Anyone starting **tomorrow**, June14th??

[L to the K]

Hi VLP - we're on the same wavelength! I'm okay about leaving out everything (except booze), and I think I'm going to stay on it except in social situations (cheese, etc.). I have completely broken my sweet n low habit (in iced tea), and I'm not craving it at all. Honestly, I'm not even craving booze, but not drinking gets in the way a bit...if that doesn't make me sound like a total alcoholic!  

 

I'm rocking along, finally experiencing the "magic" I think. Hooray!!!

 

In case anyone else has the It Starts with Food book. We made the deconstructed burgers with ground chicken today. They were delicious!!! Like a hamburger salad, if that makes sense. We topped with grape tomatoes, yellow mustard, pickles, and the olive oil mayo. Even my husband loved it, and he's not doing Whole 30 (drinking a beer in front of me right now! ). 

 

Have fun!!!

 

LK

[JennaKate]

Glad to hear you are all doing well! I'm feeling well, too! I'm wondering, though, come day 31 and beyond, how much I'll need to be a stickler to stay feeling well (ie do I have to check every ingredient list for agave or corn or . . .). I'm not craving much at all (although some things do sound good), but with three young children at home, it does become a bit more difficult to find/buy only approved foods. What are your thoughts on this?

[L to the K]

Morning! It's day 20! Something about that seems...important...? We've come a long way! I survived my favorite wine night with some of my favorite people last night. It was more than tolerable - fun actually! A good sign! Today is family dinner day with 17 relatives coming over to swim and eat. A drinking-day for sure. But I've got this...!

 

We leave for vacation on day #38. My plan right now is to reintroduce wine slowly...but that's really it. I may try to follow the reintegration plan a little bit, but at this point, I'm basically going to forego gluten altogether. I just feel too good to ignore what it was doing to my body. I plan to stay Whole30 at home, and really think twice when I'm out or buying something with a label. Does that make sense? I just can't deny the results I'm getting in just 20 days.

 

The "don't weigh" rule is starting to weigh on me (pun intended...?). I did weigh the other night, and had my husband record it for me. We had a resolution this year for July 1st, so I wanted to see how close I was. Given his hints, I was down 4-5 pounds, but that was at the END of a day. I'm hoping to be down 8-10 ponds when I step on the scale July 14th. So we'll see. Has anyone else weighed?

 

Have a great day, y'all! And Happy Fourth! Enjoy your weekend.

 

LK

[JennaKate]

I've cheated and weighed . . . My husband is doing W30 with me and was really wanting to see, so I gave in. .

Now the question is, how much we reintroduce and when. We're both feeling good, but weren't feeling particularly bad before, so I'm not seeing a really compelling reason to keep at it . . . Maybe that'll change in the next 10 days (or become clear at reintroduction!) Any thoughts on this? It's just a bit more difficult than I'd like with three young kids at home . . .

[L to the K]

JennaKate, do you have the It Starts with Food book? There is a re-intro section in the book (chapter 19). I also did a quick search here on the forums to see what everyone else had done, just to see what was working for people. Here's what the book says:

 

Day 1 (day 31): reintroduce and evaluate legumes

Day 4 (day 34): reintroduce and evaluate non-gluten grains

Day 7 (day 37): reintroduce and evaluate dairy

Day 10 (day 40): reintroduce and evaluate gluten-containing grains

 

Some people seem to say that the re-intro is too quick. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet... I still have seven days I suppose.

 

Just curious - how was your weight? From quizzing my hubby, it sounds like I'm down about 5 pounds. My clothes are fitting way better, and that's really all I care about. I suppose I was hoping to be down 10 pounds at the end of 30 days, but feeling better was my main goal and I feel like I'm on track there.

 

Also, I feel like I saw a Whole30 with Kids forum on here...? That may help if you're interested in continuing. We have the Against All Grains and Meals Made Simple cookbooks by Danielle Walker that are our go-to cookbooks. She also has a great blog and a good app. Anyways - she has a kiddo and is very pregnant now, so she always has good kid-friendly recipes as well. Not all her recipes are Whole30 approved, but with a tweak here and there (leave out the honey, etc.), they're pretty close!

 

Enjoy your day!

[vlp1964]

Good morning ladies.  Been a few days since I have been on, just got busy.  We are almost there, can't believe how fast the month has gone.  I made it through the 4th without any true cravings.  At day 31 I have decided to try and reintroduce dairy.  It is truly the only category that I can say I miss still on a daily basis. JennaKate, even though you weren't feeling particularly bad before going on the whole30, you may notice you don't feel great when you start eating non compliant food.  For myself, the fact that I haven't needed my acid reducer and the fact that I am not getting daily headaches has become too obvious.  I just have such a strong feeling that dairy is going to turn out to not be my friend.  I will be so sad if that turns out to be the case.

 

Have a great day!

[JennaKate]

I don't have the book, L to the K, but I do have the Whole30 book, which advises a similar reintro. I am planning to do the re-intro, but I guess my main question is that, unless something clearly makes me feel bad/worse/off, how closely do we need to stay to compliant to feel good (i.e. Is adding honey okay, or the occasional dairy food or . . . ). I know that if we just jump into pints of ice cream and tubs of cookie dough, we won't feel good (or maintain any of the benefits), but would the same be true if we have the occasional pasta or bread or cheese or . . . Just trying to figure out a good, doable "maintenance" level.

[L to the K]

JK - that's definitely a valid line of questioning. I guess it's just up to each individual. I personally thrive under rules, structure, and guidelines, so it's a particularly hard question for me to navigate. I am feeling (and looking!) so much differently that I think it will be obvious when I feel bad/worse off as you mention. Unfortunately, I think we're all in for a bit of trial and error before we figure it out. 

 

I'm sitting down to do my menu for next week here in a bit. I'll let you know what I come up with for days 31-37. I can tell you there will definitely be wine! I go on vacation for my husband's conference on day 38, so I'll be jumping into the deep, deep end without much of a floatation device.  

 

Here's a quick example/summary of what I'm thinking. I went to dinner with friends the other night. I ordered the wedge salad (sans bacon and cheese) and asked for a grilled chicken breast to be added. When it came out, it had the most divine-looking crispy onion strings on the top. It took me five minutes to pick each of them off the salad. In my post-Whole30 meal, I envision ordering something very similar - no bacon for me (I don't eat red meat or pork) but maybe the cheese if I don't think it will twist me in to a tailspin. My dinner truly was delicious! I finished last - even though my friends had shrimp tacos with fries and grilled sea bass - and I was completely satisfied. I wasn't "stuffed" which is often one of my problems when I eat out.

 

While at home, we'll probably continue to eat Whole30. We've both loved everything we've cooked, and I'm the perfect combination of satisfied and not stuffed. Yesterday was only the second time I remember feeling truly HUNGRY by the time it was dinner time, and that was my own fault for skipping my pre- and post-workout meals. 

 

I don't have the Whole30 book - is that the Well Fed book? It Starts with Food is a Whole30 book as well, but now that I've read it I don't know how much I'll reference it. Plus, I think it'll be loaned out soon - I'm already supposed to take it with me to a birthday party this afternoon. I'd love to know what book you have and if you think it'll be helpful in your post-Whole30 world. 

 

Enjoy day 28, y'all! Have a great weekend!

 

LK

[vlp1964]

Well ladies I hope everyone finished strong!  I know I did.  I stepped on the scale yesterday and was pleased to see that I lost 14lbs during the course of the month.  I've decided I am going to be compliant most of the time.  I am going to let myself enjoy a cup of coffee with cream only on the weekends and stick with my iced black tea with no sweetener during the work week.  I think I am also going to see how it goes by adding some cheese in but going to wait until this weekend in case it doesn't go so well.  I will continue to pop on and post on the forum from time to time.  So glad we made it thru!!

[rtlenaha]

I started July 14th (Yesterday now)...it just worked out better than the 13th (even though that's a Monday).  This is Day 2 for me, and I'm already not liking salty/savory breakfasts (I was a cereal and milk gal). But I'm powering through.  My husband makes omelets every day (that are compliant), but the only way I'll eat an egg is boiled.  Gets it over with quickly!  

 

Otherwise, just had one strange craving yesterday - wanted a beer after work.  And I don't drink beer!  :0/  Passed quickly though.  Made Chicken Cacciatore (from the book) and it was really good!  I'd recommend making the Cauliflower Rice with it though because it needed something to sop up the juices.  Tonight is Grilled Chicken Curry (also from the book).  

 

Looking forward to getting through this day...  

[JennaKate]

Hi, LK and VLP! We made it!! I wonder if anyone else who started with us did . . . Anyway, we re-introduced legumes yesterday and I don't feel any ill effects (I think I did feel a bit of from the sugar in the peanut butter, though . . . ). We're planning to re-intro non-gluten grains on Friday (our daughter's birthday), so we'll see how that goes.

Great job on the weight, VLP!! How'd you do, LK? And are you both feeling well overall? I hope so! I'm feeling good, although I've had back pain for the last two weeks (especially in the mornings, so I'm not sure what that's about . . . ).

I look forward to hearing how re-intro goes with you two!

[vlp1964]

You know you don't have to have breakfast foods for breakfast rtlenaha.  I myself like eggs but after a few days I get sick of them.  You can eat anything that is compliant, you just need to get out of the mind set that it is breakfast.  I like that the book calls it Meal #1 Meal #2 Meal #3.  If you had left over chicken cacciatore from the night before you could eat that for breakfast instead.  Hope that helps.

 

JennaKate I have only reintroduced a little bit of daily so far.  I had coffee with heavy cream and a little real butter on my vegys.  I have almost eaten cheese a couple times but am scared.  I love cheese so I am sure this weekend when I am off work I will actually eat some cheese   Nothing else has popped up yet that has caused me to try anything.

[JennaKate]

How'd the cheese go, VLP??