Normal to expiernce muscle fatigue + what we have done so far

[mknabster]

Hi all,

My wife and I recently started our Whole30 journey for the first time and found out about it from one of her friends who had good luck with it. Honestly the only reason why I told her I would do it too was because i'm allowed to have potatoes! We currently are on Day 4 now and I feel like my stomach is getting used to it so no more stomach aches like it was on Day 1. But the one major issue i'm facing is extreme muscle fatigue, to the point where it pains me to walk down steps, bend over, and list my arms. I workout each morning during the week where i bike and lift weights and this i have been doing for a long time, and never have had fatigue like this before, so i'm guessing it has to do with the Whole30.

So I'm trying to figure out what i need to add/change in order for this to go away. I'm going to stop working out until it does resolve itself because it has been getting worse as the week goes on as far as the pain. My wife has been complaining about back pain as well, but hers is starting to go away while mine is getting stronger. If it helps, here's what we have been eating so far:

Monday: breakfast - banana, orange juice| lunch - hard boiled eggs, carrots | dinner - grilled chicken, baked potato/sweet potato

Tuesday: breakfast - banana, OJ | lunch - hard boiled eggs, sweet potato | dinner - chicken, salad, cucumbers, whole30 balsamic dressing | snack - home-made beef jerky

Wednesday: breakfast - banana, OJ, flax seed oil | lunch - hard boiled eggs, carrots | dinner - turkey burgers with quacamole and bacon, spinach

Thursday (today): breakfast - banana, OJ, flax seed oil | lunch - turkey burger with quac and bacon, spinach | chicken, salad, cucumbers, bacon, whole30 balsamic dressing | snack - beef jerky

I know my breakfasts are lacking as far as what i'm eating, but a banana is easy to grab and go and I generally don't have too much time after my workout before i have to get out the door. One thing that probably is counting against me is my lack of water intake, I generally got so much water from fruit before the program because i had a protein shake with frozen fruit nearly everyday at lunch, so that's something i know I need to work on. I do cook all our meals from scratch, we rarely went out to eat before the program so that's a continuation here, and we are being very diligent with what we buy so we stay on point with the program. I also have several allergies like all nuts, all fish, seafood, broccoli, mushrooms, legumes, and certain fruits. So i already have some roadblocks working against me for what i can have.

Taking all that into account, I know it's a lot, but how am I doing with my eating and what can be done to get this fatigue to go away so i can start working out again? Thanks!

[ladyshanny]

Hi @mknabster - sorry that you aren't feeling well. Pain in the most common sense is not an expected side effect of eating protein, veggies and fats. Body fatigue and muscle weakness can be and is generally attributed to both the process of fat adaptation and can be exacerbated by under-eating. For the fat adaptation process, we do recommend that folks take it easy with their exercising for 7-10 days while their body adjusts.

In your case you are most likely seeing this in a greater degree because of the quantity and composition of your meals. Your body is trying to become fat adapted but every time you have the fruit and juice breakfast, you're setting yourself back. Our recommendation is that every meal is composed of 1-2 palms (length, thickness and width of your own palm) of protein, 2-3+ cups of cooked veggie or equivalent and 1-2 servings of fat. Fruits are meant to come after the template meal is completed if you are still desiring of fruit. Juice is not recommended at all. If you're eating salad greens as your veggie, you need a literal mixing bowl full. Think of how little salad wilts down to. Add sturdier veggies to salads. Your meals don't show much if any fat in them either and that is going to affect everything as well.

I would highly recommend you get your meals in order, starting with breakfast. Nutrition is cumulative and starting out your day without the adequate intake is very difficult to make up for. Consider your Monday eating. Banana, juice, hard boiled eggs, carrots, chicken and a potato. That is very, very little food for an adult male who works out regularly.

[mknabster]

Thanks for your response LadyShanny! What would you recommend as a good breakfast meal, like an omelette with turkey sausage/bacon and spinach inside? Do the rest of my meals sound adequate as far as the intake is concerned for lunch and dinner? Of course I didn't say the quantity i had of each thing. For Monday I did do everything according to the guidebook as far as the palm size recommendations.

[ShannonM816]

2 hours ago, mknabster said:

Thanks for your response LadyShanny! What would you recommend as a good breakfast meal, like an omelette with turkey sausage/bacon and spinach inside? Do the rest of my meals sound adequate as far as the intake is concerned for lunch and dinner? Of course I didn't say the quantity i had of each thing. For Monday I did do everything according to the guidebook as far as the palm size recommendations.

You can eat anything for breakfast you'd eat for any other meal, just make it meet the template. An omelette with lots of veggies, fried eggs over vegetable hash, leftovers from dinner, a big bowl of chunky soup with lots of meat and veggies. Here's a discussion of some non-egg breakfast ideas:  https://forum.whole30.com/topic/28832-lets-talk-non-traditional-breakfasts/, maybe you'll find something that appeals to you.