February 3, 2014 Whole 30 Complete - Reintro

[Zellyb]

Since there were a few of us who posted throughout our Whole 30 together, we thought it might be nice to have a new thread where we could continue to post together about our reintro and ongoing lifestyle changes.  So, here it is. 

 

For me, it was a really good experience.  I can't say that I felt any major changes with sleep or energy (no tiger blood for me), although I do think my joint stiffness was improved and hot flashes seem to have lessened.  But, what was great was the satisfaction of knowing how much better I am eating and what I good thing that is to do for my body.

 

I lost 6 pounds exactly when I got on the scale this morning and that makes me very happy.  I needed to lose 20 lbs total from where I started and 6 pounds in a month is a good, healthy and hopefully sustainable weight loss.  I hope by continuing to eat well that I can continue to shed the remaining 14 pounds.  I will say that my normal mode of trying to lose weight consisted of severe calorie restrictions and counting those calories religiously and even at that it was difficult to lose more than a pound a week.  In this case, I didn't worry about calories and I ate as much as I wanted to satisfy my hunger.  And other than the initial challenge of overcoming cravings, I was really never hungry on this plan and yet I still lost weight at a faster pace than I experienced with a restricted caloric intake.  I think that's pretty amazing.

 

So, today was dairy reintro.  I had some heavy cream in my coffee this morning.  Meh.  Really did nothing for me.  I actually think I enjoy the flavor with the coconut milk more, so I doubt I'll try to force the issue with the cream.  I'm doing a little cheddar cheese on my salad for lunch and will figure out something dairy for dinner as well.  But, honestly, I think we could pretty easily go without dairy for the most part and be perfectly happy. 

 

So, that's it for me.  Hope the other folks join on here.  I'll post a link to it in our old thread.

[Rkrzywda]

I never had any "tiger blood" experience either, although I will say that I had some nights where I was up with sick kids all night and it didn't knock me down as much as it typically would have.

I planned to start dairy today with yougurt and realized that I didn't want it, so I had sweet potatoes and eggs. I put cheese on my salad at lunch and will add some to whatever I make for dinner.

I haven't taken my measurements yet, but I weighed myself at work and I'm down about 12 pounds. No changed to my exercise regimine, that just reflects how much crap I was eating before. I never thought I could do this. I am so glad that I did. Incredibly proud of myself for sticking to it. Great job to you all as well.

[Zellyb]

I never had any "tiger blood" experience either, although I will say that I had some nights where I was up with sick kids all night and it didn't knock me down as much as it typically would have.

I planned to start dairy today with yougurt and realized that I didn't want it, so I had sweet potatoes and eggs. I put cheese on my salad at lunch and will add some to whatever I make for dinner.

I haven't taken my measurements yet, but I weighed myself at work and I'm down about 12 pounds. No changed to my exercise regimine, that just reflects how much crap I was eating before. I never thought I could do this. I am so glad that I did. Incredibly proud of myself for sticking to it. Great job to you all as well.

12 pounds is great!  Congratulations.  I will say that the cream I had in my coffee and the cheese at lunch did nothing for me in terms of satisfying taste.  And my stomach has felt a little iffy all day.  Maybe it's my imagination and maybe it's the dairy, but since I'm not enjoying it, why risk it?  It's funny because early on I was really missing cheese and thought I would want that added back in for sure, so it's surprising to me how little interest I have in it now.

[Rkrzywda]

2 & 1/2 inches off my waist, 2 off my hips and 1 off my right thigh! Holy cow!

[Janie2577]

I lost 7.8 lbs, 2" off my waist, 2.5" off my stomach, 1" off my hips, 1" off left thigh and 1/2" off right thigh (that's weird, huh?) - but I'm pleased with the results!  Congratulations everybody - results sound amazing!

[JohannaE]

I did my dairy reintroduction today.  I started with half a Quest bar as a pre-workout snack.  They are whey based and contain milk proteins.  They also contain stevia, and I found myself thinking that the bar was grossly sweet.  It's a flavor I've never tried before though, and sometimes I do take issue with the flavor of stevia. 

For breakfast I made cinnamon streusel paleo creamer to go in my coffee.  It was the most amazing thing ever!  1 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup date paste, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 1 tsp vanilla and 3/4 tsp cinnamon.  I had half a sweet potato with 2% plain green yogurt, figs and walnuts, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.  The yogurt made my tummy feel very good.  I did notice that I felt hungry around 10:30/11:00, but it passed without eating anything.  Before the Whole30, I often experience this sort of "faux" hunger which I think is blood sugar based.  I don't know if this mornings tummy rumblings were based on the fake sugar in my bar, the sugar in my breakfast, or the fact that I didn't have meat and veggies (the yogurt did have 20g protein, and sweet potatoes are generally very filling!) 

 

For lunch I didn't feel like figuring out a whole meal around adding dairy, so I just had my Moroccan chicken, Sweet Potato with almond butter and roasted Brussels sprouts, but added parmesan to my Brussels sprouts.  It's was the cheap shaker stuff, and I really didn't find it appealing at all.  

 

For dinner, I made spaghetti squash stuffed with olives, chicken, spinach and feta.  I don't know if there was something special about the feta, but it tasted like the best feta I've had in my life!  I'm feeling a bit bloated this evening, but I am quite sure it's not from the cheese - I've noticed large amounts of spaghetti squash tend to make me feel this way. 

 

The best part of today was the freedom.  When I realized I was out of olives, it wasn't a big deal to use the pickled veggie mix in the fridge, even though I wasn't sure what oil it was in, or to use the date paste I've been holding onto for an entire month simply because I made it before the Whole30 and used a small amount of raisins that contained sulfites.  It's wonderful to be free of these silly rules, and I'm pleased to say so far I have not wanted to splurge much.  I got my free monthly truffle from Godiva, and it's still in it's bag.  My coworkers went out to happy hour to celebrate the end of the Whole30 but I passed.  And my husband brought home a can of whipped cream (my weakness!), yet I have held out.  So far so good, but we'll see how I hold up with more going on!

[Zellyb]

Nothing new added to the diet today and I went back to coconut milk in my coffee.  Maybe I'll try that paleo creamer recipe, Johanna.  It sounds delish.  I got back on the scale today just to see from a consistency standpoint and today I was at 7 lbs down so I feel pretty confident that the 6-7 pounds is legitimate.  We skipped any dairy with dinner.  Just nothing that was appealing.  I'm still holding out against sugar though.  I think I still have a bit of a sugar dragon just lurking in the wings waiting to roar back to life, so I want to be careful about that.

[JohannaE]

I'm back to Whole30 today, still just taking it one day at a time through the reintros.  Actually noticing that my sugar cravings are worse this afternoon than they've been.  Not sure if it's because I've had a bit of sweet, or just the knowledge that I can!  Although, my paleo creamer doesn't use any more date paste than my salad dressing, and that's all I've had today that's sweet.  And aren't you supposed to crave things more when you CAN'T have them?!

[tinajackson3141]

We started our reintroduction phase yesterday with dairy, and I made a delicious crust-free pizza. I've never attempted to make pizza before, and I put the cheese on top of the toppings. In retrospect, I would do pizza sauce, cheese, then toppings for a more aesthetically pleasing look. Regardless, this pizza was plenty for 4 for supper, with a side salad. I hope you enjoy! (I'll try to figure out if I can post a photo of the finished product) 

 

Cream Cheese Crust Pizza

 

Crust

1 (8 oz) package of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

 

Topping

1/2 cup pizza sauce (sugar free)

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

toppings – pepperoni (I used Applewood Farms Organic), grilled chicken, mushrooms, peppers, onion, whatever you want!

Garlic powder

 

Preheat oven to 350.

 

Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with olive or coconut oil or butter. With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan cheese until combined. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes, our until golden brown. Allow crust to cool for 10 minutes.

 

Spread pizza sauce on crust. Top with cheese and toppings. Sprinkle pizza with garlic powder. Bake 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

 

[tinajackson3141]

Is there a way to add a photo?

[NJ2FL2CA]

Whole30-approved bacon is now available at US Wellness. Stock up! It goes fast. I missed the last re-stock.

[NJ2FL2CA]

I weighed in yesterday and lost 11.2 pounds and 1.4% in body fat. For a total of 22.6 pounds since I started working out and eating a paleo-type lifestyle for the past 4 months (not including December =/). So I am confident that those 11 pounds can be credited to solely to the Whole30 I did do my measurements yesterday too but they did not upload in an app I used to log them. So I am going to do them again on Sat.

 

Reintroductions: Day 1 - Gluten

Yesterday, we started with gluten. I figured since I was going to be on the road that day I could get quick fast food meals and tell them to hold the cheese. I had an egg white delight (without cheese), hashbrown, and orange juice from McDonald's for breakfast. That was my first mistake. I used to eat these when I needed something quick for breakfast. I used to just eat the sandwich though. This was not fullfilling or tasty to me. I was pretty pist at my lack of satisfaction for something that cost me almost $8. Then I ate an original chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and unsweetened ice tea mixed with lemonade from Chik-fil-a. It was ok....but not great. I swear if you would have told me last month I would eat a chik-fil-a sandwich and not like it, I would have laughed in your face. I actually missed my home-cooked meals yesterday. For dinner, I did a lot better (well somewhat), I had baby back ribs with BBQ sauce (paleo ingredients) and broccoli. Butttttt I had dessert. I had a slice of homemade pie that I bought from a bakery two weeks ago (yes during the Whole30 but I froze it immediately...don't judge its a famous pie lol). I ate the pie with paleo vanilla ice cream (which came out great without an ice cream mixer). Needless to say the only satisfying part of my day was the bbq ribs.

 

After each meal, I felt lethargic and bloaty. And I gained 2.5 pounds when I weighed in this morning. Yes I did have 2 fast food meals so I will not condemn gluten entirely but I am condemning that way of eating.

 

Today I am back on my wagon so to speak. I am convinced a Whole9 lifestyle is the way to go. I had my usual eggs, sausage, and broccoli breakfast with some sausage for my post-workout snack, leftover ribs and broccoli for lunch, and I am looking forward to what my boyfriend will be whipping up for dinner.

[JohannaE]

I weighed in yesterday and lost 11.2 pounds and 1.4% in body fat. For a total of 22.6 pounds since I started working out and eating a paleo-type lifestyle for the past 4 months (not including December =/). So I am confident that those 11 pounds can be credited to solely to the Whole30 I did do my measurements yesterday too but they did not upload in an app I used to log them. So I am going to do them again on Sat.

 

Reintroductions: Day 1 - Gluten

Yesterday, we started with gluten. I figured since I was going to be on the road that day I could get quick fast food meals and tell them to hold the cheese. I had an egg white delight (without cheese), hashbrown, and orange juice from McDonald's for breakfast. That was my first mistake. I used to eat these when I needed something quick for breakfast. I used to just eat the sandwich though. This was not fullfilling or tasty to me. I was pretty pist at my lack of satisfaction for something that cost me almost $8. Then I ate an original chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and unsweetened ice tea mixed with lemonade from Chik-fil-a. It was ok....but not great. I swear if you would have told me last month I would eat a chik-fil-a sandwich and not like it, I would have laughed in your face. I actually missed my home-cooked meals yesterday. For dinner, I did a lot better (well somewhat), I had baby back ribs with BBQ sauce (paleo ingredients) and broccoli. Butttttt I had dessert. I had a slice of homemade pie that I bought from a bakery two weeks ago (yes during the Whole30 but I froze it immediately...don't judge its a famous pie lol). I ate the pie with paleo vanilla ice cream (which came out great without an ice cream mixer). Needless to say the only satisfying part of my day was the bbq ribs.

 

After each meal, I felt lethargic and bloaty. And I gained 2.5 pounds when I weighed in this morning. Yes I did have 2 fast food meals so I will not condemn gluten entirely but I am condemning that way of eating.

 

Today I am back on my wagon so to speak. I am convinced a Whole9 lifestyle is the way to go. I had my usual eggs, sausage, and broccoli breakfast with some sausage for my post-workout snack, leftover ribs and broccoli for lunch, and I am looking forward to what my boyfriend will be whipping up for dinner.

 

First of all, holy cow!  Congrats on all of your awesome progress so far!  Truly phenomenal results.

 

You're reintro day was pretty much apples to oranges from the Whole30, so it's pretty hard to peg anything on gluten.  All the fried potatoes and just the amount of sheer grease and god knows what preservatives they use could also be what was making you lethargic.  It would be interesting to see how you felt with gluten from more natural sources and with out the other added sugar and yuck yucks-- a sandwich on bread from a local bakery, organic pasta with chicken, etc.  Certainly not trying to do your reintros, it's just that I'm doing my gluten day tomorrow so I've been thinking a lot about it!  

[GFChris]

I weighed in yesterday and lost 11.2 pounds and 1.4% in body fat. For a total of 22.6 pounds since I started working out and eating a paleo-type lifestyle for the past 4 months (not including December =/). So I am confident that those 11 pounds can be credited to solely to the Whole30 I did do my measurements yesterday too but they did not upload in an app I used to log them. So I am going to do them again on Sat.

 

Reintroductions: Day 1 - Gluten

Yesterday, we started with gluten. I figured since I was going to be on the road that day I could get quick fast food meals and tell them to hold the cheese. I had an egg white delight (without cheese), hashbrown, and orange juice from McDonald's for breakfast. That was my first mistake. I used to eat these when I needed something quick for breakfast. I used to just eat the sandwich though. This was not fullfilling or tasty to me. I was pretty pist at my lack of satisfaction for something that cost me almost $8. Then I ate an original chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and unsweetened ice tea mixed with lemonade from Chik-fil-a. It was ok....but not great. I swear if you would have told me last month I would eat a chik-fil-a sandwich and not like it, I would have laughed in your face. I actually missed my home-cooked meals yesterday. For dinner, I did a lot better (well somewhat), I had baby back ribs with BBQ sauce (paleo ingredients) and broccoli. Butttttt I had dessert. I had a slice of homemade pie that I bought from a bakery two weeks ago (yes during the Whole30 but I froze it immediately...don't judge its a famous pie lol). I ate the pie with paleo vanilla ice cream (which came out great without an ice cream mixer). Needless to say the only satisfying part of my day was the bbq ribs.

 

After each meal, I felt lethargic and bloaty. And I gained 2.5 pounds when I weighed in this morning. Yes I did have 2 fast food meals so I will not condemn gluten entirely but I am condemning that way of eating.

 

Today I am back on my wagon so to speak. I am convinced a Whole9 lifestyle is the way to go. I had my usual eggs, sausage, and broccoli breakfast with some sausage for my post-workout snack, leftover ribs and broccoli for lunch, and I am looking forward to what my boyfriend will be whipping up for dinner.

I would agree that it's inconclusive to put only gluten as the cause of your reaction. The Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich alone has sugar, soy, gluten, and milk.  http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Menu-Detail/ChickfilA-Chicken-Sandwich#?details=ingredients

The McDonald's hash browns contain sugar (dextrose), soy, corn, wheat and milk. http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/ingredientslist.pdf

 

To have a more conclusive gluten test, I would suggest going back to Whole30 eating for at least 2 days and then retest gluten at some point. Use things like bagels, bread and pasta to test gluten.

[Zellyb]

Hi, everybody,

 

We haven't done any more dairy since the first morning with the cream in our coffee and some cheese at lunch.  I really have no desire for it.  Tomorrow night is sushi night, so we are reintroducing rice.  I plan to try to avoid soy as much as possible at the restaurant although I know that may be tough with some of the rolls and how they make them.  So, we are generally still eating whole 30 every day and still feeling good about it.  I'm still staying away from sugar.  I think that is my biggest temptation and that if I reintroduce it too soon in significant amounts I might backslide and find myself shoving sweetarts in my mouth again at 9 PM. 

 

Anyway, still going strong.  Yay!

[NJ2FL2CA]

Ok so I completely messed up my gluten day. I'll add another one at the end. Thanks for setting me straight!

[JohannaE]

Since reintroducing dairy on Wednesday (happy to report my body is A-OK with it!) I've been almost 100% compliant the last two days.  I did have a non-compliant protein bar this evening since we were at a show and having a very late dinner.  I've also enjoyed a couple paleo treats: paleo creamer, and this n'oatmeal.  While I wasn't entirely sold that it's SWYPO, I held off making it during my Whole30, as it definitely doesn't meat the template.  But oh my, what a freakin' treat!  Probably not best as an everyday breakfast, but so so good!

 

Tomorrow my plan is to reintroduce gluten, but I have a baby shower and I'm not going to be a crazy person at it about what I eat, so we shall see how the day goes!

 

Surprised to say I've still not had anything super off plan!

[JohannaE]

I did my gluten reintro today.  Unfortunately I started the day off on the wrong foot!  After I ate my pre-workout snack (low-carb wrap with almond butter and apricot jam) I thought to check the ingredients.  Holy moly that list is long!  And included SOY flour.  I didn't even know that existed.  I decided not to beat myself up and say "screw it, I've already messed up!" and just move onward.  Luckily I had no reaction to the gluten or soy, but what a great eye opener on a product totally full of way too many weird ingredients!

 

Next I went out to brunch with friends and found the perfect option on the menu.  I ordered salmon benedict on an english muffin without the hollandaise sauce, and asked for sliced avocado, tomatoes and fresh fruit instead of hash browns.  Super yummy and still no gluten reaction!

 

At the baby shower, I managed to avoid the alcohol, sweets and cheese!  I had a turkey slider on a wheat roll with cole slaw, green beans and some fresh fruit and veggies. Not 100% what was in the slaw, but not going to worry about it.  

 

For dinner, I had a giant plate of whole wheat penne with chicken and broccoli.  It was perfect timing, because it was also a mini carb-load for a race we're running tomorrow morning! I decided I was going to add some parmesan because, well, I really wanted it!  One wonderful thing this has done is teach me to determine when I really want something.  I also used spray butter, which was definitely the least healthy/compliant part of my meal.  

 

Next, I had my first dessert in 33 days!  I made chocolate mug cake and topped it with coconut and whipped cream (again, because I really wanted it!)  I did make myself use real sugar (organic turbinado and agave) instead of Splenda which I usually would have used, and I made myself promise not to go back for seconds on whipped cream.

 

I'm pleased to say that I have had no bad reactions to anything I've eaten today.  Awesome to know my body is A-OK with these foods.  I'm also really pleased to say that despite several treats, I have absolutely zero food guilt.  I'm proud of myself for passing up the things I didn't really want or need (champagne, cheese, dessert at the party) and really enjoying the things I really wanted.  For me, learning to do that is the biggest goal of this whole thing. 

[NJ2FL2CA]

I had dairy yesterday and only got a small headache after eating ice cream. I get headaches from sugar so I think it was the sugar overload not the dairy. I do feel a small amount of digestion discomfort. I thought it would be worse. Even though I am not having adverse reactions to my reintros, I can honestly say these foods will not be missed. I can't see why I would have them more than once or twice a month for the rest of my life. After doing extensive research on paleo's disadvantages and advantages, I am convinced that the effects of dairy, gluten and non-gluten grains, and legumes are not worth the risk. Just because I don't recognize any effects during these reintros, the silent and extremely deadly ones will keep these foods at bay for a long long time. I would rather eat the sex-w/-my-pants-on paleo-fied foods then add Hawaiian bread or cheese to a meal or eat store-bought ice cream. 

[NJ2FL2CA]

I had non-gluten for dinner last night. I didn't prep for my non-gluten day so we did it for dinner and now we are eating the leftovers for breakfast and lunch. We had corn tortillas and rice with chicken and salsa. Each time I eat something off plan I do feel a small discomfort in my stomach but nothing big. I am a little disappointed in my reintros. I wanted to feel more miserable lol.

[NJ2FL2CA]

oh and now that my scale is back in the bathroom i have been weighing myself. since the reintros started i have gained 4 lbs that wont come off. i dont like off plan foods even more now.

[Janie2577]

I'm still on plan and had gained 3 lbs when I weighed this morning!  I thought once a week weighing would be fine but not so much.....I'm telling you this so you won't sweat it too much.  I keep feeling like I need to tweak what I'm eating but really, I think I'm doing fine.  I have been getting hungry in the afternoons and snacking on almonds.  Today, I purposely didn't bring any with me and will drink extra water when I'm feeling the afternoon munchies.  So hang in there NJ2FL2CA!!!

[JohannaE]

I had non-gluten for dinner last night. I didn't prep for my non-gluten day so we did it for dinner and now we are eating the leftovers for breakfast and lunch. We had corn tortillas and rice with chicken and salsa. Each time I eat something off plan I do feel a small discomfort in my stomach but nothing big. I am a little disappointed in my reintros. I wanted to feel more miserable lol.

 

Why would you ever want a food to make you feel miserable?! 

[JohannaE]

So I've now done my dairy, gluten and legume reintros.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am A-OK with both dairy and gluten!  However, legumes I am a little less sure about.  It's funny, because going in, that was both the food group I ate the most of (tofu, garbanzo beans and peanut butter) and the food group I was the least understanding as to why was forbidden (they are so healthy!)   I had peanut butter as a pre-workout snack in the morning, tofu and chickpeas at lunch, peanut butter again before going on a run in the afternoon and peanuts and chickpeas in my veggie burgers at dinner time.  I'm not sure what to peg it on, or even whether to peg it on legumes at all, but my tummy was just a bit off all day.  It is today too though, so who knows.  I did have a really strong run though.  I may have to break this category up a bit further to determine if it's peanut, bean, soy, or none of the above.

 

While I've been right on plan with the reintros thus far, my (social) schedule over the next couple weeks is such that it will be quite difficult to keep up with this whole process.  I'll be having my first alcohol tomorrow!  7 days out, my weight is exactly the same as it was on Day 31, but I will be interested to see whether I am able to maintain that with the addition of alcohol back into my diet, as well as a good bit more "off-roading."  I've decided to eliminate nut butters to help compensate, with the exception of sauces and dressings. 

[NJ2FL2CA]

I don't want to feel miserable but I wanted an excuse as to why I no longer want to eat dairy, sugar, grains, and legumes. I wanted to be able to say more than just it's not healthy. But I suppose that'll do.