Gearing up for Reintroduction 8 days from today!! Questions on my game plan!

[ArtFossil]

23 minutes ago, Robin R. said:

Okay, it just clicked for me.  I just re-read the Fast Track Reintroductions and what made more sense to me in the sample timeline were the key words "Evaluate (insert food group here) while keeping the rest of the your diet W30 compliant".  Therefore if I was doing Fast Track I would not eat the first reintroduced food until I had gone through the entire 10 or 13 day cycle.  However since I am planning to stay gluten, dairy and soy-free for as long as possible, I will be taking the more conservative approach and doing the Slow Roll Reintroduction.  So the next question is: How long do I need to wait before I can add that reintroduced food in my diet if I have no negative response to it and I want to have it again? 

MeadowLily suggested above that I "take the bull by the horns and do the classic intro" after 30 days, but since I want to live Whole30ish for the rest of my life, I want to do the Slow Roll introductions.   Since I will be eating five meals out this coming weekend, I am just trying to figure out what I might want to reintroduce during that weekend.  there.

And yes, I do understand that the order of each reintroduced food is as unique as the person doing it.  

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

I stretched my reintroductions out and did one food at a time. So, it was a Slow Roll. But it still had an end (maybe six weeks?) once I'd reintroduced the foods I had determined I might want to eat again. 

I agree with MeadowLily in that the most valuable thing is to do a clear cut reintroduction, whether that's 2 weeks or several months. 

 What I would not do (and this is my personal take) is eat a lot of different food groups in those first meals out. Perhaps decide that you are going to have wine on each of the daysand perhaps some gluten free grains on one of the days.  Then back to Whole30 for 2-3 days and do the next food. One of the great things about the reintroduction structure of one food/group then 2 days Whole30 is that it gives you a lot of structure while you take the training wheels off and learn to ride your own bike  

I've just read way too many logs where people said they didn't have to worry about reintroductions because they intended to eat Whole30 for the rest of their life. Then a special day or weekend came up and they went off the rails because they weren't armed with the information about how those off-plan foods would affect the post-Whole 30 (which may be very different than pre-Whole 30. They feel rotten and then start over with another Whole30 and sometimes never complete their reintroductions. What a waste of an opportunity to learn how the eliminated foods actually affect you!

So one approach could be to have a very careful and conservative plan for those five meals. 

[Robin R.]

On 9/4/2016 at 8:35 PM, ArtFossil said:

I stretched my reintroductions out and did one food at a time. So, it was a Slow Roll. But it still had an end (maybe six weeks?) once I'd reintroduced the foods I had determined I might want to eat again. 

I agree with MeadowLily in that the most valuable thing is to do a clear cut reintroduction, whether that's 2 weeks or several months. 

 What I would not do (and this is my personal take) is eat a lot of different food groups in those first meals out. Perhaps decide that you are going to have wine on each of the daysand perhaps some gluten free grains on one of the days.  Then back to Whole30 for 2-3 days and do the next food. One of the great things about the reintroduction structure of one food/group then 2 days Whole30 is that it gives you a lot of structure while you take the training wheels off and learn to ride your own bike  

I've just read way too many logs where people said they didn't have to worry about reintroductions because they intended to eat Whole30 for the rest of their life. Then a special day or weekend came up and they went off the rails because they weren't armed with the information about how those off-plan foods would affect the post-Whole 30 (which may be very different than pre-Whole 30. They feel rotten and then start over with another Whole30 and sometimes never complete their reintroductions. What a waste of an opportunity to learn how the eliminated foods actually affect you!

So one approach could be to have a very careful and conservative plan for those five meals. 

Thank you so much.  I agree that introducing one food from a group at a time would be most beneficial.  I have been mulling this all over and re-reading the two books as well as information on reintroducing foods on the the forum.  I have also been reading people's experiences post W30.  I do plan to be very careful and conservative for those 5 meals out.  I am a big planner and rule follower.  I am now researching the menus of the restaurants we will be dining at and making a sustainable plan for the weekend.  I have logged everything during the W30 and plan to keep doing so post-W30.   I want to stay mostly W30 or Paleo as part of a lifestyle change and limit (or not add back in) some of the less healthy foods, especially if I do not miss them.  However, I want to be able to relax on dinners at friends' homes, restaurant meals, and special treats that I am missing for the holidays, etc.  

So I am planning to have a glass of wine tomorrow night (Day 31) and want to have it again on our anniversary which is this Saturday IF I feel it is worth it.  Am I able to also add in a new food at that dinner along with the wine?  

Next question:   Can you continue with a reintroduced food once you have waited 3 days with no reaction if you want to have it again?  Let's say I am missing fresh corn-on-cob because it is in season.  (We have a farm share at an organic farm 5 minutes from us.)  If I have no negative response and have no plans to introduce anything else for awhile, can I have that every 3-4 days or once a week until the season ends. Then once I stop that and wait 3 days can I introduce another food?  Some foods I may not even re-introduce until the holidays.   If I do that I will make certain I have tested all of the W30 non-compliant ingredients out first.

[ArtFossil]

1 hour ago, Robin R. said:

Next question:   Can you continue with a reintroduced food once you have waited 3 days with no reaction if you want to have it again?  Let's say I am missing fresh corn-on-cob because it is in season.  (We have a farm share at an organic farm 5 minutes from us.)  If I have no negative response and have no plans to introduce anything else for awhile, can I have that every 3-4 days or once a week until the season ends. Then once I stop that and wait 3 days can I introduce another food?  Some foods I may not even re-introduce until the holidays.   If I do that I will make certain I have tested all of the W30 non-compliant ingredients out first.

That's where it gets tricky. If you eat corn again BEFORE you've reintroduced other foods, you've lost your Whole30 blank slate. That is, you can't be sure, if you have a reaction to ANOTHER reintroduced food if its because of that food or because of the cumulative effect of corn + the newly reintroduced food.

And it took 30 days of discipline and a food elimination diet to get that blank slate! 

That's why, if at all possible, I encourage people to have a set reintroduction period and to follow the protocol of one food/group - no repeats- Whole30 in between. 

That also means reintroducing those "holiday" foods (gluten, etc) during a reintroduction so you have a clear idea of your response BEFORE the holidays.

Your description of how you intend to "ride your own bike" is a thoughtful one and certainly makes sense. What a lot of people overlook is the reintroduction stage BEFORE they ride their own bike, so they know more precisely where they are likely to do a header and crash.

But ultimately it's your Whole30 and your decision.  For me, I wanted the most accurate information (and among other things I discovered a new sensitivity to soy after Whole30). So, my reintroductions took "a while" and I was Whole30 in between each food/group and did not repeat. 

 

[Robin R.]

Oh my, it certainly IS trickier than I thought it would be!  I do want the most accurate information which is why I am asking a gazillion questions.  I did not consider the cumulative effect, and was hoping that there was a set time frame between the day I stopped having corn after having it a few times, and trying a new food where it would be out of my system. Therefore I could be certain that any reaction would be to the new food and not the corn.  Hmmmm....  I wonder how people doing the Slow Roll Introduction handle this?  I tried to find this particular answer on the forum but was unable to find anything.  

My other question was:   "So I am planning to have a glass of wine tomorrow night (Day 31) and want to have it again on our anniversary which is this Saturday IF I feel it is worth it.  Am I able to also add in a new food at that dinner along with the wine?"  Based on what you said above, I am assuming the answer would be NO.   

 

[Robin R.]

I made it!  I reintroduced wine on Wednesday night, Day 31.    It was VERY good.  I poured it, looked at it, smelled it and then savoured every single drop.  Since I have not had a glass of wine in a month, I definitely had a very buzzy relaxed feeling!  I had a glass while toasting with my daughter on the screen porch.  It was lovely!  I then refilled the glass with sparkling water.  I had another glass with dinner.  It was a nice way to celebrate 30 days of healthy, nutrient dense whole food and a new lifestyle. I slept well and woke up feeling just fine.  Yesterday I felt just fine and stayed W30 compliant all day. Going forward, I plan to reserve wine for those days when I will truly appreciate it and not make it a part of my hump day/weekend routine.

That being said, we leave for our anniversary weekend tonight and I face 5 meals away from home.  I do plan to have wine or champagne tomorrow night to celebrate our 28^th anniversary but the rest of the weekend I will be W30 compliant.  I have decided to wait to reintroduce corn on the cob next week after at least 3 days with no wine.  I will probably continue on with reintroducing some of the non-gluten grains after that.

Thank you for all of your guidance!