Ea's reintroduction log

[Ea_]

It's been very interesting for me to read other peopl'es reintroduction stories, so I thought I should post mine as well.

Background

I completed my Whole30 Sunday and started reintroduction yesterday. My background for doing a Whole30 is that I need to lose some weight, especially on my belly. I've tried low-carb lifestyle diets like South Beach during the last 3 years and they've generally felt 'right' for me, so I knew paleo would be a good idea. The focus in paleo on real, unprocessed, whole foods of the best possible quality excites me a lot, and that has made it a much nicer experience than previous ways of eating.

Apart from the weight issue, I've also had chronic stress the last year. I was off work sick for 3 months in the spring and still only work part-time due to the stress (though I expect to be back full time by february). So I also thought that getting my hormonal balance under better control might help the stress - as well as getting rid of the 'stress-belly' ;-)

About the reintroduction

Mainly, I've been very curious to see what, if anything, would happen during reintroduction. I've always been quite 'healthy' and never suffered from allergies or intolerances etc. I've had a few issues the last year, but they disappeared as soon as I got the stress under control. So I didn't really expect much, if anything, but reading all your stories here did make me a bit wary/curious

Cheese, milk and more cheese

Anyway, yesterday I had cream cheese with my morning omelet, half a glass of milk mid-morning, a wedge of Camembert at lunch, a nibble of feta before dinner and two spoonfuls of fullfat greek yoghurt after dinner. I also had a small bite of a very nice Danish goat's cheese this morning.

Very surprisingly I'm suddenly not so fond of cheese anymore. It tastes flat og 'grey', the texture is slightly grainy in a less nice way, and while I can easily eat it, the overall experience is that cheese is a bit 'off'.

The milk and the yoghurt was fine. Sweet and mild.

Physically the only possible reaction is a pimple on my cheek this morning, but that's a bit of a stretch. My skin is usually reasonably nice, but not perfect, and hasn't changed at all during the Whole30.

No cheese in my future?

So I guess the conclusion is that I shouldn't eat much cheese. I feel a bit sad about it. I've always liked cheese, especially the more flavourful and rich tasting, and now I'm going to lose those flavour experiences.

I'm happy that milk and yoghurt is still on. I've been misisng the opportunity to use yoghurt in indian cuisine sauces.

Next up on Thursday will be Danish rye bread and possibly pearled barley. I'll wait with the wheat and the strong gluten for Sunday.

[Tom Denham]

It is curious that your taste for cheese has changed so much. Lots of people lose their taste for artificial sweets, but I have not heard much about people losing their taste for cheese. Hmm.

[Ea_]

A friend of mine have been doing the Whole30 with me and he says the same; that it's like he's gone off cheese. Yes, it's quite curious. Certainly unexpected.

[Candice@allthingsyogi]

I am the same way!

no cheese=happier belly and better mood.

[Ea_]

I didn't notice any digestion problems, only that cheese seems to have lost its flavour.

[GLC1968]

I actually found that was the case for me with all dairy. I no longer like yogurt (I wasn't a huge fan before but it was ok) and cheese on things like salads kind of ruins the taste of the salad for me. I haven't tried just a slice of cheese since my whole30 mostly because I have no interest, but I'll probably do that tomorrow since a friend will be serving a ton of fancy cheeses and I'm sure I'll want to try a few.

Oh, and even heavy cream tastes weird to me now. Strange, isn't it?

[Ea_]

Yes, it is. I guess that if it tastes 'off', it's a hint to me that I probably shouldn't eat it. Not much of a hardship if I don't like it anyway :-)

Yesterday was day 4 - Danish rye bread (100 % rye) and pearled barley.

I split up the gluten grains as these two doesn't contain as much gluten as wheat, and of a different quality (weaker/softer)

Had a slice of the bread for breakfast with my eggs and two slices in the afternoon with salami. No reaction whatsoever, except I really like it and if I added it back into my diet now, I'd easily eat way too much of it ;-) It's sooo good with liverpate.

No reaction from the barley either, but it was a somewhat bland and boring addition to my dinner (curry with beef and fried brussels sprouts). Just not worth it. If I needed/wanted the extra calories from a starch source I'd probably rather have potatoes or rice.

[Ea_]

Had bread with extra bread yesterday morning and a cinnamon roll to top it off. That was a bit too much! I felt tired/sleepy and a bit cranky all day. I don't think it's the gluten as much as it was the total carb overload. It affected the whole day too, as it made it more difficult for me to want/make proper food the rest of the day. I didn't have any cravings though, I didn't get more hungry, and I had no signs of indigestion except a little rumbling.

I think I'll end the re-introductions for now. It was more or less as I expected; I don't seem to have any specific sensitivities towards neither dairy nor gluten, but I should keep the carbs under control.

I ll keep eating paleo as it makes me feel better - I even think it had a positive effect on my chronic stress - but for the moment I won't sweat the details, especially not when other people have prepad the food; such as a bit of starch or cream in the sauce or cheese or legumes in the salad. My own food can be more strict. And then I could do another whole30 in late winter and see if there's any difference.

I'm not so worried about falling completely off plan. I've eaten low carb on and off for the last three years, so I'm in the habit, and paleo gives me the added satisfaction of being both foods I like and of good quality. No compromise between health and delicious high quality food, and that excites me and keep me going. And I basically don't want to feel like I did yesterday anymore ;-)