Day 22 - Fatigued and Mental Fog

[mledbetsmith]

Hello, 

I'm on Day 22 of my first Whole30 and am pretty close to throwing in the towel. I feel worse than I remember ever feeling before the program, shy of times I've been actually sick. I'm sleeping at least 8, usually 9, hours a night but have a really hard time waking up and getting out of bed; I'm constantly fatigued, to the point I've been missing my workouts because I'm too tired - still trying to at least do 20 minutes of walking a day, also I golf and take a ballroom dance class once a week each, neither of which I've missed yet; I'm suffering a constant headache which gets worse throughout the day - I work a desk job, so by the end of 8 or 9 hours I feel like my eyes are going to fall out of my head; the worst part is that I feel completely unfocused and unmotivated at work; also I generally feel pretty irritable, probably because I'm always exhausted.

Prior to Whole30, I ate a pretty standard American diet - pretty high in processed foods but generally healthy 80% of the time - but I never experienced these things. Sure, I'd get a visual headache from time to time and would have a hard time getting out of bed on Mondays, and I'd experience "carb coma" after a particularly crappy lunch, but I don't recall ever feeling so constantly bleh. I've pretty much felt like this throughout the duration of the program - some days have felt a little more "normal" but the majority of my experience has been crappy. I thought that by this point in the program I'd at least be back to my baseline levels of energy. 

Here's a recap of what the typical day has looked like -

Meal 1: some combination of a couple fried eggs, 1-2 pieces of bacon, avocado, potatoes, and/or a smoothie with both fruits and either spinach or carrots

I eat eggs almost every morning, then sort of rotate the others in and out. So today I had a fried egg, two pieces of bacon, and filled the rest of my plate with potatoes. Yesterday it was 2 eggs, sweet potatoes, and a fruit/carrot smoothie.

Meal 2: a palm-sized portion of fish, chicken breast, or steak, either eaten on top of a full plate of mixed greens or with veggies on the side; typically leftovers of whatever we had for dinner the night before.

Yesterday for instance I had grilled chicken on a bed of mixed greens with mandarine oranges, red onion, and avocado with oil, vinegar, and a splash of fresh-squeezed orange juice. The day before was grilled chicken with sweet potato medallions and steam carrots.

Meal 3: similar to meal 2.

Yesterday was a bit light since we needed to run to the grocery store, so I had chicken with grilled pineapple, plantain chips and a handful of cashews. The day before was steak, grilled asparagus, and homemade fries cooked in compliant oil. 

I'm full after each meal and rarely will snack. When I do, I try to eat a combination of some nuts and a small piece of fruit that's in season. 

I should also add that before W30, I drank tea every morning then usually had either another cup of iced tea or a can of Diet Coke mid-afternoon, but because I'd rather have no tea than unsweetened, I'm also on Day 22 of no caffeine. 

I'd really appreciate any advice. I don't want to simply throw in the towel, but I'm also tired of feeling like garbage.

Thanks in advance!

[ladyshanny]

I'm pretty sure you are not eating enough overall which can directly cause the symptoms that you have explained. Eggs, as a sole protein, are as many as you can hold in your hand without dropping - 3-4 is a good start for most people. Bacon is a fat so doesn't count towards protein. Breakfast is the foundational meal and as you have likely been under-eating it from the start, the cumulative effects are starting to show.

Up your protein portions overall, make sure to include a plated fat source with every meal, ditch the smoothies (highly non-recommended) and make sure to salt your food. If you are coming from Standard American Diet, chances are you consumed more sodium then than you are now. Sodium is essential for life so make sure you are salting to taste.

If you do need to snack, the recommendation is to stick w/ a combo of either protein + fat or protein + veggies. Leave off fruits/nuts combo, they do nothing for you, can keep sugar-dragon alive and prevent fat adaptation in the early stages.

(plantain chips are not compliant unless you made them at home)

[laura_juggles]

Not getting enough fat is a *huge* contributor to brain fog. 

The brain is ~60% fat and needs healthy fats to stay healthy. 

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-20584/why-lowfat-diets-wreck-your-brain-health-what-to-do-about-it.html

[mledbetsmith]

8 minutes ago, ladyshanny said:

I'm pretty sure you are not eating enough overall which can directly cause the symptoms that you have explained. Eggs, as a sole protein, are as many as you can hold in your hand without dropping - 3-4 is a good start for most people. Bacon is a fat so doesn't count towards protein. Breakfast is the foundational meal and as you have likely been under-eating it from the start, the cumulative effects are starting to show.

Up your protein portions overall, make sure to include a plated fat source with every meal, ditch the smoothies (highly non-recommended) and make sure to salt your food. If you are coming from Standard American Diet, chances are you consumed more sodium then than you are now. Sodium is essential for life so make sure you are salting to taste.

If you do need to snack, the recommendation is to stick w/ a combo of either protein + fat or protein + veggies. Leave off fruits/nuts combo, they do nothing for you, can keep sugar-dragon alive and prevent fat adaptation in the early stages.

(plantain chips are not compliant unless you made them at home)

I'm a petite 110 lb female, and I feel like I'm eating way more calories than I used to and honestly not sure I could eat any more than I am now without feeling sick! I also previously did not eat much meat as it lays very heavy on my stomach. Any recommendations on how to include more protein without upsetting my stomach?