[tigerente]

I just started eating strictly whole foods yesterday. My diet isn't really that different than before, I am just completely eliminating fast food, processed foods and all the junk.
I typically eat a breakfast of kashi go lean cereal with soy milk for breakfast, cut up fruits and veggies, protein bar and string cheese for lunch. Then dinner is where I typically go bad. Subway sandwhiches, teriyaki, pizza, etc. Both my hubby and I are really busy with work and are exhausted at the end of the day.
Starting yesterday, I gave up the processed and fast foods. So I ate oatmeal yesterday and today for breakfast with soymilk. Then lunch was some brown rice crackers with almond butter, and my typical fruits and veggies which include and apple, cucumber, bell peppers, etc. Dinner yesterday was tuna salad with celery, pickles, and a splash of mayo and mustard. Today was stir fry with tofu, peppers, sweet potato, bok choy and some olive oil and garlic chili sauce. Snacks have been a couple of almonds and a couple of tangerines.
I feel better now, but this morning, my stomach was really upset. I drive around all day with my business, and it was really hard today. I had (tmi) diarrhea several times and felt very naseaus. I don't typically struggle with tummy problems and am hoping this is temporary. There was no gas involved, and I ended up having to take some pepto to settle my stomach.
The only thing that is very different is the oatmeal in the morning. I pretty much never eat oatmeal but sometimes eat ground brown rice cereal.
Have any of you experienced this when switching to whole foods? I put the sweet potato in my meal tonight to try and help settle my tummy. I think it is helping. I just hope this settles down very quickly!

[tigerente]

oh, one last thing, I take probiotics and fish oil every day too! Maybe I need to switch to a stronger probiotic or something?

[beerab]

Maybe your fiber intake increased a bit dramatically? I know too much fiber can make you go a lot.

I'd say also part of it is just adjusting- I'm sure you'll be fine in a few days

[tigerente]

I sure hope that I adjust quickly! I felt so miserable! Still feeling fine now, but it could be the pepto I took this morning working still.

[bananapancakes]

Maybe your body is just adjusting to such a big change so suddenly.....your body could be flushing out all the toxins etc.... Just a thought, I'm not expert.

[paris81]

I remember when I started eating healthier, every time I had a big salad, I was funning to the bathroom 30 minutes later. It went away though, so don't worry!

[tigerente]

I just had to say it only lasted a day, thank god! I love the first week of eating healthy ! I started on Sunday of last week and am down 10 pounds as of today, Saturday. My ticker isn't up to date, I was back up to 242, hence starting a clean diet up again! Tomorrow is official weigh in day, so I'll change it tomorrow. I went on a first week celebration hike today. 3 miles, it took an hour but it was super steep! I'm feeling good and looking forward to continuing!

[marigrace]

Wow ! I am so happy to hear of your success !

[garstar]

Congratulations!

About your dinners - I'd suggest planning in advance, and cooking in advance. Know what you want - and get it ready to just eat when you get home. Also, you can cook things in bulk and freeze them. I just cooked up 4 chicken breasts, cut them up, and have been grabbing some out of the fridge to throw into salads the last few days, very easy!

[KellyGrrl]

You should take all the glutens out of your diet for a week and see how you feel. Glutens do that to alot of peoples stomachs.

Check out www.ultramind.com. He is amazing.

[Michelle1210]

It sounds like you are going through a lot of detoxing.

[kaplods]

To me, the most likely suspect is fiber.

A sudden switch to whole foods often includes a sudden leap in fiber (because whole foods are loaded in it, and the SAD (standard american diet) is not.

For many people, a sudden increase in fiber results in temporary digestive issues - stomach aches, abdominal cramping, constipation and/or diarrhea (and sometimes what seems like one followed by the other).

There are basically two ways to deal with it "suck it up" until your body gets used to the new level (I don't particularly recommend that one) or make fiber increases more gradually (count fiber grams or servings of high carb foods and increase in small increments).

[Michelle125]

Oh, oatmeal will KILL me, and I have no idea why. But maybe eliminate the oatmeal? And I have to be careful about whole wheat. It totally tears up my stomach. But the unhealthy white breads are a breeze... :P! Good luck!

[saef]

What Kaplods said.

Warning, as I'm heading into the TMI territory here -- but my, er, schedule or patterns of bathroom use changed after I started eating an almost entirely whole foods diet. For the better, after the same initial adaptation that you're experiencing. I became extremely regular, like clockwork, & my usual time was early in the morning, before I left for work -- which pretty much eliminated the issues you were having of needing bathroom trips throughout the day.

The only thing that messes me up now is if I overdo chewing the sugarfree gum during the daytime. The xylitol or sorbitol in that stuff causes havoc for me. But that's not a whole food & so I figure it's the price of straying into processed foods.

[grrlscout]

The fiber thing is entirely possible.

Kashi cereal gives my family the. worst. gas.

It doesn't bother me at all, I think because I've been eating high fiber foods for a long time.