Tkassner35 Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Hi all, I am new to this forum but have recently completed by 2nd Whole 30. The 30 days went great and so did the re-introduction. I found that dairy is not good for me, gluten in small amounts is okay, non-gluten grains are a go, and legumes hurt my stomach! After going through this process and taking time to meal prep and being mindful, all of the sudden I am not! For example after a long day yesterday I was up at 2am with my hands in the tortilla chip bag. When I have the whole 30 rules to follow I am disciplined, it’s almost easy? Now since my re-Introdiction I am basically a good maniac, which shows me my emotional relationship with food is really strained. Anybody else been there? What do you do to pick up the pieces. I am really trying my best to not assign morality to my binges, I am not “bad” for what I did, but I made a choice, and not doing that wouldn’t make me “good”, it would just mean I made another choice. Anyway, just looking for support and maybe guidance from some veterans. What do you all do to help pick up the pieces after you let yourself get a little too comfortable? Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotwheels Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Hey there-I am not a veteran, as I have only done one whole30 (January) but I am totally there with you. I was so happy at the end of January, and then in February with my reintros, staying mostly whole30...and now I feel like I make too many bad decisions (usually alcohol and sweets, most other things don't tempt me). I still eat 90% really well, healthy, etc, and I exercise regularly, but I sometimes don't feel in control of what I am eating/drinking. I am definitely struggling with food freedom, and think I may need another whole30 to get back on track. I was telling my boyfriend that it was easier to be on w30 because the decisions were out of my hands, I just ate compliantly, every day, because that was the rules. Without the rules, I don't feel as much in control. Clearly I need to work on this. So no real advice for you (sorry), but I can offer my sympathy and you are not alone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted March 6, 2018 Administrators Share Posted March 6, 2018 On 02/03/2018 at 8:33 PM, Tkassner35 said: Hi all, I am new to this forum but have recently completed by 2nd Whole 30. The 30 days went great and so did the re-introduction. I found that dairy is not good for me, gluten in small amounts is okay, non-gluten grains are a go, and legumes hurt my stomach! After going through this process and taking time to meal prep and being mindful, all of the sudden I am not! For example after a long day yesterday I was up at 2am with my hands in the tortilla chip bag. When I have the whole 30 rules to follow I am disciplined, it’s almost easy? Now since my re-Introdiction I am basically a good maniac, which shows me my emotional relationship with food is really strained. Anybody else been there? What do you do to pick up the pieces. I am really trying my best to not assign morality to my binges, I am not “bad” for what I did, but I made a choice, and not doing that wouldn’t make me “good”, it would just mean I made another choice. Anyway, just looking for support and maybe guidance from some veterans. What do you all do to help pick up the pieces after you let yourself get a little too comfortable? Thanks!! Aw, sorry to hear. This is honestly, pretty common. So common in fact, that Melissa wrote an entire book about it. See if you can get your hands on Food Freedom Forever as it explains and provides strategies for a lot of your concerns. It definitely takes practice (lots!) to ask yourself "Do I want it, Is it worth it?" for everything you're eating. This is the golden key though. Being honest, introspective and slowing down. It's not easy, but it is worth practicing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted March 6, 2018 Administrators Share Posted March 6, 2018 12 minutes ago, hotwheels said: I was telling my boyfriend that it was easier to be on w30 because the decisions were out of my hands, I just ate compliantly, every day, because that was the rules. Without the rules, I don't feel as much in control. Clearly I need to work on this. Make your own rules? Instead of having done reintroductions and then just drifting, make rules for yourself that address some of your problem areas. For instance: I do not eat sugar/drink alcohol alone. I don't drink the night before if I have gym in the morning. If I feel like I've gone out of control, I sit myself down and assess what happened so I get a better understanding of what goes on with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotwheels Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 1 hour ago, ladyshanny said: Make your own rules? Instead of having done reintroductions and then just drifting, make rules for yourself that address some of your problem areas. For instance: I do not eat sugar/drink alcohol alone. I don't drink the night before if I have gym in the morning. If I feel like I've gone out of control, I sit myself down and assess what happened so I get a better understanding of what goes on with me. That is a great idea. I do need to work on my own rules. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJHigh Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 In addition to Food Freedom Forever (which is invaluable), I highly recommend Gretchen Rubin's work on habits and tendencies. She talks about how different types of people are able to build lasting habits (like mindful eating), and one thing she notes is that certain people (a tendency she labels as the "upholder" group) function really well with brightline rules. It sounds like you might be one of those people (I definitely am), so I think @ladyshanny's advice is spot on. For me, it has really helped me to do a very conscientious reintroduction phase - much longer than the one recommended - as a way to help develop these rules for myself. Of course a lot is based on how I've reacted to the foods I've reintroduced (ie- no soy for me because it negatively effects my mood), but also more subtle things like I now always have to eat breakfast, I don't snack unless I truly need fuel, etc. And I love the one @ladyshanny suggested - I'm now adding the no drinking the night before a tough run rule (which as I type it out seems like extremely good advice, so much so that I'm wondering how it never occurred to me before!) Another thing I'd suggest, and I think that this is mentioned in FFF, is don't feel like you always have to do an entire Whole 30 if you feel like you're off track. You may need a reset, but it's likely/possible that you'll need less than the whole 30 days in subsequent tries. Consider if a "whole 7" might be enough to re-focus your efforts, and as part of that, definitely do another reintroduction and see what new rules you'd like to add. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted March 7, 2018 Administrators Share Posted March 7, 2018 22 minutes ago, TJHigh said: And I love the one @ladyshanny suggested - I'm now adding the no drinking the night before a tough run rule (which as I type it out seems like extremely good advice, so much so that I'm wondering how it never occurred to me before!) This is one of my favourite rules for myself. It's also super easy to use this one to justify not drinking if you happen to be in a group of people who are having a hard time taking "no thanks" for an answer when you are turning down a drink. "Oh, no thank you, I prefer not to drink the night before a morning gym date/tough run/heavy weights session!". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samalope Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 On 3/6/2018 at 2:30 PM, ladyshanny said: Make your own rules? Instead of having done reintroductions and then just drifting, make rules for yourself that address some of your problem areas. For instance: I do not eat sugar/drink alcohol alone. I don't drink the night before if I have gym in the morning. If I feel like I've gone out of control, I sit myself down and assess what happened so I get a better understanding of what goes on with me. I love this rule for sugar! Most of my binges on sweets come when I am alone. And my husband doesn't like sweets much so there is no excuse with getting him to join me! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllieHH Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 One of the things I love about the Whole30 afterlife is that ability to realize that each day is a new day and each meal is a new meal. Just because I made a choice yesterday that was bad for me and that I will pay for it for the next 3 days by feeling meh, I don't need to wait that 3 days to get myself back in order and reset - I can do it with the very next meal. And for me too, rules are great. I have not had a ton of trouble because I just don't think most off plan foods are worth it - or if I do go off plan on something, I don't have to eat a ton of whatever it is to be done with it (and I am always a little bit scared of what it will do to me, which helps). I have also found a few foods that would not be OK on the whole30 - but are better than their really off plan counterparts (Siete cassava chips are in this category for me - they are so close to corn tortilla chips that they totally do it for me, but can turn into a food with no breaks so I am still pretty careful - but for post whole30 life I feel okay about them). When I want to grab something bad, I make an herbal tea (rolling my eyes the whole time at how silly I have to be with myself) but it takes long enough that it lets my brain get over itself...so yes, rules have been good for me. I don't have a drinking rule because I haven't struggled with it yet - but when I would typically be having something at night I will get a champagne glass and put La Croix in it and that little ritualism actually does it for me. You can find what works for your own nuttiness :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuluBee28 Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 @Tkassner35 @hotwheels Thanks for sharing your stories...You guys are definitely NOT alone! I just finished my 3rd round and had a hard time after round 2 - when the rules are black or white, it is much easier but when you're on your own it can be ridiculously hard. I love the 'make your own rules' advice above... I do this too! If you are anything like me, I also love a good challenge - I challenge myself/set a goal for myself to not order takeout all month, or drink 1/2 gallon of water a day for a specific amount of time, similarly to the Whole30. Why not challenge yourself to a month of no sweets? Or whatever else you are struggling with... this helps you practice your food freedom in all the other areas and takes the challenging part out of the equation. I also find that it really helps to visualize my progress in some way - I track every NSV. Drank water? Check! Walked the dog? Check! Meal-planned and stuck to it? Check! When you see it visualized in front of you, it is much easier to see if you are REALLY in need of a reset, or if you are just being hard on yourself. I totally get your being 'good/bad' conundrum! Visualization really helps me. Lastly, for this round, I purposefully added 15 days to my program to essentially do a Whole45, but in the last 15 days, I loosened the rules just ever so slightly (any food with compliant ingredients is OK, even foods from the SWYPO list such as pancakes etc.) because I wanted to test my food freedom while still having the whole30 rules safety net. Sweets are 100% my biggest weakness and being able to kind of sort of test myself in this area, with training wheels on, really made a difference this time. I hope this helps somehow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie1947 Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Hi I’ve finished whole30 and another 30 days of reintro. Plus whole30.ive done Very well with having rules. I’ve also had consistent weight loss which my heart doctor likes. Me too. But hit a wall where now instead of loosingivegone ip a couple of lbs. so I tools look at food journal and only thing offprogramis too many Dry roasted almonds and grapes and watermelon. Everything else is compliant. So I’m confused. I stopped the handful of nuts yesterday and only lost .4/10 of a pound. I know not to stress but my doctor wants more weight loss and I don’t want to switch to another eating program as this is great for me. Any suggestions? Haveihit thebottom of the weight loss under whole30? i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted June 22, 2018 Moderators Share Posted June 22, 2018 So, yesterday you made a change, and today you expect noticeable results from it? That seems unrealistic. Definitely limit how many nuts you're eating to not more than a small, closed handful every other day or so. Be sure you're following the meal template for every meal -- sometimes people will revert back to a dieting/restricting mindset and limit their food, or limit fat. That could be counterproductive in the long run. If you stick to eating in a way that makes you healthier, your weight will get to where it needs to be. It may not happen as quickly as you'd like, but it will happen. Stressing about it will make it harder to lose weight. If you're eating close to whole30 and not getting results you think you should , are there other areas of your life that you need to make changes in? Are you getting plenty of sleep? Do you get some form of exercise or activity? Are you under a lot of stress? Any of these things, and probably others I've not thought of can impact weight loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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