Halfway Thru and Getting Worse

[TeachandTravel]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first whole 30 and I'm on Day 15 and ready to quit. For context, I have been a vegetarian for 9 years (no pork for 14 years). However, I started eating fish a few times a month for the last year and I have always eaten eggs for breakfast. Six months ago, I started having some stomach issues and so I decided to try Whole 30 this summer to rule out any foods that were exacerbating the issue.

My first week flew by without a hitch. I am already pretty comfortable cooking/eating tons of vegetables so I felt great. Eating so much protein was a bit of a change, but since I'm just doing eggs and fish, which as I said, I've been eating for the past year, I felt fine. 

This past week has been awful though. I've had stomach pains, significant irregularity and exhaustion. I constantly feel bloated and look worse than I did before. My last stool even appeared reddish (I'm hoping it was the beets I ate a few days ago and not blood) and I am at a loss as to what to do. This is supposed to help me feel healthier, not sicker! I'm ready to go back to my quinoa bowls with roasted veggies with the occasional glass of wine! 

Has anyone experienced decline like this? Any suggestions on what to do for increased regularity and decreased bloating? Help!

[Babsie95]

One thing that will help others to help you is if you can list out a few days of what you have been eating and be as specific as you can as far as portion sizes, types of veggies, amount of water/fluids, etc... with that the moderators and others will be better able to help you figure out what if anything needs tweaking for best results.

[SugarcubeOD]

2 hours ago, TeachandTravel said:

 Any suggestions on what to do for increased regularity and decreased bloating? Help!

@Babsie95 is right, we'd need to see what you've been eating, but in relation to this exact question... less raw veggies, less nuts, and you can try magnesium (natural calm is a fave around here).

[TeachandTravel]

Hi everyone! Thanks for quick responses. Giving context makes sense. It's hard because I've already cooked so much food and I am constantly eating vegetables. But here's the most recent things I've eaten:

Breakfast: some kind of frittata-either spinach and tomato or leek and mushroom (which includes kale or spinach). With avocado slices and some blueberries 

Lunch: Mexican tuna or protein salad (with eggs or salmon), in romaine leaves, with some sugar snap peas, pepper slices or carrots, and some cherries or a peach. Several days ago it was the no fuss salmon cakes with sautéed onions, mushrooms, red peppers and green beans.

Dinner: salmon or cod, with a side of veggies. This week it's with ratatouille but I have also done sautéed spinach and roasted yellow squash and beets. I also had shrimp with romesco sauce and zucchini noodles several days ago. "Dessert" is a handful of cherries or a few pieces of dried mango.

Snacks (if I'm stuck somewhere and can't eat dinner which has happened several times) is almonds or pistachios.

I'm drinking lots of water (several nalgenes a day) and la croix or spindrift (sweetened with fruit juice). And at the recommendation of the book, I eat carefully and stop when I'm full. I've had no sugar headaches so far.

As a vegetarian, I am very used to eating cooked and raw vegetables in large amongst. I suspect even though I've been eating fish the past year, it has not been in these quantities. Maybe I need to drink more kombucha and take a probiotic? 

[TeachandTravel]

Well...my doctor wants me to come in for a colonoscopy to determine what is going on, since my digestion has digressed so much. I will likely have to pause my Whole 30 to complete all of the preparations but I am not sure I will be resuming. While I respect that Whole 30 has been so transformative for many, it does not appear to be the healthy diet for me. For a program that boasts such life changing results, I am very disappointed that this led me to worse health than when I started. I ate relatively well before this and I look forward to eating more whole grains again.

[SugarcubeOD]

1 hour ago, TeachandTravel said:

Well...my doctor wants me to come in for a colonoscopy to determine what is going on, since my digestion has digressed so much. I will likely have to pause my Whole 30 to complete all of the preparations but I am not sure I will be resuming. While I respect that Whole 30 has been so transformative for many, it does not appear to be the healthy diet for me. For a program that boasts such life changing results, I am very disappointed that this led me to worse health than when I started. I ate relatively well before this and I look forward to eating more whole grains again.

If you're going for a colonoscopy, it is unlikely that the cause of your concern is because you're eating veggies, meat and fat.  You're right that every way of eating is not for every person but I think it's a stretch to assume that 15 days of eating whole foods has caused something so dire that you need a semi invasive procedure to see what's going on.  I wish you all the best in your prep and I hope that they find nothing going on!

[SchrodingersCat]

I have friends with IBS and upping raw fruit, veg, seeds and nuts plays merry heck with their digestive system and causes significant discomfort. Nothing wrong with the ingredients themselves, but it sets her off like she's been poisoned. I hope you get some answers, it sounds miserable.