Day 3 having troubles...

[Samantha31289]

Hi, I am on day 3 of whole30 and noticed a few things already.

On the positive side- I already feel way less bloated and I am actually staying full between the three meals which has never happened before.

For context I am 29, female, working out 4-5 times a week, a little overweight, and used to eat a pretty terrible diet. 

My first concern is that I do have a history of low blood sugar and I am feeling dizziness/tiredness again. 

My second (biggest) concern is that I am waking up at 2-3 am wide awake and hungry. The first night I was able to go back to sleep but last night I had to eat some strawberries, the hunger pangs were awful. 

I am thinking I am maybe not getting enough protein. Last night for dinner (and the night before) I had a big bowl of spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce. I ate a bowl of cauliflower/broccoli with it last night. It’s so filling that I realized I am not adding/craving protein with dinner. 

Last night With dinner i also realized the only protein I ate all day was 1 chicken breast, 3 chicken sausage links and 2 eggs. So at that point is when I made a big bowl of veggies and ate a handful of pecans.

I am eating plenty of vegetables and I believe my fat is enough- yesterday was 1/2 avacado, and olive oil cooked with each meal. 

I am hoping my troubles are coming from not getting enough protein- does that sound right? I just don’t like a whole lot of meats and I get sick of chicken QUICK. Any suggestions?? 

[ShannonM816]

We really recommend following the meal template at every meal (you can download it here: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/). It sounds like you've got the vegetables down, but the protein and the fat are also important, so be sure you're including at least a palm-sized piece of protein at each meal (or if eggs are your only protein in a meal, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand), and then pick one or two fat sources from the options listed in addition to the oil you cook your food in. 

If you are hungry between meals, don't have fruit on its own, have protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three -- so a hard boiled egg with mayo, or guacamole and vegetables, something like that.

In addition, be sure you're drinking plenty of water, and salt your food. 

For the waking at 2-3 am, some people find it helps their sleep if they have a fist-sized serving of starchy vegetable with their final meal of the day. Starchy vegetables would be potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains, winter squashes like butternut or acorn or kabocha squash, or root vegetables like carrots or turnips or beets or parsnips. You might try that for a few nights and see if it helps. 

[Samantha31289]

Thank you so much for that information! Spaghetti squash counts as a starchy carb right? That’s what I’ve eaten for dinner the last two nights. 

[ladyshanny]

47 minutes ago, SamanthaNP said:

Thank you so much for that information! Spaghetti squash counts as a starchy carb right? That’s what I’ve eaten for dinner the last two nights. 

Sort of? Not really. Go for something denser like potato, yam, sweet potato, winter squash. The summer squashes like zucchini and spaghetti aren't the best if you're trying to get a good serving of starches.

[Samantha31289]

Thank you!