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Second Whole30


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I had a very successful and surprisingly easy first Whole30 this past summer. I’ve since stayed “in balance”: my food habits have changed and without paying too much attention I’ve managed to keep the weight off. (I lost 9 kilo’s!) Perhaps more important: I found out in the reintroduction phase that dairy leads to inflammation pain with an auto-immune disease I have. I nearly didn’t do the reintroduction phase because I didn’t think anything would come out of it, but I’m happy I did. It’s been very helpful to know this and help regulate (an understand) my pain.

I’ve since tried to start a second round a few times already, but wasn’t successful in the sense that I had a hard time staying fully strict with breakfast, including no paleo “cheats” like the healthy pancake or a paleo type of bread. Reason being: I’m só over eggs! I’ve tried other types of breakfast, understanding I need to see it as Meal 1, but honestly: left-overs from the night before just don’t work for me in the mornings. I’ve also tried other alternatives like sausage and veggies, soup, etc, but also: not my thing in the morning. I’ve read every Whole30 “breakfast” recipe I could find online, but... nothing to my taste.

I know I must sound spoiled (I actually work for a humanitarian organization and count my blessings daily that I not only have food, but also have the luxury to choose what foods I eat!) but I can’t be the only one struggling with this?

What kept me on track and gave me a great start of the day these past months has been a slice of spelt bread and a fried egg with some veggies for breakfast. I know I would not be allowed to call it a “second Whole30” if I do this, but I do wonder if it’s really so bad for the process in my body, trying to lose weight? I know I’m not sensitive to gluten, I have the full (proven!) discipline to keep it to the one piece of toast in the morning without craving bread/gluten in meals later in the day. If I allow myself to do this, I know I can easily turn these next months into a otherwise fully Whole30-compliant (so not simpele Paleo) straight line, until that glass of red wine at Christmas dinner.

I’m open to your feedback and critique. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to hear your honest thoughts and opinions.

(PS. I don’t live in the States so suggestion of specific brands I could use for breakfast wouldn’t work for me. Whatever I eat needs to be home-made from scratch. I do enjoy cooking though so as long as I can find the ingredients here I should be fine.)

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What you do after your Whole30 is totally up to you. No, it isn't a whole30 if you include something that isn't compliant, but the goal isn't to be whole30 all the time, it's to figure out your own personal foood freedom. 

If eating whole30 style plus some toast for breakfast is working for you, that is fine. When you're here on the forum, you're not doing whole30, you're living your post whole30 life, riding your own bike, and that is good. Here's more about developing a life after Whole30 strategy, or you might like the book Food Freedom Forever:  https://whole30.com/step-four-finished/

Many people have difficulty with their second whole30, there's even an article that talks about it:   https://whole30.com/2015/02/second-whole30/

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Hi @Annayllop, I just started my R2 also - today is day 3 for me. I did my first W30 in Jan 17 and things had been great after "riding my bike." But We just went on a long vacation and I didn't even bother trying to eat responsibly. And I paid for it. Now I'm constipated, PMS-ing, can't sleep, feel like crap, etc. So even though we have a boat-load of delicious candy and snacks we brought back from our trip - some I didn't even try yet - on Monday I put my foot down and said, "Today is Day 1!" I even had a dream about eating cake that first night, which  never happened to me during my first round. Lol. 

And I get where you're coming from. One grain I found I can tolerate without issue is rice - so I ate rice maybe 2-3x/month while I was "riding my bike" and very very rarely would have cheese on my bun-less burger. It's hard going strict W30 when I've been "safely" incorporating those rare items into my diet. For me, I had to think about why I wanted to do an actual W30 and not just clean up my diet for a week to get back on track. And here's the list:

-My sugar addiction is back in full swing - I'm eating dessert items (even if they're small) multiple times a day. I feel out of control around sugar.

-I'm back to doctoring my coffee with sugar and milk- which was the easiest thing for me to give up - how absurd! 

-I feel like crap - I'm tired mid-day, groggy, unfocused.

-I'm gaining weight and bloat back! (Grrrrr)

-My menstrual cycle was way more problematic off diet. 

-I need a reset, not just a clean up. 

This last one was the biggie - Other times after holidays or special occasions when I've indulged in a piece of cake or whatever, had a glass of soda (gasp!), I feel icky. But I know I'm not really too far off base. I clean it up strictly for a week - a whole 7 or whatnot and then that usually puts me back on track. But I'm WAY off base now. And that tells me my dietary hormones are a mess. And it's only 30 days. So if I want to eat rice or an occasional bite of cheese again in the future, I certainly can! 

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide :)

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