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Day 11 and REALLY Struggling-- Please Help!


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Hello All,

I am looking for some help and encouragement today. Today is the first day that I've actually thought about quitting the Whole30. While I have had some minor struggles so far (cue me crying in a bathroom on Christmas, but successfully turning down a piece of delicious dark chocolate cake), today has been the only day that I've actually considered attacking some sweet stuff. I have an admitted sugar addiction, which was my whole reason for starting the Whole30 in the first place. I know that my psychological relationship with food needs to be repaired, and as much as it sucked, crying over a piece of cake (which I know is so dumb) helped me see that.  Because of that, I've cut out fruit and Larabars for my Whole30. I don't struggle with hitting the brakes when I eat nuts, so those have been making occasional appearances. I get my carbs primarily from sweet potato, which I always pair with a less starchy vegetable and protein for my meals. I know that I'm full, but these intense sweets cravings are making me feel as though I'm always hungry. Additionally, I woke up today feeling bloated and having a breakout. I know that these are temporary side effects, and I know that this is all normal. I was just wondering if anybody could give me any tips besides sticking it out, because I'm really really REALLY struggling with that right now. Below, I've listed a few days of my typical meals.

Monday: (also had a 1.5 hour heavy lift and 30 minutes of Cardio)

Breakfast: 2 poached eggs over sautéed spinach, garlic, and onions 

Lunch: Beef tenderloin, roasted carrots, arugula salad, roasted sweet potatoes drizzled in olive oil

Dinner: 2 deviled eggs (made with compliant ingredients) and green beans sautéed in olive oil 

 

Tuesday: (1.5 hour heavy lift + 1 hour cardio)

Breakfast: 3 chicken tenderloin, sweet potato drizzled in olive oil

Lunch: 3 deviled eggs, green beans sautéed in olive oil, handful of pistachios

Dinner: 2 chicken thighs, roasted carrots, and green beans sautéed in olive oil

 

Today: (45 minute hypertrophy lift) 

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrammbled with mushrooms, peppers, and onions sautéed in olive oil

Lunch: Prosciutto (compliant), avocado, cherry tomato, spinach, and arugula salad drizzled with compliant ranch

Dinner: None yet 

 

hope you can help me! Thank you!! 

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When you work out, you need to have pre- and post-workout food, in addition to your three meals. Pre-workout, have protein and fat -- a hard boiled egg, some leftover chicken and mayo, something like that. This is especially important if you're working out first thing, or if it's been several hours since you've eaten. If it hasn't been long since your last meal, you may be able to get away with not doing the pre-workout. Post-workout, you need lean protein and optionally some starchy vegetable -- chicken or tuna and some sweet potato. Have this fairly soon after your workout. Most people aim for workout, eat post-wo, shower, then at some point after that eat your next meal. Definitely don't skip the post-wo, especially on days when you do any kind of strength training. Here's an explanation of why the post-wo is important.

Your meals may be a little on the small side as well. When you have eggs as your only protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand -- likely 3-4. Try adding another egg or some other protein to your breakfasts.

Your lunch today -- all the prosciutto I've ever seen tends to be thin sliced. You'd need a whole package of it to even think about being close to having a serving the width, length, and height of your palm. So it's likely your lunch was light on protein.

Basically, try eating more and see if that helps. If you feel like you're craving something, think about why you're craving. Think about if you'd eat something bland or boring, like plain steamed fish and broccoli. If you would happily eat even something very bland and boring, you're hungry and should eat something. If you're definitely not hungry, try drinking a glass of water and doing something to distract yourself -- go for a walk, meditate, work on a hobby, clean something.

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I wouldn't include any nuts or nut butters if you are already bloated this can make it worse, they cause digestive upset.  If you want to introduce fruit back in it should be with your meal and not push veggies off the plate.  However, if you are dealing with a major sugar addiction, I don't think fruit would be a good idea either.  I agree with the previous comments, you definitely need more protein if you are lifting. Skipping the pre & post WO snacks are catching up on you I think.  You need them in addition to the 3 template meals. It sounds like your energy is depleted and this may take a little while to get back up.  I would make sure you are getting enough fat in your meals but not from nuts, there are a lot of other sources out there. Fat will keep you full longer.

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Thank you all so much!! I usually lift right after breakfast, but after my life I'll go a few hours before having lunch. I'm definitely going to work on adjusting this. Perhaps going for a week like this has caught up to me. Thanks so much for all of your help! 

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Days 10/11 are usually when most people hit a wall and are like "this sucks, I want to quit!" so combining that with already not eating enough, as others have mentioned, you're probably getting hit extra hard. I think if you adjust your meals and add in at least post-workout snacks, you'll be feeling right as rain before too long!

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