kdiddy Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 *I'm sure this topic has been discussed elsewhere, but I could not find it through several different searches - please point me in the direction of an older post if there is one! Has anyone tried limiting their reintroduction to just alcohol? I am in the middle of my first Whole 60 and will be finishing on September 30. While I was worried about cravings at the beginning, I have been doing really well managing them and really do not miss any non-compliant foods. I feel so good, I don't think I really want to stop after Day 60, but I do really miss the occasional cocktail or glass of wine. Has anyone had any experience with making it to day 30 (or 45 or 60 or whatever you chose) and limiting their reintroduction to just alcohol? Eventually, I am going to have to reintroduce some other foods as I am spending three weeks in Mexico next February and really don't see how I can survive that trip without eating any corn, beans, or added sugar. Would it be reasonable for me to limit my reintroduction to alcohol for now, and then reintroduce some of those other foods in January? Is this timeline totally against the idea of Whole 30? I know I could just keep to a strict Whole 30 and not reintroduce the alcohol until January either, but I'd really like to be able to enjoy a hard cider at the local cider mill this October, some wine at Thanksgiving, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R. Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 I would like to know as well. I have started with just my wine, and want to reintroduce others as occasions come up, not in a short time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted September 10, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 10, 2016 We celebrate following the meal template and preferring meat, veggies, and good fats in your food selection as a lifestyle, but Melissa Hartwig herself drinks cream in her coffee except when she is doing an occasional Whole30. We encourage most people to do 30 days and then complete a methodical reintroduction. There are a few reasons that make following the Whole30 rules strictly for a longer period a good thing. One is because you have longstanding health issues that are only just beginning to show signs of improvement after 30 days. Some people really need 60 or 90 days to heal. One is to establish good habits more deeply before you give up the Whole30 rules and transition to your own personal rules for eating. But eventually, everyone needs to establish their own ground rules and live their life because the Whole30 is too strict to be an endless process. Unless you have a clear reason to extend your Whole30, I recommend that you do a methodical reintroduction of all foods you know you will want to eat at some point and other foods that you would not ordinarily eat, but know you will under some circumstances. Circumstances that lead people to eat foods they would not normally eat include work dinners, being stranded in a airport unexpectedly, birthday parties, holidays, Italian relatives, etc. Knowing how your body will respond to these foods is valuable information. I think you should get that information now and not postpone it to another day. The Whole30 offers a choice of reintroduction plans. The standard plan takes you through everything in 10 days unless you have bad reactions that force you to take extra time to recover. The slow-roll plan invites you to take more than 2 days between tests if you like, but provides an opportunity to test more examples of different foods. The slow-roll plan is an opportunity to really get to know your body in relation to foods. I encourage people to begin with the standard 10-day plan and then use the slow-roll procedure if they want to develop advanced understanding. The reason I encourage people to get on with doing the standard reintroduction plan is because postponing it sets you up to not doing it at all. Some situation may come up that forces you to eat a bunch of foods in quick succession so that you can't tell what your body is reacting to. Then you will have missed the opportunity you had to do real reintroductions until you can do another Whole30. So don't just reintroduce your favorite drinks. Test the range of foods. You can stop eating them as your test ends, but it will be good to know how your body responds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFossil Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Tom Denham said: The reason I encourage people to get on with doing the standard reintroduction plan is because postponing it sets you up to not doing it at all. Some situation may come up that forces you to eat a bunch of foods in quick succession so that you can't tell what your body is reacting to. Then you will have missed the opportunity you had to do real reintroductions until you can do another Whole30. So don't just reintroduce your favorite drinks. Test the range of foods. You can stop eating them as your test ends, but it will be good to know how your body responds. Do your reintroductions! Do them as soon as your Whole30 ends! Don't put them off for "someday." You cannot guaranteed you will be completely Whole30 until that someday occurs. I can't count the number of threads I've read on the forums where people avow they are going to keep eating Whole30 and so they see no need to do reintroductions, or they imagine they will reintroduce some food weeks or months in the future as the occasion arises and somehow stay Whole30 until then. Eventually, they eat off plan foods, often many at the same occasion. They come back to do another Whole30 or a third or a fourth and they have still never done their reintroduction and they are often sad that they saw all their Whole30 benefits disappear Don't lose the benefit of the clean slate Whole30 gives you by not doing reintroductions right away! In addition to Tom's excellent analysis, some other benefits of doing a reintroduction (fast or slow) of ALL the foods/food groups one might eat, ever, is that there is a wonderful structure to the cycle of a reintro day, followed by at least two Whole30 days, that helps one transition to a new way of eating (whatever degree of Whole30 that might be). AND, one gains the experience of having an off plan food and then immediately going back to the template. This experience is invaluable for making informed and PERSONAL choices and knowing precisely how foods affect you, as you design your own eating plan. To me, the reintroductions are at least as important as the Whole30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R. Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 Thank you! I am convinced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdiddy Posted September 11, 2016 Author Share Posted September 11, 2016 Thank you all so much for your input! After reading your responses I've decided to stick to my Whole 60 commitment and start my full reintroduction on October 1. I'm going to start with alcohol, and then methodically go through each thing during the month of October (my inner organizational nerd is loving this idea!!). After some reflection, I think part of my hesitation to do a full reintroduction is that it somehow feels like a failure? I know that is silly, but after being so strict about my diet for the past 41 days, it's hard for me to adjust to the idea of reintroducing a lot of those foods. I think having a plan and sticking to it will help with this anxiety. And, just because I do a reintroduction doesn't mean I have to stop eating Whole 30... I need to keep reminding myself that I can always commit to a more long-term Whole 30-like diet (paleo?) after my reintroduction! Oh, and Robin I remember you commenting on my personal log that you were just a few days behind me in the Whole 30 - huge congratulations on finishing!!!! I hope your reintro is off to a great start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 You've been given some outstanding advice here. The first compliant 30 days are the best. Every day that goes by without a reintro, the ground grows colder. The Regular Roll gets it done before the Slow Roll slips right out of your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R. Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 On 9/11/2016 at 2:30 PM, kdiddy said: Thank you all so much for your input! After reading your responses I've decided to stick to my Whole 60 commitment and start my full reintroduction on October 1. I'm going to start with alcohol, and then methodically go through each thing during the month of October (my inner organizational nerd is loving this idea!!). After some reflection, I think part of my hesitation to do a full reintroduction is that it somehow feels like a failure? I know that is silly, but after being so strict about my diet for the past 41 days, it's hard for me to adjust to the idea of reintroducing a lot of those foods. I think having a plan and sticking to it will help with this anxiety. And, just because I do a reintroduction doesn't mean I have to stop eating Whole 30... I need to keep reminding myself that I can always commit to a more long-term Whole 30-like diet (paleo?) after my reintroduction! Oh, and Robin I remember you commenting on my personal log that you were just a few days behind me in the Whole 30 - huge congratulations on finishing!!!! I hope your reintro is off to a great start! Thank you! It is, although so far I have only reintroduced wine. That went very well. I was able to stick to only a few glasses. We were away from home last weekend for our 28th wedding anniversary. It did not impact my food choices and I thoroughly enjoyed every sip. I felt fine in the days following. I have had no burning desire to have more wine, although I know I will. I have decided to speed up intros this week now that I am home again, and will start with non-gluten grains. I will have corn-on-the cob tomorrow. Then wait a few days and try something else. I feel the same way with re-introductions! I am finding some of the advice, etc. confusing as I have a few health issues that are not totally resolved that I feel might be impacted by introducing dairy and gluten back into it. Therefore I am waiting longest on that. However, we love to eat out and often dine at friends' homes. I have some social events in a few weeks as well. With the holidays approaching , I really want to know exactly what I can eat and what my response is to that food before I get stuck in a situation where I want to have something that that is non-compliant. I just want to eat it and enjoy it! Since all of these foods are less than healthy I do not want to make them a regular part of my diet. Isn't that the entire point? Going forward, after reintros are done within the next few weeks, I will be eating mostly Paleo/relaxed Whole30ish. Good Luck finishing up this month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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