Lorna from Canada

In general I was surprised by how many of the claims came true! But, that's not what I mean by my question. I'm curious to find our whether there was something you received from your W30 that you totally didn't expect? For me, one thing I can think of is that I lost my desire for what the Australians call "Gluggy Foods". I have loved pasta and rice based one pot dishes (casseroles) precisely because of the mouth feel of thick, creamy but tasty food. My favourite desserts are rice pudding and the like. I love home made macaroni and cheese or risotto. But, no more. My mouth wants to chew! My teeth want a job to do - I have completely lost my desire for soft, sticky, gluggy foods. This is really unexpected. The other day I was craving steak simply because I wanted something to gnaw on Very strange indeed. What about you? Any surprises?

It's so hard to get used to eating giant meals in the beginning! I'm still eating a huge plate of veggie hash, some kind of meat and eggs every morning. I love being able to eat so much - in my previous dieting world I was only allowed to eat huge portions of salad and steamed vegetables - ugh. One of my favorites for breakfast is my leftover homemade potato salad - what a great start to my day! It does take awhile to allow yourself to eat a full plate of W30 compliant food (and seconds if you're still hungry!) but, once you do, your body really starts listening. I'm still losing weight (I haven't weighed myself since my almost 11lb loss after my W30 but my clothes are getting looser and looser) and I am loving food again. Hang in there @123Sisters Trust the process - follow the rules and EAT!!

@Lauraco Thanks for chiming in - I, too, have felt like an old-timer here (I'm 59) but I am so impressed with all of the younger people taking an interest in their health and nutrition and trying to get a handle on their bodies. I was 45 before I realized my lifestyle was going to kill me if I didn't smarten up! I'll check out that FB page I think what I am taking away from everyone is that defining Worth It is going to be a process and that we'll do it, like everything else, in our own way. Information like how the cinnamon toast alerted your Sugar Dragon - that would happen to me too. SO, keeping away from those sweet, sugar first things is an easy one - I don't think chocolate and candy is ever going to be Worth It. I just realized that this is the longest I have ever gone in my life without candy! I had a HUGE candy addiction (as did Hubs) - weird to think I haven't had a single thing that would be called candy since January 1. I love this statement - the hint of promise without commitment. I feel that way about really, really good fresh bread but, I haven't indulged in it yet. yet, I have it in my mind that i could I feel that I am coming to a decision about alcohol - I haven't quite been able to put it out there that I need to abstain, period. I'm going to do a second W30 starting April 7th when I am home from Australia and decide after that. I would really miss it. sigh* So - I'm going to carry on with my defining of what's Worth It - this has been a great exercise for me and I really appreciate everyone's contributions.

@SugarcubeOD That's too bad about not finding sugar free bacon in Vancouver - I haven't had any trouble finding Wellshire Farms and Pederson's sugar free bacons at Whole Foods in Toronto and surrounding area.

@Nephryna Thanks for that! I really appreciate you coming by and explaining that to me - I bet that would be delicious! I think I can wait to get back to bacon when I return to Canada but I will try your recommendation when I get home. Here's a little known fact - no one in Canada eats Canadian Bacon as bacon - we all pretty much just eat the trimmed, skinny rashers that you called stripe bacon. On rare occasions a few of us eat smoked back bacon but most don't. It's a funny thing but the only association back bacon has with Canada is that we exported it in great amounts for Britain (who love it in their bacon butty sandwiches) during the wars. So, now you know Thanks again for the fantastic recipe! I don't really have a way to smoke it either so I'll give this a shot as is.

While I am still struggling to define Worth It so it means something as a decision making tool (As I said to my friend Schrod - it's amazing how something is Worth It in the moment but so totally NOT Worth It at 3AM when its effects kick in...), I have made some decisions that I am now determined will be permanent. Permanence is a strong word so I am going to stick with "determined" to see how it goes over the next 6 months. No more legumes. I don't even want to reintroduce them. I will miss some of them - I love a sweet corn and black bean salsa with my tacos BUT - my gut is SO much better on the W30 first diet that I don't even want to mess with that by doing a reintroduction of legumes. I can still make sweet corn salsa - put enough chilli and cilantro in it and who would know? So, some determined changes I have made: almond butter replaces peanut butter nicely. I don't gorge on it the way I did PB either coconut aminos replaces soy sauce - I like the flavour of it better anyway baba ganoush replaces hummus - I don't think the nightshade family bothers me that much so eggplants over chickpeas it is no soy lethicin - I eat very little processed food as it is so this is pretty easy No more milk, ice cream, butter or yogurt. I haven't really experienced too much distress with the reintro of dairy but I do get how unnatural it is that we adult humans consume so much of another animal's breast milk. Being in full menopause, I am aware of hormonal influences +++ and don't think the hormones present in cow's milk are benefitting me. So, determined changes here are: unsweetened almond milk replaces milk beautifully - I totally prefer the flavour of almond milk! yonanas is my preferred frozen treat anyway - it is not a SWPO food for me - this is an easy give up. I will make frozen fruit pops for the summer when I get home to Canada. i've had a couple of great non sugar added versions while I've been here and think they would be nice to have in place of icecream. I may also do sorbet on occasion if I am confident my Sugar Dragon won't notice - this is a really big consideration since I love how my SD is snoozing at the moment. ghee in place of butter - I love butter (never use margerine anyway) but I can do ghee. nothing really replaces yogurt - I'll miss it but see how I do without it for at least 6 months No more sugar first foods such as candy, cake or cookies. Nothing replaces these - I just want to put this out there. I'm not missing these foods. My Sugar Dragon is super chill right now - I want to keep her this way. Sparkling mineral water with lemon or lime easily replaces diet pop for me. I don't like to drink water (ugh) but will guzzle citrusy mineral water so, this is a good change to make. I will continue to source and eat only great quality meat, fish and seafood. I'm fortunate I can afford to eat well so I will. I haven't missed bread and crackers as much as I thought I would. Hubs and I ate a lot of crackers and cheese - that's changed. No going back there. I've had one slice of toast since I started reintro a month ago - no ill effects but, I don't want to go back the consuming those processed carbs in the same gorging way I used to. Carrots and celery and other crunchy things make great baba ganoush delivery vehicles. Alright - there it is in writing! Can't think of anything else to add at the moment so I'll post this and come back to it later if I need to. Hope everyone is having a GREAT W30 day!

Congratulations on the cheese! The instant headache was interesting - stress indeed has a way of showing itself. I've only had cheese a couple of times in the past 30 days and no other dairy. I think I tolerate it well enough too but something has brought back heat waves (vs hot flashes) and I'm wondering about cheese being the culprit. It could be wine too. I've had a glass the last 2 nights and have had poor quality sleep following. I really have to stop drinking it but it's AMAZING how Worth It it seems at the time vs how poor a decision it feels like at 3AM.

Totally agree! I haven't found sugar free bacon here in Australia and I'm really missing it! I'm on Reintro Day 33 after a W37 and won't return to cheap bacon. Love the flavour, texture and taste of sugar free bacon! It's one of the things I am looking forward to when I get home.

What a fantastic image! Love it and the sense of calm and optimisim that you have! I am actually not feeling all that stuck - I just can't seem to figure out how to decide if something is really worth it. I know from my reintroduction that wine is a very big and kinda sad problem. I've also discovered a previous unheard of aversion to "gluggy" foods - my teeth really want a job to do Foods like risotto and macaroni and cheese aren't appealing to me and I could have lived on those before. I'm not missing dairy or legumes - I don't need or want them in my life on a regular basis. So, reintro has been informative. I just feel like I need to put some parameters around non-W30 foods. Like @SchrodingersCat , I'm aware that it'll be a slippery slope for me eventually as it has been in the past so I have some trepidation about it. Eating something because it is a) there and b) easier than not eating it doesn't define "Worth It" for me. And, like @megbeveridge, there are just too many times in my life where food will both be there and easier to eat than to avoid so - what defines Worth It? Melissa uses the example of her mom's amazing cookies. I like how Meg says: That's definitely something for me to put on my list. Wine makes me anxious, over stimulated and sleepless so, can it ever be worth it? Good question to answer for myself! And, right now my sugar dragon hasn't raised her butt ugly head even though I have had a lemon sorbet cone once since this all began. But watching that snoozing beast has become a preoccupation ... can anything that ever has the possibilty of arousing her be worth it? So much to think about but, I really like the conversation because I think Food Fredom is only going to come when I can answer these questions for myself. MEG! Yes, I'll be doing another W30 starting April 8th when I return to Canada (Schrod - I am NOT missing out on Business Class service again - that was just cruel!). My friend is going to be doing her first and I'm coming along for the ride AND to reset myself after being away from home and my routine for so long. Count me in. Thanks everyone for your wonderful inputs - it's really encouraging to see how we're all coping and managing everything that's coming up for us in this process of discovery.

Oh jeez Schrod - that does not sound good! I'm sorry you're going through this but I totally get it. We had great success on our W30s but it's hard to eat just W30 24/7 forever isn't it? I'm eating some things off plan but I don't really want them so, in the end, I don't enjoy them (hence the "what does worth it mean?"). I find myself returning to W30 meals over and over again which I prefer but, given that I'm still visiting here, it's not very easy. I don't think I have any severe intolerances beyond wine (like you too - poor us!!!) although I still haven't reintroduced a bunch of stuff because I don't really want to... Then today, I had a return of feeling a hormonal heat rush come on which had left during my W30 and I'm irritated because I like thermostasis better. So, now I don't know what I'm eating (grains? dairy? wine? I dunno!) that's influencing that. So, I really need to go back on W30 but I don't know if I can do that to my daughter while I'm visiting - I think I'll just muddy along until I get back to Canada April 7th and start another W30 when I get there. I think we're both in a bit of a circle here.

@SchrodingersCat @megbeveridge @Jihanna @Lauraco @theHRlady @w30virgo So, I need some help from my fellow Reintro Warriors. What constitutes "Worth it" for you? I haven't been able to define worth it - relying, instead, on seeing how I feel in the moment and going with whatever my still deluded brain thinks would be okay. This is NOT reliable because going with how I feel in the moment tends to mean I make decisions that I regret later precisely because there wasn't any thinking or learning applied to the decision. It's more "sure, I can eat that deep fried pumpkin arancini ball and a corn & feta fritter with a rice heavy side salad for dinner. That would be worth it!" later, half way through the cheesy, gluggly rice melange (if this reminds you of a previous post of mine Schrod it should - different circumstance, essentially the same meal!), I'm feeling awful and wondering it Food Freedom is an illusion and, frankly, hating myself a little too which IS NOT RIGHT. So - please share your ideas for your definition of "Worth It" decision making - I could really use some sparks here. Warmest regards, love and light to all of you on this journey of discovery. Lorna

Beautiful insight and self discipline @SKUtah. It's very difficult to give up our mindset and those practices that feed it. Scales and tracking calories and nutrients are stressful activities and no way to live. (I once said to my husband, "we can't stop for lunch here because my phone is dead and I can't look up the menu (I was translating menu items so I could make "good" choices) or track it" We were at the most gorgeous cafe on the coast of Italy - I still cringe to think of my rigidity causing us to miss out on that experience.) I took 5 years to lose 85+ lbs using a variety of methods but mostly tracking and obsessive attention to detail. After a couple of years maintaining (I maintained the loss for 7 years) by tracking, I lost interest in keeping the meticulous record all the time. I was okay for awhile but then weight crept back on. When menopause hit 3 years ago, things went haywire and I regained 30 lbs. A return to tracking and my typical so-called healthy diet (SO well described by Melissa and Dallas in ISWF (pg 56) ) meant I was down to 900 kcal/day and virtualy unable to lose weight - about 2-3 pounds a month. This was not sustainable! So, I quit that and, 6 months later after a very quick regain, I discovered W30. I lost almost 11lbs in 1 month following W30 to a tee. But, it was REALLY hard not to weigh myself or count calories. I do know that I am eating more heartily than I have in years and I stop when I want to - not because I've put so little food on my plate and put severe restrictions on myself but because I am full. I even eat second helpings if I'm not full. SO STRANGE! I am probably 30 days into reinto and am eating 98% W30 compliant. I am still losing weight although I refuse to weigh myself. I feel fantastic (like, really great) and I am eating well and I don't ever want to go back. I do hope you experience a similar result and are able to give up apps and scales for good!

Gotta agree with you Schrod - no difference. Pork rinds are a snack food first (like potato chips) with very little nutritional value and plenty of caloric punch. At least pork rinds have protein but, they're a FWNB for me - there isn't a bag of pork rinds large enough to satiate me. I wouldn't make this recipe anyway so I don't know why I am weighing in except to say hi!!

Thanks Laura! (@Lauraco) Steven and I are truly blessed to be so perfectly connected - we are the definition of stronger together than apart. Your kind words are appreciated <3

@Lauraco I don't know how I missed your post until now but I want you to know I appreciate it! You're in re-intro now - how's it going? Lorna