Continuing After Whole 30 - Oct 17th Group

[jolong]

I decided to go with the legume intro yesterday, and so far so good!  I'm also going for the non-gluten grains on Saturday...that way if we watch a movie I can have some popcorn...without any butter or toppings though.  I am also back to Whole 30 eating today, but I will have a glass of wine tonight as a friend of mine wants to go out for a couple of drinks after work.  I was worried about what to eat during this time because it is a bar/restaurant and we usually order appetizers or pizzas.  It is a more upscale place though, so I think I'm going to ask if they could just make me up a little plate with a couple of boiled eggs and some veggies.  That will be enough to get me through until I can get home and make myself a regular meal. 

If we are going to continue on this thread for a bit I thought I would share a little bit about myself.  I am a 48 year old female, married with 2 kids.  My kids are grown and on their own, but my life has gotten busier over the years.  I am a business manager for a cooperative educational services agency in Wisconsin, while also being enrolled in a Masters degree program.  I got pretty serious about exercising 2 years ago, but after a year and a half of committed exercise and not seeing much improvement, that is when I decided to pursue the Whole 30.  The changes have been continual and dramatic since then.  My exercise instructors even have commented on how much stronger I look, which is definitely a morale booster!  I ran my first 10K last month and just signed up for a half marathon next June.  I never was excited about running, but now I look forward to it.  As long as I can find the time to commit to it!

I'm curious about other reintros too!  I haven't been using the Facebook group that started as I prefer this forum, so hopefully a few more stop by to let us know their accomplishments.

 

[Divachef]

1 minute ago, jolong said:

I decided to go with the legume intro yesterday, and so far so good!  I'm also going for the non-gluten grains on Saturday...that way if we watch a movie I can have some popcorn...without any butter or toppings though.  I am also back to Whole 30 eating today, but I will have a glass of wine tonight as a friend of mine wants to go out for a couple of drinks after work.  I was worried about what to eat during this time because it is a bar/restaurant and we usually order appetizers or pizzas.  It is a more upscale place though, so I think I'm going to ask if they could just make me up a little plate with a couple of boiled eggs and some veggies.  That will be enough to get me through until I can get home and make myself a regular meal. 

If we are going to continue on this thread for a bit I thought I would share a little bit about myself.  I am a 48 year old female, married with 2 kids.  My kids are grown and on their own, but my life has gotten busier over the years.  I am a business manager for a cooperative educational services agency in Wisconsin, while also being enrolled in a Masters degree program.  I got pretty serious about exercising 2 years ago, but after a year and a half of committed exercise and not seeing much improvement, that is when I decided to pursue the Whole 30.  The changes have been continual and dramatic since then.  My exercise instructors even have commented on how much stronger I look, which is definitely a morale booster!  I ran my first 10K last month and just signed up for a half marathon next June.  I never was excited about running, but now I look forward to it.  As long as I can find the time to commit to it!

I'm curious about other reintros too!  I haven't been using the Facebook group that started as I prefer this forum, so hopefully a few more stop by to let us know their accomplishments.

 

There is a FB group?

[LRoth]

So, I reintroduced Legumes with Lentil Soup with split peas in it yesterday.  Not Good!  My body didn't like it.  Everything else in the soup was compliant.  Side pains that I haven't had while I was on the Whole30.  I'm thinking it was gas from them.  I know that my body reacts to them! YIKES!  Back on Whole30 for a couple of days.  I think I may try non-gluten starch items, like corn tortilla chips next or Dairy.

I forgot!  I was impressed to see my weight down 13 pounds!  Extra bonus to the feeling great, the clearer complexion and everything else I've gotten from the Whole30.  I just feel so GREAT!

[Susabella627]

4 hours ago, jolong said:

that way if we watch a movie I can have some popcorn...without any butter or toppings though. 

Jolong, in the past during reintro or when I'm not doing strict whole 30 I pop my popcorn in a pot on the stove in either olive oil or coconut oil.... this way you don't even miss the toppings 

[jolong]

16 hours ago, Susabella627 said:

Jolong, in the past during reintro or when I'm not doing strict whole 30 I pop my popcorn in a pot on the stove in either olive oil or coconut oil.... this way you don't even miss the toppings 

You are right Susabella...popping it in olive oil does make a big difference.  We usually do this even when I'm not doing the Whole 30...but maybe we should try the coconut oil!  I have a Stir-Crazy popcorn popper that I just love, which has a similar effect to making it on the stove top.  I wonder if I could use nutritional yeast though?  I think I'm going to look that one up as I feel that I can...just no butter yet.  Now I want popcorn right now!  lol

 

[nanette09]

Hi All,

Started my reintro last night - had wine with dinner. One before, one with and one after - white wine and not full glasses. Major headache today. Also I woke at 3AM and while I know I drifted in and out, I didn't get the rest that I have been since W30. Also my "monkey mind" started up too. So I am going to be very choosey as to when and if I drink wine anymore... and hopefully only one glass at that - ok, maybe two.  : )

I'm going to do legumes next - but I have a two-day workshop this weekend and I don't want to take the chance that a reaction may ruin my day, so I am going to wait until Monday. This will definitely put me way behind for Thanksgiving, but since we are staying home, we will be able to cook our own compliant meal. However, I'm thinking I will go off schedule that day and have apple crumb pie.

I'm happy to have done the W30 successfully and have had many NSVs. It was challenging at times, but well worth it. For one, I am not afraid of the kitchen anymore! I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. Also, I have learned so much about nutrition and how it can affect my body - knowledge I will always carry with me.

I am sleeping 100% better - last night aside - and can easily fall back to sleep during the night. I also wake up easily and feel refreshed each morning. I feel more clear-headed and less tired during the day/evening after work. My hair feels more healthy - thicker and longer, and my skin is smoother. I have energy and enthusiasm to do things now, whereas before I was like a lump on a log. lol

Another change has been my mood - not feeling anxious or sad - which is HUGE, as this is the time of year that I usually DO suffer from SAD (I live in North East PA - long days at work with the sun setting by the time I leave - and no windows in my building). I feel brighter and happier, and much more confident in myself.

And also, I lost 7.5 lbs, which is absolutely perfect for me!

Hope to continue to hear about everyone else's successes and reintroduction! If we start a new post, let me know... this one is getting long. There may be a section dedicated to just to reintros if we want to go there.

Best, Nanette

 

[jolong]

Now that our Whole 30 is over let's start posting our reintroduction results here.  I only introduced legumes so far and that went well...still no side effects from those.  Tomorrow I plan to pursue non-gluten grains.  And I know I shouldn't have but I met a girlfriend for a glass of wine last night...that's two night in a row for red wine!  Yesterday morning I was quite exhausted from that, but today I feel ok!

[Susabella627]

Thank you for starting the thread Jolong, and to you Lady Shanny for bringing the previous posts over.

Nanette, sorry you had that reaction to the wine, but isn't it good to know just how food is effecting us. Kudos on all the NSV's. Please keep us posted on the rest of your reintro. 

Jolong, like you I am going for non gluten grains tomorrow. Having a bowl of cream of rice cereal for breakfast, not to sure about lunch and dinner yet, but I know Popcorn is in my future.

On a side note, today, I made my own mayo for the first time. I have to say - Game changer! I had left over chicken and wanted to make it into chicken salad and eat it on romaine leafs. It tasted so yummy and was so easy I don't see why I would ever buy mayo again. 

TGIF!

[jolong]

Susabella:  Chicken salad with homemade mayo over romaine is fabulous!  I hope you enjoyed it.

I had big plans for a quick reintro but honestly, I think I blew it this weekend!  Friday night we went out for dinner and I ordered a pan seared salmon that came covered in a hollandaise sauce.  The mashed potatoes I had more than likely had some dairy in them too.  That is something I should have had on my dairy reintro!  Not to mention that I had at least one glass of red wine every night this last weekend.  Besides my slip-up on Friday night, my reintro has been going fine.  I did the non-gluten grains on Saturday and today I was going to start dairy, but I wasn't able to pull that together today.  So I will plan for dairy tomorrow.  After the Thanksgiving weekend I think I will go back to strict Whole 30 eating for about a week and maybe do a slow roll reintro after that. 

On a side note I had a great workout at boot camp on Saturday morning.  I felt pretty good for most of the weekend, but yesterday I did wake up to some redness around my eye.  Just before I started my Whole 30 I noticed some redness around the outside of my left eye...it's almost like a rash because it is sensitive to the touch.  Well yesterday morning when I woke up I washed my face and it was apparent that I had the similar thing happening to my right eye!  I've always taken good care of my skin so this is quite surprising to me.  I wonder if this could be related to the wine...I didn't plan on having any wine this week, so I will see if it changes.  I have a dr. appointment next week so I will ask her if it doesn't clear up.  I must say I am excited to go to the dr to see how things have changed since the previous year!

[jolong]

Well here we are with the Thanksgiving weekend ahead of us.  I did my dairy reintro yesterday and so far so good.  I decided to step on the scale this morning knowing I probably wouldn't do it for about 2 weeks, and I was up 2 pounds from when I finished last Tuesday!  My Friday night dinner and all the weekend wine must have provoked this.  And the rash around my eye is definitely much less visible today after a couple of days wine-free.  hmmmm

With Thanksgiving tomorrow I definitely have not been able to do a complete reintroduction.  That does bum me out, but it is what it is.  I did the best I could and I will try to make good choices about my Thanksgiving dinner.  When I get home after the long weekend I plan to be Whole 30 compliant all of next week and then just eat non-compliant items when they are "worth it".  I've kept grains out of my life for the most part so I'm sure that will continue as grains are a straight "no brakes" path for me. 

I hope you all have had a more successful reintroduction than I have!

Happy Thanksgiving!

[jolong]

I hope everyone survived Thanksgiving!  Well I made it through the weekend of travel and being away from home...that was tough!  I wasn't as compliant as I would have liked as we went out for dinner twice and also to IHOP for breakfast.  It was all quite delicious though!  The first night we went out for dinner I just ordered a chicken bacon wrap, without any dressing.  So that wasn't too bad, except for the little bit of grain in the tortilla.  Then another night we went to Famous Dave's, which we haven't been to in ages, and ordered an American Feast.  So I indulged in the chicken, fries, and coleslaw, and didn't get carried away with the bbq sauce.  Their cornbread muffins are definitely "worth it" for me!  IHOP was probably my biggest downfall as I ordered an omelet that was LOADED with cheese and I also ate half of an order of pancakes!  I think I should mention that IHOP and Famous Dave's are both places that are not available to me on a regular basis, so I felt it was ok to enjoy my meals without feeling guilty about it. 

I would like to say that I'm back to Whole 30 eating today, but since I didn't cook this weekend I don't have any leftovers!  So I made my lunch as compliant as I could...except for my piece of Famous Dave's chicken...NO extra bbq sauce this time!

[jolong]

Well I had my physical earlier this week and I was all excited to see a bunch of positive results come back since I've completed 3 Whole 30's since January.  My weight is normal, which is great...but my cholesterol is up!  What the heck...  It's not dangerously high, but it is borderline.  I haven't had bloodwork done for a few years, so it just makes me wonder what my cholesterol level was at a year ago before changing my eating habits.  Maybe it was higher yet, but I guess I will never know.  I don't think it would be up from the few non-compliant things I had over Thanksgiving.  Before I got my test results, the dr. did say that menopause could throw all of my tests off a bit, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.  My cholesterol was fine before menopause!  lol  I've been back to mostly Whole 30 eating this week, but we are going out for dinner tonight so we will see what that brings.

I hope everyone else is doing great!

[jolong]

I decided to try adding a couple days of oatmeal for breakfast to lighten up my egg consumption a bit.  So a couple nights ago I set out a crockpot full of steel cut oatmeal and boy was that tasty!  I've been trying to make wise food choices this week.  I did splurge on Tuesday...we had to travel 3 hours for a doctor appointment and when we stopped for dinner I ordered a burger, with the bun, and ate the whole darn thing!  Boy, was it tasty!  Then yesterday my hubby took me out for lunch and I ordered a burger again, this time I ordered a gluten free bun and that was sure delicious also!  The cheese on both of these burgers is really the only dairy I've had this week.  I've found that if I limit my dairy and grains my body appreciates that.  Tonight we are going out for dinner so we will see what comes of that!  Last Friday night I ordered a gnocci that was served with a red sauce, and boy, the next morning it was quite apparent that my body was rejecting it!  I don't know if it was the sauce or too much flour in the gnocci, but it was not good!  Tomorrow night we have a Christmas dinner at church, and it is catered, not a potluck, so I don't think we will have that many options. 

I was going to do a mini reset next week, but then realized I have a birthday party next Wednesday, so I think I will do my reset the week after.  Is three days long enough for a mini reset?