SugarcubeOD

Natural and artificial flavors are okay on Whole30. If you are not comfortable eating these additives, then you don't have to but for the purposes of the program, they're fine.

Aw, Im so sorry for your loss! Those things are always tough! I don't think any of your thoughts around this are selfish or insensitive. Going through a difficult time doesn't mean that you have to stop caring for yourself. In this instance, I would say that perhaps you keep going with the program 'as best you can' and then start again when you're feeling better. That means that at the wake, if there are veggies and maybe some protein that you could eat, choose that instead of the cake/pie/pasta, but give yourself the room to just do the best you can. It's not unusual in grief to not have an appetite so it might just be that you can manage with some purse snacks and depending on where you're staying, a hardboiled egg or two... I think that just making good educated decisions in the SPIRIT of Whole30 without beating yourself up about the rules is probably going to serve you better at this time... and we're always here for you when you're ready to come back and to cheer you through this tough time too!

Cacao nibs - okay if used in something savory... not okay for a chocolate replacement in a trail mix or similar. Freeze dried green beans - I'd call these chips... I think they're probably a grey area but having said that, there is so much food and choices that are firmly NOT in a grey area that it seems that these would be fine if left out for 30 days Banana chips - if you make them at home then sure but they're going to be a really high in sugar 'snack' that probably won't serve you well Coconut Yogurt - yes, if you make it yourself and then ideally use it for something like a baked potato topping or in a curry. Eating in in replacement of dairy yogurt to replace a breakfast food item would be against our recommendations and really towing the line on SWYPO. Cashew Cheese - Yes, but we really recommend people keep a handle on how much nuts and nut products they're eating because they can be really hard on the stomach and keep the sugar dragon alive so I guess I'd ask myself what I was using this 'cheese' for and if it was serving me in the long run.

This does sound delicious but we do recommend not eating fruit on it's own, especially not in a parfait type 'dessert' such as this because it can trigger or keep sugar cravings alive... fruit is totally okay to eat on the program but we recommend using it as part of a meal (apples chopped into salad for instance) rather than this type of way. That however is a recommendation and if he only ate this the entire time, technically he'd still be compliant

Hmm... thats interesting. One reason that cooked veggies might give you a stomach ache is if you're eating a very high quantity of fiberous veg... the template recommendation of 1-3 cups of veg per meal isn't a huge quantity but if you're also taking any sort of fibre supplement, that might be contributing. Okay well I would suggest reducing the nuts, not eating fruits on their own, adding a plated fat to each meal and then keeping a food journal for the next couple days. Note in the journal how you feel after each meal and how you're feeling overall and with that more specific information we can hopefully help.

I think you'd have to google each of those ingredients and then match up what they are to the rules... since we don't consider any medication non compliant, it's probably a lot to ask the volunteer members and mods to do so and it's not likely that people would just 'know' these ingredients.

Starchy veggies are root veggies (potato, winter squash, turnip, sweet potato, carrots etc). The meal template suggests adding a plated fat to each meal as the fat slows down the absorption of protein - if you haven't been adding a plated fat (usually we don't count the cooking oil as that is left in the pan for the most part of split between portions), you may want to focus on doing so - that could help you feel better.

No sorry, dextrose is only given a pass for table salt as it is part of a chemical reaction needed to keep the iodine functional. There is not enough dextrose in salt to impact your program. Dextrose in meats, brines, marinades etc would not be compliant; salt is the ONLY exception to the no sugar rule.

That would be really difficult for us to say... It could be a detox reaction or it could just be a coincidence that these two things are happening at the same time. I hope one of the ideas above helps give you relief!

You might consider keeping a quick and dirty food journal going forward so that we can help in these instances. A couple questions I would have: Are the veggies cooked? Are they leaning heavily toward cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts? Those can be difficult to digest. Are you eating a lot more of something than you have previous (for instance, some people who come to Whole30 from a more plant based diet have a more difficult time with the protein and we recommend a digestive enzyme in this case). Nuts are typically quite hard on the stomach as well so you might consider choosing alternate fat sources (avocado, ghee, mayo, mayo based sauces, olives etc) to replace the nuts. It's fairly difficult to pin point without some information... even if you can provide the last couple days of what you can remember, that would help. Sorry you're having such a hard time. I imagine feeling nauseous definitely makes it harder to stick to the program, but I'm sure we can help you tweak things to get you feeling good.

Oh that's a good idea! I was saying to my sister @ladyshanny, if I was dating, I'd probably go the 'lets go to a pub route, order a clubsoda with lime - if questioned, just say that was good for me for the moment and then if I stayed, maybe explain why no booze and if I left, then I could run out the back door with no bill to pay cause water is free. I would likely not go and eat a meal with someone that I didn't already know in advance regardless of whether I was doing a Whole30, because that's a determined amount of time you're expected to stay and if the person is 'not a match' then you're basically stuck...

So glad you did! I haven't dated in years... so I'm only good for linking articles in that department

Sorry you're not feeling well. It could be the composition of your meals that are giving you some trouble - if you want to list out what you've been eating for each meal including approximate portion sizes, we can see if anything stands out that you could tweak to get some relief... or is it possible you're coming down with something?

Here's an article written by the Headmistress herself about just this! https://whole30.com/first-date/

If you don't want to eat 'store bought' chicken then you'll likely need to find a farmer or a CSA in your area that you can go directly to the farmer.