Recommendations for Round 2

[kirbz]

Hi! I completed a Whole43 in September/October and plan to try another one in January. While I loved and learned a lot from the program, I did not achieve an increase in energy (which is something that I really, really, really wanted because I'm always tired). So, I'm going to try again, with some changes that will hopefully help. 

My question to you is this: what should I change for this round? What can I do better? Here are some ideas I have about some things I've been thinking that I can try. Can you help me understand which would be most beneficial to focus on to improve my energy levels? I'm also totally open to any other recommendations that you have! 

• I tend to eat my carbs in the morning. I've seen recommendations that you should have at least a fist-sized serving of starchy carbs each day, preferably at night. Could this be the culprit? Why the recommendation to eat carbs at night?
• Should I perhaps try to avoid high-FODMAP vegetables and/or nightshades? If so, which would be the best one to try and eliminate? Both (which I'd rather not do)? I'm not generally sensitive to the foods I eat so I don't know if this is the problem but I'd  be willing to try! 
• I'm not entirely sure I was eating enough fat, so I'll try to increase the amount I eat with each meal. Could this have been a significant factor? I wasn't hungry between meals but I definitely only had cooking fat for a number of meals. 
• For pre-workout, I usually just ate a single, hard-boiled egg. I'll try to also have some fat. Is that really important? The egg is fatty on its own... 
• For post-workout, I opted not to eat the carbs because I was trying to lose wait. Perhaps I should include that?
• I tend to do 2-4 hour hikes on weekends. I usually do them right after a large breakfast that includes a large serving of spiralized sweet potatoes and/or regular potatoes, which is high carb. How much am I sabotaging myself by eating a lot of carbs before my longest duration activity each week? I also don't usually take a snack and just have a snack pack of turkey when I'm done. Is that bad? They often aren't that strenuous, but they are long. 

Here is a little bit of information about me. I am a 32-year old female. I am 5'10" and weigh 185 lbs. I am overall healthy and active, though overweight. I don't have any health problems. I do not take any medications. I did the slow-roll introduction after my Whole43 and did not experience any food sensitivities. 

And here are a few sample meal/exercise days. You can see my whole log here: https://forum.whole30.com/topic/47066-kiras-whole30-log/?tab=comments#comment-466229. 

Note: I really did my best to follow the exact meal template for every meal. Of course, I didn't always achieve this but I know how to fix that. These were days I considered to be "good," which is what I want to build on.

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Meal 1: 1.5 chicken apple sausages pan-cooked in avocado oil; french beans pan-cooked in avocado oil; kraut; small cup of store-bought guacamole

Meal 2: chicken breast pan-cooked in avocado oil with salt and pepper; asparagus pan-cooked in avocado oil with salt and pepper; leftover orange avocado salsa with cilantro, lime, and onion; ½ GT’s Tantric Turmeric kombucha

Exercise: 20 minutes of indoor rock climbing (bouldering; 8 wall attempts)

Pre-Workout Meal: one hard-boiled egg

Exercise: 40 minutes Insanity (Cardio Power and Resistance)  

Post-Workout Meal: snack pack of compliant turkey

Meal 3: 1/3 lb beef burger pan-cooked in avocado oil; served between six small romaine leaves with mixed greens and guacamole on top; steamed rainbow carrots

Water Intake: ~130 oz

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Meal 1: three over-easy eggs pan-cooked in avocado oil with salt and pepper; two slices of complaint bacon; served over spiralized Japanese sweet potato pan-cooked in avocado oil with Spice Cave Land seasoning and salt and pepper  

Exercise: 9 mile hike with 1,500 feet of elevation gain

Mid-Exercise Snack: snack pack of compliant turkey; snack pack of almond butter

Post-Workout Snack: snack pack of compliant turkey

Meal 2: baked salmon with BBQ sauce and Spice Cave Sea seasoning; steamed carrots; romaine salad with bell peppers, onion, and carrots with olive oil and lemon dressing

Meal 3: citrus grilled shrimp with zucchini noodles and an olive oil, citrus sauce (recipe courtesy of Paleo Running Momma) 

Water Intake: ~130 oz

 

[T2Andrew]

In my opinion, you could use more healthy fats in your meals, not just from the cooking oils.

What worked for me as my system transitioned from grain carbs to fats for fuel energy, was introducing more fats into my meals.  It helped to give me more energy thru out the day, curbed my between meal snacking desire, and alleviated my mid morning sugar lows.

In addition to my meals, I have a half avocado for two of three meals and unsweetened coconut flakes with chopped almonds on top of two of three meals.  Two cooked eggs with breakfast and a hardboiled egg at some other meal in the day.

[ElizabethG]

I agree with a little more fat, and you may even need to experiment with the amount of food, perhaps you aren't eating enough. Also, how much sleep are you getting? Feeling tired isn't always about food choices, sometimes it's because you are actually tired and need more sleep. 

[kirbz]

@ElizabethG Thank you for the feedback. I definitely will try more fat! I feel like my satiety signals were pretty good while I was doing Whole30 so I *think* I was eating enough. I felt comfortably full after meals and didn't feel hungry between meals, even up to five or six hours. 

I LOVE sleep so I make it a priority. I usually get between 8 and 9 hours of sleep so I don't think it's the lack of sleep... It doesn't matter if I sleep 12 hours (which I do on occasion). I still feel tired when I wake up, tired throughout the day, and want to be in bed by 8:00 or 9:00 at night... 

[purplepadres]

There's other factors outside of diet that can cause fatigue, including poor sleep quality, thyroid dysfunction, etc. You may want to check with your doctor if you're chronically tired after a full night's sleep.

[kirbz]

Moderators (or anyone else), do you have any feedback on ideas to improve my experience for Round 2 (bulleted list in my original post)?

It seems the general consensus is that I could do with more fat so I will certainly do that. But is there any feedback on my other ideas? 

Thank you for all of your help and support! 

[T2Andrew]

• Carbs -morning v. evening
• FODMAP - high v. low
• Increase good fats consumption
• Pre/post workout choices
• Fueling for high activities

In my opinion, the bullet ideas of the original post could be considered an extension of the re-intro phase of a post W30.  The purpose of reintroducing certain foods / food groups is to discover what works for one's own Food Freedom plan, and that process may include testing other variables as well.

If you did well on your original W30, and did not revert to bad eating habits, just keep going with a re-intro mindset and test your new ideas one at a time to see how they improve your condition.  Making a lot of changes at once for a round two will not tell you what worked the best if results are different.

I have not experimented with FODMAP, morning/evening carbs, but do know that increasing my healthy fats intake worked great for me.  While egg has some fat, avocado has more.  My go-to fats include avocado, almonds, flaked coconut... every day.

[T2Andrew]

My own six-week re-intro plan has turned into an open-ended plan.  Instead of testing 'a food group', I am testing individual variables of that group, ie; different rices and different grains rather than a one day grain re-intro. 

I am also testing over multiple days versus just one day.  My thought is - what if one day of testing yields no adverse effects, yet effects accumulate over time (inflamed joints).  My recovery intervals are longer than suggested - by choice.

Over the holidays, I indulged in different things outside of the plan, noted their effect, recalibrate, resume.  No need for a round two for me.