Discouraged

[Shea Ashcraft]

This is my 21st day on W30, and I am feeling really discouraged. My energy levles are super low. I have yet to feel the tiger blood everyone is talking about. I have been super compliant with the program and have not struggled with missing any foods or even wanting to cheat. I have had hypoglycemia for the last 8 years, which has always made me very conscience about my sugar intake and what I eat and how much I eat etc.. I have been able to manage my blood sugar effeciently with Clean Eating in the past. 5-6 small meals throughout the day with a lean protien and complex carb. either from whole grains or veggies, but I had let my diet go a little and decided to give the W30 a try to help get off of sugar again and see how my body would do without the grains and legumes. I had already removed dairy because of an allergy to casien and whey. I'm enjoying the food and not having sugar does make me feel better, but I still hit that dead, can't concentrate, hangry, I'm going to hurt you if I don't get food now feeling. After I do eat it takes my body awhile to "catch up" again. I was hoping to feel super energetic on the W30 and to feel better than I ever did with the Clean Eating, but I'm just not there. Any help would be appreciated. I'm just tired of feeling tired. I want energy!

[CAK911]

Can you post some sample meals? Some of the mods and super advanced folks have really helped me out in the past troubleshooting what I'm actually eating. My first thought is you might just not be eating enough overall.

[mary-t]

I think CAK911's suggestion to post some meals is a good one. I'll just add that I think for some of us it takes a lot longer to get the energy burst people experience. I felt tired (but still better than I had before Whole30) until Day 25 when I woke up and thought, "wow, this is different". Now I have energy all day. Not over-the-top energy, but very steady and consistent. If you've been hypoglycemic for the past eight years, it may just take a bit longer to heal. Hang in there!

[Shea Ashcraft]

For my breakfasts I normally have about 2-3 eggs with prosciutto, half an avocado, and sometimes half a banana or orange.

Lunch: chicken or fish with another half an avocado and some fresh veggies like snap peas, broccoli, or carrots. Sometimes I'll have a sweet potato with coconut cream on it instead of the avocado.

Dinner: pot roast or ground beef or some sort of fish or chicken with brussle sprouts or some other veggie. And some fruit with coconut cream.

Sometimes I will have an afternoon snack of macadamia nuts and 2 dates to hold me over until dinner. Or I'll eat some almonds and coconut shreds.

[Tom Denham]

When you said you felt hungry and had low energy, I was confident you were not eating enough and needed to add more carbs to your diet. After reading your sample meals, my confidence in what is wrong plummeted. Having made that admission, I am still concerned that you are not eating enough if you are getting "hangry." When you are eating enough Whole30 foods, I would expect you to feel a little hungry just before meals, but nothing serious. And if you are not eating enough, low energy would be a natural consequence. What you are eating looks really good. The amount you are eating is unclear. You might want to review the Whole9 meal template and see if you need to bump up your portion sizes any... http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

[Robin Strathdee]

My thoughts were the same as Tom's on first glance - and I agree, what you're eating looks solid. I might try adding another 1/2 to full portion of protein at each meal (assuming you're following the template) to see if that helps extend things a bit. You can also feel free to have "snacks" that look like small meals when you get hungry so that hypoglycemia doesn't rear it's head.