Kay47

It's so great to connect on here, especially with others doing the "Whole30 at home" right now. When I've been feeling unmotivated or need a distraction from a craving, I hop on the forum and read or reply to posts. My first round was October last year. I had so many non-scale victories, I couldn't believe all the ways it changed my life. I'm looking forward to reaping more benefits this time around! There are a lot of technicalities that can be hard to navigate. This is what I found about smoothies: "This is a very popular question, with a very unpopular answer. Smoothies (generally made using lots of fruit) are technically compliant on your Whole30, but we strongly recommend against it. Food that you drink sends different satiety signals to your brain than food that you chew. So when you drink your meal, your brain isn’t getting the feedback it needs to tell your body that it’s had enough of what it needs. Plus, smoothies are generally really fruit-heavy, and starting your day off with a liquid sugar-bomb sets you up for cravings, hunger, and volatile energy levels throughout the day. In summary, we’d rather you just eat the food, and skip the smoothie." I google the technicalities all the time and try to understand/abide by them. But, sometimes good enough is good enough. They say "there is no such thing as a perfect Whole30" for a reason! Hope you're feeling good on day 14 today Kay

Hi! 5th round is impressive! I'm on day 14 of my second round. I definitely was feeling the need for a reset too. I was doing well in food freedom but I started to eat/drink things that weren't worth it when I was stressed. I've done mini resets occasionally, but I'm excited to reap the benefits of a full Whole30 round. Do you think your RA or menopause symptoms are exacerbated by food? Hope you're feeling good today. Kay

Hi, welcome to the whole30 community! I hope/think you will find what you're looking for with the program. When is your start date? I'm doing my second whole30 round right now (first was October last year), and find the online forum/community so helpful. I also loved reading "It Starts With Food" during my first round. It made sense of the program and reinforced why I was doing it. Best wishes! Kay

Hi! I'm also doing my second round right now along side the "whole30 at home" community. I love the community support so far, like Melissa Urban's daily instagram live videos. It definitely helps keep me motivated. I'm also feeling challenged by grocery shopping less frequently. I think during my first whole30 round I went to the store almost every day! I'm using this as an opportunity now to plan out my meals for the week. I also try to keep compliant freezer food that I can use if I realize I forgot something at the store. I would highly suggest reading Food Freedom Forever. It's such a good resource for reintroduction and transitioning to food freedom. It gives so many great tools and tips. Best of luck and happy day 12!! Kay

Hi MissHLG, Anxiety around eating out on the whole30 is totally normal! It sounds like you're doing all the right things by asking the restaurant about ingredients, cooking oils, etc. Restaurants are used to answering ingredient questions or making modifications, because so many people have allergies or intolerances. I think you can trust that they are making any modifications that you request (the last thing they want is a customer to get sick after eating their food). Also, seed oils are banned on whole30, but it's only suggested to limit canola oil at home. This rule is specifically because some restaurants only cook in canola oil, and the whole30 program understands that you may want or need to eat outside of your home sometimes! I don't think you need to start over after finding 1 corn kernel in your salad bowl. It was 1 kernel that you did not eat. Lastly, there is no such thing as a perfect whole30. This article is great to reassure that you're doing your best, and sometimes good enough is good enough. https://whole30.com/perfect-whole30/ Hope this helps! Keep up the good work. Kay

Hi Jessica, Just a heads up that some white and red wines are finished with eggs. Basically the wine has come in contact with eggs, but shouldn't contain eggs. (I don't fully understand the process, but a dietitian warned me of this). It may be a very small amount that won't affect you, but since you are reintroducing gluten-free alcohol before eggs, I would pay attention to the specific type of wine. The website barnivore.com will tell you which alcohol is vegan (and therefore egg free). Good luck with reintroduction!