Headaches

[Steph1234]

Ever since I started Whole 30, I've been experiencing headaches every morning. I drink plenty of water all day, even in that I now have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I drink the same amount of coffee (black now) as I did before so I know it's not from caffeine. What are other possible reasons I could be experiencing headaches? I've been using Whole30 for about a week and have had a headache every morning.

[jmcbn]

Are you salting your food? Taking a magnesium supplement? Including enough fat at each of your meals? What day are you on?

What have you eaten over the past say 3-4 days? If you can be specific about portion sizes, types of veg, and how much water you are drinking that would be helpful.

[Steph1234]

I'm on day 5 and have only eaten meals from the Real Plans app, except I had a couple hard boiled eggs before working out. My breakfasts were either the apple w Almond butter or a serving  of the garden veggie quiche.  My lunches were either the Greek salad w chicken, or I had an arugula salad with two hard-boiled eggs. For dinners I've eaten a filet w roasted potatoes, fill fish packet with broccoli, pork and veggie stir fry, and  chili lime chicken with guacamole. The only changes I've made to the recipes are using extra virgin olive oil  instead of coconut oil and I used chicken breast instead of lamb.  Other than that, I'm not adding any additional seasonings or salt.  The only supplement I take is a vitamin D3. Thanks for your help.

[jmcbn]

I don't use Real Plans so am not familiar with any of the recipes, I can say though that Apple & Almond butter does not constitute a breakfast.

Do the recipes use salt? If not you definitely need to salt your food, and since much of the western world is deficient in Magnesium due to modern farming techniques depleting our soil of magnesium a magnesium supplement certainly wouldn't do you any harm.

How many eggs are in a serving of the garden veg 'quiche' (which I assume is crustless?)

Other than the oil you're using for cooking, and the guac & nut butter you mention, what fats are you adding to your meals?

How much water are you drinking? 

[Steph1234]

I drink about 80 oz of water a day. All the meals have salt in them, either in the salad dressings or to season the vegetables, meats and eggs. The quiche and hard boiled eggs are 2 eggs per serving. The quiche had a shredded potato crust (but I didn't love it so I probably won't make it again). Besides the oil, there are no other fats in my meals except for the natural fat from the meats. Besides the nut butter and apple, I've pretty much been eating eggs, meat, veggies, with oil and seasonings.

Any suggestions would be helpful. If I'm not eating enough, please tell me- I'll always eat more.  I thought the app was a part of this whole30 program so I've been eating the suggested meals provided through it. Other than the headaches, I feel great.. ok maybe a little hungry but I feel like that's a part of the process in the beginning.

[jmcbn]

32 minutes ago, Steph1234 said:

Besides the oil, there are no other fats in my meals except for the natural fat from the meats.

And therein I'd imagine lies your problem. You need fat for brain health, for satiety & for energy. Try adding additional source to each meal and see how you go.

As an aside when eggs are your only protein in a meal a serving would be the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand without breaking. Most females can manage 3-4 so aiming for 3 eggs (or 2 Plus another protein) is probably a better portion size for you.

[Steph1234]

Thank you! Do you have any healthy fat suggestions? A handful of nuts I'm assuming I'd ok, anything else? The eggs tip was super helpful too!

[jmcbn]

8 minutes ago, Steph1234 said:

A handful of nuts

try to limit nut/nut butter consumption to a closed handful (or equivalent) every other day max. They can be hard to control portion wise, are hard on digestion, and high in inflammatory fats (yes they contain omega 3 fatty acids, but they are higher in omega 6 and so the bad outweighs the good).

How about home made mayo and mayo based sauces, oil/vinegar dressings, avocado & avocado oil, compliant bacon, clarified butter/ghee, coconut oil/milk/cream/flakes/flesh, nut oils such as macadamia & walnut (again in moderation), fattier cuts of meat like chicken wings with skins on, ribs, & brisket, rendered animal fats, olives & olive oil... 

Hope this helps!

[ladyshanny]

Just adding: the Real Plans app is a completely separate company that happens to have a whole30 component to it. That app doesn't take the place of the information that is on the whole30 website or in the books. You still need to make sure that whatever recipe you choose from the app meets the meal template for best results. As far as I know, it's just a recipe program with an option of giving you recipes using only compliant ingredients.