A bunch of questions...not sure where it belongs :)

[Elliottsmama]

I'm really not sure where to put these questions as they don't seem to exactly match forum descriptions, so I just chose this one.

I'm on day 19 of Whole30 and have been doing great. I had a high snack day yesterday, but that was my only problem day since I started. All compliant foods, but I don't usually snack. If that's the worst I do, I think I'm in good shape. I have already learned a lot about myself in doing this 2.5 wks. One of the most surprising things is that I love vegetables. Like LOVE them. I wanted to just have some roasted broccoli last night for a snack. Who does that? I have really found a love for roasted veggies. I thought having veggies was going to be the hardest thing for me because I wasn't a big fan. I would go days without a single serving despite the fact the rest of my nutrition was pretty good. I wasn't a junk food person. I've also learned that I need a lot of fat and it keeps me full. If I skimp on it, I'm hungry soon after. Fruit can make me crave if I don't carefully eat it with a meal and with enough fats. Nuts give me gas. I've tried new foods I've never had before...brussel sprouts, plantain, roasted broccoli and cauliflower (had them before, but never roasted), etc. I just bought my first artichoke yesterday.

So here come the questions. I have the book, but haven't had a ton of time to read it even though it arrived 1.5 wks ago...blame the 21mos old son.

1. When using oil to coat veggies for roasting or a pan for sauteeing, I still eat an additional serving of fat, correct? (I am still nursing my son quite frequently so I think the fat helps, but I wasn't sure if I was doing this wrong.)

2. I know you aren't ready to move on from the Whole30 if you are looking forward to going out for waffles, pizza, and ice cream on day 31. I am not. I went into this hoping to identify foods that may bother me and to develop a healthier relationship with food. I was always thinking about it and never had any willpower so I had to leave trigger foods out of the house. I'm not overweight, but I often binged if there were "treats" around and then would be upset for lacking the willpower. I love not thinking about food all the time except having to plan ahead. I can stop at one serving of fruit. I don't have cravings most days. I love how healthy I am feeding my son. Here's my question: If we aren't planning our big binge for day 31, but look forward to occasional trips to the ice cream shop with my son, having fruit smoothies time to time, adding in butter (assuming it agrees with me), and occasionally making paleofied dishes, does that mean we aren't ready to graduate?

3. Nuts and onions seem to give me gas. No discomfort, but a little bloating and lots of tooting. Does that mean I should not eat them or is that normal? It doesn't hurt at all, but I'll probably avoid eating either before a social occasion regardless.

4. We are traveling by plane to a wedding at the end of June into July. I really would like to continue eating as close to Whole30 as possible, but have already found it quite difficult to eat out because everything contains something off limits. I want to keep going, but I want to be able to identify what foods are triggers for me too. Should I just do my best to stick to Whole30 foods knowing some soybean oil got in there somehow or there is a hint of sugar in the seasoning or something? Or I can try introducing foods ahead of time, but I wanted to go really slowly. I know gluten is bad for me and I will not eat any of it at all. Avoiding gluten is easy when traveling. Avoiding gluten, dairy, sugar, soybean oil, sulfites, etc when traveling is not as easy. Sugar might make me crave, but I know having a little of it in ketchup or in a seasoning does not bother me physically. Raw dairy and butter haven't shown obvious signs of bothering me, but pasteurized does. I don't know about soybean oil or sulfites. What would you do? I really want to just keep going because I haven't been able to reap all the benefits of Whole30 yet because I've been sick the entire time. I'm just now getting over a sinus infection.

Okay, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your help and for reading my long post.

Bree

[Jtandi]

I'll do my best to answer, but I know others will chime in with possibly better answers

1. you are breastfeeding and I don't think you are in danger of getting too much fat. I err on the side of over fat rather than under fat (I am still nursing). I would look at how much oil you are coating your roasted veggies in and go by that. my understanding is that, for the most part, oils you cook with are not included, however, if you are dousing your veggies in a healthy dose of oil you don't need to add additional fat to your meal.

2. sounds like you are fine to move on from your whole30. you are right in your understanding of where you are at. the concern is more about people who are done on Friday and plan a huge celebration meal on Saturday at their favorite restaurant with all their favorite meals and dessert then onto the bar. the point of changing the way we eat is not to eat compliant 100% of the time. it's to eat this way the majority of the time with the knowledge that there will be times in our lives when we go have ice cream or dessert, eat our favorite meal. those times are not every other night and again on Thursdays.

3. I have foods that give me gas. I had this same question. when I eat too much avocado my tummy gets a little rumbly. the consensus was that we all have foods like that. I eat avocados. I love them.

4. how long is your trip? if it's more a weekend then I would come back and do a couple days strict whole30 (or until I felt great) and then introduce. if it's a week I would be as close to compliant as possible and then do the same. it sounds like you are pretty committed to staying very clean whether you are home or traveling. I would think that, upon return, 3-5 days of super clean eating will get you back to a place where you are ready for true introductions with accurate results. enjoy your vacation! do your best with your food, and make conscious decisions of when you are going to eat something that's not exactly the most healthy thing (plan your ice cream/dessert/etc). it makes it easier to say no to all the other times (at least for me). when confronted with xxx for someone else's special occasion I can rest easy knowing that I will eat xxx on xxx day and that I don't have to munch the whole time on crappy food.

the whole point is to go live in the real world. eat out, have a treat every now and again. don't stress about it. ask questions to ensure the things that you really don't want aren't in your food (I have a thing about gluten, soy, dairy. the rest I do the best I can and let it ride...I want that amazing looking salad? I order it. and use their vinagrette. I'm sure it has some sugar in it, but I only eat out maybe 1x a week at most. I eat tortilla chips. the other day I had some rice and peanut sauce at a Thai restaurant with my green curry. it's possible the curry had some sugar in it, too.)

good luck! sounds like you are doing great!!!

[Jinkse21]

First, congrats on making it to day 19! You are only over halfway through and you've already learned so much about what foods affect your body and how!

1. When I sautee veggie or cook meat/chicken in oil or ghee, I still eat another serving of fat like avocado. Usually, all of the oil used to cook doesn't end up on my plate.

2. I think as time goes on, you won't really think of day 31 or any other day as a big binge day. When following other diets, binge days became very important...I don't think it's so important with Whole30. Following a Whole30/Paleo is a lifestyle choice, not a diet (in the negative sense of the word). When you make a lifestyle choice, you allow for things that aren't typically in your diet (healthy sense of the word: way of eating) and move on without seeing it as such a negative thing. While I am pretty sure I will be Paleo/Primal for the rest of my life, there will be days when I'll eat cake, a sandwich, or sushi with rice but I will move on. One thing I know for sure is that I will take the time to enjoy what I am eating and accept any negative side effects I may experience, because I made the choice to eat whatever. When I did my W30, I planned on having all kinds of stuff when I was done with the 30 days. It took several days for me to try things and to splurge (and those days were special occasions) because I was loving how I felt. Don't see the end of your Whole30 as a graduation because it sounds like you plan on following the lifestyle with occasional off-road foods...that's called living! When you use the word graduation, it makes me feel like it's over when it's just the beginning!

3. If nuts and onions give you gas but no other side effects, I would consider it normal. At least you are now aware of what it is that can increase your gas and when you should avoid eating them.

4. See my answer to #2! Things happen and you're not always going to be able to find W30 compliant foods. Just tried to be prepared as possible and, more importantly, be forgiving of yourself if you are not 100% on plan. Again, it sounds like you are getting to know your body and how it handles certain foods so that makes it easier to decide what to eat when you are on the road. When you get back from the wedding, plan on another W30 if you feel like you off-roaded too much and want to do a reset and plan a good re-introduction schedule.

I hope this helped you some! Trying to find the balance will always be a challenge but just knowing that you are making better decisions for you and your family's health is a great starting point!!

[Elliottsmama]

Thanks ladies. Sounds like I'm on the right track. We'll be gone for 6 days. The hotel does have a little kitchenette so I plan to hit the grocery store when we arrive. I'm not sure if it has a stove or just a microwave. I'll going to stick to the whole30 foods as much as possible. I just don't know if I would have had the opportunity to reintroduce certain foods I may end up eating there before we go. I want to be able to tell what bothers me. I'll do what I can. Thanks. If all you think I might have to do is go back to strict Whole30 for a bit when I return and then I can get back to experimenting with which foods bother me, I'll be fine. I was worried I was going to have to do another strict 30 days before I started experimenting with adding things back in. I know gluten will remain out completely. I also plan to avoid soy as much as possible. I don't think grains will be a regular part of my diet again, but I would like to try and see how dairy works for me.

Thanks again.

[Kirsteen]

Bree, you've had some great advice and it sounds like you're doing absolutely fantastic. I'm sure you'll be fine. The only thing I would add is, if you're going to reintroduce dairy, I'd try to do it at least a few days before you travel. A few people have reported being upset by it when they didn't think they would be. A plane trip and a wedding are not times you want to have an upset stomach . Above all enjoy the wedding, just eat as best you want to and don't sweat the small stuff. You have the whole rest of your life to work out a healthy eating plan and, as has been said, you can always return to W30 any time you want even if it's just for a few days to get you back on track. Good luck

[Elliottsmama]

Thanks so much for the additional thoughts. I really had no idea that I could "reset" by doing a strict Whole30 for a few days. I honestly thought that if you messed up or found something that bothered you, you had to start all over. Glad I got it clarified. I thought maybe you needed 30 days to get whatever was the culprit out of your system or something.

I really am doing great. I haven't cheated once and haven't even wanted to. My biggest "cheat" so far (as in not following the template perfectly) was one lunch I didn't have hardly any veggies because I burnt the ones I made and had to run out the door. Another is that one day I had too many raisins as part of my snack. The last is that yesterday I had to make a smoothie for breakfast after two other failed meal attempts (reheated meat came out gross and then a recipe I made instead turned out to be nasty...and it was grocery day so I was out of options). It was super high in veggie and I did pair it with a grass fed hot dog.

I'm really excited about how healthy I am eating and I can really see it making a difference in my body. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't doing this in part to help lose weight. It was not the only reason of course, but it was a big one.

Thanks again for the reality check. It will help me not be so hard on myself when I'm not able to be "perfect".