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Emma's Reintroduction


EmmaSthlm

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November will be my reintroduction month. I will regard it as an experiment, to find out what I can and cannot eat. The plan looks like this:

Day 2-3: Dairy. Plain yoghurt, well-aged cheese.

Day 6-7: Whole grains. Whole grain bread.

(Day 8-10: travelling to Switzerland)

Day 12-14: Legumes. Lentils, buckwheat.

(Day 15-17: travelling to France)

Day 19-20: Rice. Plain white rice (only as a preparation for India).

I will also try a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate (85%).

Part of the plan is to prepare for travelling. I will be travelling a lot in November and December: to Switzerland, France, Russia, Denmark, and India. In India I will spend almost a month practicing yoga, and although I feel no need to eat white rice at home, I might have to do it there. It will also be easier if I can eat lentils and yoghurt in India. Therefore I want to try before leaving.

And the whole grains? Well, I am Swedish and here we eat a lot of whole grains, so I want to try it, to see how I react. As an experiment.

I will do another Whole30 after India, starting February 1 2013.

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I might plan for some croissants in France.

Traveling demands flexibility and your plan sounds good. I am a fan of eating perfectly clean at home, but being flexible on the road.

Are you, perhaps, going to Pune in India for the month of yoga?

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Reintroduction: Dairy

Three days after finishing Whole30, I am starting my reintroduction. But I am moving slowly.

I had a W30-breakfast, went for a workout, and then tried half a plain Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) with some berries for a post-workout snack. It tasted good, but we will see how it feels.

The plan is to also try some well-aged Gruyère tonight together with a fish casserole. And then do exactly the same thing tomorrow.

I find reintroduction really exciting! I have always loved experiments!

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Difficult to say if it is a reaction or not, but after having had half a Skyr (Icelandic yogurt), it feels like I am catching a cold. I have been sneezing several times, I have a runny nose, my gums are irritated, I am freezing and feeling tired (for the first time in a month).

It might of course be a cold. But I do not really feel sick in any other way and I worked out hard this morning at the gym, before the Skyr, and had no problems at all.

We will see. I will continue testing and have some cheese tonight.

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Felt fine after a couple of hours and had a piece of well-aged, or actually cave-aged Gruyère (which I thought was appropriate...;-) with dinner. I must admit that I enjoyed it! It tasted really good.

However, I got back my cold-symptoms right after eating it. A runny nose, the sneezing, quite a bit of itching in my throat, and a general feeling of discomfort.

How interesting. Could I be sensitive/allergic to dairy?

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Today I am feeling fine. I reintroduced something I have really been missing for breakfast: smoothies! I made a wonderful green one with rocket salad, celery, fresh ginger, lemon, banana & unsweetened coconut water. Oh, how I love to start the day with a smoothie! And how I missed it on Whole30.

This is something I will definitely go back to now. But only with compliant ingredients, of course. And always with a lot of veggies! I cannot see how it can be unhealthy in any way.

After my lovely, green smoothie: one hour spinning, special edition Halloween, with extra scary intensity. It was tough, but I felt fine - and I am pretty sure I do not have a cold. If I did, I would have felt it on the spinning bike.

Later today: back to testing that dreadful dairy!

I am not looking forward to it.

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3 pm

Saved the dreadful dairy until the afternoon. Had 60 grams (2 ounces) of plain, unsweetened Skyr (Icelandic yoghurt) - and yes, it happened again!

My gums got irritated, my throat was itching, I had some difficulties breathing, I felt all congested and bloated within half an hour. Not as bad as yesterday, but definitely there.

I will give dairy one more try tonight, but I am already starting to feel that dairy will be OUT.

And I am wondering if dairy is linked to my general anxiety disorder (GAD) and/or the problems I have with my gums.

Not to mention that my mother does not eat dairy at all. She has always blamed it on taste, but I am starting to think that it might be more than taste to it. Perhaps it is genetic.

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8 pm

Dairy is definitely OUT! At least from everyday life. I don't think it is life-threatening, so it will be OK if someone else has used butter, or if I feel like a piece of cheese at a party, or so.

I tried another small piece of cheese tonight and I could really feel how I became congested, bloated and tired afterwards. The lovely feeling of ease and lightness, that I experienced during Whole30, is completely gone!

Now I am really looking forward to go back to two days of strict Whole30, before trying whole grains.

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Reintroduction: Whole grains

I hesitated a bit to reintroduce whole grains, since the dairy made me feel so bad. But this morning I had a piece of whole grain bread; a very healthy one, with whole grains, no wheat, no sugar, no milk, and completely organic. It would be helpful to be able to eat whole grains, since we eat a lot of them here in Northern Europe.

It tasted well and I felt fine afterwards. No signs of any intolerance. I will try another piece tonight, to make sure it is OK. But so far, so good.

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Oh, no!

Screwed up my reintroduction today. It started off so well. After two days of clean eating, I had a piece of whole grain bread this morning.

It went really well. It tasted good and I felt great afterwards.

But then I had a work lunch at a Korean restaurant, and while I managed to tell them to not put any rice on my plate, they had added Korean noodles (made from sweet potato starch) and perhaps some soy sauce. Or something else my stomach did not like.

On the good side: now I know the difference between a reaction and not. The whole grain bread went really well, but noodles, soy sauce or whatever it was on that plate is just off!

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Recovered from the bloating yesterday and woke up to a good day, in all respects.

Tried whole grain bread this morning as well, and had the same reaction as yesterday:

it tasted well and I felt great! It gives me energy and makes my stomach happy!

Whole grains are definitely back IN!

But I will stick with the kind that has no wheat, no sugar, no milk and is organic, of course.

Tonight I might test a glass of red wine, since I have one of my best friends from Canada here. And tomorrow morning I am off to the Alps.

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After my successful reintroduction of whole grains, I went on and tried a glass of red wine tonight. It also went fine. It tasted good and I felt fine afterwards. I would not want to have more than one glass, though.

It is funny, but I can really feel the difference between different food groups after W30. Dairy made me sick, whole grains made me feel great, and wine left me indifferent. I interpret it as I should eat whole grains and that I can have wine from time to time, but that I really should avoid dairy.

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Reintroduction: Sugar, Wine & White Potatoes

I am not sure if it counts as reintroduction, but my trip to Switzerland made me try sugar, white potatoes and more wine, partly against my will.

Honestly, it was the trip from hell! Just work and no time to workout - and an absurd amount of food and wine. I am not exaggerating; they seriously served around 10 glasses of wine with every WORK-dinner. It was just crazy! And when I refused to drink more than a glass of wine and eat some food, like pasta, they got really offended. I ended up having fights over food and drinks with my Swiss colleagues every night!

But it went OK. I managed to avoid dairy, grains, and legumes. I got up early and practiced yoga every morning in my hotel room. I skipped the taxis and walked back and forth, up and down a mountain, every day with a Danish colleague.

I have never had a sweet tooth, so I prefer to skip desserts, with or without Whole30. But in Switzerland, I had some fruits in sugar (awful!) for dessert one night and some sorbet (better!) the other. I felt OK afterwards, but I really prefer to not eat sugar.

I also had some roasted white potatoes one night, which was absolutely fine, although I would rather make roasted sweet potatoes at home.

Finally, I have now had wine four nights in a row, which is really not something I like. I prefer being sober and not drinking at all, but it is difficult in my job. So much is centered around alcohol. If you don't drink, you can forget about making a career.

I have been thinking a lot about it recently, and I find it really offending. Just think about those who cannot drink out of religious reasons. It is also a very male-dominated culture, and I have for the past two years been the only woman on a management board of sixteen. I think the drinking is part of the same kind of "macho-culture", that leaves out a lot of women and also many men.

Sadly, I can also see how many of my colleagues have become alcoholics. No wonder, since an ordinary work week can include five nights of drinking - as part of your job!

Isn't it terrible? I hate it!

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How frustrating that must be! I think others don't like it when we don't drink as they think we are judging them for their choice to drink. I am sorry that you were placed in that predicament! It sounds like you navigated it the best you could.

10 glasses of wine would have meant they would have to pour me in a taxi. I would not have been able to stand!

Hope your next city is easier!

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Reintroduction: Legumes

I love legumes! I think what I have missed most on W30 are my lentils, beans, and quinoa. So I have really been looking forward to this day; hoping legumes will pass as well as the whole grains did.

I started this morning with hot oatmeal made of buckwheat. It tasted terrible. I could barely finish it. It made me feel sick, but I think it was more because of the awful taste, than from the buckwheat itself. We will see. The experiment will continue... stay tuned.

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No, I have never had oatmeal made of buckwheat before. I usually eat one with whole grains, but everyone says buckwheat is so good for you, so I wanted to try.

But no. Oatmeal of buckwheat is OUT.

However, I had a lunch with both beans and quinoa, and that felt just great! It was delicious! And I am so happy to be able to go back to eating lunch at the small, organic, vegan café that is next to my job.

Since they always use a lot of legumes in their cooking (but no dairy, no wheat, and no sugar!), I have not been there in a month and a half.

I can see how I moving away from W30, but I do not mind. I think I am finding my own way of eating.

I will avoid dairy, wheat and sugar, but eat whole grains and legumes in the future!

And I am so HAPPY, because I love it!

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