couple of reintro questions from a newbie

[dwerder]

Hi all - 

I'm on day 23 of my first Whole30 and I feel great!!  I already know I'm going to extend to maybe 45, but with the holidays coming up, I have a couple of questions:

 

First - I plan on sticking with it through Thanksgiving and I'm totally fine with it - but I will probably want to have some wine.  I know there's no real reintroduction for alcohol, but is there anything I should be aware of?  Other than probably being more of a lightweight than ever before??  

 

Second, kind of similar to the first, what about sugar in general? just checking that there's no reintro for that as well?

 

I don't think I've lost much weight, but I haven't weighed myself and I'm ok with that for now - but I am still experiencing some swollen hands during the day, which has gotten better, but any thoughts about why that may be?  I've been crazy compliant -

 

Thanks for all you great suggestions/advice - such a huge help!!!

 

Diane

[ShannonM816]

Hi, Diane -- congrats on making it to day 23!

 

When you do any reintroductions, even alcohol or sugar, ideally you'll do them on separate days, with at least two Whole30 compliant days between them. 

 

For the alcohol, especially wine, some people find that some wines cause headaches -- but for most people, there seem to be some that do and some that don't, so if you tried one and did have, you still might be able to drink some other wine without getting them. Another thing that you might experience is that having the alcohol reduces your willpower about having other foods/drinks, so make sure you have a definite plan going in about what you're going to do to help reduce the need for decision making after you've had a drink or two.

 

For sugar, people usually end up having some in with other reintros -- so during dairy reintro, they might have ice cream, or their gluten reintro might include a cookie. Common reactions to sugar could be cravings for more sugar and changes in mood.

 

 

For the swollen hands, it's hard to say without knowing what you're eating -- could you list a couple of days' worth of typical meals, including approximate portion sizes, water intake, exercise, and anything else that seems relevant? Off the top of my head, things that it might be would be not drinking enough water (aim for 1/2 oz per pound of body weight, so if you weigh 120 lbs, aim for at least 60 oz of water), some underlying medical condition (blood pressure issues or circulation issues), or maybe some medication that has water retention as a possible side effect. More food-related, it could be there's something you're sensitive to that is still Whole30 compliant -- nightshades, for instance, which include tomatoes, potatoes (not sweet potatoes), peppers, and eggplant. If you've been eating a lot of those, maybe that's the issue. 

[dwerder]

Thanks Shannon - super informative!!  Here's what I ate yesterday and so far today:

 

Breakfast yesterday: sauteed greens, 2 fried eggs, quarter of an avocado; warm water with lemon and cayenne; black coffee

Lunch: stew with beef, celery, carrots, onions, white potatoes, bone broth

Snack: 1/2 cup chicken with handful of green beans and sliced almonds; about 2 hours later a handful of cashews

Dinner:  baked salmon and cup and a half of sauteed brussel sprouts

 

Breakfast this morning: sauteed greens, third of a cup cooked acorn squash, 2 eggs; same drinks as above

 

I weigh about 160 ( I think) and I've been drinking somewhere between 60-80 oz water a day

 

Thanks Shannon!

[Tom Denham]

I don't know anything about swollen hands, but Shannon may have some thoughts. However, I will say that your not eating enough may be why you have not lost weight. Failing to eat adequately convinces your hormones to slow your metabolism and hold onto fat more tightly. 

 

When eggs are your protein at a meal, the meal planning template recommends you consume as many eggs as you can hold in one hand. Most people can hold 3-4 eggs, so you are getting maybe half the protein you need at breakfast. You don't report the volume of lunch you ate, but eating snacks after lunch is a red flag that you did not eat enough to keep yourself satisfied. Again, you don't say how much salmon you ate, but you only had a cup and a half of brussels sprouts. The meal planning template advises filling your plate with veggies. You need more than 1.5 cups of veggies to fill a plate.

 

I know it seems backwards, but you may have to eat more in order to lose weight. When you eat more, your metabolism speeds up and your body releases fat more freely. You see, it is the hormonal/metabolism thing that is critical to weight loss. 

[dwerder]

Thanks Tom.  I eat and feel full so that's my gauge - I guess I need to up it, but yes, it seems counterintuitive, especially for those of us coming from more restrictive diets.  I also get confused about how much starchy veg to eat - sweet potatoes, squash, etc.  Can you advise?