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Hello,

I'm looking for some help with my Whole30. I am a 27 year old female trying the program out for the first time after hearing excellent reviews from co-workers. I bought the book and was really excited and motivated to get my Whole30 started. I was aiming at losing some weight (I probably had ~5 pounds to lose), to improve sleep, to improve mood (specifically, to be less fatigues and unmotivated by 2pm in the work day), and to help with swelling in my lower legs (called panniculitis). I had pretty high hopes after hearing about the program and reading the first few chapters of the book.  

I'm currently on day 22 and I'd go as far to say that it's pretty much a disaster. I'll back up and provide some more detail. The first week was great! I felt excited, motivated, energized, and my pants were less tight! Around week 2 I started noticing some undesirable side effects. My acne (which isn't really acne... I usually get 2-3 pimples per month) was TERRIBLE. My skin was extremely oily and broken out all over. They ranged from small, hard pimples on my cheeks and forehead, to under the skin painful welts on my chin. I read on this forum that nuts could be doing this. So I decreased my nuts. I will mention that I am a pescitarian, so I don't eat poultry/beef/pork. I do eat fish, seafood, eggs, and dairy [when not on the Whole30]. So I cut out nuts and stuck with my other protein sources. I also started noticing my mood getting worse (sad, angry for no reason, unmotivated). So for this, I read on here to increase my fruit and starchy food...I ate more starches and fruit daily.

My side effects from week 3 up to now is what motivated to seek help here. I am depressed, unmotivated, and a completely different person for the worse. I am SO agitated all the time (when people talk to me, I was to cry and/or scream), I'm tired beyond belief, the acne has not changed at all, I have a hard time staying asleep all night, and I haven't seen any improvements in my lower leg swelling. Oh and to top it off, I'm now experience bloating, constipation, and terrible gas (sorry, TMI) that I never experienced before my Whole30. Again, I've looked up most of these symptoms on here and I got info on the depression side; eat more starchy foods and fat...but I already am. As for the gastrointestinal issues, I'm at a loss; seems like the Whole30 foods are causing me issues that other people eliminate during their Whole30.  

With only 8 days left to go, I'm seriously considering blowing it off. For whatever reason, the Whole30 isn't working with my body.Here is a sample meal plan to help guide any advise that you may have. I really appreciate it.

Breakfast - 2 eggs fried in EVOO, homemade hash browns with onions, and half an avocado with S&P (I'll throw in some fresh berries if I still feel hungry)

Lunch - baked sweet potato, sautéed kale, and a fruit (usually an apple or banana)

Dinner - grilled salmon, lemon garlic grilled shrimp, and roasted veggies with EVOO & balsamic

 

Thank you in advance, I really appreciate any help :)

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Sorry you aren't feeling well. Even as a pescitarian, you still need to follow the meal template in order to make the best results and avoid feeling garbagey. That means 1-2 palms of protein at every meal, 2-3 cups of veggies at each meal (cooked quantity....salad greens would be MUCH more) and 1-2 servings of fat at every meal. 

Tweaks to the example you gave above:

Breakfast: increase this to 3-4 eggs or add some fish. Include 1-2 cups of non-starchy veggie in addition to the (assumed) cup-ish of potato
Lunch: there's no protein and no fat and not enough non-starchy veggie

I'm not sure where you found it but we legit never recommend to people to eat more fruit. If anything we tell them to lay off the fruit until they have had 2-3 cups of veggies, all their protein and their fat. Starchy veggies are great for athletes and anyone that might be suffering mood or emotional issues but for the most part the recommendation is to start with 1 fist sized serving per day. The other 9+ cups of veggies you need to eat in a day would be considered non-starchy. Brocoli, cauli, asparagus, green beans, snow peas, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers etc.

If you do want to keep going, try making your meals match the meal template. Also, make sure you are salting your food and that you are drinking enough water. The water recommendation is 1/2 ounce of water per pound of your bodyweight. If you weigh 160#, 80 ounces of water.

Are you exercising at all? If so, what are you doing and are you having pre and post workout food in addition to your meals? Are you eating your first meal within an hour of waking? Are you comfortably going 4-5 hours between meals?

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Hi! Thanks so much for the reply!!!

For breakfast, I will try to add nut butter over more eggs to get more protein. Unfortunately I cannot keep more than 2 eggs down; they seem to disagree with me. I would say in general, I ate & enjoyed more veggies when I wasn't on the program. I LOVE vegetables, hence when I because an almost vegetarian over 12 years ago. So I will add more back in!! 

I will cut fruit and keep my starchy veggies lower... bummer that I read on here more than once that I should increase them.

I just find that I am full all of the time...this meal template is a HUGE amount of food compared to what I used to eat. I tried it and I can't move/do anything if I eat as much as the template says. My stomach kills and I simply can't shove that much food into myself. I'm used to eating between 1500-1800 calories per day.

I'd guess that I do drink more than enough water (I have a desk job so drinking water helps pass the time) and salt my food quite a bit, which is a habit I wanted to reduce. Thanks for the suggestion. I will measure my water to equal my required 64 ounces...what's an ounce lol (just kidding, I Googled the conversion).

I was working out during the first week when it was going well. I am an avid long distance runner, I practice yoga weekly, and bike to and from work (19 km each way). Although I haven't practiced yoga or biked within the last 2 weeks. Before I leave the house & within an hour of waking, I eat my breakfast. So I guess for the past 2 weeks, I haven't needed any pre or post workout meals as I have no energy to workout. And yes, I am comfortable going 4-5 hours between meals. I wasn't at first but I am now. In fact. over the last week, I'm not hungry ever. I'm too constipated and uncomfortable (gas) to have an apatite. I did start taking Mg at night to try and help with this.

I really appreciate the reply and suggestions. I am keeping with it for dinner tonight and see what tomorrow brings. I want to drag it out to the end but for the time being, its a one-day-at-a-time thing/struggle. Again, thank you :)

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Couple more things.

Nut butters are a fat. And they are digestively distressing. And cause skin problems. It's animal based protein that you are wanting to use to increase your breakfast. Try adding some fish of some sort to your breakfast?

The starchy veggie thing. Yes, we often do recommend people increase their intake so as not to inadvertently go too low carb. But you said you read on here that you should increase them? As in, it was a personal recommendation made directly to you? Or it was general chatter about starchy veg? It's a personal experiment so if you reduce and feel worse then go back the other way. The typical recommendation is a fist sized serving per day. You may need more than that. Or maybe you feel better with less. It's all an experiment. My suggestion wasn't necessarily to reduce the starchy vegg so much as to increase all your other veggies that are non starchy.

I still stand by my impression that you are undereating which is causing appetite and energy disturbances. If you can try and make your meals match the template, you may start to feel better.

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Thanks again for the quick reply! Hmm I'm confused about the nuts and nut buyers causing acne. For two reasons. One - I ate a ton of almond and peanut butter before the Whole30 and never had acne aside from 2-3 pimples per month. And two - I've since stopped eating nuts after the first week and have seen no skin improvements/still get a new pimple every day. 

I know protein in key but for me, I find it binding. I get constipated and lethargic. Maybe because I didn't eat this high amount of protein for the past 12 years? Do you think this could be a possibility?  

The fruit and starch recommendations were on this forum. They popped up when I googled things like "whole30 depressed."

I don't feel like I am under eating but I am wondering if this is because I am used to the amount I was eating before the whole30? Could it be cause my body just isn't built to eat this much? I am quite small (5 foot 4, 120 pounds, small bone structure)? And I've always been a light eater. 4 eggs, fish, avocado in one go would cause me to roll over and probably get sick. 

 

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Clarification: I didn't say 4 eggs and fish, I said if you don't feel like you can eat more eggs in a sitting, then feel free to add fish to the eggs you are already eating.

The meal template is the program recommendation across the board. Some people are outliers and that's fine. Maybe you are one. That means it will take personal experimentation on your part to get to where you want to be.  If you feel best not eating protein at a third of your meals and eating lots of fruits and starches, then great! The thing is that you aren't feeling your best doing that so the suggestions I made are to try something else to maybe help mitigate that.  If you can't or don't want to carry them out for whatever reasons, that's fine too. This is about you and only you. Only you know what changes you can and can't make and how they may make you feel. :) 

As far as nuts, I don't know why they might cause or not cause you acne in particular. I simply know that nuts are a common issue in skin conditions and often when folks are complaining about new facial acne when doing the Whole30, they are often also eating a lot of nuts and nut products. If you don't think/feel like they are a problem for you then that's great, you know you best! :) 

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Hi again!

I agree that I think there's some experimentation to be done so that it can "fit" anyone's dietary & health needs. For me, something I'm doing isn't working quite right. My biggest concern is the gastrointestinal issues. Its no fun and hurts my self confidence, but I can get over some acne. I can get over the tiredness and agitation... although my family may beg to differ on this one. But the stomach pain and constipation is a tough one.

Thank you again for all of your suggestions. I think doing the Whole30 and having your words of wisdom has taught me valuable lessons about what nutrition my body needs and what doesn't agree with me. Too bad the Whole30 foods don't agree with me but at least now I know and can adjust :) 

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  • 3 months later...

I started Whole30 because i really want to clear my chronic acne and discover what food sensitivities i've been dealing with. I never ate alot of meat before this and i'm wondering if my body doesn't really like meat or if its just getting used to the shift. i'm on day 3 and i've definitely been eating lots of meat because i dont want to lose weight (5 8' 127 ibs) after i eat it i get bloated with gas and stomach cramps. im weary of nuts because i feel like they cause my skin more problems and also was feeling like legumes and grains were. maybe eggs? i feel kind of defeated on what protein to eat  and how to get clear skin. Any thoughts on if my body is just in adjustment phase of meat or if meat intolerance is a real thing?

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1 minute ago, boomllama said:

I started Whole30 because i really want to clear my chronic acne and discover what food sensitivities i've been dealing with. I never ate alot of meat before this and i'm wondering if my body doesn't really like meat or if its just getting used to the shift. i'm on day 3 and i've definitely been eating lots of meat because i dont want to lose weight (5 8' 127 ibs) after i eat it i get bloated with gas and stomach cramps. im afraid of nuts not because i feel like they cause my skin more problems and also was feeling like legumes and grains were. maybe eggs? i feel kind of defeated on what protein to eat  and how to get clear skin. Any thoughts on if my body is just in adjustment phase of meat or if meat intolerance is a real thing?

Day 3 is a little early to be expecting clearer skin on a 30 day program.  If you're not used to eating meat, we suggest finding a compliant digestive enzyme (you can find more discussion on this topic by googling 'whole30 digestive enzyme'.

I would also suggest that you  make sure whatever veggies you're eating are cooked, not raw as that can contribute to bloat and gas as well.

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