Day 30 but not feeling amazing. Should I keep going?

[Mannymo]

So I made it through my first whole 30, but should I keep going? I definitely feel better - I've lost about 20lbs, I'm sleeping better, energy levels and moods feel much more stable and I'm really happy with what I've been eating - I've had almost no cravings for bread, pasta or cakes which I was fully expecting.

However, I don't feel particularly amazing. I never got that "tiger blood" energy burst, in fact I'm still very tired a lot of the time. And my stomach issues are still lingering - still gassy and (tmi here sorry) bowel movements are still unpredictable and have not firmed up at all. While I'm definitely happy with some of the results, these two issues in particular are what I was looking to improve on, particularly the energy thing.

So do I keep going? I feel like I wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference in how I feel if I started re-introducing things now. My diet before was utter crap so I'm just trying to figure out if it's just taking longer for everything to fall into place and I should keep at it, or if I'm not doing it right or missing something important that will change everything.

I'm fine with continuing, I guess I'm just looking for some advice and maybe some hope that it will get better! Thanks in advance

[SugarcubeOD]

3 minutes ago, Mannymo said:

So I made it through my first whole 30, but should I keep going? I definitely feel better - I've lost about 20lbs, I'm sleeping better, energy levels and moods feel much more stable and I'm really happy with what I've been eating - I've had almost no cravings for bread, pasta or cakes which I was fully expecting.

However, I don't feel particularly amazing. I never got that "tiger blood" energy burst, in fact I'm still very tired a lot of the time. And my stomach issues are still lingering - still gassy and (tmi here sorry) bowel movements are still unpredictable and have not firmed up at all. While I'm definitely happy with some of the results, these two issues in particular are what I was looking to improve on, particularly the energy thing.

So do I keep going? I feel like I wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference in how I feel if I started re-introducing things now. My diet before was utter crap so I'm just trying to figure out if it's just taking longer for everything to fall into place and I should keep at it, or if I'm not doing it right or missing something important that will change everything.

I'm fine with continuing, I guess I'm just looking for some advice and maybe some hope that it will get better! Thanks in advance

The short answer is yes, it can take longer for some people to really heal their gut than others depending on the context they came to the program with.  For you, you say your diet was utter crap so it's not that surprising that it might take longer to heal.  I would encourage you to pick another duration of days (10-15-20) and then check in with yourself at each of those milestones to see how you're feeling until you feel that reintroductions would be helpful and informative.

[Mannymo]

Thank you for replying so quickly And for the advice, I think I will carry on for now. I'm actually really not missing any of the re-introduction foods so I suppose I might as well! Just wanted to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong.

I'm hoping the energy issue will pick up though, my plan was to start swimming and walking again by week 3 or 4 but I'm just still so tired most of the time it hasn't been possible. 

Anyway thank you again!

[kirbz]

I was in a similar situation to you after successfully completing a Whole30 last year. I ended up doing 43 days and never really got "tiger blood," though I did experience a ton of other benefits. 

I encourage you to reflect honestly on your meals and evaluate whether they match the meal template. When I looked back at the food I had been eating, I noticed that I hadn't been eating a lot of fat. I'm not sure you can really achieve "tiger blood" without adequate fat so I've vowed to change that for my next round (if I can ever manage to do another successful one!). 

Good luck! Congrats on all those victories, regardless of the lack of "tiger blood!"

[Mannymo]

1 minute ago, kirbz said:

I was in a similar situation to you after successfully completing a Whole30 last year. I ended up doing 43 days and never really got "tiger blood," though I did experience a ton of other benefits. 

I encourage you to reflect honestly on your meals and evaluate whether they match the meal template. When I looked back at the food I had been eating, I noticed that I hadn't been eating a lot of fat. I'm not sure you can really achieve "tiger blood" without adequate fat so I've vowed to change that for my next round (if I can ever manage to do another successful one!). 

Good luck! Congrats on all those victories, regardless of the lack of "tiger blood!"

Thank you, I'm trying hard not to forget all of the other good things that have come from this so far!

I definitely feel like I'm ok with fats, I'm having avocado, mayo or some other fatty dressing or sauce with every meal, and using lots of oil and ghee to cook with. I was actually concerned I was overdoing it as I had a bit of an issue with (tmi here sorry) fat coming out the other end for a week or so, but cutting back on oil a bit seems to have sorted it. 

I am going to keep a much closer eye on what I'm eating and how I'm feeling over the next few weeks and try to make adjustments to see what happens.

Thank you for the help