Help?

USMCBride90

Alright so here's the deal - I've been eating clean for a couple of weeks now. Even before that I would say I ate pretty healthy. I exercise daily and normally drink a couple of liters of water a day. Here is my problem: I feel bloated and full almost all the time. It's just an uncomfortable feeling. I've been to the doctor on 3 separate occasions and they can't find anything physically wrong. That's when I tried cutting back on breads and grains to see if it was maybe a gluten intolerance. That seemed to help a little, but I'm still bloated and uncomfortable more often than not. No matter what I eat it seems like.

Now I know none of you can diagnose me or tell me what's wrong, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had anything similar happen to them? And if so, what it might be?

firsttimersluck

Hi USMCBride  

Since you have been eating more clean, what has been changed? 

Do you eat more legumes or greens? 

I have noticed a HUGE amount of bloating since I stuff myself with greens (broccoli is one of the WORST culprits of bloating.) 

It's only been a couple weeks since you've adjusted your diet so wait it out.. It'll go down.. Of course I'm sure you know not to eat too close to bed time, lay off the salt at night, etc... Those are huge factors. If you're REALLY stressing  it, I would suggest having a half a glass of red wine in the evening. It cuts down bloating big time.. 

USMCBride90

Well hey there firsttimer, fancy seeing you here

So since I've started eating clean I eat alot more lean protein. Chicken and fish mainly. I also upped my fruits and veggies quite a bit. More fruits than veggies I'd say. I don't eat a whole lot of salt to begin with, but maybe there's something I'm eating that I'm not paying enough attention to that could be causing it. Maybe I'll try and keep a closer eye on it. Red wine....I like the way you think I'll give that a shot! I'm just getting very frustrated because this seems to have been going on for quite awhile, no matter how healthy I try to eat. I HATE FEELING BLOATED!!!

firsttimersluck

I know right Your day is sneaking up!!!

I know.. I totally understand. Since I have become a clean eater my bloating is waaaay more common. 

Have you always been a heavy water drinker or is that more recent as well? And have you been feeling sore in your muscles lately? (if you have upped your work outs) 

USMCBride90

Ahhh I know!! Today we are officially in the double digits! Just over 3 months to go

I can honestly say I have not always been a heavy water drinker. I used to drink a diet mountain dew every morning since I'm not a big fan off coffee, and I used to flavor all of my water with crystal light. Since I started my healthier habits, I completely cut out my diet dew and crystal light because I thought the aspartame was causing the bloating (and the pop just wasn't good for me anyway). Now I stick to plain water. As far as workouts and soreness - I don't think I feel more sore than normal. I do if I had an especially tough workout one day or work some new muscles. But nothing out of the ordinary.

firsttimersluck

I ask because, when you don't give your bod a ton of water, and then suddenly start giving it ONLY water and a lot of it, it gets happy and tries to retain it all. 

and if you are working out more and feeling sore, muscles swell when they are sore (that's why guys talk about going to the gym to get "swollen") When they swell, they fill up with water. 

That can sit in there for a few couple-few weeks. You may just be purely feeling water from how much extra you've been drinking and how much you've been working out.. 

If that's the case and it's been going on for a couple weeks, I would give it a couple more..  I know that feels like a crazy long time, but our bodies (especially women) can be reeeally sensitive to that stuff.. I KNOW mine is. 

USMCBride90

Oh man, I hope that's all it is, because I'm past the feeling of frustration at this point! Any tips on relieving the bloating right now? I'm sick of feeling like I have a baby bump coming on lol And it's like that 85% of the time. Grrr.

firsttimersluck

haha I understand... If you REALLY want the feeling gone AT THIS MOMENT, seriously. Go have a class of wine. don't touch the dark greens, and don't eat ANY sugar later in the evening. no fruit at night! 

That always does it for me.  

USMCBride90

Thanks for all the tips!! I'm gonna go get me a bottle of red That to me seems like a damn good idea. I hope this helps!

Lobsters25

While I don't mean to third wheel my way into this convo  I have a few potential thoughts, based on my own experience.  It turned out for me that adding more food and even some healthier foods wasn't working so well with my body.

When I started eating healthier, I felt bloated ALL of the time, too.  My gastro doc ran a form of eating study at the hospital, and diagnosed me with Gastroparesis. It basically means that I process food over 50% slower than the average person.  So when it's time for my next meal, even though I feel hungry, a lot of my previous meal is still actually processing.  The solution was basically to eat half of my meal at a time, so now I snack all day, and never really have a 'full' meal at once.

The doc also found, through examining my diet, a fiber intolerance, where the fiber does the exact opposite for me as it does for most people (leading to severe bloat and discomfort.) Now I just don't add any additional fiber to my diet, and have to somewhat overcook my veggies to break down their fiber further.

iloveu4ever

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_help-31?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:f6740f43-3c30-4cc7-b2d1-31a275a46b23Post:9002b4c7-d7d6-4011-89fa-fcdc723701d5">Help?</a>:
[QUOTE]Alright so here's the deal - I've been eating clean for a couple of weeks now. Even before that I would say I ate pretty healthy. I exercise daily and normally drink a couple of liters of water a day. Here is my problem: I feel bloated and full almost all the time. It's just an uncomfortable feeling. I've been to the doctor on 3 separate occasions and they can't find anything physically wrong. That's when I tried cutting back on breads and grains to see if it was maybe a gluten intolerance. That seemed to help a little, but I'm still bloated and uncomfortable more often than not. No matter what I eat it seems like. Now I know none of you can diagnose me or tell me what's wrong, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had anything similar happen to them? And if so, what it might be?
Posted by USMCBride90[/QUOTE]

Constipated

anna.oskar

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_help-31?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:f6740f43-3c30-4cc7-b2d1-31a275a46b23Post:51cfedff-e6de-493e-bb26-50e3a8e54ea2">Re: Help?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Help? : Constipated
Posted by iloveu4ever[/QUOTE]

troll

firsttimersluck

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_help-31?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:f6740f43-3c30-4cc7-b2d1-31a275a46b23Post:51cfedff-e6de-493e-bb26-50e3a8e54ea2">Re: Help?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Help? : Constipated
Posted by iloveu4ever[/QUOTE]

<div>
</div><div>You are SUPER useful. </div>

anna.oskar

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_help-31?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:f6740f43-3c30-4cc7-b2d1-31a275a46b23Post:c1b2f59d-98dd-4437-bb52-f2e91674b6bc">Re: Help?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Help? : You are SUPER useful. 
Posted by firsttimersluck[/QUOTE]

Flip through some of her past GIS posts.  THEN you'll really see what unhelpful is.  This is actually a decent answer compared to her usual.

firewaterx

hey could be a food allergy.. if you are eating more fiber than usual and increased it rather quickly that could be it too... also watch sodium and add fresh lemon to your water.. did the dr. check for anything wrong with ovaries/. not to scare you but one of the symptoms of ovarian cancer or cysts can be bloating.also ulcers and bacterial infections in the gi tract can cause that symptom.  i am not a doctor and am sure you are fine just throwing out things to look into. im a hypochondriac though just as a disclaimer..

hope you get rid of the problem!!

USMCBride90

Thanks for all the input ladies. I'm sure it's just my body getting used to everything, it's just frustrating that I've had these symptoms for quite awhile now. Every time I've gone to the doctor for this they've never checked my ovaries for cysts. I think I may make an appointment with a GI doctor to see if they have any answers. Thanks again for all the input!

J&K10910

I agree that it could be a different food allergy.  Also, if you noticed that it got a bit better with cutting out gluten, maybe keep an eye on dairy.  There is hidden dairy in many things, and many people sensitive to gluten are also sensitive to lactose or casein.  Don't go cutting things out all willy nilly, though.

If you haven't been tested for food allergies/intolerances, I would suggest asking your doctor about that.