This Problem of SWYPO (or How My Whole30 Star Fell)

[JakeBirch]

Today is my 22nd of 30 days on Whole30. So far, things have been great! Cravings are down, I feel more energetic, I look more svelt, I'm eating smaller quantities of food, and the food I eat tastes more vibrant! All good things! It was disheartening then, to learn this morning that I have been unwittingly breaking a rule of the program. Apparently, even though none of the ingredients violate the Whole30 parameters, eating something that resembles a corn tortilla means that I’ve totally missed the point of this program, and should in theory start over. Day 1.

 

This Sex With Your Pants On (SWYPO) business is the biggest knock to the credibility of this program. It truly makes no sense and presumes a lot. It is a fine suggestion in most situations, but to make it a rule is problematic and changes this from a program about health and a healthier relationship to food, into a program about deprivation for deprivation’s sake.

 

There are a number of presumptions in this reasoning that are simply false. Take for instance “given the constructs of your Whole30 program, you’re stuck with Paleo pizza.” This presumes that I can’t possibly enjoy a substitute for an unhealthy food, and that these substitutes are inherently, objectively inferior to the food they may resemble. Under this presumption, I will inevitably be led to feelings of frustration (moderator edit to remove inappropriate content) that can only fuel intense cravings.

 

This is simply un-true. I have truly enjoyed eating paleo tortillas, and I would submit that depriving myself of these would have a more negative longer-term impact than including them in my Whole30 diet. Eating these tortillas has shown me that I can have a taco meal that has no grain, is low carb, and is just as satisfying to eat as the thing it imitates. Were I to deprive myself of this experience all together, who is to say that instead of getting excited about a truly healthy, unproblematic food substitution, I wouldn’t spend the 30 days craving a “real” taco, and then go right back to them when the program ends? Now, I’ve given myself an alternative path to walk: even after the Whole30 comes to a close, I can continue to eat these healthy, delicious taco shells. Adhering to this SWYPO rule would have meant I would have never discovered these… ever.

 

If this program is truly about health and healthy living, then wouldn’t it make sense to try to create sustainable habits? It seems to me that the current philosophy excludes these kinds of culinary experiences in ways that I know personally would likely lead me back to the same old bad habits that I’m trying to break. The infamous criticism about most diets is that they are unsustainable because you yo-yo, and this rule seems in keeping with that problem. I find myself wondering what other delicious, healthy “junk” food alternatives I’m missing out on because of this. Perhaps I would love paleo pizza and be excited to eat it several days a week, reaping all of the health benefits of grain-free, low carb, high protein, healthy fat, whole foods. But, with the SWYPO rule, Whole30 has already decided for me that that pizza sucks, I would never like it, and eating it would only be a frustrating experience. So I guess when this is done, I’ll just go back to eating regular, gluten abundant, greasy, carby, cheesy, sugary, bleached flour crust pizza instead.

 

Another aspect of this rule that is discrediting is the inconsistency of it: “Do not try to re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats with ‘approved’ ingredients.”  Well, what’s a “treat”? Is that any food that I enjoy? So is the point of Whole30 to not eat anything that tastes good or satisfying? Meanwhile, here are some foods that are Whole30 approved: Larabars (way less healthy than my paleo tortillas), squash chips, sweet potato toast, zucchini noodles, jicama shells, squash fries, mayo, latte, raspberry lime spritzer, broiled grapefruit, ranch dressing, kombucha (this one is confounding since a main ingredient is sugar), and cranberry sauce. And where do you draw the line? A paleo tortilla is basically an omelette, and that’s Whole20 approved…

 

[moderator edit to remove inappropriate content]All I know is that I now genuinely crave paleo tortillas and could be happy eating this healthy alternative for the rest of my life, instead of just going back to corn tortillas in a week. That’s a healthy habit that will carry me much longer than 30 days. [moderator edit to remove inappropriate content]

[SugarcubeOD]

I"m not sure if you want feedback on this post or you were just ranting but there are some things you said that need to be addressed.  

Part of the reason why we don't want you to recreate baked goods or SWYPO food is precicely because of the comment you made about eating paleo pizza a few times a week.  A huge component of Whole30 is learning how to fuel yourself with whole foods, not trying to jam old habits into a new frame work.

You must be kidding about what a treat is.  If a vegetable is a treat to you, go ahead and eat as much of that treat as you want.  Vegetables aren't pretending to be anything other than vegetables... zoodles are just a different way of chopping zucchini for instance.  If you personally had a terrible diet coke habit and you were going to sub in raspberry lime spritzer five or six times a day to replace your diet coke habit then for you, in your own context, you might consider leaving off the spritzer.  No one has ever come home from a long hard day at the office and sat down to a vat of mayo or cranberry sauce.  Most people in their own context (most, not all) don't have unhealthy relationships with mayonnaise, ranch dressing or broiled grapefruits.  Most of what is in your list is a one ingredient vegetable chopped or cooked in different ways.  Jicima shells are thin slices of jicima (vegetable) and sweet potato 'toast' is a large piece of sweet potato cut so that it can have an egg and some avocado put on top... it's not actually pretending to be toast.

The final thing i want to mention is that this program is 30 days.  I don't think it's all that much deprivation to not eat a paleo tortilla for 30 days so much so that it's going to cause you to spring board off the Whole30 and dive face first into a case lot of corn tortillas.  IF that is in fact the case, then it's worth considering that maybe tortillas in general have more of a hold on you than is proper and you consider what role they play in your eating habits.

This program IS truly about health and healthy living.  The rules are made for the majority because we can't make rules for each individual.  Imagine what would happen if we said 'no recreating corn tortillas... except if you don't have a problem with corn tortillas... or if you're pretty sure you're going to binge on real ones after the 30 days is up... then you can have them'... The rules are black and white and they've created an extremely large community of people who have let this program change their lives for the good.

That said, there are no Whole30 police so if you want to eat paleo pizza for every meal, no one is going to stop you.  Just know that you won't get the best results out of the program that you can if you don't allow the psychological part to happen.

[ArtFossil]

The mods will answer this much better than I can. But my take is this:

The Whole30 is both a food elimination diet (with a reintroduction protocol) and an approach to eating that can reset your relationship with food.

If you have good reasons for doing a Whole30, you'll follow the rules and the recommendations in order to see the most benefits. You could "do" a Whole30 eating nothing but bacon, nuts and potatoes but you wouldn't gain much of value. 

If you are happy doing paleo, then paleo away. If you have good reasons for doing a Whole30 then why not give it a chance for 30 days plus your reintroduction? You might learn something invaluable and by doing the reintroduction you'll have the information you need to design your own WholeJake way of eating, which might feature paleo tortillas every day.

The choice is yours.

[MeadowLily]

SWYPO's can be sweet or savory.  It's the familiar formations that remind you of former favorites that stir up old cravings.  They have a cloyingly familiar tune or ring about them that's similar to the real thing.  It's taking it right up to the razor's edge and lingering there too long. 

A SWYPO is the mind's subtle way of trying to pull you back. They actually make a case for themselves. SWYPO's  speak to you....create me or bake me,...and lo and behold you've eaten the whole darned recipe but it's not enough.   Next thing you know...you're at the grocery store lingering long over the baked goods, pizzas or taco shells.   SWYPO's...that's the nature of the beast.

It may not happen on the actual day that you eat a SWYPO, but maybe a few days down the road the temptation is too great and you're on a quest for the real thing. Nothing less will do.

On a personal note, tapioca bread or rice bread made with alternative flours that are actually just as high in starchy sugars are supposedly paleo. Eating them reminds of the authentic breads that I cannot manage or moderate.  Paleo treats and bread substitutes hinder me rather than help me.

[MeadowLily]

Paleo is confusing.  Whole 30 is clear.   

Paleo is owned by no one.  There are no hard fast rules for Paleo because everyone has a different definition.  80/20   60/40   Full fat dairy and whopping boatloads of paleo baked goods and commercial snacks. 

Modern day Paleo is a SWYPO.  It's being recreated by the day, evolving into highly engineered foods created in a lab and manufactured in a plant.  All paleo baked goods are an imaginary recreation.  They resemble nothing remotely Paleo.  That's the nature of the new Paleo beast. And SWYPO's. 

[laura_juggles]

I didn't read your entire post @JakeBirch because, frankly, it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

If you're freaking out this much over being told that paleo tortillas aren't compliant, maybe that's a warning sign right there. If you're saying that a paleo tortilla is basically an omelet, then just make an omelet. That's a *huge* part of the program that you seem to be missing. It's about learning to not buy products, but cook your own food and understand what's fueling your body. 

Nowhere does Whole30 presume to tell you that paleo pizza sucks. But why are you doing a Whole30 in the first place if you're going to just cram paleo versions of whatever you normally ate into the constructs of the Whole30 rules and then wonder why you still feel like crud at the end of the 30 days. Paleo pizza is probably quite tasty if made right, but for someone who could fall facefirst into eating a whole large pizza outside of Whole30, paleo pizza is probably either going to be disappointing or could turn into a situation of "it's all compliant ingredients, so it's okay if I eat this entire 16" pizza myself!". 

So, why are you actually so hung up on the tortillas?

[manley0702]

"I have been unwittingly breaking a rule of the program" - That's why you should read before you jump into the program. I feel bad for people who accidentally eat something because it had one obscure ingredient that they happened to miss. I can't make myself feel sorry for someone who missed one of the biggest, most obvious rules of the program. Obscure ingredients are tough to memorize; eating paleo-fied foods is something you'd have known if you only read about the program for 10 minutes. It's on par with someone who messes up for eating soy or rice.

"I have truly enjoyed eating paleo tortillas, and I would submit that depriving myself of these would have a more negative longer-term impact than including them in my Whole30 diet" - There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just keep eating that way and tell folks you're on a strict paleo diet. Strict paleo diets are good, perhaps just as good as Whole30. It's a different diet though.

"If this program is truly about health and healthy living, then wouldn’t it make sense to try to create sustainable habits?" - This diet isn't intended to be something you do for your entire life. It's an elimination diet. Adding in paleo-fied tortillas would be a logical first step in your induction phase.

"Larabars" - I'm with you on this one. With healthier alternatives for protein bars out there, I can't imagine why Larabars are still allowed.

" I now genuinely crave paleo tortillas and could be happy eating this healthy alternative for the rest of my life, instead of just going back to corn tortillas in a week." - That's wonderful. Again, you're doing a strict paleo diet, and you're thriving. Be happy about that. I don't know why you're so upset.

[SugarcubeOD]

On the topic of Larabars, yes, they're not your best choice for a Whole30 and you can definitely leave them out for the duration. They're handy in an actual emergency (being on the tarmac in a blizzard for hours) but they're not approved for general consumption in day to day life.  There are thousands of people who have done Whole30 without a single Larabar and you can definitely make the choice to become one of those people