Bloating/Stomach's getting bigger!

[Ying]

Hey all,

I'm on Day 10 of my Whole 30. I used to do Intermittent Fasting (last meal's at 8pm and first meal at 12.30pm) and have no problems with hunger problems or anything. I stopped IF and started the 3 meal a day thing (based on a post I read). While I don't have a problem sticking to 3 meals a day (5 hours in between) I noticed that my stomach's getting bigger. Is that normal? I do workout 30-40 mins a day but apart from that, I'm pretty sedentary. I'm trying Whole30 to see if it could help me with my scalp problems but I'm afraid I'm gaining weight because of the extra meal I'm eating and also the sweet potatoes that punctuate most meals. Is this normal? Is it hormonal or should I go back to IF but still doing Whole30 at the same time? When do we actually fat adapt? As of now, I don't have hunger pangs between my meals. Does it mean I'm fat adapted? But why does my stomach still look so big? Bloating might not be a good term for it since I don't feel bloated. My energy levels are good, my moods are more or less the same and I have plenty of sleep. It's more obvious because I am small (5ft) , lean (93 lbs). Everywhere else looks pretty toned still but my recent muffin top tummy is seriously worrying. 

 

 

 

[SugarcubeOD]

It's highly unlikely that you've gained enough weight in 10 days to create a bloated looking stomach that is actually made up of extra weight.  What's more likely is that you're potentially eating things that cause bloating (nuts, dried fruit, raw veggies, cruciferous veggies, lots of sparkling water).  Without knowing what you've been eating, it's hard to say. If you want to see if anything stands out, list out a few days of your meals including specific veggies, fruit, fat and protein and portion sizes.

[Ying]

Hi Sugarcube OD,

Thanks for your reply! I can't really list down portion sizes (since I make meals for both my husband and I) but here's roughly what I've been eating. All meals are cooked with mainly ghee or coconut oil. They're also cooked unless stated otherwise.

 

DAY 8:

1.Smoked salmon + shredded potatoes+onions

2. Spinach+Sweet Potatoes+coconut milk Curry+ Fried Egg+Green Beans

3. Chicken thighs-Rosemary, potatoes, lemon and zucchini+garlic

2 x Coffee with Almond Milk

 

DAY 9:

1. Apple+spinach+sweet potatoes+mushrooms+pork mince+1 fried egg

2. Chicken thighs-potatoes and zucchini+garlic (repeat of last night's dinner)

3. 2x Beef patties+avocado sauce (avocados, cilantro, onions, garlic, lime juice)+tomatoes+1 fried egg+ and sweet potato buns

A handful of cashew nuts and 2 small plums

2 x Coffee with Almond Milk

 

DAY 10:

1. Smoked salmon+2 boiled eggs+mushrooms+spinach+1/2 avocado

2. 1 x Beef patties+avocado sauce (avocados, cilantro, onions, garlic, lime juice)+tomatoes+1 boiled egg+ and sweet potato buns+1/2 avocado

3. Baked chicken breast coated in coconut flour and desiccated coconut and mashed potatoes

Snacks: A fist of cashew nuts and 1 boiled egg

2 x Coffee with Almond Milk

 

Eating these things are not new to me, except for almond milk (I used to have full fat milk) and having an additional meal which is breakfast.

 

 

[SugarcubeOD]

8 hours ago, Ying said:

Hi Sugarcube OD,

Thanks for your reply! I can't really list down portion sizes (since I make meals for both my husband and I) but here's roughly what I've been eating. All meals are cooked with mainly ghee or coconut oil. They're also cooked unless stated otherwise.

 

DAY 8:

1.Smoked salmon + shredded potatoes+onions

2. Spinach+Sweet Potatoes+coconut milk Curry+ Fried Egg+Green Beans

3. Chicken thighs-Rosemary, potatoes, lemon and zucchini+garlic

2 x Coffee with Almond Milk

 

DAY 9:

1. Apple+spinach+sweet potatoes+mushrooms+pork mince+1 fried egg

2. Chicken thighs-potatoes and zucchini+garlic (repeat of last night's dinner)

3. 2x Beef patties+avocado sauce (avocados, cilantro, onions, garlic, lime juice)+tomatoes+1 fried egg+ and sweet potato buns

A handful of cashew nuts and 2 small plums

2 x Coffee with Almond Milk

 

DAY 10:

1. Smoked salmon+2 boiled eggs+mushrooms+spinach+1/2 avocado

2. 1 x Beef patties+avocado sauce (avocados, cilantro, onions, garlic, lime juice)+tomatoes+1 boiled egg+ and sweet potato buns+1/2 avocado

3. Baked chicken breast coated in coconut flour and desiccated coconut and mashed potatoes

Snacks: A fist of cashew nuts and 1 boiled egg

2 x Coffee with Almond Milk

 

Eating these things are not new to me, except for almond milk (I used to have full fat milk) and having an additional meal which is breakfast.

 

 

Nuts are notoriously difficult on the digestive system so maybe cut those out and see if the bloating goes down... if it does a bit and you think it might help, try switching over to coconut milk for your coffee to get all the nut products out of your system for a bit.  Nuts should be limited anyway to a closed handful every other day at most (once), so it's probably a bit much anyway and if the 'fist' of cashews is actually an amount the size of your fist, that's quite a few servings... 

You might try switching out some of the starch in your meals with more green veggies... it's definitely okay to have starch at every meal but play around with it a bit and see if reducing the starch and increasing the non starchy veggies helps.

One thing to note that is not about bloating - we recommend putting a plated fat with every meal and not only counting cooking fat as much of it gets cooked off, left in the pan or split between portions so you've got a few meals there that don't have enough fat.

[Ying]

Hi Sugarcube,

I actually do mean eating a handful of cashews instead of a fistful. Sorry about that. But I'll try to reduce it and see how it goes. My question is though, why is it causing the bloating now and not before? I've been snacking on cashews before Whole30 and tolerate it well. 

Making a note of green veggies and see how that goes. What about bell peppers and tomatoes? Are they okay?

As for fats, apart from avocados, is there anything else that's considered okay?

Cheers!

 

[SugarcubeOD]

4 hours ago, Ying said:

Hi Sugarcube,

I actually do mean eating a handful of cashews instead of a fistful. Sorry about that. But I'll try to reduce it and see how it goes. My question is though, why is it causing the bloating now and not before? I've been snacking on cashews before Whole30 and tolerate it well. 

Making a note of green veggies and see how that goes. What about bell peppers and tomatoes? Are they okay?

As for fats, apart from avocados, is there anything else that's considered okay?

Cheers!

 

Yes, peppers and tomatoes are okay... I should have said 'non starchy' not 'green'.

For fat, you have many options... avocado, olives, ghee, dressings, mayo, pesto... this question has come up a lot so if you are interested, google 'whole30 what kind of fats' or something similar and you should find previous threads.

I would still give up the nuts and see how that goes... sometimes things that served us well in the past no longer serve us well... no harm trying that just to see  

[Tarrantrl]

I finished up my second Whole30 about a week ago. I felt like I was really bloated randomly throughout the month, but I haven't yet traced that to a specific food other than sparkling water (especially if I drank it too fast!). I wasn't really worried about it because I usually wear loose dresses anyway, but I didn't expect to lose any weight by the end of the 30 days based on my bloated feeling. When I weighed myself on day 31, I actually lost 7.6 lbs! I still want to figure out what causes the bloat, but it is not related to weight loss or lack thereof for me. Maybe that will be encouraging to you or someone else who finds this post!

[Ying]

Wow! Thanks for sharing @Tarrantrl Good to know that this feeling of bloated has nothing to do with putting on weight. I'm no longer feeling bloated now. Though I do wonder if it's because I ate too fast lately because I was so hungry!!