TheDuchess Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 HI Whole 30'ers, I am officially half way thru my whole 30 and I kind of love it. I can't say that I have tiger blood or any of that- I think the heavy meds I am on are going to make me tired regardless but I have seen many positive changes and don't really miss the eliminated foods (except those silly dreams where I accidentally eat a noodle). Since my autoimmune condition has a diet component and I have wanted to find out exactly which things are flare worthy versus just avoiding everything or eating it all and hoping -I had planned to follow the reintroduction protocol as written and to allow SWYPO once my thirty days are up- really I think I could keep going fairly indefinitely with SWYPO and occasionally lax standards when I go out. I probably only drink a bottle or two of wine a year anyways so it isn't a huge deal to give it up alcohol for a month. I really like knowing what to eat every day. I won't lie- I do have a weight loss goal, I know that isn't what we are here to talk about but it's real in my case so hear it is- I would like to lose 20lbs in 6months which I hope is doable...though I don't get the impression I have lost anything so far- I won't get the scale out though. I figure I can always wait till I have three months left and then get the diet pills out (just kidding- sort of- I have a reunion coming and I WILL lose this weight!) OK so here is my question- a friend bought a table at a fancy charity event and has invited me to attend. There will be food and drinks and general merry making on the 30th day of my Whole 30. I can't see how I can keep strictly Whole30 when I will have little to no control over the food and it is doubtful that the servers will know much about how things are made or what oils are used and though I very rarely drink this is the kind of situation where I would imbibe. Is day 30 allowed? Should I go and just eat whatever meat and vege is on the plate regardless of what oil is used and try to wait till midnight to drink? I don't get a lot of these invites and it wold be awfully nice to go- but am really wishing I had started just one day earlier. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 OK so here is my question- a friend bought a table at a fancy charity event and has invited me to attend. There will be food and drinks and general merry making on the 30th day of my Whole 30. I can't see how I can keep strictly Whole30 when I will have little to no control over the food and it is doubtful that the servers will know much about how things are made or what oils are used and though I very rarely drink this is the kind of situation where I would imbibe. Is day 30 allowed? Should I go and just eat whatever meat and vege is on the plate regardless of what oil is used and try to wait till midnight to drink? I don't get a lot of these invites and it wold be awfully nice to go- but am really wishing I had started just one day earlier. What do you think? Options that I see: - you could do a Whole29.75 - you could call the caterer for the event around now and ask about requesting a special meal. As someone who's lived gluten-free for 8+ years, I've often taken that step. - you could eat a compliant meal beforehand, and stay compliant, beverage and food wise, at the event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Chris has given you some great advice. Pre-load before you go. The world is full of breakrooms and catered events populated with people who don't and won't eat like we are. We might as well get used to it if we want to make our health a priority. The entirety of life is just too huge to contemplate without our favorite foods. However, one day at a time for 30 days is a drop in the bucket when we contemplate the big picture. Every day I make my own decisions not to eat fried fast foods or sugar__and with every day that goes by that decision does get a bit easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinagain Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Duchess, how will you feel on day 31 if you imbibe on day 30? If you wake up the next morning after ending your W30 early, will you be disappointed? Feel like you've let yourself down or didn't fulfill your commitment? If the answer is yes, there you go...find another way to enjoy the event while sticking to W30 to the best of your ability. Now, that might mean that you eat the steak and veggies without asking if there's regular butter on the vegetables (because that's harder to control)...but it certainly wouldn't include drinking alcohol (because you CAN control that) or eating the rolls. Now, think of the reverse. You go to the event, stick to W30...will you wake up the next day feeling like you missed the opportunity to enjoy a rare event? Will that make you resent the efforts you put into W30? Or will you feel proud of yourself that you stuck to your original plan? Something else to consider...this is an invite from a friend, right? Now, I'm the LAST person to let a friend or family member dictate what I should and shouldn't do (I'm a stubborn gal)...but I also try to be considerate. Will your friend regret inviting you if you don't join in the festivities? Granted, if you had a serious food allergy, were a recovering alcoholic, etc, you'd NEED to be picky about what you were eating and drinking, so it really depends on how you want to think about W30. I haven't answered your question, have I? That's because I think you really need to decide this for YOU. But I also think you need to decide BEFORE you go...don't let a spur of the moment decision mess up your W30. Either choose ahead of time that your W30 is done at X time and enjoy your evening, or decide beforehand that you're sticking to it, make plans to facilitate that...and then enjoy your evening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDuchess Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Well I just went out and bought a dress for the event and have gotten a little more info (definitely a sit down dinner). I emailed the person "in charge" on the website asking who to talk to about dietary restrictions. I haven't fully decided on MY course of action, I soo appreciate everyone's suggestions and your reminders that it really has to be MY choice. Here is where I am at now- - The day before I officially started I ate mostly complaint- one could argue that I started my Whole 30 at lunch the day before since I am 99% sure I had a complaint dinner and maybe even a complaint lunch (which means I could in all fairness end my whole 30 at lunch with no issue)- but maybe that's because I come from a family of lawyers - I am going to request a gluten and dairy free meal- I want to know which things are really messing me up rather than eating them all at once and never getting to the bottom of it. Since it is an event given by the Jewish Community Center it is likely kosher and my guess is they won't cook the steak in butter (meat and dairy on the same plate is a no no). If given a choice I will ask for steak or chicken with salt and pepper olive or canola oil and nothing else on it and steamed or sauteed veggies in the same oil- if there is dessert course I will ask if I can have plain fruit (I know we aren't supposed to have fruit for dessert but I don't really want them to bring me a plate of cheesecake or be the person at the table who refuses their plate). Is it crazy to ask for fruit?- If I had diabetes that would be ok- right? I am asking you guys because I was not permitted as a child to special order anything for fear it would inconvenience the waitstaff - my mom had/has some issues (as in I couldn't ask for my burger with no onions I had to pick them off or deal with it). Sometimes I am not sure what is ok to ask for- especially in a situation where they are serving such a large group and I don't want to be unreasonable.- cross your fingers for me that someone gets back to me soon- my next attempt will be to call the venue where it is being held- I'm guessing they are doing the catering (it's an upscale hotel). - If I can't get ahold of the person in charge of catering I will definitely eat ahead of time- but I do think it might be annoying to our host who paid a lot of money for this table to watch me not touch the meal she bought for me. She isn't a close friend but has included me in this group of moms from my son's preschool- in fact I would only say that I am close with two of the ten moms. If I do manage a special meal I am going to put a couple of safe treats in my purse for the cocktail hour in case I need to scuttle off to the ladies room and kill the hunger monster in the face of the cocktail hour and passed trays of unknown ingredients. Honestly I Don't WANT a non complaint meal- after 30 days of not eating those things I don't want a meal filled with them- I could very well end up spending the night in the bathroom or with a splitting headache or something- that doesn't sound fun! - For me life is NOT a stream of catered events and break rooms filled with goodies. This is super rare for me. A night out anywhere without the kids is crazy rare but one with fancy outfits and a meal- I can't remember the last time I went someplace like this but I had to go buy a dress because it was before the baby weight. I don't even go out to dinner with my friends very often. I'm too tired/sick and we have always spent our food budget on super high quality groceries and almost no going out- something we actually need to change up so we can have date night more often. I have decided not to restrain myself from alcohol. Alcohol isn't something that I have trouble avoiding- I probably put away two, maybe three bottles of wine-- A YEAR. So that was never a habit I had trouble breaking but I do like to have a couple cocktails when I go out with the girls (3 bottles of wine a year illustrates how rarely I go out). I will see how it feels when I am there and start the night with water. If I feel like I really want to drink (which I think I will) I'll have something simple like wine or a vodka martini so I know just what I'm reintroducing. Does anyone have suggestions for reintroduction cocktails? Voka and soda water with a twist? I have a very limited list of mixers I can have becasue of Interstitial cystitis and usually have a vodka, mint, and cucumber mojito (which would have sugar in it and is tough to order so I'll skip it) or white wine. I hope that I won't wake up and feel disappointed in myself or like I shorted my Whole 30 experience. I could always do an extra five days in penance- LOL. - I'm not really "looking forward" to my thirty ending. I did hit some boredom today but for the most part I am pretty happy with the things I am eating and am in no rush to reintroduce dairy etc. I think I will do it for the scientific process of recording which foods trigger a flare up of my Interstitial Cystitis since the results won't be muddied by food groups that have been out of my system for a month right now but I don't really think I'll be adding them as regulars to my meal rotation. I wouldn't mind adding a dollop of yogurt on some soup or being able to grab a cup of it to eat for convenience but it doesn't exactly excite me- I definitely need to learn how to utilize the coconut milk and cream I bought. I think I will want to indulge in my favorites on those very rare occasions we eat out (less than monthly) and yes that means ordering foccacia stuffed with three cheeses and drizzled with honey (please don't let that be a trigger) this way I will know what the exact repercussions of that choice are and can make an informed decision about it (please don't let crack and honey bread be the bad guy- it is so so good- I already gave up coffee and soda for the last 19 years- leave me my crack and honey bread)- but as far as my day to day eating goes I'm pretty happy with the Whole 30 menu. ok I'm too tired for editing so I apologize for the length and run on sentences etc but I needed to think it out load (on screen) so hopefully my process passes the sniff test adn I'm ot kidding myself- I think it will be ok- complaint as possible on the meal- allowed to drink simply prepared cocktails. I'm pretty happy with several of the things that have come out of this process- primarily having prepared proteins and veggies and just throwing them in a saute pan with some ghee and maybe topping with a fried egg and knowing that I just had something healthy. I won't be stopping that and I don't really need any off plan foods to make that work. I do think I will engage in SWYPO and even go wild with some Paleoized treats sweetened with maple syrup etc. The paleo salted caramel chocolate chip cookies I used to make were every bit as good as any SAD cookie I have had- they certainly never made me long for the "real thing". So I guess I'll let those back in at some point but I don't really know if I want this to be "OVER" per se. I'll have to look more into the reintroduction phase more. I'll tell you a secret- I still haven't read It Starts With Food- I don't actually have the book. I might have to buy it now that I know I am committed and read it - then do another Whole30. I knowingly didn't do some things "right". I am still eating in front of the tv and snacking (on complaint foods) so maybe round two I ca address those issues now that I am not so daunted by the whole process. I just couldn't face buying ANOTHER food book only to find out that it wasn't sustainable for me- ayone read that flipping Dr. Dukan book? I was all in for about a week and the I realized- it's going to be like 6 months before I taste fruit again- yes they are promising I'll lose those 20 lbs but no fruit for the forseeable future? Did I really just pay money for this book and spend time reading it? Yay for the people it works for but it wasn't doable for me (I love fruit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 It's great that you have such a well thought-out plan of action.Yes, it's perfectly ok to request fresh fruit.On the alcohol, if you do choose to imbibe, I'd suggest no more than 1-2 drinks of your choosing. That's my typical recommendation when people reintroduce alcohol. Ideally, when you reintro, you only do one off-plan food at a time, so if you have a reaction, you can pinpoint the cause. In this case, I would minimize the off-plan items you have at the wedding, to avoid getting ill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ultrarunnergirl Posted March 20, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 20, 2015 Sounds like you have thought this through pretty well. Avoiding gluten and dairy is good. I would add soy to the no-fly list, it can have some pretty nasty effects. Like you said, you would NOT want to spend half your evening in the Ladies room or even just really uncomfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.