Advice on best option for shortening re-introduction

[Laura Thornock]

Hi everyone,

 

I’m looking for advice. Unfortunately, when I started my Whole30 on October 15th, I didn’t plan for enough time to do the full Whole30 and the full 12-day re-introduction period before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is important to me and I am planning to participate fully in all Thanksgiving food.

 

I need to shorten the reintroduction phase by 5 days to complete everything before Thanksgiving. I realize I am not doing this the perfectly correct way, but I need to make the best of the situation I’m in.

 

Here are three options I’m considering to eliminate 5 days:

 

1. Do a Whole25 instead of a Whole30, then do the 12-day reintroduction phase exactly as outlined.
2. Do a Whole28, and reintroduce all grains on the same day (instead of splitting into non-gluten and gluten)
3. Do a Whole 29, and shorten the periods between each re-introduction to one day instead of two.

 

From your experience which of these options would be the most beneficial (while acknowledging that none of them are ideal)?

 

Please let me know if this all makes sense.

 

Thank you!

Laura Thornock

[ladyshanny]

Your body really needs the full 30 days - we would not recommend shortening it at all. I would go the full 30 day and use Thanksgiving not as a free-for-all but as a part of your reintroduction. You made this commitment to yourself and before you revise that on behalf of whatever Thanksgiving foods you wish to have, really think about why you wanted to do this and if there are thanksgiving foods that override those reasons.

If it was a health and habit reset - well - unfortunately that's the hard part about coming in to holidays and events where food is a large part. It's not easy to say no to those things but it's a big part of keeping a commitment to yourself and helping to reset your health and habits. 

If  you are going to go off plan before the 30 days are up, we really recommend that you do a Whole30 at a later date during a time which you will be able to do the full reintroductions. It's such an important part of the program if not the most critical. 

[Tarrantrl]

While this may not be the same for you @Laura Thornock, I personally find Thanksgiving to be very Whole30-friendly! My favorite parts are the turkey (easy to make compliant), steamed green beans with butter (sub clarified butter), mashed potatoes (sub clarified butter and perhaps coconut milk), and cranberry sauce (which you could easily find with just regular sugar added instead of corn syrup, which is OK for reintroduction). I think the main things that are missing from a Whole30 Thanksgiving would be the stuffing, sweet potato marshmallow casserole, maybe green bean casserole, gravy (although there are Whole30 compliant recipes), and of course desserts like pumpkin pie. I never liked any of these things, so it's really easy for me to skip them! I'll be done with my extended reintroduction before Thanksgiving, but I intend to stay Whole30 for it because the dairy for sure isn't really worth feeling bad for the rest of the day when the substitutions are just as good. I'd rather enjoy the food but still feel on the ball to spend the rest of the day engaged with my family. My best advice would be to not choose ahead of time the things you think will be worth it to eat because you might not actually want those things by the time you get there. Maybe look up some Whole30 compliant Thanksgiving recipes to see how great the meal can still be while not sacrificing your reset or reintroduction period. It may turn out to be a lot of fun for you!

[ladyshanny]

19 hours ago, Tarrantrl said:

My best advice would be to not choose ahead of time the things you think will be worth it to eat because you might not actually want those things by the time you get there.

This is THE best advice - thank you for bringing that up!