Jump to content

Aug18 Buddies - reintegration starts today!


JO.H

Recommended Posts

Happy Monday, all. Yes, it does seem that everyone has had a not great experience with off-road foodsl It certainly is an education.

 

I am back on W30 for real yesterday and today, and feeling a bit more in control. I don't think I am ready to introduce gluten or grains and trying to exit from soy altogether. I am noticing that I an eating more healthy fats than usual, and not sure what that is all about. I hope to continue weight loss and don' think that the road to that goal is paved with cashews!

 

I haven't tried the cauliflower rice, but will this week. Thanks for the breakfast suggestion, JOH, because I am constantly looking for veggies to go with those eggs!

 

OK gang- hope everyone has a great start to their week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I'm an August 18th-er too.... :)

 

I was going to just keep on going, but finally got an offer on my house on September 18th which has been on the market for TWO YEARS, I accepted the offer and celebrated with a couple of glasses of champagne :) :)

 

My eating has continued to be strictly on-plan, but I'm considering re-introducing soy milk tomorrow as I just haven't enjoyed my decaf-coffee without milk.......Other than that, think I'm going to just stick with it.

 

;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome Susanrebee, sounds like you have been amazing staying on the programme.  Congrats on your house sale, you deserved that champagne! Let us know how it goes with the soy milk.

I think my cravings are finally going.  Hershey's chocolates and a jam cookie have been lying on my kitchen table for two days now and I have had no interest in even tasting them.  I had a good day yesterday, totally compliant, and I definitely enjoy those days more, so share your feeling of control W30inri.  IT's just to figure out how to stop those bad habits creeping back in when I do choose to go off plan.

I'm loving the cookups and sauteed veg prep and planning advice from Well Fed. I only got the book after Day 30 and it was a good thing, a new novelty to keep me interested.  My fridge has never been so full of pre-prepared food before.

I do feel like I am eating too  much red meat though, anyone feel the same?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JO.H - I got Well Fed 2 after my first Whole30, too, and kicked myself for not getting it sooner (well, I couldn't have, it only came out in the UK when I bought it, but I suppose I could have used Well Fed 1 more!!). Anyway, just like you it was just the kick I needed to get inspired - one side effect of the Whole30 was that I'd lost my love of cooking, I guess from just doing SO much cooking...I was starting to repeat stuff, lost all inspiration, etc. Well Fed 2 helped me rediscover my love of cooking. You can read my review on the Amazon UK page (it's the longest one there and I think it's the first review so should be on top)

 

I've paid for my weekend's transgression by coming down with a cold today. No idea how seeing as I've hardly been out of the house! But clearly my immune system is down. I haven't been sleeping enough either (whereas I was really strict during the Whole30!) so there you go. Spending the day healing myself with kombucha, bone broth, vitamin D and apple cider vinegar. Anyone have any other home remedies for colds?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the day off today so I decided to get pizza for lunch. Now I feel massively sick. I guess I learned my lesson- dairy, gluten and sugar are fine for me in the context of a whole meal containing meat and veggies, but not okay AS the meal itself. I should have stuck to my other craving and just got a greek salad with a chicken skewer. That would have tasted good too with no consequences....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome, Susan, and congrats on the house sale! Sorry to hear about the cold, TDC. Lisa, I envy your craving disappearance. I am able to exercise willpower over cravings so have not largely "given in" post my Saturday-night-food-massacre! But I'm afraid that it's more a power of the will rather than diminished cravings. I hope that I will get to the point where I can keep chocolate and a jam cookie on my kitchen table without touching them.

 

I am keeping compliant, but gotta say, the tiger blood thing is elusive. I still ache from my run-in with a falling bike rack over the weekend so that's my reasoning, but I do wish that I could summon up the energy that others have described. I don't eat meat, JOH, but in a recent post I indicated that I do seem to be erring on the side of more healthy fats than perhaps I should. Is it our bodies telling us that they need more nourishment in the form of meat or fats? Dunno. I haven't yet worked out how I want to put noncompliant food into my diet. For instance, I just bought a package of paleo granola, which contains nuts, maple syrup and some honey. None of the usual grains but is it a good idea to have syrup and honey? I know that there aren't any really wrong answers here, but trying to figure out the better answer for me.

 

Thanks, all. I really do appreciate hearing how everyone is doing on this journey...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think for me I would avoid any paleo 'treats' because I'm not sensitive to gluten and figure when I do indulge it might as well be with the real deal. But for someone with food allergies or intolerance obviously they might have to have an alternative. When I eat compliant I want it to just be meat and veggies (or fruit!). My craving for pizza is now gone too. All I can think about it delicious greek salad. And the basket of peaches in my pantry...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all! Very interesting re-into stories!! I'm still on my W30/60/90/whatever it turns out to be and while I still don't have the elusive tiger blood, I am feeling a little less cravy (and crazy!). I went and visited my family this weekend and stayed compliant the whole time, even through my brother in law ragging on me (but he somehow managed to eat all of the poached chicken I'd brought) and my sister gagging over the ghee.

 

I'm working on:

1) reducing overall portion size

2) less fruit (working on just having one piece a day)

3) having starchy carbs a few times a week vs daily or with two meals a day

 

All are hard for me. I could happily eat 10 pieces of fruit a day (which is why I need to reduce it - it's a sugar dragon trap for me!)

 

It was a hard trip overall - my mom is definitely showing deterioration from this last stroke. This whole being an adult thing is for the BIRDS.

 

I'm not hungry today and am having to force myself to eat. It's weird.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh Fran, very sorry to hear about your Mom's condition. I would encourage you to be very gentle with yourself on this W30 thing in light of the life stressors you mentioned. So perhaps tackle one issue at a time e.g., try a few days or a week of the recommended portions, then work on having fruit perhaps 1x/day. Sounds like trying to manage all at the same time, AND going to work AND dealing with your Mom AND managing your sibs is simply too much.

I hear you, Lisa, re: paleo "treats" and think you make a good point re: the real deal stuff that contains gluten. I think that this reintro stuff is throwing me and I am having a hard time finding the balance between my former (unconscious) and current (mindful) eating approaches. I had an event this evening and ate a small bag of popcorn in lieu of a proper meal and now feel both yuck and not satisfied. I have to do a better job handling the demands of evening programs after a full day of compliant w30 meals, because that is a downfall for me.

Treig? Renee? TDC? JOH? All ok in reintro-land?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This integration thing is harder than the Whole30.  Its the slack rules I think.  I have felt good, and bounced out of bed this morning, after 2 complaint days, though I ate too many dates yesterday and I think felt the sugar aches.  Now I think I can keep dates in the cupboard to sweeten the occasional dish, but not eat then in bowlfulls.  

I cooked Well Fed creamy kale, with Treig's apple and sweet potato pie, both as side dishes to roast pork - they were both fabulous - I have never cooked kale before, and it is now going ot be a standard!  And Treig, even my teenagers ate the bake, I told them it was baked apple, and they ate everything on their plates!

Today we go out for lunch to a lovely winefarm and I am going to test out the gluten reintro.  I don't plan to actually reintro it but I am curious, and I want to know that I can have a little bit every now and then when out or with friends or faced by a decadent croissant.

So sorry about the family stresses Frantastic, I think you are doing the right thing staying on Whole30.  I should've carry on a bit longer too, though my compliant reintegration days are making me feel good - almost tiger bloodish.

LisaLulu, I agree, its great when one craves the healthy stuff!  W30inri, I think a bit of honey and maple syrup is fine every now and then, though I think I would go sweettooth crazy again if I added it too much, like the dates.  I am going to try keep it there for once in a while, like to pour over TDC's sweet potato pancakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JO.H: yup, reintro is hard. I've never managed a proper reintro programme! It's so much harder not having any rules! I find once Whole30 is over I'm back in the 'oh it's just one meal' phase...which turns into 'well I'm going to eat badly tonight so I might as well just have this one bad thing more, it's not going to make a difference' and then suddenly I'm back in mostly paleo during the week...with the weekend stretching from two days, to three days...to..well the weekend REALLY starts on Thursday...and Monday is just 'easing' into the week...and BAM suddenly my paleo 'week' is two days long!

 

My grandad was admitted to hospital with a heart attack yesterday so it wasn't a good day, I could only eat was available, which happened to be pasta with bolognese. I'm not being hard on myself...it's a stressful time! But I will do my best to stay relatively paleo while I'm staying at my grandparents..I just don't want to undo all the good stuff from the Whole30. And I think that I'm just much better anyway now than before with staying relatively compliant when not at home. At the end of the day there's always eggs to fall back on! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PS - I love that everyone's calling it MY sweet potato pancakes. That makes me so happy! I have to admit, though, I got the recipe from a wonderful Natural Chef who blogs on http://naturalkitchenadventures.com/ Her palate is basically identical to mine so I trust her tastebuds. You won't find the sweet potato pancakes on there though..it was just one of those throwaway comments she made on her facebook page!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sorry about all the stress you're all going through :(

 

I had an unexpected non compliant celebration meal last night (complete with 2 slices of cake!) at my mother in laws. Since finishing I've had 4 off plan experiences- 2 non compliant meals with dessert, dessert on its own and a completely off plan meal. I reacted badly to eating the non compliant foods on their own, but in the context of a proper meal with off plan foods included (meat and veggies with some sort of bread and dessert) I had zero reaction. So clearly for me I am fine to include those foods mixed in with the real foods from time to time, but not eat it straight up. In the past I've generally had my 'treats' as stand alone things, but I think it does bad things to my blood sugar. So I guess for me it's just going to be about celebration meals that include the good and not so good :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also for me, not eating enough veggies has never been an issue. I love veggies and eat lots of them despite the rest of my diet. But I am guilty of eating meals and snacks without any meat and I think that's what messes me up. Bread and cheese does not constitute proper protein!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TDC, so sorry to learn about your grandfather. It is indeed hard to be in a stressful situation with only limited and mostly crappy food choices.

 

And Lisa, I think your premise of balancing compliant with noncompliant foods is a good one. I am continuing my experiment by staying largely W30 compliant (although, just came back from a meeting where I had milk and simple syrup in my coffee-just sayin!). I am trying to continue in weight-loss mode and this is a good vehicle for doing so. I also noticed that my face is nonreactive lately--I have occasional inflammation under one eye (it's been looked at my a bunch of docs, and no one can figure out what it is) and that has been pretty calm since starting W30. So...something has been contributing to that, and I have to determine the culprit. That may mean that I (gulp) have to do another W30 and really follow the reintro rules food by food to see what happens. Thus far, I have had sugar and dairy--no grains, or soy yet-so one of those two categories may be in play. Not ready to go back to W30 but at least it is helpful to know it's an option, and I can also head in that direction when needed.

 

Hope everyone else is well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So sorry about your Grandad TDC.  And its so hard to stay compliant when one is emotionally stressed.

I managed to cook a 100% compliant bookclub meal for 10 last night - salmon, cumin baked carrots, turkish salad, cauliflower rice pilaf, berries and toasted almonds for dessert.  And wine of course.  The meal went down a treat!  I was so pleased as now i know I can entertain without having to add the bread and the sugar and the cheese, etc.  I did eat a whole slab of dark chocolate while preparing though.  Not good, and I mustn't get back into that.

I'm just so excited that I am enjoying cooking again, and have discovered sweet potato and cauliflower and so many other yummy veggies.  

I'm going out to  a big lunch tomorrow, so it will be interesting to try stay compliant, I'll try just no dairy and gluten, that should be possible

Happy weekend to everyone, and good luck with the food and families.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! What a week! I have been putting in over 14 hour days and not fairing well with food. I agree with the rest of you, it was soooo much easier having all the rules. Now I am sneaking and eating whatever because I am too hungry and I feel horrible. 

 

On the positive side, I have re-introduced everything and nothing screams bloating or anything at me. However, I was bloated yesterday but I can't pin point one thing as I have been snitching everything! Yikes! I need to get strong again and go back to the strict 30. On another positive side, while I have eaten (confession here to get it off my shoulders) chocolate cake, popcorn, peanut butter sandwich, oreos dipped in chocolate, more creamer and coffee than I need....I have not gained any weight back! Yay! 

 

Thanks for being a support to me. Reading all your posts everyday has kept me focused on what i should be doing. Hopefully this weekend, I will find time to do some food prep and that will help next week with being prepared and eating well! 

 

Sorry to hear about your grandad. Sending you hugs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heh everyone, who is still out there?  I have had 4 days of excess wine and sugar so I am back on track Mon to Thurs this week, then away for the weekend so more wine and sugar.  I find gluten and dairy easier to avoid though if it is on a plate in front of me, my resistance fails.  Its much easier to prepare my own meals at home, and I definitely have some better habits now.  So weekdays are my saving grace.  I'm up 2kgs in a week so I now have to get more compliant days into the week to maintain my weight loss.  How is everyone else doing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I KEEP eating out! So silly! But doing well on the sweet/chocolate front: only very dark chocolate (80%) once or twice a day; usually one square is more than enough, it's so intense! Over the weekend at my grandparents' place I had a slice of a very yummy chocolate and ginger cake which was really fudgy and gooey inside...absolutely delicious! But I then spent the next three hours farting and being very bloated so I decided it was definitely not for me. I resisted eating anymore of it AND the delicious pear and chocolate cake my grandma made the next day (which is my most favourite thing ever!). I made some paleo chocolate banana bread (http://livinghealthywithchocolate.com/desserts/black-bottom-banana-bread-1898/ I didn't do it two layered though, just mixed in the cocoa) which was absolutely delicious...everyone enjoyed it! So that kept me happy.

 

I've joined a paleo challenge with some Crossfit friends. Nothing as strict as Whole30 -- much more relaxed approach BUT my main focus is keeping eating out/non-paleo to ONE day a week. I am going to keep a food diary so that I can look back on my meals and work out where things are breaking down for me. I keep forgetting where and what I've eaten and I think to stay accountable I need to see it written down. I've also not done the food prep I usually do on Whole30, so that is making cooking and so on a bit harder. The other thing is my cousin is staying with us until she finds a place to live, and so we've been eating out more/cooking rice and rice noodles more, whereas we wouldn't usually do that stuff if she wasn't here! (I know, excuses excuses!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone reintroduced Alcohol with another food group? I committed to a wine tasting on October 9th (cheese and wine AND chocolate). I don't officially start my re-intro until this thursday (10-1).  My plan is similar to Melissa's suggestion in ISWF.

 

Thursday - Legumes

Friday and Sat - whole 30

Sunday - Gluten free foods

Mon and Tues and Wed - Whole 30

Thursday - Wine, Cheese and chocolate

Friday (my bday) - have not figured out this one yet.

Sat and Sun  - whole 30

Monday - grains

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've not doing great with the reintro thing. I think I'm just too scared to eat anything 'off plan'. I have allowed myself a couple of glasses of wine at the weekend, and I once had rice.  Had a sore head the next day, so not going to have rice again.....Soya milk seems okay, but then I've only had a small soya decaf latte....maybe not enough to give a reaction either way?  I thought to myself that I would just eat something I really wanted to eat when it presented itself, and so far nothing has seemed that appealing.

 

Not sure what to suggest, Onedawgval....I would be nervous of trying all of those for the first time together in one day!! Sounds like fun though :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fell prey to one of my bad habits- my inability to waste food. We had a box of gluten containing hamburgers my husband accidentally bought and since I'm the only one who isn't gluten intolerant in this house (besides the baby) and I hate burgers with no bun I ate them all over the course of a week. Then I felt kind of bad about it because they weren't 'worth it' like the delicious meal I had at a wedding or the chocolate my husband bought me. So now I'm going to try not to eat anything just because I don't want to waste it, only if it's healthy or delicious or both!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't found the effects of the integration too obvious, except that I picked up a 2kgs in a week, after having lost 4 over the month.  It must have been the sugar and the wine mostly.  The wine is staying but I think the sugar must go mostly for good.  My daughter made choc squares with a kg of icing sugar over the weekend.  I only ate 2 but that was enough to set off a serious craving.  No more sugar!

I also have the inability to waste food LisaLulu.  Its a tough one.  Though I find having only the good stuff around helps.

Interestingly I have discovered that raw almonds give me a stomach ache, would never have thought that before.  So I am eating less nuts, and need them less as my meals are better.  I am still loving not having to snack inbetween meals, mostly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello everyone! Things are going well here. I have maintained my 11 lb loss even with adding treats in and not eating completely whole30. I feel I am riding my own bike and enjoying it. I am only eating foods that I love! I have continued to use some of the things I have learned with condiments are not necessary, adding more vegetables, and following the serving suggestions. I have been working on changing my mind set to really think food and instead of " I can't have that" to I don't eat that! This has helped me control eating off my kids plates this week and finishing things laying around my house from the kids.... and my husband, he is one of the kids after all! lol My month has been extremely busy so I have added some snacks in, but they are well planned this week and I am feeling good. I, too, am trying to limit the sugar because once I start.... I struggle to stop eating sugar. I wish I would be continuing to lose weight as I have plenty more to go. 

 

 

 

onedawgval- just a thought....I would reintroduce the foods as you were, then have your wine, chocolate and cheese tasting, but later on plan on reintroducing each food separately so you can get an accurate picture on how your body reacts to each thing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...