Reintro Panic

[ElizabethA]

I am only on day 13, but am having anxiety about the reintro period. Prior to Whole30 I was a healthy eater (meals) but drank wine 3 or 4 nights a week and ate a lot of junk. I completely lost my discipline and needed a "reset". Someone suggested Whole30, and with the exception of a minor setback (constipation, which is no more), I love the plan. I have no health issues to speak of and was hoping that once I hit my 30 days I could add back a few things in very small moderation (wine when I have an event, and an occasional bad meal of pasta, etc.). I admit I have never felt better, but I know my lifestyle cannot sustain the plan 100%. My question is, will I do more damage than good if I go to dinner after my 30 days and have wine and a carb together without going through a reintro period? I am really stressed about it after reading horror stories of people feeling awful after going off plan.

 

Any comfort you can give me that I wont end up in severe "food" shock after trying a piece of bread with a glass of wine and some cheese is welcome! (Special occasions only, I promise!).

 

 

[jmcbn]

If you'd like to know what might cause that 'food shock' so you can decide what is worth eating on special occasions and what is not (no matter how special the occasion) then reintros are an absolute must.

You'd be surprised at the number of people who thought they didn't have any issues with particular foods but where proved wrong when they went through reintros.

I'd also add that the vast majority of second timers clearly state that they wish they'd carried out reintro's first time around. And a huge percentage of those folk found themselves very quickly on a slippery slope to old habits.
 

In my opinion the reintros are the most important part of the process - and once you know how each food effects you you'll not feel so much anxiety about eating off plan foods when the opportunities present themselves.

[ElizabethA]

Makes perfect sense. And you are right, I wont know unless I try. Thanks for the prompt response and great advice.

[MeadowLily]

Reintros are the best part and reward for all of the hard work.  Those who don't believe it's necessary often find their value afer a restart. 

 

I did spent 30 days trying to figure out what I was going to do on Day 31.  It's taken me longer than 30 days to complete the reintro process.  It took 2 years.   

[Nuevodiva]

I've done the whole 60! It was awesome & im so glad I did it but now I'm actually scared to reintroduce forbidden food.

It our 20 anniversary tomorrow & there will be a big party w cocktails & foods I haven't eaten in 2 months.

Any suggestions? Please help

[ShannonM816]

I've done the whole 60! It was awesome & im so glad I did it but now I'm actually scared to reintroduce forbidden food.

It our 20 anniversary tomorrow & there will be a big party w cocktails & foods I haven't eaten in 2 months.

Any suggestions? Please help

First, don't be scared to reintroduce foods. The reason we encourage people to do reintroductions is just to see how you react to different foods so that when you're in a situation like a party, you can decide which foods are worth it to you based on how you react to them. It's really hard to do a controlled reintroductions in the context of a party where there are all kinds of tempting foods around, so you're kind of going in blind -- you can't say how dairy or wheat affect you, so you can't use that knowledge to help you decide what is and isn't worth it. You can still choose not to go overboard and limit yourself to just the things that are most appealing to you.

You might find the tips in this article helpful as a way to navigate this situation: http://whole30.com/2015/12/clean-plate-rule/

In that article there's a link to another article about the one bite rule which I'd recommend reading as well.

Congratulations on your anniversary, and remember that you don't have to eat all the food or drink all the wine to have an amazing time.

[elainebio]

This isn't quite panic, but some questions on retro that I wasn't sure where to post.  I am on day 32 - did the legume thing yesterday and feel fine so far.  My question involves sugar.  I believe it is OK to introduce some and I assume that is OK at any time during reintroduction.  My actual question is - once you determine, for example, that legumes are OK, can you continue having them as you reintroduce the next category, or are they out until you have finished the reintroduction process?

 

Also have a general question - which I would post elsewhere, but don't know where.  I am very much a senior citizen, and I definitely didn't see many of the results the younger folks on my Facebook support group [the May2016 group] reported.  Have Melissa and Doug ever looked at the results of whole30 on the elderly, whose metabolism, etc may be quite different than a 20 year olds and may have numerous other health issues?

 

Thanks for listening!

Elaine

[SugarcubeOD]

.  My actual question is - once you determine, for example, that legumes are OK, can you continue having them as you reintroduce the next category, or are they out until you have finished the reintroduction process?

 

Also have a general question - which I would post elsewhere, but don't know where.  I am very much a senior citizen, and I definitely didn't see many of the results the younger folks on my Facebook support group [the May2016 group] reported.  Have Melissa and Doug ever looked at the results of whole30 on the elderly, whose metabolism, etc may be quite different than a 20 year olds and may have numerous other health issues?

 

Thanks for listening!

Elaine

Hi Elaine;

 

Once you introduce a category of food, you go back to Whole30 for a few days and then you eat whole30 except the item you're working on testing so if you tested legumes, then you leave them off again until you're done the rest of your reintros.

 

As far as your question about Dallas and Melissa specifically testing and looking at the elderly, no, I don't think they have.  Yes, a senior citizen may have different 'tiger blood' and energy changes during the program but the heart of the program is eating whole, healthy, non inflammatory foods for the duration of the 30 days and then testing which ones affect you, which doesn't have anything to do with your age.  The positive side effects are different for everyone and quite likely significantly different for older folks, folks who are breastfeeding, highly overweight folks, sedentary folks, athletes etc... but the crux of the program remains the same, which is to eat healthy foods and find out how the commonly problematic foods affect you personally.

[elainebio]

Thanks Sugarcube!!  And am I right about it being OK to add small amounts of sugar during reintro?  

Elaine

[SugarcubeOD]

Thanks Sugarcube!!  And am I right about it being OK to add small amounts of sugar during reintro?  

Elaine

Yes, that's the only way to really re-intro sugar... the best bet tho, is if you re-intro something and it seems to cause sugar dragon awakenings, then go back to Whole30, try again with an unsweetened version of the food group and see what happens...

[elainebio]

Makes sense.  For now, I am really only planning on sugar in my tea and possibly regular ketchup.  That dragon "ain't welcome any more"!!  

[Artistcam]

Hi. I am a senior 76 years old and doing a whole 30 did improve several aspects of my health, but not all. I am so glad I did it. Some surprises (dairy is a problem) during reintroduction. The reason I did this was to see if it would help my chronic bronchitis, which I have had for over a year. I had tried 7 different drugs, been cat scanned to rule out pneumonia and cancer, and was told by a pulmonologist that it was basically inflammation and I should see yet one more Doctor. I decided to give this a try since I was tired of taking tests and using drugs. My cough improved about 80% by the third week of the whole 30. Other positive, unexpected, results were normal fasting blood sugars (I am a mild type2 diabetic), almost no nausea episodes (which I have had weekly for 4 years), normal elimination, stopping the desire/need for after dinner snacks. and losing 5 pounds. I also had more energy and felt more positive and social.

Did it fix everything? No. But I am much healthier and happier. Everyone's experience will be different. It definitely taught me to be more self aware. I kept a journal for each day, noting when and what I ate and any physical or psychological reactions I had. This was a big help for me. My journal was not elaborate. It was a fun experience for me. Lots of shopping at farmers markets, cutting up veggies, and trying new combinations of foods. I am lucky in that I have never had a sugar dragon, but probably had starch and dairy dragons, which I have now tamed. I had been eating a very low carb Paleo type diet but fell off the wagon too easily. This had helped the diabetes but the whole 30 helped even more because of the structure.

Thank you to the Hartwigs and the moderators of this site.