay off the scale for the remainder of your 30 days.

 

Finally -- I'd really recommend keeping a food log. Not one that counts calories or fat grams or any of that, but a log of what foods you're eating, and how your symptoms are (better or worse, or even come up with a scale of 0-10). There are foods that are completely fine to have on Whole30 that cause issues for many people. It is possible you are reacting negatively to FODMAPS or nightshade vegetables. If you have a log of what you've eaten, you can look for patterns that might be obvious (like, every time you eat something with chili peppers or tomatoes, your joints hurt more) or they might be more subtle and take some watching over time to find.

 

If you'd like to keep a log here in the forum, that can make it easier if you want people here to take a look and offer suggestions. If you don't like that option, you can always keep a written log in a notebook you keep with you, or you can take pictures of each meal with your phone, or whatever makes sense to you.

 

You can post a day or two of your typical foods here in this thread, and we can take a look to see if anything stands out. Include approximate portion sizes as they relate to the meal template, specific vegetables and fruits you've had (don't just say "a lot of veggies" say, a zucchini, some cherry tomatoes, a half a bell pepper), and also include how much water you typically drink in a day, and any workouts you do.