Would love a convo about next week's reintro

[frogtox]

Today I'm on day 22, so 8 days to go. I'm a data-driven science girl, and the kind of person who plans things to a fault (it took me three weeks to gather enough info to actually start Whole30 once I decided I was going to!).  So I've been wondering how to go about life after this and would like some thoughts. 

I did Whole30 because I thought I needed to change the way I think about food. I am pretty healthy (work out a lot, eat relatively well).. but I am 47, my metabolism is slowing, could stand to lose 10-15 lbs and I probably drank too much. 

I feel really great since doing Whole30. I have more energy, my clothes fit more loosely and I love that I never feel hungry. I'm just worried that since I didn't have any giant triggers (allergies, pain, etc) that once I start re-introducing things that I won't be able to tell whether I need to continue to avoid those foods. Or, will I keep adding things then all of a sudden realize I don't feel as good as I once did and not be sure why?  That is, will the standard reintroduction process outlined in ISWF work for me? 

I don't mind eating this way.. I really don't. It's a bit isolating (they're having a work picnic lunch and I'm sitting here typing this, eating my salad {yes, I know I could've joined them}) and it's been tough to do having two little kids and a husband who isn't totally on board- so I would like to regain some flexibility. 

There's a solid chance I'm way overthinking this but would like to hear from people who are a little more like me.. no major complaints to begin with but just wanting to reconnect with the way I feel I *should* be eating.  Weird as it sounds, and as unsustainable as what I've been doing for the last three weeks is, I am a bit afraid to go off this plan. 

Thanks for letting me get this 'out there.'   

[ShannonM816]

Hi, Frogtox! You're definitely not alone in wondering what to do post-W30, I think many of us feel that way at the end of our first Whole30. Have you read through all the information in the I Finished The Whole30 section? (And if you don't want to do the structured reintroductions, there's also the Slow Roll Reintroductions.)

 

For me, I had a combination of obvious immediate reactions to some foods, and less noticeable reactions to others. When I reintroduced gluten-containing grains, I immediately felt tired and sort of mentally foggy. When I reintroduced dairy, I had no obvious reaction -- but when I later went back to W30 eating, except I added half & half in my coffee every morning (the one thing I felt like I couldn't live without), after a week or two, I realized that some aches and pains that had gone away during my W30 had come back. 

 

It can be really easy to slip back into old habits, so I really recommend having a plan for what you're going to do. Think about what would make this way of eating more sustainable. Remember that you don't have to buy all organic, grass fed everything, if it's budget considerations that make this hard to keep doing long term. If it's just that your family isn't on board with eating this way, you may need to find ways to make meals that will work for everyone -- obvious ideas would be making things like tacos, where you can have a taco salad, while your family has theirs in taco shells, or you could make a meat sauce and serve theirs over pasta and yours over spaghetti squash, zoodles, or even a baked potato or sweet potato. If they want bread or rice with meals, you can always eat more veggies and skip the bread and rice. And the more often you serve healthy vegetables and proteins, the more likely they are to start eating those things too. 

[MeadowLily]

• Report

#2 Tom Denham

Whole9 Moderator/First Whole30 May 2010

• 
• Moderators
• 
• 5891 posts

• LocationAlpharetta, Georgia, USA

Posted 15 March 2015 - 02:21 AM

A good way to test how well your body deals with legumes would be to add a palm-size portion or a bit less to breakfast, lunch, and supper for one day to see how things go. I would not depend upon legumes as my protein portion for a meal because you don't get all the same amino acids from beans as animal protein. I might eat a little less meat and a little less veggies to accommodate the serving of legumes. 

 

You already have a sense of how alcohol effects you? Fine. Just don't combine alcohol with anything else you are reintroducing. Any time you combine foods in a reintroduction, you lose the ability to know which one is having an effect. 

 

I am one of those people who can eat anything a little bit without very noticeable consequences. I avoid dairy pretty consistently because I have found it reduces the quality of my sleep. That took me years to notice. Actually, I eat Whole30-style whenever possible and go off-plan less than twice per week unless I am traveling. And when I am traveling, I still stay pretty close. 

 

If you follow the Whole30 meal template, you will lose weight that you need to lose at a healthy pace. The Whole30 approach is a long-term and permanent solution to being overweight. There are no short cuts that don't compromise your health and that don't increase the threat that you will gain the weight back.

 

Please don't fantasize that you can take a short-cut without negative consequences. Just settle into Whole30-style eating and let the magic happen month and after month until you reach a really good place. I personally lost 2 pounds per month for 15 months in a row before I stopped losing weight. I didn't change what I was eating or the exercise I was doing. I just lost weight until I stopped losing weight. Your body has an ideal point and if you follow the Whole30 approach, you will reach your ideal point. 

 

[MeadowLily]

If you follow the Whole30 meal template, you will lose weight that you need to lose at a healthy pace. The Whole30 approach is a long-term and permanent solution to being overweight. There are no short cuts that don't compromise your health and that don't increase the threat that you will gain the weight back.

 

Please don't fantasize that you can take a short-cut without negative consequences. Just settle into Whole30-style eating and let the magic happen month and after month until you reach a really good place. I personally lost 2 pounds per month for 15 months in a row before I stopped losing weight. I didn't change what I was eating or the exercise I was doing. I just lost weight until I stopped losing weight. Your body has an ideal point and if you follow the Whole30 approach, you will reach your ideal point. 

 

 

That's what I'm doing.  I believe some may assume that on Day 31, you can return to the previous way of eating with all of the pasta, bread, pizza, chips and snacks and the metabolism will handle grains and sugars in a different fashion....meaning without any kind of rebound weight gain.  Not so.

 

You may be able to tolerate grains and legumes.  Your testing will reveal that for you.   The occasional off-roading that turns into daily off-roading will have consequences.   No one wants that.  Learning Reintro skills may take longer than 10 days....may take a few months.

 

For a Slow Roll Reintro testing purposes, I bought some Sprouted Ezekiel Bread.  My husband has been helping me by not making bread or bringing it into the house.   We haven't had a single pizza or pasta dish since April of 2014.   We made toast and my husband swelled up like a balloon.  It only stirred up some grain monster for me.  All I could think about was that loaf of sawdust bread sitting in my deep freezer.   So I pitched it in the trash and haven't tried any since then.    We're still pizza, pasta, bread free.  We can't say that we miss it...at all.

 

 

[frogtox]

My family has been really supportive. Every meal I've cooked over the past three weeks have gotten rave reviews (aside from a shepherd's pie, too much black pepper snafu). Having said that, I got caught on Saturday... my son's hockey practice and birthday party were back to back and I was caught without anything to eat until 2:30, so it'd be nice to have the flexibility to have a piece of pizza in those cases. 

 

I'm fairly confident I've lost weight because of the way my clothes feel, but I suspect it's about 5 pounds (which would be a normal pace for three weeks) so I wouldn't mind continuing for the weight loss. I'm horribly vain, hah. 

 

I have read the I Finished the Whole30, but not the slow roll introduction.. thanks for posting that. 

 

Good to know I'm not the only one freaked out a bit at this stage. I feel like an inmate released on parole, knowing I have more freedom but being scared to screw up.  

[EmilyK]

I will tell you, I was super excited to reintro all the foods I'd cut out.  I wasn't planning to go off the rails but I was really looking forward to having cheese, rice, corn, occasional ice cream, buns on my burgers, etc.  And I reintro-ed dairy on my first possible day and it made me feel like total crap and I haven't reintroed anything else.  Not a single thing.  What I'm doing right now is obviously working well for me.  I'm getting used to the cooking/preparation and honestly, as good as I feel across the board now--it is all worth it to me.
 

Not to say that I'll never eat a slice of pizza or Chinese food again--but I have fallen much more into the "slow roll reintro" plan than the actual structured reintro that the book details. We've found a groove, my family and I, about how we eat fundamentally the same meals but they make some additions. It's working for us, and what I'm doing is *really* working for me, and I'm not really in a big hurry to reintroduce things that (prior to doing the whole 30) I didn't think really bothered me but obviously they did.

 

You don't have to "stop", or go back to eating things you don't miss. 

 

[frogtox]

Thanks EmilyK. I can't say I'm really looking forward to much in particular, which is weird because I thought I'd miss more. And I'm thankful to have confirmed that I'm probably one of few people who do NOT have a 'sugar dragon' because I don't miss sweets (though am looking forward to not having to be as careful reading labels).  Mostly I miss the flexibility. 

[EmilyK]

I got there around my last week, too.  I did want dairy, but then that went so poorly overall that I decided that unless I *really* wanted to eat something, I was really okay doing what I've been doing.

 

I will say it was nice to go have dinner in a restaurant the other day and only have to order sans bun and cheese and not grill the waiter sideways about oils and sugar and whatnot.  I am planning to keep reintroing some things eventually, so I can keep it controlled, but I'm not finding the whole30 way of eating too rigid overall. 

 

Good luck, however you decide to proceed.   

[sgrohne]

I am totally like you frogtox.  I am relatively healthy in my eating and diet overall and don't have any major health issues.  I started my reintros last week and so far so good.  I will reintroduce everything as I don't want to go through this and not know how something effects me.  What I am finding is that I just don't want to introduce a lot of things because nutritionally, it doesn't really benefit me.  That isn't to say I'm not going to splurge occasionally but overall, I'd really like to continue eating this way . . . I'm nervous though that I will slip back so time will tell.

[Awenydd]

I am on the Whole30 AI plan.  I cannot wait for eggs, capsicum, corn, tomatoes & cardamon.  Then ,maybe a piece of cheese.  Oh no - wait - a glass of wine with friends.  A glass of sparkling water with friends is just not the same.  Which is ok.  But still, not the same.  PS - I go to the grocery store and buy proscuitto & smoked salmon and roll them up together and eat them when I get caught out.  I have also done some serious investigation into tea that I can drink without milk - and I have a coffee expresso shot the mornings that I need a little help.  EGGS!! wheeee!!  I am searching the website to find the Whole30 position on rice malt syrup..

[Piranha1981]

I am similar to you Frogtox, in that I didn't have any major niggles before I started, and I also cut down sugar for a couple of months beforehand and managed to bypass the carb flu! Like you I find this way of eating fine, there's nothing I particularly miss, the only thing is the difficulty in eating out or getting caught out without compliant food. So, basically, the convenience of a modern day diet when out and about. At home it is so much easier! I am sort of on day 29 now... I say sort of because there have been three issues with my first Whole30 (non compliant cough medicine in first week, picking out kidney beans and sweetcorn from otherwise compliant food, and then I messed up at the weekend when in a restaurant by not realising some potato wedges were probably frozen, I had already grilled the waitress on everything else and they were supposed to be my healthy alternative to buttered new potatoes!!!). So I am debating whether to do another full 30 days from Thursday, but try to get it totally right this time. I have learned a lot about following the meal template on the fly, and my mood has felt much more level recently, so part of me thinks I should try again to make this a more ingrained lifestyle change. But I am also a real rules follower, and I think it's also the thought of going off plan that scares me a bit.

Oh and like you I have two kids... Have you been introducing them to the foods you have been eating too? Husband is not particularly on board, though he will eat the stuff I cook! He is ok, but he isn't really interested and is a bit frustrated re eating out etc.

Anyway I hope you can come up with a plan that works for you, the slow roll plan sounds like it might work well.

[MeadowLily]

Thanks EmilyK. I can't say I'm really looking forward to much in particular, which is weird because I thought I'd miss more. And I'm thankful to have confirmed that I'm probably one of few people who do NOT have a 'sugar dragon' because I don't miss sweets (though am looking forward to not having to be as careful reading labels).  Mostly I miss the flexibility. 

 Posted by Johnny M on 08 November 2012 - 12:51 PM

This was the hardest part for me. The food part? Piece of cake. Changing my whole social scene? Absurdly hard. What I realized through some coaching with Melissa was that I was holding onto something that was actually making me sick and depressed. You have to put this whole thing into perspective...you are working on healing your entire body...a body you're going to have your entire life. You want to treat it well and you want it to return the favor and stay healthy. 30 days of impact to your social life are not devastating. A lifetime of metabolic issues and gut problems is devastating. Check out my profile and read my story. It's short but I know where you're coming from. I found ways to learn new habits like shooting pool with friends instead of drinking at bars or having dinner parties instead of going to restaurants. The reward I found was that whole30 didn't just change my diet, it changed my life, and in an extremely positive way. Good luck and use the forum for support! 

[frogtox]

I am similar to you Frogtox, in that I didn't have any major niggles before I started, and I also cut down sugar for a couple of months beforehand and managed to bypass the carb flu! Like you I find this way of eating fine, there's nothing I particularly miss, the only thing is the difficulty in eating out or getting caught out without compliant food. So, basically, the convenience of a modern day diet when out and about. At home it is so much easier! I am sort of on day 29 now... I say sort of because there have been three issues with my first Whole30 (non compliant cough medicine in first week, picking out kidney beans and sweetcorn from otherwise compliant food, and then I messed up at the weekend when in a restaurant by not realising some potato wedges were probably frozen, I had already grilled the waitress on everything else and they were supposed to be my healthy alternative to buttered new potatoes!!!). So I am debating whether to do another full 30 days from Thursday, but try to get it totally right this time. I have learned a lot about following the meal template on the fly, and my mood has felt much more level recently, so part of me thinks I should try again to make this a more ingrained lifestyle change. But I am also a real rules follower, and I think it's also the thought of going off plan that scares me a bit.

Oh and like you I have two kids... Have you been introducing them to the foods you have been eating too? Husband is not particularly on board, though he will eat the stuff I cook! He is ok, but he isn't really interested and is a bit frustrated re eating out etc.

Anyway I hope you can come up with a plan that works for you, the slow roll plan sounds like it might work well.

We do sound very similar  For the most part, our family dinners have been Whole 30 compliant, aside from a few times I've served them brown rice or something in addition as a side. They really love it, which is encouraging. 

 

I do wish my husband were more on board. He suffers from fibromyalsia and is always in pain.  If I'm honest, I was partially hoping he'd be more on board with doing the whole thing with me, but he loves his chocolate ice cream and martinis too much! Maybe someday!

 

Thanks all for your input. I'm feeling much more comfortable about the thought of next week.. and realizing it doesn't really have to be any different than this week unless I want it to.  

[Awenydd]

Hi MeadowLily - that was a great post!  I am a bit confused, is that your post (about the pool) - or Johnny M?  I'd love to hear more about the new habits (shooting pool instead of going to a bar). 

[MeadowLily]

That's Johnny M.     You can click on his name up there and read his story.