Plethora of Problems

[Laurenelise12]

Hi there,

Unfortunately, I'm having a whole host of problems, and could use some help deciphering the causes. 

Firstly, whenever I start a healthy regimen, I always experience constipation. In this case, it's accompanied with a round, painfully distended, bloated stomach. I'm resisting weighing myself every day because I feel so uncomfortably fat!

On top of that, I am super ridiculously tired, hungry all day at work, and really moody. I'm posting about this on the women's forum because, after a 6 mth hiatus, I also just got back on the pill (which I'd previously been on for many years- mostly for hormone control- I'm on my third week back).

Trying to figure out which symptoms pertain to what...I am definitely not feeling any "tiger blood" on this Whole 30 (I was on a month with cheats and started strictly April 1). Wondering especially if the hunger is coming from the birth control and the bloating is due to FODMAP intolerance.. I don't know what else it could be. 

 

Sample Day:

9am- coffee, chia seed pudding made with coconut milk, 6 almonds, berries, cinnamon OR quiche made with sweet potato crust, chicken sausage, onion, pepper, spinach

10:30am- orange

12pm- salad with homemade mustard dressing, pepper, cucumber, tomato, 4-5oz chicken OR dinner leftovers

1pm- apple

3pm- 12-15 almonds

7pm- turkey burger, sweet potato with onion and artichoke, roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots OR salmon with garlic cauliflower rice, roasted broccoli

late night- sometimes another piece of fruit (trying to stop this behavior), black decaf tea

 

Please help if you are able!

Thanks,

Lauren

[ShannonM816]

First, ditch the chia seed pudding and fruit at breakfast. Seeds and nuts are really prone to causing digestive issues, plus that really doesn't meet the meal template, and you'll get the best results if you follow the meal template.

If you're having to eat every hour or two, your meals are not big enough. Other than the chia seed pudding and the almonds for a snack, I'm not seeing a lot of fats. You want a serving or two of fats in addition to what you cook in, because often what you cook in stays in the pan and isn't consumed. As you figure out how to adjust the size of your meals to keep you satisfied 4-5 hours at a time, if you are hungry between meals, try to have a mini-meal of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three. 

Be sure you're drinking at least 1/2 oz of water per pound of body weight (so a 120-lb person needs at least 60 oz). Eat lots of vegetables -- that's where your fiber is coming from. However, if you find you're eating a lot of cruciferous vegetables like brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, and broccoli, you might want to find some others instead -- those are really bad for causing gas and bloating. You probably don't have to give them up completely, but you may not want to have them every day, and you especially may not want to have them multiple times a day if you have been. Raw vegetables can be harder to digest as well, so for a few days, maybe have cooked veggies instead of your salad, and see if that helps at all. 

[tiva]

I find these things help to control constipation:

coconut oil (are you eating enough fat?). For me, the more fat, the less constipation

roasted and pureed beets and/or pumpkin

magnesium at night--it helps with sleep and it really helps with regularity

Good luck!

[Eye of the Tiger]

If you start taking magnesium make sure all the ingredients are compliant.  Many are not.  I also have low vit D levels, so I take an all-in-one cal-mag-vit D by Rainbow Light, and it is compliant.  As @tiva said magnesium helps with sleep, but it can also cause diarrhea (but that might be a blessing for you right now).  I would start with a low dose.  I was also having muscle twitching when I first started w30, and the magnesium eliminated the twitching.

Good luck!

[Laurenelise12]

Thanks all! I will try some of these ideas.

[Abcd]

Laurenelise12, 

I realized I have bad reactions to coconut milk but I can have coconut shredded or in chunks. I haven't figured it out yet. I figured the plain, unsweetened coconut milk would be the same as regular coconut, right?  I'm mentioning this because something you're consuming might be adding to the constipation.

Good luck! I hope you're feeling much better soon.