When to reintroduce: by day of Whole_ or by how I'm feeling?

[RonaKBerry]

I'm day 65 and keep thinking about reintroducing a few foods but haven't yet because I'll feel great one day and not so great the next.  Often, I'll think I'll reintro a food and don't and that night have gas/bloating or headache or can't sleep or.... and if I HAD added the food that day I would have thought it was that particular food.  As it is I'm eating a Whole30 compliant diet, minus cruciforous veggies and peppers. These I have found DO give me bloat and stomachache.  During my Whole30 that's turned into Whole 60+... I 'sleuthed' the 2nd month with leaving out eggs, tomatoes, peppers and all nuts and kombucha.  I've added everything back in except for jalapeno peppers.  But I do continue to have headaches and phlegm/mucus when I sing (had sooo hoped this would clear up when eating absolutely no dairy) and my sleep is still messed up.  I go to sleep easily enough but I wake at 3 or 4 am and cant go back to sleep.  Was sooooo hoping I'd get the Whole30 sleep benefit I've read about.  (Haven't had the Tiger's blood either.....?  )     So do I wait til i have a week of days where I have no headache, or no bloating, or start sleeping better... ?  How am I going to know if when I experience these things that they are due to reintro-ed foods and not just how I seem to be?

[ShannonM816]

For reintroductions, it may be that instead of reintroducing something one day and calling reintro for that particular thing done, you reintro it one day, and if you have some symptoms but aren't sure if it's that food or something else, wait a few days or more and try it again. It does mean dragging out your reintro for even longer, but if you're okay with eating this way for a while longer, it may be worthwhile for you.

 

For the sleep/tiger blood -- if you 'd like to post a few days' worth of what you normally eat, how much water you drink, activity level, and anything else you think might be relevant, we can take a look and see if there are tweaks that might help. I know some people have reported sleeping better if they have starchy vegetables with their last meal of the day, and others have reported that having any nuts at all during the day can mess with their sleep, so someone might look at what you're doing and notice something that has affected them that you might not have thought of. 

 

Tiger blood can be such a misnomer. It makes it sound like some wonderful, energetic, I-can-take-on-the-world sort of a feeling, and for some people that's what it is, but for many other people, it's not quite that clear cut. For many of us, it's more that we have sustained energy throughout the day, that we don't feel the need for a mid-afternoon caffeine pick-me-up, that we find ourselves doing things that previously we didn't have the energy to do, like cleaning the house or actually going to the gym or exercising a bit, or even just not coming home and sitting on the couch and staring at the tv all evening until bed time. These things are less obvious than the sudden burst of energy that some people describe and it's easy to overlook it, but it's still a good change.

[Carlaccini]

I've been eating Paleo/ whole 30 since Aug 2012.  Only recently was I able to make a correlation between foods high in FODMAPs and being chronically congested (not terrible - but it was always there), and bloating.  I knew there was something off - but I wasn't able to ever pinpoint what it was.  

 

Then because of a very stressful December it threw everything into high gear - and my symptoms just became more obvious.  I decided to try low FODMAP instead.  Low and behold - bloating went down, and congestion is gone.

 

I'm not saying this is you - but maybe it's worth writing meals down, along with how you feel, etc.  I started doing this and this led me to believe that I have some issues with high FODMAP foods. Now I still don't know "exactly" which ones - but I do have suspects.  I will know more once I start doing re-intros.

[Physibeth]

I've been eating Paleo/ whole 30 since Aug 2012.  Only recently was I able to make a correlation between foods high in FODMAPs and being chronically congested (not terrible - but it was always there), and bloating.  I knew there was something off - but I wasn't able to ever pinpoint what it was.  

 

Then because of a very stressful December it threw everything into high gear - and my symptoms just became more obvious.  I decided to try low FODMAP instead.  Low and behold - bloating went down, and congestion is gone.

 

I'm not saying this is you - but maybe it's worth writing meals down, along with how you feel, etc.  I started doing this and this led me to believe that I have some issues with high FODMAP foods. Now I still don't know "exactly" which ones - but I do have suspects.  I will know more once I start doing re-intros.

 

This is interesting. I also have never been able to totally eliminate my congestion...I'm thinking of doing another Whole30 in the spring/summer and maybe I'll make it a low FODMAP one. Just need to make sure I'm ready to reintro for Honeycrisp apple season.

[RonaKBerry]

Thanks for your responses.  Appreciate it.  Okay, to share my food diary....last three days (which are a fairly typical rotation)

 

Day 1: Breakfast: Kale, buffalo burger, sweet potato, coconut butter

Lunch:  Chicken salad with chicken avocado 1/2 chopped apple, celery/onions/spices, homemade mayo, steamed carrots

Pre-workout: 1 egg and 1/4 cup sweet potato

Post-workout: 1-2 oz chopped buffalo heart with compliant mustand and 1/4 avocado

Dinner: Salmon w asparagus, sweet potato, choco-banana-avocado-coconut milk "pudding"

 

Day 2: Breakfast: Kale, fried eggs, mushrooms, avocado, zuchinni

Lunch: buffalo burger with pepper/tomato/onion saute, fried plantain

Pre-workout: 1 egg and 1/2 small sweet potato

Post workout: 1-2 oz chopped buffalo heart with mustard and spoonful raw cashew butter

Dinner: Crockpot buffalo w carrots/yellow potatoes, zuchinnin, onions and spring greens w avocado oil/balsamic dressing

 

Day 3: Breakfast  tilapia fried in ghee, asparagus, yellow pepper/tomato/onion saute

Lunch: Shrimp, coconut milk, stir fried snap peas/mushrooms/zuchinni, raw cashew butter

Pre-workout: 1 egg and 1/2 small sweet potato

Post-workout: 1-2 oz chopped buffalo heart with mustard and black olives

Dinner: leftover crockpot buffalo w veggies and kale/chard sauted w mushrooms, blackberries

 

I try to rotate my proteins:  So I don't have eggs always or only at breakfast.   I rotate eggs, fish (all kinds, including shellfish), chicken, and buffalo. (Mostly fish and buffalo at meals cuz I use eggs for pre-workout every day)

I have a serving of fruit every day--

I have a serving of dark green veggie every day....kale, chard, beet greens, spinach

I usually have a dense carb some meal every day--as well as in pre-workout

I don't have nuts very often and if I do, mostly raw cashew, sometimes slivered almonds as a garnish

I probably depend a little much on avocado for added fat but I quite often just drizzle olive oil or coconut oil on whatever I'm eating

I eat veggies with every meal: green beans, asparagus, snap peas, zuchinni, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms,onions

 

I don't drink coffee.  I have tea throughout the day: green in the morning, otherwise herbal teas.  I consume around 48 oz of water as tea/day and around a liter of just water.

 

Exercise:   bikram yoga: 90 minutes/day, usually 5-6 days/week.  Mid afternoon.  Otherwise I'm generally active (not a couch potato ) 

 

Too much detail?  Not enough?   

 

  I think I'll start writing down how I feel throughout the day and how I sleep along with my food record and see if I can see any patterns.    And it sounds like I could study up on high and low FODMAPs....

 

 

 

[Physibeth]

Your meals look pretty good though it is hard to tell on portions.

 

The one big thing that stands out to me is your pre and post workout meals. We suggest that pre-workout be protein and fat with little to no starch and post-workout be lean protein and starchy vegetable with little to no fat. The reason is we don't want to give the body sugars it can burn easily previous to a workout because then it doesn't need to use what is readily available. Including this still could be slowing your progress into being a fat burner over a sugar burner. For post workout you want to get protein to the muscles quickly and restore lost glycogen. Fat slows digestion. I don't know if that explains why you are still not sleeping better but it is worth trying.

 

How often do you eat that pudding you list on Day 1? Technically this is not a Whole30 food as it falls under the swypo category, but you are well past 30 days now so it isn't a big. If you are not struggling with any sugar dragon or big cravings it might not be a problem.

 

The only other thing I might suggest trying is having more carb dense vegetables at your third meal. I've found I wake up less in the night and sleep better when I do this.

[RonaKBerry]

Thank you, Physibeth!  How did I get so turned around on my pre and post workout meals I wonder?  So I should keep my pre and post proteins but switch the fat and sweet potato.  Correct?    

 

Also, I'm going to try having a dense veggie routinely at dinner.  I often think I'm too hungry when I go to bed at night.   But that wouldn't give me the headache that blows off the top of my head at 3:00 am.....  would it?  I'll experiment and find out.   Here I am still experimenting with compliant foods! So obviously not ready to introduce other foods.  Sigh.

 

As to the 'chocolate pudding'...I've made it twice over the past month.  I understand the swypo thing and it's not that for me.  Just a way to use banana and avocado that are almost too ripe, and have a changeup in my food.   I tend to eat food like it is medicine or vitamins, rather than for enjoyment.  Been trying to learn more of the "enjoyment" factor on this Whole___....in both the cooking and eating departments.    I've been gluten, corn, soy and lactose free for 6 years so it's been awhile since I've had a lot of the foods considered normal by the general populace.  And even as I say this I'm reading FODMAP stuff and contemplating going off even more foods.......oy!  Cuz something is giving me headaches, causing some bloat, and keeping phlegm production going overtime.  I will sleuth and experiment til I find out!....

 

[Physibeth]

The 3 am headache could be not enough carbs yes. As long as you are still willing to experiment there is no harm in trying the tweeks. And yes I think just switching the fat and sweet potato would be fine though I'm not super sure on where organ meats fall on the lean/not lean. Most people do chicken breast or tinned tuna packaged in water post workout.