Extreme gas

[NikayaSmith]

So I’m on week two of my second whole30 with only two days off after failing my first whole30 on day 6. I also admittedly am not doing things 100% because I can’t find many of the things or I simply can’t tolerate them.

With that said, for the last ten days everything I’ve eaten has been allowed. I’ve been super strict and not taken any chances (I don’t understand label reading very well so I’m not taking any chances). Anyway, for the past five days I’ve had unbearable gas all day long. It is constant. And it is not ignorable. I’m very unpleasant to be around and it’s getting embarrassing. Eggs, meat, and veggies. That’s it. That’s my food. No fruits or fruit juices and 100% of what I’ve eaten is whole30 allowed. 

Is there anything that can be done about the gas? I’m weathering the other issues fine and see no reason to stop. I’m just embarrassed. Plus, everyone else can walk away from the stench but it kind of is with me all the time. 

I apologize for the ickyiness of the post. 

[slc_melissa]

We’d need more details about specific types and quantities of vegetables, but have you been eating a lot of raw veggies, or like broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage? Those can often cause digestive problems for people. I cook most of my veggies, raw carrots specifically do me in gas-wise.

[slc_melissa]

Also, drink plenty of water.

[NikayaSmith]

Thank you so much. My breakfast veggies are raw because I don’t have time to cook in the morning. That is half a cucumber, half a green pepper, five radishes, one celery stick, four cherry tomatoes and enough baby carrots so the whole bunch fills a quart size zipper bag  (so just a few carrots but I don’t usually count).

My lunch and dinner alternate between two meals. I either bake a pound and a half of chicken or brown a pound and a half of burger. To the meat I add one can of diced tomatoes, half an onion, one small box of mushrooms, and one bag of spinach. That makes four meals (split over two days of lunch and dinner) Then I have a side of two cups of vegetables. Either Brussel sprouts or cauliflower. 

I upped my water drinking to almost 60 oz in a day, after that was recommended to help with constipation. I’m definitely going to be batbroom more, but it’s only to pee. No change on the constipation front. 

Thank you so much!

[slc_melissa]

Are you eating plenty of fats? 

Is anything a big change from what you've eaten before? If you're suddenly upping your fiber intake, the gut can take a while to reset. Digestive enzymes, probiotics, or magnesium supplements may help. 

60oz of water is good if you weigh 120 lb, recommendation is 0.5 oz/ body weight/ day.

Things that jump out at me are lots of cruciferous vegetables and raw green peppers and carrots.

[NikayaSmith]

I assumed that I wasn’t eating enough fiber since I can’t go to the bathroom. I’m only going like two or three times a week and it’s super painful. 

Ive worked very hard to up my water to 60 oz. I’m going to try to keep adding but since I don’t have a job where I can go to the bathroom whenever I want to, only at acheduled breaks, I’m not sure I will ever get to the recommended 100 oz a day. 

I will look up cruciferous vegetables. 

I haven’t found a way to incorporate fat yet. I’m still trying to find a source of fat I can tolerate. 

Thank you. I’m off to research what you said. 

[ladyshanny]

Raw veggies can also be quite hard on your stomach. Try cooking some veggies the night before or on the weekend and just reheat them. 

What protein and fat are you having in the morning?

[slc_melissa]

Yes, not consuming fat can be a contributor to constipation.  The body doesn't work just one piece at a time, it's a myriad of processes going on simultaneously.  If you are under-eating, that can contribute.  Also, are you on any medications or pain killers?

[Chelsea Cooper]

You can try abdominal massage. Start at the top of your stomach, right under the ribs and make sure you go in a CLOCKWISE motion. Counterclockwise will do the opposite of what you’re looking for. Just try it a couple of minutes every morning and night or when you shower and it should help. I also can’t use the bathroom when I need to because of work (massage therapist) but once your body gets used to drinking a lot of water, peeing isn’t that much of an issue. 

[NikayaSmith]

Thank you all sooooo much. So many ideas to try!!! I looked up the supplements but couldn’t find ingredient lists online. I will look in my stores, but honestly, I do not trust my label reading skills yet. 

I could definitely reheat veggies for breakfast and will try that for a week to see if that helps. The only reason I hadn’t been doing that was in an attempt to get some variety. I’ve only figured out how to cook cauliflower and Brussels according to whole30 rules Lol. My budget limits me to trying one new thing a week because throwing away food is the same as throwing away money. Ive thrown away more food since starting this than i ever have, so I’ve got be careful money wise. I can’t spend too much money on something until I know I’m goinf to be able to eat it. Ive been focused on finding a fat source I can tolerate, but I will alternate. Try a new veggie this week. Search for a fat source next week. 

My morning protein is three boiled eggs. 

The Only fat source I’ve found so far that I can tolerate is nuts. But In another question someone said nuts shouldn’t be eaten every day. Plus they are too expensive for me to buy enough for me to eat every day. The flavor of oil, olives, avocados, and coconut is just more than I can handle. I’ve been researching and looking for fat options. 

Just so that I am positive. Is my body the clock and it’s facing away from me. That would mean I would start at my stomach and go toward my left arm and down then go toward the right arm and up. I definitely don’t want to do it the wrong way!!!! That would be hilarious if I made he problem worse trying to fix it.

Thank you all so much. Here is my current action plan based on your responses. 

1 Look for supplements

2 Try to cook a new vegetable every other week

3 try to find a new fat source every other week. 

4 try abdominal massage (after confirming direction lol)

5 stop eating raw veggies 

yall are awesome!!

[Chelsea Cooper]

Yes. Start at the top and go towards your left arm. Like a clock. I take Rainbow Light Prenatal vitamins, you can order them online and they are cheaper than the store. Walgreens ships for free and they are W30 approved. They have been helping everything digestion wise too. 

Going to the flavor of oil, when using oil as a fat, you’re not really using it as a fat, like you would avocado or nuts. You just want to coat your food in it, even so it doesn’t burn, you don’t want it to be swimming in it. That might help. Olive oil doesn’t really have a taste if you use it like that. 

You can make coconut butter to put on a sweet potato, just throw raw W30 approved coconut in a food processor and it will become creamy like butter. It’s fatty and good. 

[NikayaSmith]

Thank you so much for confirming. I didn’t need to make things worse! Lol

I don’t know why, but I just can’t stand the taste or texture of olive oil. That’s why I can’t figure out how to cook vegetables and keep eating the same ones over and over. 

I also don’t like the favor of coconut. Or sweet potatoes. lol. Both of them make me gag. Same with avocados. 

I need to find new vegetables and I definitely need to figure out a way to cook veggies, but I really think finding fat is just as important. Supposedly that will help with the hunger as well as the constipation. 

Im going to try the abdominal massage tonight. Thanks so much!!

[Chelsea Cooper]

Can you find Avocado oil? That’s super easy and I use it like canola or vegetable oil. And Field bacon is compliant if you’re more comfortable cooking with animal fat. Do you have any farmers markets near by? Or an Aldi’s the have a compliant sausage. I do all the grocery shopping so I’ll go to 10 different places to get the best deal and I HATE seeing food waste. 

[slc_melissa]

If you're struggling with fat sources as a separate thing, in the meantime you could go for fattier cuts of meat. Chicken thighs (you may already be doing that), higher % fat ground beef, pork roast, beef short ribs, canned salmon or sardines. (Maybe even look for a fish oil supplement, they are pretty tasteless pills, but watch the ingredients, some include filler oils, also, always take with a meal) I sometimes throw chia seeds into my meatballs, they're not a huge source of fat, but do include some.

[Brewer5]

Just to add a few thoughts to the other great suggestions you've gotten here:

1)    I don't know if you had time to look up cruciferous vegetables.  I know you have a lot of things going on in your mind right now. So I will just tell you that cauliflower and brussels sprouts are both cruciferous vegetables, along with broccoli and several others. Many people have trouble digesting these, especially if you're eating them raw ~ but sadly, even if you are eating them well cooked. Just be aware of it and maybe limit your quantities while you are trying to explore other vegetable options.   That really should help cut down on the gas.

2)    I don't know what your eating has looked like prior to Whole 30,  and I don't know the details of your first attempt and what made you fall off the rails. But if I had to guess, I would guess that it had a lot to do with not consuming enough fat.     See, here's the thing. The majority of your energy is going to come from carbohydrates or fat. Protein is used mostly for building tissues and repair. So, it makes sense that if you are cutting your carbohydrate intake quite a bit, you need to up your fat  to keep up your energy as well as your satiety. If you are feeling grumpy, if your energy is waning, if you feel like you are making it through this but just barely, the answer really is to add in more fat and possibly more carbohydrates to feel satisfied.

3)    I also just wanted to add to the caution that you have read about regarding nuts as a fat source. Since you are already having digestive issues and a lot of gas, nuts could just make this problem worse. Too many people fall into relying on them to get through their days, and then wonder why their belly is so darn upset. They are hard to digest. That's part of why you will see many articles out there about soaking them prior to consuming them.   So don't feel bad if you can't afford to eat them every day, it is certainly not a requirement ~ and you are probably better off if you are going to have them, only having 1 ounce per day or something like that.    That makes a bag of nuts last quite awhile, too.  

[NikayaSmith]

@Brewer5 thank you so much for all the info!!! I’ll try to respond to everything

So far boiled cauliflower and Brussel sprouts are the only two vegetables I’ve figired out how to cook according to whole30 rules and me still be able to eat it. I mean I add onion, mushroom, and canned tomatoes to my meat, but those are the only two side vegetables I’ve been eating for two meals a day for nearly two weeks. So basically, I guess that explains the gas. I’m trying new things as I can afford them but am just struggling to find any I can eat. I’ve not given up trying though!!!  

The reason my first whole30 failed was because due to circumstances beyond my control, three meals in a row unexpectedly had to be eaten out on day six and seven. My choices were to go off whole 30 or not eat for those three meals. It was a very unusual set of circumstances that i don’t see repeating any time soon. i was only off plan for the third one because that restaurant literally had nothing that was allowed. While I don’t consider it a big deal, the plan doesn’t allow for any slippage so my day eight became day one second attempt. I hope that makes sense. 

Someone shared a list of carb dense vegetables on another Question and I had only heard of white potato, sweet potato, and pumpkin. Of those three I only eat white potatoes. And the only way I’ve figured out how to cook a white potato according to the rules is bake it and since I can’t put butter and sour cream on it, I’ve not been eating any carbs either.  I have no idea what most of the other vegetables on the chart are. I had never heard of most of them in my life. I definitely wouldn’t know how to cook them considering I can’t figure out how to cook the vegetables I am familiar with. Lol. Once I can do that, I will start trying vegetables I’ve never heard of. Lol

As of now I have no source of fat. I can’t find one that I can tolerate besides nuts and I’ve not been eating them since I ran out last week. I don’t plan on buying more now. I’m still researching fats but it’s a huge learning curve for me. I read a paragraph then spend a half hour looking up words or ideas just so I can understand it. I’m still working on finding a good source of fat. Again, I’ve not given up!!! I’ve just not had any success YET! Still trying. 

[TJHigh]

I'm not a moderator, but this way of eating seems like it might become problematic/unhealthy for you.  You say you only eat meat, eggs, and veggies - but the only side veggies you do eat are boiled cauliflower and brussels sprouts (and I guess a baked potato if you decide to eat it "dry")?  It seems like you can get other veggies in when you add them to meat, so cooking them together might be where you should focus.  It's obvious from your postings that you really want to succeed at Whole 30, but I just would suggest taking a step back and work on some basic building blocks before committing to trying to eat 30 straight days like this - it just seems like it may do more harm than good.

Maybe try a few weeks of half steps?  First really attempt to figure out a fat you can use - whether that's committing to make your own ghee, or searching for the mildest tasting olive oil so you can stomach it (they have "lite" olive oils that have little discernible olive oil taste), or maybe even trying to source a good animal fat - duck fat is likely prohibitively expensive, but maybe shmaltz (chicken fat)?  

After that, try to find ways of preparing potatoes and maybe another carb-y vegetable - how about carrots?  Here's a great recipe for carrots (which uses olive oil, but I bet you could use any other fat you ultimately choose):  https://food52.com/recipes/19045-carrots-cooked-forever-a-la-roy-finamore 

Also, maybe try to find recipes that lend themselves to being mixed together, so you don't have to worry about having a "side" veggie so much?  Things like soups and stews might open up some cooking possibilities.

Personally, I don't know if doing a "strict" or "perfect" Whole 30 is really worth it if you're so limited that you can't eat fat or carbs for 30 days.

 

[Brewer5]

@NikayaSmith ~ I must say, as long as you are feeling good and determined ... I disagree with the advice that you cannot / should not do this right now.  There is no such thing as a "perfect" Whole 30 ... it is different for each of us, and if you do repeated rounds ~ you will find that each one of them is unique, as well.

There is A LOT of learning involved in the beginning.  But because you have committed to do this for your body for 30 days, you are motivated to learn and in a way, you must learn ... you have to focus on your body and what it is telling you, what it needs, and how you can make it happen.  Everyone has their own set of circumstances:  We have different jobs, kids, finances, stress levels, different tastes, likes, dislikes, feelings, skills, and available resources.  Yet we've all had successful Whole 30's.  We make it work.

Ok, so ~ you gave me one clue here when you said "can't do butter & sour cream" ... so a fat you would probably like would be GHEE.  Girl, you can melt your butter down, and make your own ghee!    It's not hard.  We even found grass-fed ghee as a "special item" at Aldi.  You can order it from Amazon, Vitacost, probably a million places, and have it in a couple of days.  

And re: cooking a white potato.  Hey, no judgement here.  We all have to start somewhere.  You can cut it in quarters & boil for (I don't know?) ~10 minutes, OR put it in the microwave on a plate with just a *tiny* bit of water for maybe 3 minutes.  Experiment and see how many minutes suits your desired texture.  Some in my family like their potatoes very mushy and I like mine a little bit on the firmer side.

If you're adding canned tomatoes, etc to your meat as you cook -- dice up a white potato and it will cook just like cauliflower or any other vegetable in there.  I'm not sure why you think you have to specifically "bake" a potato...  To my knowledge, the rules just don't want you deep-frying and making them into chips.  They don't want us to do that with ANY fruit or vegetable.

[Babsie95]

A simple veggie tip is to roast them. You can roast almost any veggie. Just coat in some sort of complaint oil (you probably won't taste it or even notice it) and spread on a sheet pan and place in oven. Most will roast in about 30 minutes anywhere from 325 to 425. You can mix and match veggies. I love broccoli roasted with olive oil, salt and garlic. White potatoes roast well as do brussel sprouts, carrots, squashes, asparagus. Just about any veggie can be roasted (maybe any)

Just a thought. I like to roast several trays at once and then reheat. Sometimes I will also roast a tray of chicken or other protein at the same time too.

[SugarcubeOD]

3 hours ago, NikayaSmith said:

 

Someone shared a list of carb dense vegetables on another Question and I had only heard of white potato, sweet potato, and pumpkin. Of those three I only eat white potatoes..  I have no idea what most of the other vegetables on the chart are. I had never heard of most of them in my life. 

 

Sorry, you didn't know what carrots and beets and winter squash are?

[NikayaSmith]

Carrots yes!!!!! I forgot about carrots. But no. I’ve never heard of winter squash and I only know beets as a canned vegetables. 

[SugarcubeOD]

33 minutes ago, NikayaSmith said:

Carrots yes!!!!! I forgot about carrots. But no. I’ve never heard of winter squash and I only know beets as a canned vegetables. 

Winter squash are squash that you find in fall/winter.  I googled 'what are winter squash' and got this article: https://www.thekitchn.com/the-11-varieties-of-winter-squash-you-need-to-know-ingredient-intelligence-157857

You mentioned you live in a very rural area... does that mean there are farms around? If so, go to a farm nearby and start talking to the people about what they have to offer...

If you can find canned beets that have no non compliant ingredients then that's an option.  

[2plus2]

If you live in the US you can order from Amazon and they'll ship to your door (many product for free if your order is over $25). Walmart will do the same. Lard is a wonderful cooking fat and sadly overlooked. I checked the ingredients on this one and it looks good. Armour's regular brand had hydrogenated fat added (not good). But this one seemed to be compliant. https://www.amazon.com/Premium-All-Natural-Lard-lb/dp/B0756PTZZV/ref=sr_1_3_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1519235498&sr=1-3&keywords=lard+for+cooking

I think hazelnut oil is allowed (someone please correct me if it's not) and the price isn't too bad in comparison to other compliant oils. https://www.amazon.com/Tourangelle-Roasted-Hazelnut-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B0087G8TL6/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1519235917&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=hazelnut%2Boil&th=1

Amazon also carries a laxative tea that's compliant. It's not a good habit, but once in a while an extra push doesn't hurt. Traditional Medicines makes one that I have found to be kind and effective. It's more expensive than at the store, but it does include shipping; and if you live far from everywhere the price difference is a lot cheaper than a tank of gas. https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Medicinals-Organic-Smooth-Peppermint/dp/B00EVJUYFC/ref=sr_1_7_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1519236428&sr=1-7&keywords=traditional+medicinals+tea+smooth+move

Good job on hanging in there!