New Whole 30 Anxious

[Tanya K]

Hi, 

I have completed 4 Whole 30's up to Oct 2015. I attempted another and managed to only do 11 days after a miscarriage in March 2016. I was feeling very odd and felt I should stop. Never experienced that before. Well it turned out I was pregnant again. We were absolutely over the moon. After 9 years of having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I never once believed I'd be well enough to have another baby. I was 43 too! So not a spring chicken or anything!  So here I am August 2017 with an 8 month old girl. I'm still breastfeeding . It's been extremely tough as she still is waking every 3hrs! So over 8 months of broken sleep has left me near broken! I've basically eaten anything that I could see just to keep going! Since Grace has started on solids though the feeding is only at night and early mornings. I've put on 14lbs over my ideal weight for me. 21lbs to be really slim. I've attempted to even stop eating chocolate for a few days and have had the most severe withdrawals with the most horrendous mood swings. Normally I've dealt with it but with this sleep deprivation I've found it too much to take on. But yet i'm unbelievably unhappy with my size. I'm not huge or anything but just feel better lighter. I want to start another one. I'm thinking perhaps that being on here I might get support if i'm having a bad time of it. Something needs to be done. I'm so nervous of becoming ill again. I've the most adorable gift of a baby that we were given and I want to stay healthy for her and of course my older girls. So basically is there anything I can do/eat that will stave off those horrendous mood swings? I actually feel like i'm loosing my mind when I stop bread, chocolate etc after 3 days. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Photo of Grace 

[ShannonM816]

Congratulations! She's adorable!

The most important thing for helping with withdrawals and mood swings is going to be sure you're eating enough. As a breastfeeding mom, you'll want four full meals a day, and if you're hungry between meals, it's okay to have more. You'll want to be sure you have at least a couple of fist-sized servings of starchy vegetables each day, maybe even a serving at each meal, as long as you're breastfeeding.  Be sure you're adding a serving or two of fat from the list on the meal template at each meal, in addition to any fat you cook with. Drink plenty of water -- the usual recommendation is 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so a 120 lb person needs at least 60 oz, but breastfeeding moms often need more than that.

As for the chocolate, I've heard that sometimes people crave chocolate when they need magnesium. I don't know how true it is, but that might be something to look into. You also  don't say if when you've tried to give up chocolate, you have something else instead -- maybe when you'd normally reach for chocolate, have some fat and protein instead and see if that helps at all. So maybe keep some hard boiled eggs and mayo in the fridge, or some grilled chicken and guacamole, so you can grab something fairly easily.

[Tanya K]

Thank you Shannon! I've just started today. Had only 4hrs sleep last night so today already is so hard. Don't know if i'm being silly starting when i'm so tired? Or whether i'm just making excuses cos it's hard?? Hard to tell cos i'm just so exhausted. I'll keep going anyway. See sugar etc just gives that nudge to get through the tiredness. I absolutely realise that it's a fools game and if I just muddle along I will come out the other side. It's what happens whilst 'muddling' along that's difficult. Half a day done.