chezjulie Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Reintroduction: Non-gluten Grains W1D1M1 2 Applegate hot dogs, gluten-free oatmeal with blueberries & coconut milk, heirloom tomatoes, coffee w/coconut milk W1D1M2 2 turkey blueberry morning muffins, 1 Applegate hot dog, gluten-free oatmeal with blueberries & coconut milk, baby spinach w/EVOO W1D1M3 sushi!: kani roll (crab or crab stick, spicy mayo), cucumber roll, tamago nigiri, coconut aminos, Gingerberry Kombucha Today is the first day of what I'm calling my "WholeJulie." I'm excited about reintroducing new foods and figuring out what works for me. I have seen a lot of people struggling following their Whole30s, so I'm hoping to marry the structure of the Whole30 with the flexibility of riding my own bike. The template was really effective for me, so I believe that my way forward will still include 3 template meals a day, but hopefully including a serving of grains or legumes with one of the meals each day, similar to the way I include sweet potatoes now. Basically considering those foods as starchy carbs. We'll see! Food: It was nice to have oatmeal with breakfast, but unfortunately the gluten-free brand I bought - Arrowhead Mills - was not like regular oatmeal. Instead of being flat flakes, it was in little nuggets like cracked wheat or tiny Grapenuts. Not the texture I was craving. I had a big bowl with breakfast, and then a smaller serving at lunch. Tonight I went to my favorite sushi restaurant. Unfortunately being there wasn't quite enough to counter a stressful day at work, but I still enjoyed my meal. I took a moment to appreciate the fact that I wasn't eating a Whole30-ish meal for a change... not a sweet potato in sight! When I bit into the tamago (omelet) sushi, I could taste the sugar, and unfortunately a touch of soy sauce. I remembered liking tamago because it has a slightly sweet, delicate flavor, but this tasted super sweet. One thing that was interesting was that when I was full, I WAS FULL. Usually I would have stuffed that last piece in my mouth because it tasted good. Function: Unfortunately I had bad gas and acid reflux in the middle of the night last night, which I hope doesn't confuse my reintroduction observations. I took some medicine and digestive enzymes this morning so hopefully I'm good. I sensed a bit more of it after my big sushi meal, but I didn't have any strong responses to anything like nausea or major bloating. Feelings: I feel pretty good about having a plan. I know this period can be scary as we transition from all the structure of the Whole30 which has served us well to suddenly figuring it out for ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristyn Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 "WholeJulie"...I like it! Great way to focus on making a meal plan that works for YOU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks, Kristyn. I bet there is a WholeKristyn in your future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tierramar Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi Julie- Sorry to see that you were/have been so sick! A sinus infection too? Yuck! On the bright side it sounds like you saw quite a few positive changes which is wonderful. I fell off the forums there after memorial day weekend. Unfortunately I tried reintroducing things this past week during a family visit to celebrate my littlest one's Pre-K graduation. This involved restaurants, questions, offers of adult beverages (repeated offers), etc. I don't think I did a very good job reintroducing - either insufficient amounts of stuff initially, or not waiting long enough to determine an effect before trying another food group... After some experimenting though I think breads and possibly pastas bloat the heck out of me which I definitely don't enjoy. Like you, I think the template strategy works well for me too. I've noticed on the days that I got pressured out of my normal template breakfast I was snacking like crazy and my brain tried to convince me I needed all kinds of crap. I hope things continue to go well with you! Good luck with the reintroductions! Sorry your first oatmeal back wasn't as satisfying as you'd hoped. I need to start a post W30 log - or start a second W30 log...can't decide if I need/want to do the W30 again in order to do a better job with the reintroductions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Welcome back, Paige! Sorry your reintroduction happened during a challenging period of celebrations. I think it's up to you whether you want to just consider this your post-Whole30 life and dial back on some of the food that doesn't agree with you, or do another Whole30 to try the reintroductions again. Either choice seems valid. Did you feel like you made some health gains on the Whole30? Did your stomach issues settle down when you started introducing other foods? I agree that the big template breakfast is magic. I'm going to be out of town for a week at the end of June, and I'm stressing about how I'm going to manage a giant breakfast at hotel prices. I can't do the $20.00 breakfast buffet every morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 W1D2M1 2 Applegate hot dogs, egg fried in EVOO, 2 cups Cascadian Farms Chinese Stir-fry Blend (green beans, broccoli, carrots, red pepper, onions, and mushrooms) drizzled in EVOO, coffee w/coconut milk W1D2M2 tuna fish, baby spinach, grape tomatoes, 1 cup of Chinese Stir-fry Blend veggies, wee bit of avocado, EVOO & balsamic vinegar W1D2S1 almonds, Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha W1D2M3 1 1/2 hamburgers, Italian Mixed Vegetables w/EVOO, sweet potato w/ghee, 5 slices honeydew melon, Gingerberry Kombucha Food: I'm not trying to limit my avocado portion; it had just mostly turned brown except a few sections! LOL. I bought some frozen bags of mixed vegetables to make for some quick & easy prep while DH is out of town. After I nuked the Italian Mixed Vegetables one tonight, I realized that I couldn't eat the lima beans I was looking forward to because they're legumes! I literally picked about 80-100 lima beans out of the bowl before I could eat! Anyway, it was a nice template-y meal with a large pile of mixed vegetables snuggled up to some hamburger patties and a nice big sweet potato. Feelings: I'm finally staring to feel better physically; no coughing fits today! I'm very stressed about work though, and binged a bit on... honeydew melon. That's much better than what I would have once done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tierramar Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I can't imagine trying to do the template breakfast on a hotel menu... that would get really pricey I'd think although you might get by with the standard eggs, potatoes and meat meal. Who knows about all the sneaky ingredients though - omelette bar maybe? You could travel with tuna pouches and stock your mini fridge with prepped veggies... Weirdly, my tummy issues got both a bit better and definitely worse with some of the reintroductions. I think I got to feeling overly safe after a few that then I got careless and either didn't dose myself sufficiently on the new group or didn't wait long enough to see what the reaction was and ended up mixing some reintroductions. I'm wondering if I have to do a full W30 to get back to base condition or if I can get away with a W5, W10, W15, you know? I have to admit though that other than some boredom and the need to really plan ahead, I enjoyed the W30 food, the feelings while doing it and didn't miss too much surprisingly. I still haven't tried a coffee the way I used to drink it and am perfectly fine with the bulletproof coffee with coconut milk from here on out. Hope your reintroductions go well! I can't wait to see what your Whole Julie plan looks like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WholeMama623 Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Found you Julie! How are you feeling? I am anxious to see how your plan pans out! I'm still many many days from reintro but I think about it a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 W1D3M1 scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, grilled peppers, mushroom, & garlic, EVOO, cashew pieces W1D3Sa coffee w/coconut milk W1D3M2 1 1/2 hamburgers w/mayo, Asian Medley vegetables w/Tessamae's Lemon Garlic & TJ's 21 Spice, 1/2 avocado, Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha W1D3M3 2 Applegate hot dogs, chopped salad w/sunflower seeds & Tessamae's Lemon & Garlic, sweet potato w/ghee & pumpkin pie spice W1D3M4 Applegate hot dog, chopped salad w/sunflower seeds & Tessamae's Lemon & Garlic Flow: Finally made it back to my dance class for about 20-25 minutes of movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Reintroduction: Soy W1D4M1 sliced turkey, roasted brussels sprouts w/EVOO, 2/3 Gala apple w/hearty portion cashew butter, Starbucks' Grande Iced Soy Latte w/1/2 packet raw sugar W1D4M2 teriyaki tofu, cole slaw w/sunflower seeds & Tessamae's Lemon Garlic, Gingerberry Kombucha W1D4M3 sliced turkey w/mayo & TJ's 21 Spice, teriyaki tofu, roasted brussels sprouts w/EVOO, 2 slices of canteloupe Food: The iced soy latte was fine, but not as exciting as I used to find it. I don't know that I'll switch back. It used to be something I had every Sunday when I ate breakfast with my Mom, but then I started to pick them up sometimes on Saturdays, or occasionally in the morning on my way in to work if I was anticipating a hard day or feeling tired. I really like the specialty coffee I've been getting instead from a local coffee shop, although I would be happy to drink it with milk instead of taking along my own expensive and inconvenient coconut milk. Flow: Feeling stressed about something at work so went out and did some walking and some birding. (Saw a heron, an egret, 2 neotropic cormorants, and 2 cute lil' woodpeckers). Feelings: Reintroduction seems to be going fine. I'm feeling a little wheezy tonight but I think that's likely caused by not being able to take my regular allergy medicine for a few weeks due to bronchitis. It is weird though; I don't feel super excited about anything I've reintroduced except sushi. And it's not like I eat sushi more than once every couple of months max. Paige, you are very right about breakfast at a hotel being expensive. The first place I'm staying has a breakfast buffet for $22.00! A basic eggs, bacon, potatoes, and fruit breakfast would be perfect; I don't have to worry about sneaky ingredients too much since I will be done with Whole30 and Reintroduction by then. I will definitely pack some food - tuna pouches is a good idea! Maybe some almond butter packets and jerky, too. I'm actually attending two conference back to back and changing hotels halfway through. For the first three days of my trip, I'm not going to have time to grocery shop because I'll be at the conference all day. On the fourth day I change hotels and should have time to hit a grocery for some real food I can keep in my room. I'm trying to plan as much as possible ahead of time but it's challenging. I feel the same way you did that although I got bored from time to time, I basically enjoyed what I was eating and didn't miss stuff that much, and as I mentioned before, was fine with my straightforward coffee. I've also had some diet sodas since I finished for convenience (just being sick and exhausted at work without other options available), but I'm basically planning to stick to plain tea when I can. WholeMama I'm glad you found me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WholeMama623 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I won't lie. My coffee is the ONLY thing I miss. I really feel like I could maintain this a lot longer if I could have a regular coffee with cream and sugar every now and then. Sigh! I'm still trying to come to terms with all these feelings the whole100 is bringing up!!! I have to ask myself WHY I want the coffee, because the black coffee is fine. I've been drinking it. I have no idea. I just miss something "old" and "comfortable" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 W1D5M1 3 Applegate hot dogs, butternut squash, coffee w/coconut milk W1D5M2 tuna fish, coleslaw, grape tomatoes, avocado, Tessamae's Lemon Garlic W1D5M3 3 Applegate hot dogs, butternut squash, sauerkraut, Dijon mustard, dark sweet cherries w/thick coconut milk W1D5S1 sunflower seeds Food: My DH was supposed to make a grocery run today but wasn't feeling well, so hot dogs for dinner. Function: Because there wasn't a lot on hand to eat, I warmed some frozen sweet dark cherries and put a big hunk of solidified coconut milk on top and mixed it in. Mistake - felt nauseous and bloated the moment I finished the fruit course. I've never had an issue with coconut milk before, but this was a big hunk and it was all solidified and, I don't know, my body didn't like it. Think I'll stick with a dollop in my coffee or a drizzle on a sweet potato. Even if I put close to the same amount in my coffee, I drink it much slower over the course of the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 W1D6M1 3 eggs, mushrooms, & grape tomatoes in EVOO w/TJ's 21 Spice, black coffee W1D6M2 "Squamicelli": spaghetti squash, beef, lettuce, bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, soda chanh W1D6S1 almonds W1D6M3 2 salmon skewers, roasted vegetables, a little mixed fruit, cashews Food: I went out for lunch with a friend who's vegan, and we went to a new Vietnamese cafe that has both vegan and paleo items on the menu! It was great not to be able to worry about what was on the menu, except that my dish had a few chopped peanuts on it. But tomorrow I evaluate legumes anyway so I didn't worry about it. I ordered a soda chanh to drink, which is something I love (it's a Vietnamese sparkling lemonade or limeade, not as sweet as the American version), and that wasn't the healthiest choice because it has sugar in it, but I did enjoy it a lot and only had about half the glass. I probably ate too many nuts today; I keep some Emerald "100 Calorie" packs of raw almonds in my desk drawer at work for in case I get hungry in the late afternoon. Function: A little gassy and GERD-y earlier in the day, but it seems to have resolved. Feelings: I'm starting to have some energy again, which is nice. Tomorrow is Legumes Day! I'm enjoying saying the word "legumes" a lot around my DH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnnasttn Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Flow: Finally made it back to my dance class for about 20-25 minutes of movement. Cool!!! Get your groove on girl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 Reintroduction: Legumes, Legumes, Legumes! W1D7M1 2 Salsa Verde chicken thighs on cooked baby spinach w/EVOO, green apple chunks w/(lots of) ground peanut butter W1D7M2 3 Salsa Verde chicken thighs, refried black beans, heap of cole slaw w/Tessamae's Lemon Garlic W1D7M3 2 ground lamb/beef kebabs, shepherd salad, red cabbage salad, hummus W1D7S1 Passionberry Kombucha, Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar, sunflower seeds Food: Peanut butter is the definition of Food with No Brakes for me. I can't have it in the house (pre-Whole30) without eating it out of the jar by the spoonful. I'm almost wondering why I bothered to reintroduce it! But I guess it's good to know my reactions to foods that I love, even if they are not things I should have around the house regularly. DH brings it in, for one thing. OMG, the black beans were soooo good. The hummus was okay. I felt like this was a lot more legumes than I would probably eat in a day during my Whole30. I could certainly see bringing black beans in during one meal out of a day for a little variety. Feelings: Done with the antibiotics now, but I'm having a little asthma flare-up from the tail end of my bronchitis/sinusitis fun, so I'm back on a short course of steroids. This will make it pretty impossible to determine if reintroduced foods make me congested. Whattaya gonna do, amIright? The steroids are giving me insomnia, which is why I'm posting this at 2:30 in the morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WholeMama623 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Jeez Julie, you can't catch a break with the sickness!!! Sounds like you did okay with the legumes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 The legumes went well. I really don't think I'm someone who is reactive to every food (for which I'm thankful), and I've been introducing in order of least likely to cause problems to most likely to cause problems. I think that's how it is ordered in the book. So dairy and gluten are the most likely to affect people, and those are yet to come. But I'm very pleased with Reintroductions so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 W2D8M1 1/2 ground beef/lamb kebab, 2 Applegate hot dogs, & baby spinach sauteed in EVOO, pumpkin w/cinnamon W2D8M2 2 Salsa Verde chicken thighs, baby spinach, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, shredded carrots, EVOO & balsamic vinegar W2D8M3 cold shrimp, Asian vegetables w/EVOO & TJ's 21 Spice, pumpkin w/cinnamon, 1/2 dozen lil' purple potatoes W2D8S1 banana, 1/2 Larabar Food: It feels good to be back to eating Whole30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 W2D9M1 cold shrimp, Asian Vegetables w/EVOO, pumpkin w/cinnamon, 1/2 Larabar W2D9M2 2 ham slices, green beans dish, potatoes dish, mixed lettuce w/broccoli, red onions, carrots, raisins, & EVOO & balsamic vinegar, 2 bites of Rice Krispie's treat (WTF?) W2D9M3 Aidell's Carmelized Onion Chicken Meatballs*, Asian vegetables w/EVOO & TJ's 21 Spice, pumpkin w/cinnamon, 1 1/2 Larabar W2D9S1 sunflower seeds Food: Lunch was quite challenging today. I went to one of the cafeterias on campus because I had a free coupon. Normally they have many, many food stations including a grill, gluten free, vegetarian, and Halal. So I thought I would certainly be able to put together a Whole30-ish meal out of those options. It didn't occur to me that they limit the number of stations during the summer when the kids aren't around! Grrrr. So my only option for plain meat that wasn't part of a pizza or sandwich was ham with some sweet barbecue sauce (that I scraped off but still), and some side dishes that likely had butter in them. Grrrr. I was feeling pretty ill, too, by that point and succumbed to two bites of a Rice Krispies treat out of a desire for a carby closure to my meal, which I'm sure also had butter. Not my proudest moment. Feelings: I went back to the doctor this afternoon, and now I still have a sinus infection, but I also have an EAR INFECTION! Jeez Louise, I'm actually getting more stuff wrong with me. Cue another round of antibiotics, and cue WholeMama saying "You can't catch a break!" No, I can't catch a break!!!!! At least I did good picking up some close-to-complaint food that I could quickly fix at home instead of going off the rails. *Note that the Aidell's Chicken Meatballs are not compliant if you are still on a Whole30. No big loss, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WholeMama623 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Happy Friday! What's next on the reintro list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 Up next... dairy! Waiting until Sunday to reintroduce so I can have a latte with my Mom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 W2D10M1 Aidell's Carmelized Onion Chicken Meatballs w/mayo, purple potatoes w/ghee, baby spinach w/EVOO & TJ's 21 Spice, 1/2 Larabar W2D10S1 Cosmic Cranberry Kombucha W2D10M2 grassfed hamburger w/ketchup, green salad w/tomatoes, EVOO & balsamic vinegar W2D10M3 3 Applegate hot dogs w/mustard, 2 sweet potatoes w/ghee W2D10S2 2/3 banana, Larabar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 I thought I would share the results of my blood work, done right after I finished my Whole30. I was really hoping that my A1C level, which is a predictor for diabetes, would be down but it wasn't. It measures your blood glucose levels over the past 3 months, so it would have been 2 months of my previous style of eating and 1 month of Whole30. I'm hoping that when I get my blood work done again in 3 months and the measurement is all Whole30/paleo, it will be down. My fasting blood glucose, which is more of a snapshot, was down, which is encouraging. With my cholesterol levels on the other hand, there were noticeable improvements. Both my total cholesterol and my triglycerides dropped about 30 points, moving me from borderline high to normal. Woot woot! I should note that this is with being on cholesterol medication, so there's still room for improvement. But I'm very pleased because I was worried that all the meat and eggs might raise my cholesterol. My doctor said, "You are definitely on the right track. Keep following the low sugar, low carb diet and working on your weight. I think we will see the numbers improve..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 W2D11M1 slice of turkey, brussels sprouts roasted in EVOO, Gala apple w/hearty portion of almond butter, coffee w/coconut milk W2D11M2 3 Applegate hot dogs, Earthbound Farm Rainbow Chard w/EVOO & TJ's 21 Spice W2D11S1 Larabar W2D11M3 2 hamburgers w/ketchup & avocado slices, Alexia Oven Fries, 2 asparagus spears, fresh cantaloupe Food: If I ever get over this blasted sinus infection, I will work on not relying so much on the convenience of Applegate hot dogs and or the treat factor of Larabars. Score! When I went to pick up our Sunday Starbuck's, the grocery store had 1 lb. packages of grass fed Angus beef patties for $1.99. Normally $6.49. This crazy paleo gal here bought 4 packages. That's the way to do it! I have been finding that frozen vegetables are a good cheap way to keep my meals on point while I'm feeling too tired to cook. Some brands (like Earthbound Farm and Alexia) are quite tasty. I am going to postpone the reintroduction of dairy until I am feeling better, and maybe do it last as it can increase congestion. Eating this way, I can definitely tell when I'm full or I've eaten too much. Really should have just had 1/2 of that second burger tonight. I can also tell instantly when something is sweetened with sugar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 With my cholesterol levels on the other hand, there were noticeable improvements. Both my total cholesterol and my triglycerides dropped about 30 points, moving me from borderline high to normal. Woot woot! I should note that this is with being on cholesterol medication, so there's still room for improvement. But I'm very pleased because I was worried that all the meat and eggs might raise my cholesterol. My doctor said, "You are definitely on the right track. Keep following the low sugar, low carb diet and working on your weight. I think we will see the numbers improve..." Great results Julie - I'm sure you're pleased... Just to say that the myth that dietary cholesterol raises blood cholesterol (& that high blood cholesterol casues heart disease) has now been de-bunked so you shouldn't let that concern you going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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