Arrrgh kill everything

[ExAstrisScientia]

Hey ladies!  Day 26 here, and I want to murder everything!  

 

I had been feeling pretty darn good up until a couple of days ago, and suddenly I was irritable, bloated, exhausted.  I chalked it up to a really tough 13 mile run on Friday (hot, humid, hadn't slept well the night prior) and went about business as usual.  

 

Yesterday, Saturday, my appetite went WAY up... again, I figured it was the mileage, and the fact that I missed an entire meal on Friday because my hunger sometimes gets suppressed after long runs.  After inhaling my lunch, I felt really tired... not exactly like a carb coma, but my whole body felt heavy and exhausted so I treated myself to a rare nap.  Passed out cold for an hour and had to drag myself back up.  For the rest of the day, I was wiped out, felt so heavy and exhausted, and looking forward to bed.  I made sure to eat starchy carbs at dinner, and I followed all of my usual sleep rituals, and proceeded to toss and turn all night long and maybe only get 4-5 hours.

 

Which brings me to today.  Insane sugar cravings for the first time since the beginning of the 30, more irritability, and for the first time since I really hit my stride, I became really HANGRY between breakfast and lunch.  There was about a 5 hour gap between the meals, but by the time I was sitting down to eat lunch I had snapped at my kids repeatedly, had a headache, and proceeded to enjoy the hell out of my food as if it were some sort of drug.  

 

Then when I went to the bathroom I discovered very light spotting.  My period isn't due for ten more days??  I haven't even had any cramps.  But the other symptoms fit, I suppose.  

 

I already eat what I feel is a good amount of food.  Because I am an athlete in marathon training, I try to incorporate starchy carbs at meals 2 and 3... at the very least meal 3, and I also eat about a cup of fruit per day (usually berries because they're in season and Oregon berries are love, sometimes an apple instead).  I try my best to get 8 hours of sleep per night but sometimes, inexplicably, it doesn't happen (like last night).  

 

Has anyone else experienced this, and are there any additional things I can do to mitigate how sucky this is? My last period was just 5 days into my Whole 30 and was not at all like this. 

 

Thanks!

[ExAstrisScientia]

And in case anyone asks, here are my meals from friday, saturday, and so far today:

 

 

DAY TWENTY FOUR - July 29, 2016

 

Pre-WO: Small coffee with coconut milk and gelatin, spoon of almond butter

Post-WO: A few bites of chicken breast, ¼ of a sweet potato, big glass of water

 

Breakfast: 4 mini frittatas with chipotle sauce for dipping, saute of 2 cups green beans, the last of the chicken, ¼ cup pineapple pico, topped with more chipotle sauce.  Large mug of earl grey with a splash of coconut milk.

 

Lunch: Snack:  1 small pink lady apple, 1 tablespoon coconut butter (*note* - that was my first snack since starting whole 30. I ate breakfast so late, at 11am, I wasn't hungry for lunch, but got pretty hungry around 3pm and knew I wouldn't make it 'til dinner... I know it wasn't an ideal mini meal but it was quick, and took the edge off)

Dinner: Remaining ¾ sweet potato and 3 yukon gold wedges, 2 cups leftover pina colada chicken, 1 cup frozen/steamed spinach with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of ghee.  Water to drink.

 

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DAY TWENTY FIVE - July 30, 2016

 

Breakfast: 2 cups of leftover beef+cabbage, 2 cups roasted broccoli.  Coffee with coconut milk and gelatin.

 

Lunch: 3 eggs scrambled with ¼ cup pineapple pico, 1 yukon gold potato sliced and pan fried, 2 tbsp chipotle sauce, 1.5 cups berries with 2 tablespoons coconut butter.  Water to drink.

 

Dinner: Hefty palm of roast chicken breast, 1 cup roasted veggies (new potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips), 1 heaping cup sauteed bok choy, with ¼ cup “gravy” made from chicken drippings+aromatics.  Water to drink.

 

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DAY TWENTY SIX - July 31, 2016

Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with ¼ cup pineapple pico, 1 medium yellow zucchini sauteed in ghee/avocado oil, ½ avocado with gomasio.  Coffee with coconut milk, ghee, gelatin, cinnamon (“latte”)

Lunch: 1 cup leftover roasted chicken, 1.5 cups mixed roasted root veggies, 1.5 cups green beans, sauteed in ghee.  Cup of berries with coconut butter.

 

[ShannonM816]

For some women, their cycle changes some on whole30. It is not unusual for someone in the week approaching their period and first few days of it to be hungrier than normal and craving carbs. Eat more, particularly more carbs. One of the mods here reported she ate literally twice as much food as usual during the week leading up to her period. It's fine, and part of why whole30 does not focus on calories -- sometimes you just need more food.

[ExAstrisScientia]

I have been eating more!  At least it feels like it.  I just figured it was my mileage making me hungrier than usual, but I definitely eat when I am hungry and eat to satisfaction.  The sugar cravings have been really intense and have thrown me off balance.  I'm planning to have plantains with dinner (in addition to the root veggies I had with lunch) and hope that it helps.

[Karen]

Sugar cravings prior or during your period are totally normal. So is getting your period a little early. Get more carbs or fat in you. Your body needs more energy (especially if you're extending a lot more!) prior to your period. It's a survival of the species thing, hard wired into our DNA and has nothing to do with willpower. Eat more and eat more compliant carbs. Your body will slow down the cravings when it gets what it wants.

[ExAstrisScientia]

I feel like it's hard for me to balance the starchy carb intake with the other veggies on my plate.  Like, if I increase potato/plantain/beet consumption, do I reduce the amount of other veggies to compensate so I can actually eat everything without getting overly stuffed?  That probably seems like a silly question but I've kinda had it drilled into me to not let fruit/potatoes push veggies off the plate! (also I truly do love veggies and tend to borderline go overboard with them, eyes bigger than the stomach)

[Karen]

At this point, just get more starchy carbs. If you have to push other stuff off your plate, do that.

[ExAstrisScientia]

Will do!  The starches at lunch and dinner have killed my sugar cravings, which is a huge relief.  I was about to kill someone for a smoothie bowl piled high with fruits and nut butter (my favorite, favorite breakfast pre-Whole30).  I was starting to freak out a little bit that I was getting so derailed this close to the finish.