Bowel problems Week 2

[CharlotteWhole30]

Hi everyone. I’m on day 12 of my Whole 30. The first week was great digestion and bowel wise, but everything seems to have slowed this week even though I’m eating relatively the same food. I take a magnesium powder and 75 billion probiotic before bed too.

A typical day of my diet would look like:

Breakfast: Two eggs, spinach, slaw, sauerkraut, proscuitto. Banana as well. Coffee here too of late.

Lunch: Sweet potato mash, minced beef, carrots, celery, capsicum, spinach 

Dinner: Last night it was fish, sweet potato, broccoli, Brussel sprouts and green beans. Usually follows this template of a protein, starch and the rest green veges.

Can anyone point out where I might be going wrong? Is it common to have a good first week and then be hit in the second week (I thought it would be the opposite!) Thanks in advance. 

[lwolford]

Hi!! I find my digestion slows the week before my period because Progesterone is so high. Could it be your menstrual cycle's hormonal changes? I eat a ton of broccoli, fruits, and water a week before my period. Let me know!

[jmcbn]

On 3/8/2018 at 7:16 PM, CharlotteWhole30 said:

Is it common to have a good first week and then be hit in the second week

Depends v much on how much of a departure Whole30 eating is from your previous way of eating, and also if you have any sensitivities to the foods you are now eating in higher volume, if you'tre getting enough fibre, and drinking enough water.

How much water are you drinking daily? Do you have any other symptoms? 

I might suggest cutting back a little on the starches (you're eating some at each meal), or at least switching the sweet potato for cool boiled white potatoes which provide resistant starch which is great for helping out in the bathroom department.

Hope this helps.

[CharlotteWhole30]

13 hours ago, lwolford said:

Hi!! I find my digestion slows the week before my period because Progesterone is so high. Could it be your menstrual cycle's hormonal changes? I eat a ton of broccoli, fruits, and water a week before my period. Let me know!

I'm not sure because my cycle is very irregular (like once a year irregular), but I could still be getting the symptoms due to changing hormones. Thank you so much for the suggestions!

[CharlotteWhole30]

12 hours ago, jmcbn said:

Depends v much on how much of a departure Whole30 eating is from your previous way of eating, and also if you have any sensitivities to the foods you are now eating in higher volume, if you'tre getting enough fibre, and drinking enough water.

How much water are you drinking daily? Do you have any other symptoms? 

I might suggest cutting back a little on the starches (you're eating some at each meal), or at least switching the sweet potato for cool boiled white potatoes which provide resistant starch which is great for helping out in the bathroom department.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for all of your help. I definitely haven't been drinking enough water this week, so I've tried to rectify that over the past few days. I've been feeling really tired and stressed this week, but that's probably due to factors outside the Whole 30. 

With cutting back on starch - would you recommend including it at only one/two meals? I cut out the banana this morning and subbed the sweet potato for two small boiled potatoes as you suggested. 

Thank you again in advance!

[jmcbn]

20 minutes ago, CharlotteWhole30 said:

With cutting back on starch - would you recommend including it at only one/two meals?

I'd start with just the one meal and see how you feel. Bananas are also fairly starchy unless they're particularly ripe. They're also high in pectin acts like a binding agent - they're the B in the BRAT diet often recommended for people with diarrhea so I'd avoid those too for a few days...