Longer reset to see results?

[Sjlynch84]

Hi! This is my first time posting here. I am on day 31 (woohoo!) but think I want to continue a bit longer because I haven't really gotten the "tiger blood" yet. I struggle with seasonal depression and in January I was fatigued, foggy, achy, moody, had out of control cravings, etc. So, I decided to try the whole30 and it actually hasn't been all that difficult. Cravings have been minimal and my sugar dragon is seemingly in hibernation (yay!). I also decided to give up caffeine for lent and maybe permanently so I've been caffeine free for over a week now and that also seems to be going ok.

My problems are: I feel like recently my sleep has actually gotten worse (I am waking up several times throughout the night) which is (not) funny because my toddler is finally sleeping through the night. And I am still pretty fatigued, both physically and mentally. I feel like I am walking through sand some days and I'm not getting things done that should be done because my brain is just too tired.

So my question is, am I correct in hoping that a longer reset will eventually yield better/more results? And how long do I continue? 

[ShannonM816]

You might want to read through the information here. The first step, self-evaluation, talks about whether you should keep going and how to decide. You also want to read about reintroductions, if you haven't yet.

Many people do find that continuing on does help. I would say, if you have any questions about whether your meals are composed correctly or if there are things you might do to improve them, you could list a day or two of typical meals, including approximate portion sizes as they relate to the meal template, also including any kind of exercise you do and your typical pre- and post-wo meals. Maybe something would stand out to someone that might help. I suspect giving up the caffeine is probably not helping with the energy, even if there are other factors -- it can take a week or so to get over the caffeine withdrawal, especially if you were having very much before. It that's the case, it may just be a few more days before you start feeling more energy.

If you do decide to continue on, I would suggest that you look at your calendar and be sure you allow at least 10 or 12 days for reintroductions before any big social situations or vacations where you may want to indulge or may not have as much control over the food preparation, just so you can get them done while you've been eating really cleanly.

 

[Sjlynch84]

Thanks for the info! I definitely want to see more results, so I'm going to stick with it another 2 weeks and then try reintroduction and see how things go. I have a mini vacation planned in April and plan to mostly stick to whole30ish foods, but don't want to have to worry about little detail things. In case anyone has any input on what I'm eating, I'll list a couple days worth of meals here:

D1M1: 3 eggs fried in coconut oil, brussels sprouts and diced sweet potato sauteed in a couple tablespoons coconut oil

D1M2: Salad with baby spring mix, a 5oz turkey burger, a few cherry tomatoes, about 1/4 of an english cucumber, 1/4 of an avocado, 2 tbsp homemade mayo mixed with some franks red hot for dressing

D1M3: about 1 cup homemade meat sauce over sauteed zucchini (1 large one for myself), 2 kiwis

D2M1: 1/6 of a breakfast casserole that was made with 2 sweet potatoes, a bag of brussels sprouts, an onion, 8oz of paleo bacon, 12 eggs and some seasoning, plus half a grapefruit and 1/2 an avocado. (This particular meal was not super filling and did not keep me full very long)

D2snack: banana with almond butter

D2M2: Cauliflower chicken fried "rice," maybe about 2 cups, and some sugar snap peas with maybe a tablespoon of sunshine sauce (recipe from the whole30 boom)

D2M3: slow cooker buffalo chicken (maybe a cup) over a large baked sweet potato with a side of roasted broccoli

I don't do any real exercise. I work 20ish hours a week at a healthcare job and am on my feet, doing a lot of walking, and I spend a lot of time playing with/picking up/running after my 32lb toddler. I want to incorporate actual exercise at some point, and I'm sure it might help with the energy, but it's a chicken-egg problem. I also didn't have the mental energy to focus on fitting in exercise while also doing the whole30 style of eating for the first time ever. So maybe that will be the next area I tackle. Thanks again!