nzallykm Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hi! I've officially made it to the second half of my Whole30 (wahoo!!), which is scheduled to finish just three days before I end my semester abroad and return to the USA. I've spent 4 months abroad, and tried many culturally-relevant meals prior to beginning the Whole30, but I would really like to enjoy a few local treats and foods before returning home, where they will not be available. While I haven't been craving them, I do want to have them at least one more time. I'd thought this timing was great when I began, as it left a couple days at the end to "indulge" (read: binge, probably) before leaving, but after coming this far and reading "It Starts With Food", I see why the reintroduction phase is important, and I don't want to undo any progress I've made by messing it up. I'm realizing now that in order to eat these foods (meat pies, pancakes from a locally renowned place, a few kinds of biscuits to name the biggest draws), I either have to shorten my Whole30 and complete my reintroduction early, or compromise the 10 day re-introduction to enjoy these within the timeframe. I will also be facing a very long international flight home with several meals, which poses two problems: a) It will likely be harder to eat Whole30 compliant on the flight/follow the reintroduction phase well, and it would be very, very unfortunate to feel very, very ill on a 24 hour travel journey. My goals for the Whole30 were primarily to get rid of the sugar dragon, and choose healthier foods, after I realized that I'd been fueling my body with garbage despite exercising regularly. I hoped to lose some weight, as well, but didn't really have any significant GI/skin/energy issues or suspect any food intolerances. So far, I haven't really noticed any non-scale victories, though I understand that for most, those come in the second half. What's the best course of action, here? Could I simply be conscious of binging and re-introduce gluten-grains at the end of my Whole30 FIRST (and avoid dairy/legumes etc. until I return home), or should I, say, bring back legumes on Day 27 since I don't suspect I'll have a negative reaction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted June 6, 2016 Moderators Share Posted June 6, 2016 A Whole30 must be at least 30 days, so you cannot shorten it and do meaningful reintroductions. You can't really be sure of full gut healing without 30 days of abstinence of off-plan foods. I would ditch the Whole30 while away from home, enjoy local foods, and plan a Whole30 with enough time to do everything right when I was able at a later time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzallykm Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Thanks! However, I've been feeling really proud of myself for sticking it out this long, and I want to honor the commitment I made to myself. I've decided to finish all 30 days, and reintroduce gluten as gently as possible in the end. I realize this will likely compromise the effectiveness of my reintroductions, but my original goals were largely to challenge myself in committing to this, battle the sugar dragon, learn how to refuse unhealthy foods, and gain experience in cooking healthy meals. I believe that I can still accomplish these goals with less-than-perfect reintroductions, especially since I plan to package whatever sugary treats I can to bring home, rather than feeling pressured to try them (and tempt the sugar dragon!) in my last few days. I'll probably complete another whole30 again later, in which I'd focus on the reintroduction phase and better identifying any food groups I need to eliminate. I'm excited to see this through with a renewed understanding of my goals! Thank you for your input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellamama810 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 @nzallykm: how did this work out for you? I'm having a similar situation: ready to start my Whole30 tomorrow but realizing I will be on an extended work trip for a trade show (12 days) immediately following which will make it nearly impossible to do the reintroduction phase properly. What I'm trying to figure out is whether I postpone starting or start knowing I'll have to sacrifice the reintroduction, with the intention of starting another when I return home. I wondered if you had any ill effects from those little indulgences, and whether you'd do it differently if you could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen_Suep Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 @bellamama810 why not wait to start til after your trip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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