Bags under my eyes and mental fatigue on day 23

[Rachel Nicole]

Hi! I'm on day 23 of my first whole30 and am feeling a bit discouraged. I have developed dark circles under my eyes that i've NEVER had before. I've been noticing them for the past couple weeks.  Also feel pretty exhausted and am experiencing mental fogginess.. has this happened to anyone? I'm eating more meat than ever (very high quality directly from local farmers) and wonder if that could have an impact? I read that dark circles and mental fog could be a sign that I'm not digesting meat properly or that I have an allergy to eggs. 

Not really sure where to go from here. I was hoping to feel more energetic and healthy but I can literally feel the weight of my eyeballs haha.

My body has energy but my brain is foggy. Other things have improved but this feels significant and like a sign that there's something off. 

Thank you !!

[ShannonM816]

What do your meals look like? Are you following the meal template (you can download it here: https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/)? Fatigue and mental foggiest could be from not eating enough, not salting your food, or not drinking enough water. It could be something else, but those are common issues and probably the first things to check on.

If you want feedback on your meals, list a day or two of meals, including approximate serving sizes, and we can see if anything stands out.

[SugarcubeOD]

I don't mean to make light of what could potentially be an issue with your meal template or even how you digest certain foods but is it also possible that because the world is in a pandemic state right now, that you could be reacting to even the latent and chronic stress that it is affecting almost every one right now?  Bags/dark circles under the eyes, foggy brain, fatigue - all symptoms of a stress reaction.

I think you should take Shannon's advice above and have a look at some of those things and list your meals as suggested so we can see what if anything stands out but i think it's also reasonable to expect that it might not be 'just' food... given where we are as a society in crisis at the moment.

[Rachel Nicole]

Thank you both for the feedback! 

I'm certain that it is not stress. My stress levels are actually pretty low compared to usual. I'm working from home, able to help others, and have plenty of time for self care and connection with family and friends! I'm a mental health counselor and pretty aware of how stress impacts me. I've been way more stressed at other times and never ever experienced dark circles under my eyes or this level of fatigue. 

I drink 95oz of water on average per day. I'm also eating significantly more than I usually do. I'm 5'2" and about 106 pounds (i don't way myself so going off the last doctors visit).. I have been eating meals based on what's generated through the whole30 recommended "real plans" app. First week I followed the Whole30 book 7 day meal plan to a T. Here's a few days on the "real plans" app:  

Breakfast: steak, asparagus, kale, oyster mushrooms, 2 eggs, banana, black tea 

Lunch: deconstructed egg rolls with ground beef and a mandarin (portion size identical to what real plans suggests)

Dinner: Chicken, sweet potato, carrots 

 

Breakfast: summer fruit skillet (ground pork, blueberries, spinach), 1 egg, black tea 

Lunch: seared scallops, strawberry arugula salad

Dinner: lamb riblets, roasted sweet potato and brussel sprouts 

(^^this was my bday and I incorporated fruit more than I have on an other days throughout whole30) 
 

Breakfast: kale and sweet potato hash, 2 eggs, bacon, black tea 

Lunch: leftover chicken, root veggies, cauliflower mash 

Dinner: Burger patties, cremini mushrooms, sauteed kale 

 

Breakfast: spinach eggs benedict, ham, sweet potatoes, banana, black tea 

Lunch: butternut squash "zoodles" with ground beef/marinara sauce, kale salad with walnuts 

Dinner: pistachio tahini cod, arugula salad with citrus vinaigrette

If I exercise I will have an epic bar or meat stick + handful of nuts beforehand  and then an egg or 2 and sweet potato or butternut squash afterwards. 

Thank you!!

[Rachel Nicole]

If it would be helpful to go into more detail I can add the specific ingredients to the meals I've listed... there are always herbs and fats according to what the recipes suggest. 

[ShannonM816]

Nothing here really stands out to me as being an obvious problem, so I'm not sure what to tell you.

Are you eating anything you never ate before, or ate very rarely before and are eating a lot more of? Maybe there's something that you're having some kind of reaction to. I'm really not sure. I'm sorry I don't have any better suggestions for you. 

[Rachel Nicole]

2 hours ago, ShannonM816 said:

Nothing here really stands out to me as being an obvious problem, so I'm not sure what to tell you.

Are you eating anything you never ate before, or ate very rarely before and are eating a lot more of? Maybe there's something that you're having some kind of reaction to. I'm really not sure. I'm sorry I don't have any better suggestions for you. 

Hi Shannon, 

Thanks for the input and for taking a look at it. I am eating a lot more meat than ever. I was a vegetarian for almost a decade and started eating meat about a year ago, but only a couple times a week. So, this is significantly more. I do purchase everything from local organic farms, directly from the farmers so it's the highest quality I can find. I do wonder if perhaps it's too much meat for me? 

I also started taking the fermented cod oil that is recommended in the whole30 book. I doubt that's it but I'm cutting it out for the remainder to see if anything changes. 

Thanks again!