This is harder than W30

[jennrider]

I'm at about one month past my W30. At the end of it I was sure I would never go back to crappy eating. I'm still about 90% compliant. It's the 10% that's killing me. Dairy is not my friend. In any form. I have finally accepted this. I don't even miss bread. I have had some gluten free grains. Bloat city. I reintroduced sugar in the form of dark chocolate. Good dark chocolate. Dark chocolate without soy. I seem to be wanting to snack when I'm not hungry. I learned early into the process that nuts are not my friend. I can tolerate almonds, but forget cashews or macadamia nuts. I can't seem to stop eating them and then my stomach gets pissed at me. I'm finding myself tasting the food I make for my kids, licking the peanut butter spoon, etc. I'm not as strict with my meals. Usually throw something together that's not balanceds. I'm finding the maintenance harder than the challenge. Well, not the first week. I wanted to punch someone in the face and felt like a crack addict without a fix. After that, I found things easy. And the sleep, glorious sleep. Best part of the whole thing for me. I'm taking all of this to mean that 30 days wasn't enough time to reset my thinking patterns. I'm planning to start another W30 on November 1st. I will reread ISWF and bring the kids on board a little more. I have no weight loss goals as I feel like I lost a little too much weight the first time around. Is anyone else struggling with the after life of the challenge?

[Natalie.s.a]

Sounds hard! I think it's good you know what makes you feel crappy (dairy and nuts) and try to avoid it. It is the easiest thing to be stirict and I guess doing another W30 makes sence.

I'm still doring my first W30 so I can't answer your question, but reading all of the stories about life after te W30 makes me think about reintroducing things very slowly...

[cpb]

_{Knowing how good I felt afterwards and how quickly I fell off the wagon when reintroducing foods, I am in no rush to reintroduce again. My plan is to have the occasional indulgence as a special treat when out with friends/family etc - but stick to Whole30 for 'everyday' eating. Essentially - only have the 'off-road' foods when out so they are not in the house again.}

[Kirsteen]

I'm on day 46 and, because I've got major health challenges, some still unresolved, I'm not ready to try reintroducing anything yet. The one thing that did stick out in your post was that your meals are no longer balanced. Just my opinion but I would imagine that if you concentrated on balancing your meals, you'd have less desire to snack outside of them and it's great that you know what you can't tolerate, saves wasting time and effort.

Good luck on your next W30 and good for you involving the kids. just wish I'd come to this when mine were younger. They're both adults now and way beyond me influencing their food choices.

[jrustdc]

Yes. It is much harder to "ride your own bike" than to do a Whole30, in my opinion. I am on my third W30 and ended up totally off track after each of the first two (not immediately, but within 1-2 months. This time I am thinking about making my own set of rules so that I can stay on a healthy track after I finish this round.

[Guest ladyhoward]

jennrider, you are my kindred spirit! Your post is almost word for word how I've been feeling since my first Whole30 ended on October 4. Way too much off-roading. In fact, I'm not off the road anymore - more like over the cliff! I too am planning on Whole30 #2 starting on November 1st. I agree that the first Whole30 I did was not long enough for me and my psycho food baggage. I believe we can do this!! Whole30 #2 here we come! I look forward to reading your success story at the end

[jhmomi]

Yes. It is much harder to "ride your own bike" than to do a Whole30, in my opinion. I am on my third W30 and ended up totally off track after each of the first two (not immediately, but within 1-2 months. This time I am thinking about making my own set of rules so that I can stay on a healthy track after I finish this round.

It is harder! I set my own rules after Whole30 #2. Just didn't stick to my rules and remain compliant... Doing #3 now.

[MonicaRenee144]

I agree, it's harder. I'm only a couple days out from my W30, but I'm definitely feeling a little lost.

[Emily]

I agree that riding your own bike is much harder than Whole30s... however, being able to come back to Whole30s has really helped me. In 2012 we (my bf and I) have done a W30 every quarter and it really helped to reset and try again... and to know in advance when the next Whole30 was. (we did January, April, July, October).

Over time my general habits are improving... I have another ride-my-own-bike starting soon and I really hope to be able to do something more sustainable this time!

[Laura B]

Rules are easy and creativity is definitely more difficult. You will get to a place where it won't be so overwhelming to ride your own bike. We will all get there one day. We just have to be patient with and kind to ourselves.

[kb0426]

I finished my whole34.33 today. At lunch, I decided to reintroduce cheese. I was eating out and thought this is the time.

I am not waiting until after whole30 #2 to set some guidelines. I need to complete my reintroduction, but can say this:

We now have the knowledge to know just how good you can feel eating "foods that make you healthier" in the absence of "foods that make you less healthy." As cpb stated above, my "every day" life will be following the whole30 and the meal template.

Meals out, and special occasions, vacations etc will be the times when I eat and enjoy the less healthy foods. A vacation does not need to be 3 meals a day of less healthy choices, but I can tell you a trip to Italy would mean a great reason to have a moderate plate of pasta, as long as I know that it is not going to ruin the rest of the day!

Keeping my sugar dragon hibernating will be key for me. Mine is definitely a female dragon, and she is a real *itch to deal with! I adore the fact that I no longer crave sweets. I was at a meeting today and someone had purchased cake pops from a lovely little bakery downstairs. While the baker in me was tempted to try one, as soon as I saw that *itch put her snout in the air at the temptation of sugar, I said no thanks. I love not having hot flashes more, and I love sleeping well more and I love having a waist again more than what that cake pop would give me.

I do believe in balance and indulgences when they are worth it. I just have to figure out, through my reintroduction, what worth it really means.

[jrustdc]

One of my challenges is that I can often go WAY off-road without feeling significant consequences (but then at other times inexplicable small things will set off digestive woes... definitely haven't figured that out yet). I think it would be easier if I could just say, nope, dairy and I are NOT compatible, etc.

[Iwilldothis]

I finished my whole30 on 17th October and had all the same feelings of worry so I delayed the re-introduction until 5 days later so started last Monday. Dairy didn't make me feel ill it just woke up my horrible sugar dragon (which is huge) I fought the dragon the following day and was in control again by the following day. Then I reintroduced grains with gluten again my stomach didn't react and had less sugar urges but then the weekend hit with an big evening out, I decided to see how a little alcohol would affect me so I allowed my self 2 pear ciders over the whole evening again no real affect other than I did allow my sugar dragon to win the battle and I had a fancy treat (well ended up having 3!!) I woke the next morning feeling bad that I had gievn in but had a positive start to my day but at 9pm gave into the dragon again. I have decided to stop re-introduction for now and stick with the plan, I am going to focus on getting bak into 3 set meals a day (no snacking on nuts!!) get to sleep earlier again (had started to slip). I am in control again today and I will not go off road again until it is a very speacial occasion. This really is so much harder than the actual whole30 challenge I felt in more control then.