Day 25 and been thinking

[jlb111]

I have been considering continuing on with the whole 30 for an indeterminate period.

I have found the eating to being very satisfying and producing all sorts of great results .

Is there any downside to "staying the course"

[calee]

I'm on Day 20 and I've been thinking the same thing. I am curious to read the replies you get.

[whitjm5]

Eating out can be troublesome, since many places cook in vegetable/soy oil, etc. I think the guidelines are awesome and I definitely feel better when I eat W30. But I can't be so strict with myself indefinitely. When things crazy, grabbing a chicken tropichop from Pollo Tropical is nice to do on occasion. Things like that are why I won't do it long term. But Paleo/Primal, fo' sho'.

[Tom Denham]

I did not consciously choose anything to eat off-plan until I had gone about 4 months when I did my first Whole30. I liked how I felt so much, I did not want to risk it. Eventually, I shared some of my wife's dessert at a restaurant and was profoundly disappointed with the taste. Since then, I have shared a dessert with her in a few other restaurants where I was not disappointed, but I find it relatively easy to eat Whole30-style most of the time.

In fact, maybe I should coin some terminology. Whole30-style versus Whole30-compliant. I eat Whole30-style every day, but would not be Whole30-compliant at every meal on close inspection. This means that I eat meat and veggies at every meal and choose healthy fats. My meals are Whole30-compliant when I am eating at home because I don't buy off-plan foods, but I just do the best I can in restaurants. For example, I don't ask the chef if he is using soybean oil or butter when I order things like beef kabobs with grilled veggies. I just eat my meat and veggies.

When you are doing a Whole30 for real, you need to investigate things like cooking oil, butter, msg, etc, because you need to eliminate all potential problems to find out if these foods are a problem for you. It is not okay to guess about these things and call it a Whole30. However, once you have done a Whole30 and know where your issues lie, you can afford to relax into Whole30-style eating if the foods you encounter in ordinary restaurant cooking don't create problems for you.

[jlb111]

as usual your advice and thoughts on my questions are very helpful thanks

[jlb111]

I am a couple days past completion and have been babysitting with one of our grand babies in the parents home

Totally different environment than my While 30 house. And I experienced lots of cravings and noticed my almost unconscious reach for comfort foods.

Which I believe solidified my decision to keep on the Whole 30 and taking advantage of all the great recipes and advice I can receive from this community

I'll write more when I return to Arizona tomorrow

[heatherhactenus]

Eating out can be troublesome, since many places cook in vegetable/soy oil, etc. I think the guidelines are awesome and I definitely feel better when I eat W30. But I can't be so strict with myself indefinitely. When things crazy, grabbing a chicken tropichop from Pollo Tropical is nice to do on occasion. Things like that are why I won't do it long term. But Paleo/Primal, fo' sho'.

 

To go off on a bit of a tangent, I'm on Day 7 and am actually going to be at an event tomorrow whether the whole group is going to order Pollo Tropical for lunch (or, of course, I can bring my own food to play it safe, but since it's part of a paid gig, I'd like to not spend the money on what could be a free lunch if I can help it). It seems in the context of this thread, the times when you ate there on occasion were post-W30... but have you ever gotten any specific information as far as the oils they cook with or the ingredients in either their grilled chicken or mojo pork, for example, that would make you think that some of their food would be compliant for someone still following the strict W30 guidelines? (I never seem to be able to speak enough Spanish to ask these questions myself when I'm there, and nothing is online except for macros  ). Basically I'm just hoping to be able to order a Tropichop with lettuce, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and grilled chicken (or mojo pork, but I assume that would have some sugar added), and can even skip the sauces since I doubt any of them are compliant except for the maybe the hot sauce. Any thoughts, @whitjm5? (Or other Pollo enthusiasts?)