Always hungry-Awful cravings!

[rforshee11]

Hello,

I am new to Whole30, and I am on day 3. I am a huge planner, so before I started I read the book, planned my meals for the first two weeks, grocery shopped, cleaned out my pantry, etc. I knew this journey was going to be difficult to me because I love sugar and have a sweet tooth. I am already dairy free, and dont consume a lot of gluten either. 

I know it’s early in the game..but I feel awful. Today I had such an intense migraine that it made me nauseous and unable to eat lunch. I tried forcing it down, but just couldn’t do it (I also don’t believe in forcing food when you don’t have an appetite). I don’t like skipping meals, but it was just not a good day. On top of that, I never feel satisfied..or it could be that I’m so used to having a snack, mainly a sugary one, at a specific time..so maybe my body thinks I’m hunrgy when I’m really not.

The past three days have been hard, and I wanted to give up after 3pm on my first day. Any advice out there for newbies? 

 

Breakfast:

Sweet Potato hash browns (I’m not using these as an impersonation food)

Strawberries

2 large eggs

water

Lunch: 

Boneless bites (from the Whole30 cookbook) 

Broccoli with compliant ranch

Sweet potato fries (once again,not using this as an impersonation food)

Fruit

 

Dinner:

Healthy broccoli and steak salad

Warm Chipotle Lime Mayo Sweet Potato Salad 

 

Snacks:

I workout and I am usually still at work for dinner, so I need snacks

Handful of almonds

Strawberries

broccoli

Sweet potato cubes

 

My sugar cravings have been so bad! I almost can’t concentrate at work and just want to give up and have a bag of cookies from the vending machine. Does this get better?

[SugarcubeOD]

Sorry you're not feeling well.

For starters, you're not eating enough for breakfast.  When eggs are your sole source of protein, it's as many as you can hold in one hand without dropping - for most people that's 3-4.

Second, you have no fat in your breakfast and third, we want your plate filled with veggies - not sure how much hashbrowns you ate but the recommendation is a fist sized serving and then the rest would be non starchy veg.

How much brocolli was in the lunch?  How much as far as chicken?  

I think you're really undereating based on what' you've said here... have you seen the meal template?  Its linked in my signature below.

[rforshee11]

1 hour ago, SugarcubeOD said:

Sorry you're not feeling well.

For starters, you're not eating enough for breakfast.  When eggs are your sole source of protein, it's as many as you can hold in one hand without dropping - for most people that's 3-4.

Second, you have no fat in your breakfast and third, we want your plate filled with veggies - not sure how much hashbrowns you ate but the recommendation is a fist sized serving and then the rest would be non starchy veg.

How much brocolli was in the lunch?  How much as far as chicken?  

I think you're really undereating based on what' you've said here... have you seen the meal template?  Its linked in my signature below.

I am a little confused on what to eat for breakfast. I am usually good for three hours after breakfast. 

Hashbrowns= one cup

Broccoli= one cup

I had 10 boneless bites.

I typically get full very fast, and have to eat kids sized portions of food. This makes me think that Whole30 may not make sense for me. 

[laura_juggles]

You should be good for 4-5 hours after a meal, so your saying that you're good for 3 is an indicator that that meal is too small. 

Unless you've had gastric bypass or are a very small person, my guess would be that your hormones are whacked out and your body has just gotten so used to grazing and snacking through the day that it can't figure out what an appropriate meal size is. 

You're relying *a lot* on sweet potatoes and there isn't a whole lot of other veg going on. Also a fair amount of fruit. Maybe try adding fat to your meals like Sugarcube suggested and broadening your veggies to see how that changes things. 

[rforshee11]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will use this week as a learning week, and apply what you both said as I do my grocery shopping this weekend. 

Just my take away from this:

So broaden my veggie choices?

Add more of a variety of fruit instead of sticking to one?

Yes, I believe my body/hormones is completely out of whack. I am a small person and I have digestive issues, so that somewhat contributes.

What would be some good fats to add to each meal? 

My cravings kick in around my slump time (2-4pm) and are ok once I go to bed. I sit at a desk all day, so it's easy to snack and think about all the things I can't eat. I only snack before I go to the gym, since I am still at work around dinner time. 

[kirbz]

The meal template provides a good summary of your fat options. You can find that here: https://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf. 

In summary, you should have one or two portions of fat with each meal, not counting the oil you may cook with because most of that is left in the pan. Your fat options are: 

• oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil (I often consume these in dressings; mayo is also a good option) 
• other cooking fats like animal fats (duck fat and fried potatoes are delicious!)
• ghee and other butters such as nut butters or coconut butter 
• coconut such as coconut flakes (I often do a handful as a pre-workout fat) 
• olives (sometimes I add a random, large handful of olives just to get fats into a meal)
• avocado 
• coconut milk (I make curries or soups with coconut milk; a lot of people do coconut milk with their coffee) 

A few other things to note: 

• Most people do best with a fist-sized serving of starchy vegetables each day. This includes potatoes, carrots, winter squashes, beets, rutabaga, etc. You seem to rely heavily on these types of vegetables. 
• Try more variety of vegetables. Some of my favorites are: zucchini, spinach, artichokes, brussel sprouts, cucumber, and asparagus.
• Eat more fat! :-) 

Hopefully some of these things will make you feel better! Best wishes to you! 

[rforshee11]

Thanks everyone!

[SugarcubeOD]

4 hours ago, rforshee11 said:

Add more of a variety of fruit instead of sticking to one?

Adding to the other great comments - don't let fruit push veggies off your plate.  If you're having trouble eating larger meals, add veggies before adding fruit - there are no nutrients fruit has that are not more readily available from veggies.