Day12 help

[RoseElizabeth]

Hi! I'm on day 12, and would love some encouragement and guidance! I know everyone's whole30s are different, but it is discouraging that most people are starting to feel a lot better on day 12, and I'm not quite there. 

Brief summary of my whole30 so far. Days 1-5 I felt awesome. My headaches were gone, I had no stomach issues, and I felt really motivated and great. Then day 6 and 7 hit and on and off since then I've felt bloated and just had some stomach pain in general. I hate some loss of appetite, but continued to try to stick to the meal template as I've seen suggested. Appetite is back, so that's good. I ate a lot more avocado and guacamole those first few days so I thought maybe the big increase of that was messing with my diet so I tried to cut down on that. That didn't eliminate the stomach pains altogether, so I'm trying to limit my avocado/guac to one meal a day. 

Day 10 I had a really hard day and night, as I know can happen. I got so worked up and anxious about the fact that my stomach was hurting that I went into sort of a tailspin and had a panic attack. Day 11 I felt a lot better; no cravings and no stomach pain. Today, though, which is day 12, my stomach issues are back. 

For an idea of what I've been eating:

M1:

3 eggs scrambled, sautéed kale, sweet peppers, onions, chicken sausage. Sometimes with guac, except for the days I was trying to limit it to see if it was affecting me

or leftovers (like meat sauce, steak, grilled chicken) over roasted white potatoes with veggies (green beans, cauliflower, noodles)

M2:

Mostly salads with either tuna or chicken on them for protein, sweet peppers with guac, hard boiled eggs, carrots

or this week: white chicken chili, salad, carrots

M3:

pork chops or steak or grilled chicken (like 1.5 palm sizes), >1.5cup of roasted or sautéed veggies (ex: cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, zucchini and squash, mushrooms)

I haven't been snacking much, but if I do I've been having seaweed, or following the template of having protein and fat so having some compliant deli meat with guac or mayo. 

I am very motivated to carry on until day 30 but it would be great to hear from people who have experienced this sort of flip-flop of the first 5 days or so being easier than the next 5 or so. Maybe my "hangover" phase was delayed until now? Before whole30 I was eating good for about 4 or 5 days and then honestly "treating myself" a little too much with some candy here, some chips there. Any advice would be welcomed!! Thanks in advance!

 

[ladyshanny]

"Comparison is the thief of joy." In the case of Whole30, comparison is what will derail you faster than a slice of peanut butter toast. Honestly, forget everyone else and what they may or may not be feeling. Let's concentrate on you and what YOU are feeling because you/we have NO way of knowing the background, previous diet, medical history, exercise regimen of any other person who may or may not be feeling better.

Also, worth mentioning - if you are having an actual panic attack about being on this voluntary elimination protocol, it might be worth stepping back and reassessing your goals and attitude about it because although the Whole30 is, in our opinion, the healthiest program around, having legit panic attacks is the opposite of healthy.......for anyone.

That all said, do you have any underlying medical issues? History of stomach aches? Food allergies that you know of? Have you been eating a lot of raw veggies or salad greens? Using new oils to cook with (ie, coconut)?  Dried fruits? Nuts? Lots of brassica (broc, cauli, sprouts, cabbage)? How have your poops been? When your stomach hurts, is it also gassy?

[RoseElizabeth]

ladyshanny, thanks for your response! The quote about comparison is so true, and really good to hear. I definitely need to stop thinking about what others are feeling on a given day and comparing it to my own, as we are all different and so of course our journeys on whole30 will be different. 

In terms of the panic attack, it definitely wasn't isolated to just the program, and I think the biggest thing was dealing with emotions without using food as comfort, which is one thing I'm working on with whole30. 

As for your questions: I have high blood pressure that runs in my family, but no history of stomach aches or issues. No food allergies that I know of. I've been eating carrots and sweet peppers with maybe 2 meals a day, but have had salads in my diet for awhile and haven't noticed this kind of stomach problems. I've been using avocado oil, which I haven't used before. I had nuts the first few days but haven't had any since as I haven't needed them for snacking. I haven't increased my intake of broccoli or cauliflower. Poops have been normal--I typically go once in the morning and then once after I workout in the afternoon/evening. I did notice during day 7/8 that I was pooping less frequently but I'm back to normal now with that. When my stomach hurts, it's not gassy.