Day 21 struggling to eat enough at meals

[Merylm3m]

I’m on day 21.  I have liked the experience so far. I didn’t have a terrible time the first week. My first whole30. Recommended by my doc to supplement future infertility treatment.  As days go on I am not feeling well, low energy, dizzy and faint at times during the day. Sometimes feeling nauseous. This has been most of the past week.

Reading the forum and knowing the meal template it seems like I am not quite eating enough, but I’m eating until I’m full and sometimes forcing myself to eat more than I want to.  I often feel hungry before a meal but then fill up quickly. 

 

Meals from yesterday and today:

 

day 20

breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, pineapple, green tea( no veg readily available so tried to make up for it at lunch)

snack: two pieces of beef jerky starving on way to grocery store

lunch: big spinach salad with tomatoes, cubes, radish, roast turkey, 2 hard boiled eggs, oil and acv 

snack: carrot and celery sticks, prosciutto, olives, berries and melon 

dinner: backyard bbq dinner with my parents from the book- 8 oz steak  rest of plate full of grilled veggies some watermelon salad ( side note the steak dry rub and watermelon salad were awesome recipes)

day 21 

breakfast: two eggs, 3-4 ozs leftover steak, leftover grilled veggies, coffee with nut pods

lunch: 3-4 oz chicken tenders dipped in mayo, half an apple, carrot sticks, almond butter

snack: handful of almonds

dinner: from the book-ribs, green cabbage slaw, sautéed plaintain ( this is the plan for dinner-ribs are marinating right -now haven’t eaten yet needed to rest because I felt lightheaded when I went to start prepping)

I love good seasoned food so I feel like I am salting appropriately and I usually add one nuun hydration tab to one of my waters during the day.  

 

I drink lots of water. I did before whole30 as well. 

 

Suggestions and advice greatly appreciated. 

[ShannonM816]

Three meals a day and no snacks is a recommendation, but it's not a rule -- if you're not able to eat large enough meals to get enough food, maybe add some mini-meals during the day? So rather than a handful of almonds,  have a combo of protein, fat, and vegetables, just in whatever serving size works for you. 

Since you're having trouble eating large enough portions, it might be good to focus on foods that are the most nutritionally or calorically dense. In general, this means mostly cooked vegetables rather than big salads, so maybe in your day 21 lunch, sub baked sweet potato or even roasted carrots rather than raw ones.  Or day 20's big spinach salad with eggs, how about cooked spinach, a tomato & cucumber salad, and a serving of another vegetable? Or do a small salad and some roasted or sauteed vegetables?  Have you found that certain meats/protein sources seem to keep you satisfied longer or result in you not needing snacks? It could make a difference if you choose fattier cuts of meat, or choose beef over chicken. 

 

[slc_melissa]

Check the ingredients to your nuun tablets! Most of those have sweeteners as far as I know!