Common "growing pains" ?
bethanylaugh
Posts: 237
New to this and I'm wondering what sort of "side effects" I should expect in the first days/weeks... I assume my body is going to make me think I need sugar/gluten/wheat etc (I'm totally jonesin' for some right now) but are there any physical things I should look out for and accept as normal, like lethargy, headaches, etc?
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Or any initial/temporary weight gain?0
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I am no expert, but based on my experience, I felt crappy for a few days as my body adjusted. From what I have read by others here, it largely depends on how much of it you ate before you started. Stick it out, you will feel great soon enough!0
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I started eating Paleo last Monday. I have not had any side effects. I have heard people complain that they have headaches and are tired, plus craving foods they can not have. I was eating pretty close to Paleo before, so this hasn't been a huge adjustment for me, so maybe that is why it was easy. Not sure. Maybe I am in for a world of hurt soon, who knows! But so far I feel great.0
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lol i have emotional growing pains...the emotional equivalent of kicking my feet around and whining about why i can't have bagels.
get your mind in check...body will follow :flowerforyou:
still workin' on it!0 -
I made a pretty drastic change when I went Paleo. I was so hungry for about two weeks. I don't remember any other symptoms. After the two weeks I stopped being hungry, I could sit next to a box of donuts and not need to eat one, and I had so much energy I was bouncing in my seat at work.0
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If you are still eating grains (gluten free stuff have no wheat, but still have other grains), then you won't really be going Paleo and I don't think you'll notice much change, good or bad. Although, just going gluten free does help some people.0
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I had the "carb flu" for the first little while. I had a steady headache for 4-5 days. I was also very tired for about 7-10 days... no amount of coffee or anything would pep me up. a little TMI - I also felt bloated/gassy on and off for the first couple weeks. I've heard that is due to upping your protein and fat intake. the first two weeks can be rough, but after that it's much easier.
I ate a lot of carbs before I went Paleo, so my body had a big adjustment to make.0 -
If you are cutting grains, sugars, and dairy you might want to check this out from the Whole9/whole30 people. It was pretty accurate for me when I started out.
http://whole9life.com/2013/01/whole30-timeline/0 -
I did not experience any problems because I ate plenty of what is already considered Paleo. The one thing I had to get used to is eating more. The calories do not stack up like chowing pasta or a huge sub.
I love it though. The weight comes off rather easily once your body gets in tune with the lifestyle. I feel better and have a lot more energy.
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Thanks everyone! I'm already feeling better today (day 3.5). I was already eating a relatively low carb diet but it was the wrong kinds of carbs. I was also really hungry all day yesterday even though I was eating all my fats... but I'm 2 hours past breakfast today already and not hungry yet - a first in a long long time! I do still feel a little guilty for enjoying that delicious plate of fatty real foods... but in a good way :blushing: I'm in the process of working my way up the calorie scale too, which I'll do slowly for my own sanity.
I also noticed my exercising heart rate was at its usual spot this morning but I was putting a little less effort in to get it there, think it's a little exhaustion from my poor body purging all the crap inside of it!
Rusty1257 - that link was spot on... thank you SO much to you & everyone, I feel so much better knowing these are normal side effects!!!0 -
I felt awful for the first 4 days or so, like I was getting sick. But my lethargy and bloating went away and I felt AWESOME by the end of the first week. I had a small piece of GF cake on day 14 (for my birthday) and felt like hell for the next 24 hours - almost hungover! Crazy what a little sugar can do to us!
I also recommend Whole 30 - it helped me get my brain around the whole mindset!0
