day 25 and I'm so worn out

[erinboberin]

I've had a lot of good things happen. My clothes fit again, my daughter's eczema is almost gone, my other daughter is trying new foods, my husband's poop is awesome (he said). We're doing this as a family.

I am completely drained all the time though. For the first couple of weeks I gave myself a pass, but I feel like I should be feeling better. I'm getting about half my typical steps during the day according to my fitbit. My house is suffering, and I have no motivation. I feel like all I do is make food. I'm also still having soft floating stools, and I'm no longer regular.

Here's a typical day:

M1 mashed potatoes, prosciutto wrapped chicken, carrots, peppers, onions, blueberries. Black coffee.

M2 sweet potato fries, hamburger without a bun, broccoli, cashews

M3 pork chops, cauliflower, salsa, asparagus.

I've gone from eating all day to just these three meals. I'm not hungry outside of meal times at all. I ate a lot of fruit in the first week, but tapered off to tame my sugar dragon. I don't really work out, but I'm normally active all day with two little kids.

I really have no desire to extend this much longer. I had to eliminate a lot of extra foods to figure out my daughter's eczema, so we'll probably reintroduce for 30 days, at least.

[jmcbn]

Sorry to hear you're feeling so miserable...

Other than the cashews I see no other mention of fat - fat is needed for energy, for brain health, and for alowing the fat solulble vitamins to get to where they need to be so please don't short change yourself.

You could also switch the potatoes in meal one for some non starchy veg & keep the starches for meal 3 which will aid sleep, and have less of an impact on blood sugar (and in turn energy, mood & appetite).

Are you stools greasy? Can you see an oily film on the water?

 

What is your water intake like?

[erinboberin]

I'm basically frying everything I can, drenching steamed veggies in olive oil, losing the mashed potatoes up with animal fat and coconut milk. I've had to cut out nuts and avocados with my toddler, so I'm trying to get as much fat into the food as possible.

[erinboberin]

Water intake is around 66-88 ounces a day. No grease on stools that I've noticed.

[jmcbn]

Water intake is around 66-88 ounces a day. No grease on stools that I've noticed.

88 ounces is good if you weigh around 180 pounds.

The lack of grease is a good thing as it means malabsorption (which can result in low energy) is unlikely, and there's certainly not an excess of fat.

I'm guessing you need more fibre but less starch - try adding in some green veg - kale, spinach, zucchini, bok choi....

 

[erinboberin]

I weighed 133 at the start of this, so I guess I should be drinking around 66 ounces (my water bottle is 22, so that makes it easy). We don't have air conditioning, and it gets a bit hot in my house sometimes (92 degrees at the moment), so obviously that increases my water requirements. I salt my food liberally, so hopefully I'm fine there.

 

 

I'm not sure how the kids will feel about kale and bok choy, but we'll find out! I was going to put some cabbage in tonight's curry, so maybe that will help. I put steamed spinach in their applesauce, so maybe I'll give myself some of that as well.

 

Thanks for your suggestions!

[ShannonM816]

I weighed 133 at the start of this, so I guess I should be drinking around 66 ounces (my water bottle is 22, so that makes it easy). We don't have air conditioning, and it gets a bit hot in my house sometimes (92 degrees at the moment), so obviously that increases my water requirements. I salt my food liberally, so hopefully I'm fine there.

 

 

I'm not sure how the kids will feel about kale and bok choy, but we'll find out! I was going to put some cabbage in tonight's curry, so maybe that will help. I put steamed spinach in their applesauce, so maybe I'll give myself some of that as well.

 

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

Try kale or collard or turnip greens (or any greens, really) prepared using the Crisp & Sweet recipe on this page -- I think they'd be a good introduction to greens for kids -- they're what convinced me I don't actually hate collard greens, I just hate icky, waterlogged, overcooked collard greens. Plus, the bit of sweetness from the dried fruit further counters the bitterness you sometimes taste in greens, and the nuts give it a little crunch.