Day 22 and still not feeling consistent

[pjhfloyd]

I’m on Day 22 of my first Whole30. The plan has not been a drastic change of diet for me and I’ve been taking barre about 5 days a week for the past several years.

I felt fine during week 1 (the withdrawals were not bad for me). During week 2, I felt great: good consistent energy, but not necessarily what I would think of as “tigerblood”. During week 3, I was very irritable but I still had consistent energy, for the most part, for the first few days. However, my workouts were not the best. Then, things just started to decline. Now starting week 4, I feel like I have less energy than before and barely have energy to workout (I’m dreading something that I love to do). Also, my mood is still all over the place. There are some positives: less brain fog, cravings are manageable, and I’m seeing physical results (waistline). I just want to feel tigerblood/consistent energy. That and taming my sugar dragon was my motivation to start the program. I’m too stubborn to quit, but I’m struggling to keep it together. My husband keeps asking me if I’m ok or upset about something.

I’m eating more than I ever did before the program and I try to eat the recommended portions at each meal, but making it 4 hours between meals with no snack is a struggle on most days. I know that not eating enough seems to be the best explanation. However, at the end of each meal, I feel full. And I think if I kept eating, I’d be overly full. 

Example meals: 

Breakfast:

Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil (1 tsp) and 1 scoop of Collagen in my coffee.

PLUS

2 eggs with at least a handful of spinach or other veggie and a piece of fruit (sometimes I don’t eat a fruit) 

Lunch: 

Salad (2 handfuls of leaves) with shredded chicken (maybe a cup) or other protein, 1/2 an avocado, and other random veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, bell pepper) 

OR 

Soup/chili (maybe a cup and a half) with 1/2 an avocado and I always add a handful of spinach to my soups

PLUS 

Fruit (if I didn’t eat it at breakfast) 

Dinner: 

It’s always a protein serving + a veggie + a starchy veggie. Sometimes I’ll eat 1/2 an avocado with dinner. If I don’t, I try to increase the oil or ghee I’m using, and/or use a fattier piece of meat. 

Snacks: 

I am T R Y I N G so hard not to snack, except for after a workout. It’s typically a meat stick or a boiled egg and a purée veggie pouch (the ones typically for kids/babies). If possible, I eat sweet potatoes after my workout. 

I’m desperate to find out if I’m doing something wrong. Today was one of my worst energy days: it felt strenuous to walk up one flight of stairs and complete minimal household chores. That can’t be normal, right? 

 

[ladyshanny]

Are you female? And if so, when is your period.

I've been doing a lot of personal research surrounding the menstrual cycle and marking down ALL my feelings, moods, hunger, sex drive, skin, sleep etc against a menstrual cycle chart and MAN ALIVE is it ever consistent to the hormone fluctuations and from month to month. 

As a very quick summary: 

Week One (bleeding week): energy and strength should be up, hunger is generally down, cravings are generally down (cramps and bleeding notwithstanding the general "feeling better than the previous week" part)

Week Two: this is generally your strongest and most energetic week, hunger still mostly easily regulated, cravings as well are still manageable if at all. In this week you will usually ovulate which for me meant I was a bit more tired on those two days and not as strong. I was also VERY hungry during the couple days of ovulation. Like...starved.

Week Three: strength is a bit flat, energy is medium, personally I was happier with fuller meals at the beginning of this week and had a higher sex drive

Week Four: this is where the wheels fall off. Generally it's the week that we're the weakest, least energy, most cravings, highest appetite, less satisfaction with meals, more water retention/bloating.

 

This is all just a guideline but it might account for the fluctuations you've been seeing.

[ladyshanny]

Now, all that said, I just read through your menu and you are not eating enough.

Eggs as protein are as many as you can hold in your hand without dropping; 3-4 is a good start for most people. 2-3 cups of cooked veggie at every meal. A handful of spinach or a couple handfuls of lettuce leaves isn't cutting it. Protein servings (non-egg) are 1-2 palms. That's your palm, length width and thickness. If you're having chili/stew/soup etc, make sure that the protein serving in there would be the equivalent of at least one palm of protein. If you're starving, bump that up.

You should be making your meals to last you 4-5 hours between. You seem like you're fine on fat but the veggies and protein servings are lacking.

[pjhfloyd]

Yes! And this is very closely aligned with my cycle. I started my Whole 30 on a Monday and I finished my BC packet the day before I started. So, now I’m on my last week of pills for the month. I didn’t really think about my period because I’m on BC and my mood and hunger changes are pretty mild related to my cycle. But I guess with my hormones adjusting because of Whole30, all that could be different. 

Thank you! Just having an idea of what could be happening makes me feel so much better. I was afraid I had done something wrong. 

[pjhfloyd]

Ok, I’ll up my protein and veggies. Thanks again! 

[Babsie95]

maybe I missed it but did you mention pre and post workout food? if your not eating that in addition to your meals that might contribute as well

[pjhfloyd]

A lot of times I try to workout within 30-60 min of a meal and then I do a post work out snack. It might be a meat stick or boiled egg and a veggie purée packet. If I have sweet potatoes prepped, I try to eat a portion of those after. If I haven’t eaten a meal close to my workout, I do a boiled egg