Day 15....I want to start adding “good stuff”

[KaraWildin]

Ok, so I’m on day 15, and I’ve been doing ok. I’m super tired, but still plugging away at it. The reason I started is to figure out what’s wrong with my gut. I’ve been diagnosed IBS-D and have Barrett’s Esophagus, so good is definitely a culprit in my health issues. I understand the process, and I’m just curious as to why it’s WHOLE30.  If I feel I’m “ready”, can I begin to introduce things like oatmeal for breakfast or a corn tortilla with my pork carnitas? I desperately miss bread and chocolate, but the chocolate can wait. I have enough willpower for that. 

[ShannonM816]

You're an adult who can do anything you want. However, I would really encourage you to stick it out for 30 days, and then do careful reintroductions. You want the full 30 days to have a clean slate, as it were. Hopefully by day 30 you'll feel amazing, and then as you do reintroductions, it's easier to see which things make you feel less good.

I will say that by day 15, you shouldn't really be tired anymore, at least not due to the food, although if you're really stressed or not sleeping well, food may not be enough to fix that. If you want some feedback on your meals, feel free to post a day or two of typical foods, including approximate serving sizes and specific vegetables, as well as any workouts you do plus pre- or post-workout foods. It's not uncommon for people to either not be eating enough, or not be eating quite the right mix of foods, and that can certainly contribute to being tired, as can not drinking enough water or not salting your food.

Here's a Facebook post where Melissa actually answered the "Why is it 30 days" question:  

  If you want more on the scientific whys of leaving out particular foods, you might want to find a copy of It Starts With Food, which lays out all of that information. There is some info online with some brief overviews -- the Manifesto series is particularly helpful for that:  http://whole9life.com/category/manifesto-series/  

[SugarcubeOD]

2 hours ago, KaraWildin said:

Ok, so I’m on day 15, and I’ve been doing ok. I’m super tired, but still plugging away at it. The reason I started is to figure out what’s wrong with my gut. I’ve been diagnosed IBS-D and have Barrett’s Esophagus, so good is definitely a culprit in my health issues. I understand the process, and I’m just curious as to why it’s WHOLE30.  If I feel I’m “ready”, can I begin to introduce things like oatmeal for breakfast or a corn tortilla with my pork carnitas? I desperately miss bread and chocolate, but the chocolate can wait. I have enough willpower for that. 

In addition to what Shannon said above, I challenge you to not think of the things you want to add in as 'good stuff' until you've done your own reintroductions.  You actually don't know if corn tortillas or oatmeal is 'good' for you in your context... just because the media or conventional wisdom says that it's 'good' food doesn't mean it's good for you and the only way you find out is by going the full 30 days and then doing proper planned reintroductions.