Post whole30 binge );

[_kiragreer]

Hi there. I finished whole30 a couple days ago.. had a strict re-intro phase I was planning on sticking to.. started w/ gluten and all seemed fine / no sensitivities. UNTIL I FREAKING BINGED SO HARD YESTERDAY.

On sugar. I don't even have a big sweet tooth but whole30 had me craving sugar every damn day and it got so hard. I've never had a history of disordered eating.. binging ... or any type of unhealthy relationship with food. This came out of NOWHERE and i legit couldn't stop! I ate so many cookies..sweets..candy... etc. Yesterday. Like at least went over calories by 2,000 yesterday. UGH! I'm feeling miserable.. so disgusted with myself and gross. stomach kills.. feel hungover.... Did i ruin my entire whole30 ? How do i recover?!?!??

I lost 7 lbs off of whole30 (i really didnt need to.. I'm trying not to lose anymore) I'm 5'6, 118 lbs and 13 % Bf.  I'm relieved that i was finished w/ the gluten reintro bc if i was going to have some type of sensitivity i figured it'd be gluten ? How do i go about reintro-ing the rest- legumes, soy, and non gluten grains. I already don't eat dairy (although there was def some milk in some things i binged on and my stomach is feeling it..) 

I'm almost positive the bloating /digestion issues were caused from the loads of sugar alcohols i had been consuming prior to whole30. But just to be sure i guess ill re-intro the final few groups. Should i go back to w30 for the next 3 days and then start reintroing ? Did i blow my whole 30 days?

To be honest. i don't want to blame whole30 for being so restrictive... but I am lol. I've never binged or had any wild cravings but 30 days of restriction made me want all the sweets... and tbh as shitty as I feel today, I had the best workout i've had in a while this morning.. doesn't make sense? I found binging post whole30 very common.. is this diet really healthy?

 Ok rant over please HELP

-Struggling in NJ 

[ladyshanny]

Aw, sorry to hear that. You may like to know that it is not all that uncommon to have that happen after a Whole30. There are a few theories on why but what you really need to do is figure out for yourself why YOU did that. 

Post a few typical days of food on Whole30 for us and let's see what's going on. I would venture a guess that you went fairly low-carb and then when you introduced gluten, the carb-alarms went off. Does that sound plausible?

As far as "is this diet really healthy", I would say the following: it is NOT a diet, it's a 30-day self experiment designed to teach you things about how your body reacts to different foods. It's not meant to be gone on for months and months so the fact that you are eliminating certain foods for 30 days is somewhat restricting in the broadest sense of the word, but again, it's temporary.

Fill us in on what you were eating, workouts, pre and post workout food, meal timing etc. I'll bet there's something there..................

[_kiragreer]

Ok thank you. Did i erase all my hard work from the past 30 days ): 

Typical day:

Break around 9/10am: 2 eggs w/ mixed veggies, some type of meat (chx sausage /prosciutto), fruit, coffee w/ coconut cream

Lunch 2/3pm: : Huge spinach salad w/ mixed veggies + some protein (shrimp usually) , fruit

Din 7pm ish: Salmon or chicken w/ mixed veg + sweet potato

Never usually ate pre-workout, post = Chomp stick or Epic. 

"Carb-alarm" as in thats why i ate all that candy last night??

Thanks ): 

[ladyshanny]

You haven't erased anything but you'll likely want to go back on Whole30 until you're feeling well again.

Do you only get up in the morning at 8-9am? We highly recommend folks eat the first meal within an hour of waking. You could try ditching the fruit in the morning and making sure you have either 3-4 eggs or the 2 eggs with at least a palm portion of protein. Proscuitto is nothing - unless you're eating an inch thickness in a sitting.

Do you add fat to your salad? And sturdier veggies? How big is "huge"? Mixing bowl-sized? Is your shrimp 1-2 palms worth? (that's the length, thickness and width of your own palm). Do you add fat to your dinner?

It looks to me like you have been undereating overall and that's why you had some uncontrolled eating. Were you supplementing along the way with fruit between meals? You said you craved sugar the entire 30 days?

Don't worry about this, @_kiragreer - it's all part of the experiment. Sit down today and really think about what you were thinking and feeling while you were doing it. What your internal dialogue was, what your emotions were like. What did it feel like? It'll help you with some perspective on why it happened and help you to edit your behaviour with food going forward. You haven't ruined anything - you've gained an opportunity for self reflection.

[_kiragreer]

I'm on summer break- so I do sleep in relatively late which is why my day starts late. But yes i do eat within 1 hour of waking. I eat lots of avocados for fat and for salads my dressings are made of olive oil, with olives for extra fat. My salads were probably not big as they should be -honestly i wouldnt be surprised if i was under-eating the whole time.. I mean I lost 7 lbs which is a huge weight loss being my size. I worked out a ton too- 3-4x cardio/lifting..I ran a half marathon. I didnt have much appetite, so it was hard to get food down. I was not supplementing with fruit between meals, as I was trying to tame my "sugar dragon" as they say. I started to crave sugar the last week, and I'd say only really gave in 1-2 days where I ate more fruit than I suppose I should have.

Interesting enough when I binged last night, I was with my bf. I have a a history of eating more than I should (not to that extreme though) whenever i'm with my bf for 2 reasons. #1 he has food that I don't keep in my house- popcorn, candy, etc and #2. I find myself generally more relaxed/happy/comfortable when I'm with my bf, so i tend to "let loose" if that makes sense? In terms of reflecting on last night, I remember eating and just thinking that it didnt matter for overeating bc i "Restricted for 30 days" and " i deserve this."

I did def. get my cravings out of the way though and feels good to eat a good healthy dinner tonight. Any other suggestions? Thank you for being so nice and reassuring!

I am hoping that as i start to slowly reintroduce "normal" foods and eat sweets in moderation, WHEN i want them and deem "worth it" - that this will stop the binges. I also will try to make a plan for next time i visit my bf - as to how i will stop my usual habit of splurging too much when i'm with him. Maybe let myself have a little of what he's having - popcorn for example, but limit myself. Or just not at all so I'm not tempted. I do want to get this figured out as i am headed on a fam vacay with my bf and want to get my eating under control! - Esp when i know there will be a lot of drinking and going out to eat for meals (that of which i rarely do!!!) Thoughts?

 

[ladyshanny]

My thought is that your binge was because you under-ate for 30 days while also being extremely active. That's a natural body response. 

If you ever want to do Whole30 again and do proper reintroductions, you need to make sure you are eating enough food overall. Come back to teh forum if you decide to do that and we can help you get your meal sizes and composition dialled in.

[EllieHH]

It may be too late to respond before your vacation, but one thing that has worked for me when I REALLY WANT something is to just wait 10-15 minutes.  Have a club soda and "fancy" it up like with lime or whatever so you are getting to DO SOMETHING that feels "fun" - and by the time you are done with it you will probably feel differently.  If this person is also your BF I would be that you could engage him in helping you NOT do what you just did.  I am all about the capital letters today :).  It could also be that if this is a ritual you guys used to do together, and now you are doing things differently in your life, there could be some anxiety on someone's part that things won't be the same between you now...so ponder on that and be sure that everyone is getting the non-food-related love reassurance they need too :).

Wishing you well!