Stomach Aches?

As of the past few days I've been having pretty consistent stomach aches and pains and I can't help thinking that it's either due to: the frequency with which I'm eating the same things or the amount of protein I'm taking in. 

For breakfast most days I was having eggs and avocadoes. But as a result of the stomach issues I stopped eating eggs, as well as lactose-free milk (I had been having a glass or two of whole milk for a bit to get the fat and protein, but since lactose doesn't do me well I had gone the lactose-free route) for a few days now to see if that would help, so far it hasn't. Been having organic coconut milk instead, but nothing's changed. I've also found myself hungry and unsatisfied pretty much after every breakfast and dinner, to the point where I have to eat almost a second dinner or breakfast in order to relax into sleep or be full until lunch (or stick to the allotted 'meals' and portions but just be hungry). So, my portion sizes have been out of balance and, well, proportion in those cases. I still follow the Thrive goals: 2L of water, raw veggie, starch, fat and protein at lunch; fat/protein breakfast; cooked veggie, carb, and protein at dinner. I thought to myself having too much rice, too frequently might have cause it (or led to my insatiability), but I ate that almost every day when I lived overseas to no ill effect, that I can recall.

Not sure if anyone has experienced somethig similar. It's certainly NOT food poisoning (as I was in the Peace Corps in Rwanda and am all too familiar with that son of a b----), but I'm not sure if my eating habits have caused this. It's not an urgent medical issue, not yet at least, so I'm not rushing to go to the doctor. Wanted to hear @Jeff Serven's thoughts and maybe others if you've experienced anything similar.

The problem with the "milk test" is anytime you take any(yes any) food out for a significant period of time and reintroduce it that food will upset your equilibrium for lack of a better term. So my option on the (stupid) advice "oh, take that food out for 30 days and see how you feel" is stupid. No matter what it is you will feel different when you remove and reintroduce. With that said lactose intolerance in very common. Just not in whites. 

How much of a difference in vegetable consumption is this for you? Particularly raw? How about animal protein?

As per my first paragraph- If you don't eat much vegetables and or protein then start Thrive you may experience temporary difficulties.  This is only due to gut ecology and your gut is simply not prepared to deal with these items but it will adapt and it should as this is optimal. 

White rice is the least hypoallergenic food in the world. Translation in english = of all the food sensitivities in the world white rice is dead last. Virtually no one has a food sensitivity to white rice. That is unless you are a rich, white woman who is board. 

If you are starving throw in a snack or something to hold you over. There is nothing wrong with eating a 4th meal. For myself if Im training hard I have to eat 4. No way 3 and a snack can do it. 

1 hour ago, Jeff Serven said:

The problem with the "milk test" is anytime you take any(yes any) food out for a significant period of time and reintroduce it that food will upset your equilibrium for lack of a better term. So my option on the (stupid) advice "oh, take that food out for 30 days and see how you feel" is stupid. No matter what it is you will feel different when you remove and reintroduce. With that said lactose intolerance in very common. Just not in whites. 

How much of a difference in vegetable consumption is this for you? Particularly raw? How about animal protein?

As per my first paragraph- If you don't eat much vegetables and or protein then start Thrive you may experience temporary difficulties.  This is only due to gut ecology and your gut is simply not prepared to deal with these items but it will adapt and it should as this is optimal. 

White rice is the least hypoallergenic food in the world. Translation in english = of all the food sensitivities in the world white rice is dead last. Virtually no one has a food sensitivity to white rice. That is unless you are a rich, white woman who is board. 

If you are starving throw in a snack or something to hold you over. There is nothing wrong with eating a 4th meal. For myself if Im training hard I have to eat 4. No way 3 and a snack can do it. 

Lmao. The rich, white woman comment...Someone might be upset, but, not me. My veggie and protein consumption was pretty much spot on, though the designation of a raw and cooked vegetable was not. 

Good to know that a 4th meal is no biggie if hungry. Maybe the increase in raw veggies has to do eith it. Things to think about. Thanks for your thoughts.

Here's another thought--how have your stress levels been? Stress is often a cause of poor digestion, and I think stress is kind of like water in that frog getting cooked in hot water analogy. In other words, we're so accustomed to the gradual increase of stress sometimes we don't realize how stressed we are until something snaps (such as digestion). 

Have you changed your fitness regimen at all? Or started taking any new supplements? You probably already thought of those items, but thought I'd mention them just in case. 

Note also that there is quite a bit of difference between drinking milk and eating fermented dairy products.

Case in point, my wife is asian.  She cannot tolerate milk comfortably, but greek yogurt causes no issues.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

6 minutes ago, Coach Sommer said:

Note also that there is quite a bit of difference between drinking milk and eating fermented dairy products.

Case in point, my wife is asian.  She cannot tolerate milk comfortably, but greek yogurt causes no issues.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I have found this to be the case for virtually every relative and friend of mine in the Asian community, myself included. I never actually tried greek yogurt till I enrolled on Thrive and thought it would give me stomach cramps like milk does. I love the stuff now and eat it often.

4 hours ago, Julia Quigley said:

Here's another thought--how have your stress levels been? Stress is often a cause of poor digestion, and I think stress is kind of like water in that frog getting cooked in hot water analogy. In other words, we're so accustomed to the gradual increase of stress sometimes we don't realize how stressed we are until something snaps (such as digestion). 

Have you changed your fitness regimen at all? Or started taking any new supplements? You probably already thought of those items, but thought I'd mention them just in case. 

Ahhh stress, well, my Master's thesis is due in two weeks. So, there is that. I'm also up to task 11 or 12 of Thrive and attending to 5-6 days of GB workouts per week (between Foundation, Handstand, and Stretch Series). 

1 hour ago, Coach Sommer said:

Note also that there is quite a bit of difference between drinking milk and eating fermented dairy products.

Case in point, my wife is asian.  She cannot tolerate milk comfortably, but greek yogurt causes no issues.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I will give this some serious consideration in my next bout of grocery shopping. I have been drinking lactose-free whole milk, but I'll look to kefir and greek yogurt as potential alternatives.

On 3/29/2016 at 6:37 PM, Daniel Taylor-Shaut said:

Ahhh stress, well, my Master's thesis is due in two weeks. So, there is that. I'm also up to task 11 or 12 of Thrive and attending to 5-6 days of GB workouts per week (between Foundation, Handstand, and Stretch Series). 

I will give this some serious consideration in my next bout of grocery shopping. I have been drinking lactose-free whole milk, but I'll look to kefir and greek yogurt as potential alternatives.

Well, if it were me, I'd say the impending thesis deadline was the culprit  I was wreck leading up to my submission! 

When you get this baby turned in, you'll have to post so we can all collectively cheer for you!

Hi Daniel , I had the same issue for a few weeks , I am sure it's unrelated to Thrive since I've been having a similar diet except for the morning fats and raw salads, I actually removed the milk and added the Greek yogurt . It's hard to pinpoint the cause since might have been the stress of delivering two movies back to back and countless nights at work, or my sudden  obsession with well fried salmon and raw tomato salad each lunch, but my gastritis that i haven't had for 20 year came back. Could have been the not so healthy gold bladder that reacted to the morning fat, hard to diagnose and the doctors are useless.  I took a few weeks of careful eating , added  Oats and Rice (which actually didn't upset the stomach and the acid reflux) , upped my water intake , had to eat bananas even through the night to relieve the pain. Now i'm back on course and hope to cure my gut sensitivity issues by eating better. In the past only fasting for 10 days would cure me for a year and than it would all come back because of the bad habits. Don't want to fast as much since it does affect the performance big time (hopefully the same is achieved by correct diet ). Thanks to Jeff for starting to make sense in the ocean  of information that's around us.