Wife and I just started... Cheating once a week

[Adrian Duncil]

We started our Whole30 Feb 8, 2016. We've struggled with cravings and fatigue A LOT but otherwise we're loving the program. We've been (relatively) very healthy eaters for a long time, but we would always treat ourselves once a week, to something sweet, or dinner at an Italian restaurant (including bread, pasta for me, and dessert for her). Day 7 was Valentines Day, a Sunday, and we went to the bakery for a sweet snack. (Probably would've been our favorite Italian place if we weren't broke from all the new kitchen crap we bought.) After, we continued our Whole30 as usual. We plan to use the Whole30 guidelines far beyond 30 days. 

 

Will a once-a-week cheat really hurt us? and WHY?

[ShannonM816]

Yes, it will hurt you. For one thing, if you keep having sweet treats you'll keep craving sweet treats and won't have changed your behavior or relationship with food at all. For another, a big part of whole30 is to do it as an elimination diet, then reintroduce things systematically to see how you, personally, react to them, and you cannot do that if you keep having those items throughout your 30 days.

All we ask is that for 30 days you follow the rules, even the ones you don't understand, don't like, or don't agree with, and see what happens. If you cannot give up these treats for 30 days, what exactly does that say about their place in your life? Are weekly treats really worth more to you than doing something good for your health for a month?

[Carlaccini]

The whole 30 is all about healing your gut and your relationship with food.  This is not WW - sorry.

 

Having a sweet bakery treat is doing nothing to help you with either one of them.  Yes.  Seriously.

 

The whole 30 is all about ELIMINATING possible gut irritants - you know that stuff that makes you feel bloated, uncomfortable, icky, lethargic, brain foggyish... you know, THOSE feelings.  They are related to your gut.  Even you are feeding your body whole 30 style for 6 days (for which I commend you!!!) - and then choosing to eat a "treat" is NOT helping your body heal.  You body needs a MINIMUM of 30 days for it to heal properly.

 

The second step of the whole 30 is to heal your relationship with food.  And this statement may be causing you to scratch your head a little - you know that relationship you have with food - you know you're stressed after your long busy day at work so you feel you deserve that glass of wine, you know you're feeling sad so you really want a brownie to "help" cheer you up.  THAT stuff.  All that stuff that we do "just because" is not healthy behaviour.  We want you deal with the feelings you are feeling properly and not "cover it up" with food.  

 

When you are craving something sweet, the LAST thing you should reach for is something sweet - like fruit.  You keep the sugar dragon alive within you by doing that.  What you should be reaching for (yes - even though you don't feel like it) is fat and protein.

 

You can do this - it's ONLY 30 days.... baked goods will NOT be leaving the planet anytime soon.  You owe it to yourself to do this properly.....

[MeadowLily]

When you frame "off-roading" in the form of cheating, planned cheats or thrill eating- you're still left with a good food/bad food- dieting/planned cheat day vs. Whole 30 pattern.

 

Planned "cheat" days.  Naughty or nice,  good or bad,  off and on, all or nothing.  
 

Some claim that planned splurges are beneficial to hormonal metabolism.  Planned cheats are really a reprieve from a dieting mentality.  That's exactly what you want to eliminate.  Dieting.  

 

Whole 30 is not a dieting lifestyle.  It's a food reset.  Reintros are for food testing.  If there are no food sensitivities you create a program that will work for you.   

 

Planned weekly cheats can end up as a planned full on food bender splurge.   Wild swings back and forth every week can quickly become another tailspin back into binge or thrill eating.  

 

Planned cheat days no matter how you frame them....enable an approach to food that will leave you high or SAD sad, UP and down.  They are not a mind booster. 

 

When dieting is eliminated, there is no need for a cheat day as a counterbalance.  Planned splurges can add up into giant month hunks over the course of a year.

[Adrian Duncil]

Wow. Thanks all 3 of you for your answers. We'll change our start date to Feb 15th. I've craved sweets non-stop since starting the Whole30, and before the Whole30 I wanted sweets a lot more often than I indulged. It'd be nice to rid myself of that all together. And yes a cheat would eventually become a bender, for sure. I am bummed out (so is she) but we'll go ahead and do it right. Will let you know how it goes. Today makes Day 4... Must slay the sugar dragon..

[ShannonM816]

Wow. Thanks all 3 of you for your answers. We'll change our start date to Feb 15th. I've craved sweets non-stop since starting the Whole30, and before the Whole30 I wanted sweets a lot more often than I indulged. It'd be nice to rid myself of that all together. And yes a cheat would eventually become a bender, for sure. I am bummed out (so is she) but we'll go ahead and do it right. Will let you know how it goes. Today makes Day 4... Must slay the sugar dragon..

 

One thing that really helps with cravings, that a lot of people have trouble with, is making sure your meals really are big enough. When you're eating plenty of vegetables, protein, and fat every 4-5 hours, you're not going to crave as much, so be sure you make all your meals meet the meal template, and keep in mind that it's based on an individual's hand for portion sizes, so you two may be eating different amounts. And remember that this is not your typical diet -- you should never be really hungry, except when it's about time to eat your next meal.