Major headaches and nausea

[Elizabeth_rs]

Hi all- 

I am a young, generally healthy pescatarian on day 4 of Whole 30 and I am experiencing debilitating headaches and some nausea. I am not a coffee drinker and I do not consume a lot of sugar in my regular diet. I thought doing this would make me feel better but I’m feeling awful and concerned about it since I’m only 4 days in, and as I said young and healthy! 

My meals consist of a lot of greens, avocados, eggs, salmon, salsas, smoothies, etc. The main things I’ve had to cut out to do whole30 are quinoa, hummus, sriracha, rice, wheat thins, and cheese. I don’t really eat sweets.

I never post in these things ever but I’m just feeling concerned and don’t feel like calling a doctor. 

Any thoughts?

[SugarcubeOD]

First off, if you're concerned, call a doctor - regardless of whether you feel like doing it.

Second, I bet you're not eating enough.  My first clue is the smoothies and the lots of greens.  Smoothies are actually not recommended on the program so you may want to reconsider that.  And greens when they chew down are hardly anything so if most of your veg has been greens, then you're vastly undereating.  I also only see avocado as the fat - are you eating 1/2 to a whole per meal?  When you eat eggs as a sole source of protein it's as many as you can hold in one hand without dropping... for most poeple that starts at 3-4... how many are you eating?

 

[ShannonM816]

We could give you better feedback with more information about specifically what your meals look like, including approximate serving sizes. Also let us know if you're working out and if so what you're doing for pre- or post-workout food.

We would really recommend you not do the smoothies -- here's a brief explanation from the Can I Have list (https://whole30.com/2013/06/the-official-can-i-have-guide-to-the-whole30/): 

Quote

 

Smoothies: We’d rather you didn’t

This is a very popular question, with a very unpopular answer. Smoothies (generally made using lots of fruit) are technically compliant on your Whole30, but we strongly recommend against it. Food that you drink sends different satiety signals to your brain than food that you chew. So when you drink your meal, your brain isn’t getting the feedback it needs to tell your body that it’s had enough of what it needs. Plus, smoothies are generally really fruit-heavy, and starting your day off with a liquid sugar-bomb sets you up for cravings, hunger, and volatile energy levels throughout the day. In summary, we’d rather you just eat the food, and skip the smoothie.

 

In general, make sure your meals match the meal template (you can download it here:  https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/)

This means make sure you have 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein the length, width, and height of your palm, or if eggs are your only protein in a meal, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in one hand, probably 3-4. Pick one or two of the fat options listed on the template in addition to any oil you cook in. Then fill your plate up with veggies -- 2-3 cups at each meal at least. Most people feel best when they have at least one fist-sized starchy vegetable each day (like potato, sweet potato, turnip, rutabaga, carrot, parsnip, beet, plantain, or winter squashes like acorn or butternut), and people who are very active, who are prone to depression or anxiety, or who are nursing, pregnant, or in the week or so leading up to their period may need more. 

Drink plenty of water -- aim for 1/2 oz of water per pound of body weight, so a 120-lb person needs at least 60 oz. Salt your food. 

Again, we can give you better feedback if you tell us more, but what I've listed are the things most people find they need to change to feel better.

 

[Elizabeth_rs]

Thank you both so much for your feedback!! 

It would be so hard for me to believe I’m underrating as I am a food fanatic! I’m doing this in part to learn better portion control and overall self control with eating- I’m a bored eater, stress eater, etc. For more background I am also doing this to learn how to eat without relying so heavily on carbs like rice and bread to feel full. Being a pescatarian and only eating limited fish (never cooking them myself until this week!!) I found that I had trained myself not to feel full unless there was bread or rice included in the meal- it’s a habit I need to break. II used to be very active but in my post grad years I unfortunately do not workout a whole lot. I did read about the smoothies but I NEVER drink them as a meal- it would never be enough for me! I will have a smoothie, a hard boiled egg, and a handful of almonds. When I eat avocados I do have a full one. I love drinking water and always drink a ton of it! 

I definitely need to add starchy vegetables in- I have a whole bag of colorful carrots I just haven’t had a chance to cook yet but I do love root vegetables! 

For Breakfasts I have been having some combination of the following- fruit (smoothie), hard boiled eggs, avocados, almonds 

Snacks throughout the day including after dinner: dried beets, dried plantains, artichokes, almonds, green olives, clementines  

lunch: kale/cabbage mix with cauliflower rice, tomatoes, and a “bbq cut” piece of salmon

Dinner: I love breakfast for dinner- two egg omelette with mushrooms all cooked with ghee, fresh salsa, and a whole avocado 

I live in a very small apt in the city so cooking isn’t the easiest, I also don’t have much time for it so with something like the salmon I made three pieces at the same time and ate each piece over the kale/cabbage mix with different toppings for a couple meals in a row.

 

thank you again!!!

[laura_juggles]

1 or 2 eggs isn't enough. You need to play around with the portion sizes of your meals until you're not having those snacks. Add some more eggs, get some starchy veg in there. I have no idea what "bbq cut" salmon is, but how did it compare to the length, width, and thickness of your palm? 

Get more food in those meals, make sure you're salting your food enough, and for real drop the smoothie and *eat* your whole breakfast. 

[Elizabeth_rs]

2 eggs is not enough even when I also eat it with a whole avocado and other veggies?? "bbq cut" are good size pieces of salmon!! The concept of adding more salt is interesting, that is something I definitely do not do- I've never been one to add salt!

I ate my whole breakfast this morning but also had some caffeine, so I do not have much of a headache today (small amounts of caffeine help combat migraines, I do not regularly drink caffeine) 

 

Thank you!!

[laura_juggles]

Eggs should be as many as you can hold in your hand without feeling like they're going to tumble out. For most women, that's 3-4. So no, 2 isn't enough. 

If you're coming from eating even relatively minimally processed foods, you likely didn't need to add salt to get enough sodium. Even most canned diced tomatoes have salt, but cooking all meals for yourself from whole, fresh ingredients means you need to salt your food. 

[Elizabeth_rs]

thank you all so much!