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Day 28: Stomach Flu!


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Yesterday was Day 28 of my second whole 30. I did my first whole30 back in August, but decided to do another one because I really fudged the reintro period and tried to figure out my issues as they came and went, which didn't work out that well. Yesterday morning I woke up at 2am and was vomiting non-stop for 8 hours. I went to the ER just to be safe, and they diagnosed me with a bad case of the stomach flu and sent me home. (I'm nearly positive this came from some bad chicken that I ate a conference Friday night, but no matter.) The doctors said I can expect to feel pretty terrible for the next few days while this runs its course.

 

I haven't been able to eat or drink much at all, but I've had a little gatorade, some Ensure drink for electrolytes/calories, and when I can manage, some bevita breakfast biscuits. I'm so bummed because I was really looking forward to having a solid reintroduction cycle, which I now feel is ruined. I have a vacation planned in 2 weeks, and was hoping to have my reintro pretty much all settled by that time. 

 

I'm wondering where to go from here. Do I have to do ANOTHER entire whole30 cycle before doing a reintro now? I hate to keep pushing it back. Is it possible to just do a week or two of whole30-style eating after my vacation, and then do a reintro, as long as I'm eating pretty clean paleo in the meantime? 

 

Thanks in advance for your input everyone.

 

-Sam

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I'm sorry you've been sick, that sounds miserable. Unfortunately, I don't think you're going to like the answer to your question.

 

It would be best to have 30 days of clean eating before you do reintroductions so that you can really see how you react to foods after not having them for 30 days.  This is what they say in the rules:

 

The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days: no cheats, slips, or “special occasions.” This isn’t us playing the tough guy. This is a fact, born of education and experience. You need such a small amount of any of these inflammatory foods to break the healing cycle—one bite of pizza, one splash of milk in your coffee, one lick of the spoon mixing the batter within the 30 day period and you’ve broken the “reset” button, requiring you to start over again on Day 1. - See more at: http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/#sthash.1RixQbGq.dpuf

 

 

 

If you have less than 30 days of clean eating, there's no way to know if the results of your reintroduction are really accurate. 

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Thanks for your input, Shannon. That's what I figured.

 

On the bright side, I can now enjoy my vacation without worrying what foods are whole30 and what aren't! I guess I'll try again in a few months. 

 

Do keep in mind that the further away you get from Whole30 eating, the harder it's going to be to get back on track and do another Whole30.

 

Maybe, even though you haven't done reintroductions, this is a good time to work on eating mindfully and figuring out what life after Whole30 is going to look like for you. You don't have the information from reintroductions to tell you for sure how you react to different foods, but if you notice you feel better avoiding certain foods, avoid them, and for other foods, pay attention when you have them and see how you feel -- do they make you feel physically bad (digestive issues, tired, achy joints)? Do they leave you craving more of them, or make you grouchy or irritable or anxious or depressed?

 

Read through the Life After Your Whole30 section of the website (and definitely look through the blog posts that are linked at the bottom of that article -- there's all kinds of tips for staying more or less on track even while not being Whole30 strict). Use this time to eat mindfully and figure out more about how to ride your own bike. You might find the tips in the Guide to Nutritional Off-Roading helpful as well.

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