Super Slow Reintro

[Heathermarie74]

So for the sake of being as kind as possible to my body and really examining my relationship with different foods, I want to take my reintro super slow. I'm still working out how I'm going to do it (and there's plenty of time as I'm currently on day 17) so I wanted to start a thread to brainstorm possible schedules and ideas about how to do this. 

For me, I think I can mostly identify the foods that are going to be more problematic. For example, legumes will probably not bother me at all but sugar and gluten probably will. There is also alcohol, which needs to be broken down into cleaner alcohol like vodka and sugary, yeasty alcohol like beer and wine. I want to reintro as slow as possible so that I can look at each individual thing more closely. I think I will reintro specific foods/drinks one at a time in my own order, by priority of how much I like them rather than what is least likely to bother me. Then, in between, I'll stay pretty much whole30. I'm thinking of stretching this out over the course of a month, or maybe longer. I can use one day of each week as my reintro day to stay consistent. 

Foods I know I want to eat: 

• Ice cream
• Beer 
• Red Wine
• Pasta
• Cheese
• Yogurt 
• Rice
• Vodka 

@zesty_ruffles @Jihanna 

[Heathermarie74]

The thing I guess I need to be careful of is that sugar comes with all of those things... so I need to keep that in mind when/if I get any symptoms. 

[Heathermarie74]

This is just a sample calendar... it is editable if anyone else wants to use it. I start on day 1 (Jan 31) and then I switch to Wednesdays because  I know I'll be at a friends house on the 6th making homemade pasta. 

Feb2019

Sun	mon	tue	wed	thu	fri	sat
			30	31	01	02
			LAST DAY!! WE DID IT	Yogurt
03	04	05	06	07	08	09
			Homemade pasta
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
			Red Wine
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
			Ice Cream
24	25	26	27	28
			Rice

 

 

 

Mar2019

Sun	mon	tue	wed	thu	fri	sat
					01	02
03	04	05	06	07	08	09
			Beer
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
			Cheese
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
			Vodka
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

 

 

[Jihanna]

For me, there are a few things I know are out... alcohol and dairy. I'm 4 years sober, so won't be bringing that back into the picture! I was diagnosed allergic to dairy as a kid, and that seems to still be the case now based on what I've experienced when I do eat it (there could be some that are "safer", but I wouldn't know and honestly don't mind not finding out).
 

What I've got set up so far (and might be changed up as I go, we'll see) is a 30 day reintroduction that will almost certainly be followed by a transition to something somewhat Paleo (with a bit of flex into things the reintroduction analysis shows are safe for me).

The things I'd really like to know about are small bits of sugar during the day, soy, rice, oats, ghee, and barley.

First, following the slow roll suggestions, I'll ease up on the sugar restriction. I know most of my sugar demons pretty well, so won't go back to buying sodas or putting sugar in my coffee (but might finally put a little honey in my tea, again, and will start using my Yogi teas that have stevia leaf in them). (That'll be day 1, so Jan 31st)

Second is legumes, which I plan to split up into 4 separate trials -- soy, peanut, peas, and beans/lentils. Soy I intend to severely limit, but one of the butter alternatives we use has soy in it, so I need to know if that will cause problems for me. Peanuts I can live without, but I'd like to know if they're an issue because I do sometimes like dipping apples in peanut butter. The peas and beans I can also live without, but would also just like to know in case there's a dish that does use them. So that's Feb 4th, 7th, 10th, and 13th. There's no particular order on those, but it will come down to what I do with my meal plan.

Third is the non-gluten grains, and I've chosen to split that as well. I'll be testing rice, oats, and then other grains in general (I may even skip that last bit since I rarely eat other grains, but it's always possible that I'll eat some quinoa or something). That'll be Feb 16th, 19th, and 22nd. Again, there's no particular order, it'll just depend on what I plan for when once I'm setting up the meal plan for that week.

Fourth is dairy, and while I don't intend to reintroduce dairy in general, I do want to see if ghee will work for me. I've been scared to try it while doing the Whole30, because I don't want to chance actually getting an allergic reaction (nothing life-threatening, but I'm enjoying not having skin rashes right now!). So ghee will be on Feb 25th. The rest of dairy can stay gone. My 9yo is milk protein intolerant and another member of the household also stays away from dairy milk, so we always have dairy alternatives in the house.

Fifth, and last, is gluten. I'm going to test just barley separately from wheat, because I love a good beef and barley soup so would like to see if that's an option or if I need to avoid it outright. Wheat I can leave out also, but do want to test so I know how my body reacts. These will be on Feb 27th and Mar 2nd, in whatever order.

[zesty_ruffles]

Thanks for sharing. Sorry for the delay as I have been travelling. 

I like how you've broken it down, on my side since I have a strong feeling gluten/dairy affect me, I would rather start with the legumes as recommended by the Whole30 re-intro but maybe breaking it down further:

LEGUMES

1. Beans: peas, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils 
2. "Prepared" Soy beans: tofu, tempeh
3. Peanuts - im not sure I need to split this, but why not - i like peanuts and peanut butter

NON GLUTEN GRAINS

1. Rice: has to be number for me, I live in Asia and I need to be able to re-intro rice pretty fast
2. Quinoa: is my next go-to grain as I have a Peruvian partner and it's easy enough to get 
3. Corn: I don't see how corn as a vegetable (steamed, on the cobb) could be bad but worth checking, then following with cornflower/cornstarch/maize products

DAIRY

1. Cheese: this is key for me, i also understand it's processed differently so i would start with fresh "natural" cheese - not processed or what I call 'plastic cheese'
2. Yoghurt: same, simple plain yoghurt with probiotics, no sugar
3. Milk: i'm pretty much off milk almost totally, but I'm curious to see how I will react to a glass of fresh milk

GLUTEN

1. Wheat: Bread, whole wheat pasta (no cakes or baked good at this stage coz of the sugar)
2. Barley: I want to try it separately from wheat just coz...
3. Beer: I'm starting the 'mildest' alcohol here as it falls under gluten and hopefully by then I've figured out if gluten is an issue - if it is, I won't bother introducing beer

ALCOHOL

1. White Wine: celebrate with bubbles ;-) 
2. Red Wine
3. Spirits: gin & rum are what I drink more of in terms of spirits, and i can try it neat/ice/soda 

@Heathermarie74 I see you're also planning a week between re-introductions. Do you plan to eat these items one day then 6 days back on Whole30?

 

[Heathermarie74]

@zesty_ruffles Yea that's what I was thinking - one item reintroduced per week and then mostly w30 on the other days. But I have a feeling it will unfold a bit more organically, with me eating the things as they present themselves instead of having it so strictly regimented. The calendar is just a guideline to help me keep it under control. Basically, this is a way for me to stretch out my whole30 while I slowly explore my reintroduction so that I can continue to reap the health benefits of eating clean and hopefully not lose control and resort to eating pasta 3-4 times per week again 

[zesty_ruffles]

Yes totally agree @Heathermarie74

[Jihanna]

I totally understand not wanting to go back to pasta several times per week. Our pre-W30 weekly meal plan generally included a pasta meal, at least 2 rice meals, and lots and lots of beans. We'd already been trying to reduce the amount of pasta we were doing, just because my dad's not a big fan of pasta (I had started doing more spaghetti squash dishes instead), but beans were my go-to... chili, marinated white bean salad, ham and bean soup, and so on. It was easy, and it helped me put extra protein into the meals without paying quite so much out in terms of meat costs.

Now? I'm kind of enjoying not having the beans. I'm still going to test them, because I need to know if I can do an occasional (read: maybe once per month) chili or something... but I haven't actually missed them, in any real way. Even when eating things I would normally have put beans in, it's tasted good and the texture has been fine without them, so I don't see a reason to go back to that type of eating.

I'm looking forward to what I'll find out during reintroduction, just not the process of actually doing the meal plans! It'll be tricky because I've got to make sure I give several days in between each thing, but still manage to plan things out for the family.

[Heathermarie74]

I am SUCH a pasta person. If I could live on pasta alone, I would. And even though I don't miss it right now, I know that as soon as I eat it again I'm going to love it. I also work at an Olive Garden which makes it way too easy for me to eat pasta for dinner 5 nights a week which I've fallen into in the past. I know that it effects me negatively but I love it and its easy so it happens. This time though, the sustainable changes are what I want to focus on so I can avoid the pasta trap in the future. We'll see how it goes! 

[zesty_ruffles]

So I started with some falafel and tempeh at lunch with my usual salad. Maybe I should've stuck to simple natural beans/peas. But im feeling rather crampy, almost like period pain. I think ill not add any more legumes this evening, especially coz i have a flight tonight. And see how tomorrow goes before introducing maybe peanuts. 

What did you start with @Heathermarie74 @Jihanna

[Jihanna]

I started with added sugars. I had some honey with my hot tea this morning, and found that it honestly didn't even enhance the flavor much (though I only added a very tiny bit), so I probably won't bother with that again. I did give in and drink a little soda this afternoon, which technically isn't JUST added sugar... so that was bad on my part, but the good news is that I didn't even like the taste anymore. I clearly remember loving the taste of it, wanting to drink it all the blasted time, but it just doesn't taste good anymore (and honestly not even that "sweet" the way I've come to think of sweet tasting now because I've been eating natural foods). I gave the rest of the drink to my husband (who's not doing "that Whole30 thing" with me) and will gladly stick to my ice/water, hot tea, and coffee instead. Part of me wishes I'd actually waited and tried the soda later in reintro, but part of me is super-happy to know that it's lost its hold on me.

[slc_melissa]

@zesty_ruffles: Did you make your own falafel?  I ask because a lot of prepared falafels have wheat in them as well.  But tempeh and tofu destroy me the exact way you're describing, but soy in the form of edamame, like at a sushi restaurant, are a lot less bothersome to me.  

[zesty_ruffles]

@slc_melissa I did not make my own falafel  but the salad place where I got them did have a 'gluten-free' icon next to them so hopefully it was OK. I also had some broad beans 

Honestly, a day (or maybe 2, I have a super slow digestive system) even though I was a little bloaty/gassy, my system was definitely 'moving' a hell-a-lot-better than without the legumes. SO I think I will def be re-introducing them, but in smaller quantities and not every meal. 

I re-introduced white wine over the weekend as I was visiting my bestie and felt totally fine, no change (but limited to a couple glasses). 

I'm going soy today :-) 

[Jihanna]

Beans in general will definitely not be making a come-back for me, except on a very rare occasion... and it will truly have to be "worth it" for me to want to go through the kind of bloating and gas I felt after having black and pinto beans in one meal (I was hurting for 2 days, and have even stretched the time out before attempting another reintro as result because I needed to be sure my system had normalized).

I can't even fathom how much my body must have hated me when I was doing beans in 2 dinners a week and using a can of garbanzos as a quick and easy snack! It's definitely changing how I'm looking at everything, now, because not only do I know how I feel without all this stuff in my system... I know how I feel when it comes back. I'm honestly scared to get to the grains, but I have to try the ones I'm most likely to want to use for something at times.

(Edited to add: I'm not scared as in terrified of doing it or putting it off; I'm just anticipating a hefty system reaction so am anxious, but reminding myself that this is information I really need to have for my own health's sake.)

[zesty_ruffles]

@Jihanna yes, I'm with you on the "scared" or lets say anxious about adding in grains! I'm going to do some brown rice today for lunch and see how that goes! 

[Jihanna]

I meant to do peanuts today, and totally didn't, oops. I almost did just a spoon of plain peanut butter alongside my lunch salad, but wound up forgetting... and didn't want to do anything by itself, lest it feel like a snack. Bad enough that I've got fresh fruit calling my name (I found cantaloupe and pineapple for very nice prices last week and just chopped it all up today), I didn't need anything throwing me off my game today! My guess is that my breakfast tomorrow will include a few apple slices with peanut butter, so I can see how it affects me throughout the day (way better than doing it in the evening and potentially having bad sleep as result).

[Jihanna]

So... I finally did the peanut butter yesterday... and whoa, Nellie, I think that might be a no-fly zone for me from now on. I would so much rather be dealing with gas and bloating than what's actually going on  I won't go into details, but suffice to say that it's an issue that did not get aggravated until several hours after the peanut consumption, so I'm calling it 2+2. Once things die down and I've tested soy as well, I might re-test peanuts just to see if I get the same reaction, but part of me is happy enough to just call it a day and hope those ARE what's caused the issue at hand, so I can avoid it by avoiding them (I need one of Skype's little "crying with laughter" emotes here).

[SchrodingersCat]

Hey all, day 35 here and what is officially the end of my W30. But I'm in for the super slow reintro, because I'm simply not missing the things I've excluded and not desperate to add back in.

I have a BBQ at a friends place this weekend so I'm going to avoid grains, legumes, dairy, but not sweat the sugar in marinades and dressings, and have a couple of lower sugar alcoholic ciders. Then back to compliant until the following weekend, when I'll intro something else. The plan is that weekdays are completely compliant, and weekends are when I reintro single food groups. I'm also (like most of you) splitting them down - soy will be on a different day to beans, cheese will be a different day to butter and milk, corn and rice will also be separate.

A lot of the things I cut with W30 I don't eat a lot anyway, so I'm pretty comfy doing the slow reintro. The health issues I started W30 for are also pretty significant and the fact that they have resolved makes me not at all keen to see them come back.  Plus, I lost a bunch of weight on round but I have a lot to go, and for the first time I'm losing weight without weighing and measuring everything I eat and plugging it into a calorie counter, and I want that to keep going!!

 

[zesty_ruffles]

I re-introduced Quinoa on Saturday. And Saturday night i had intense pain in my sides, under my ribs. But then I also drank about 2 litres of sparkling water. So I don't know if it was wind from that. Very strange ... I was not well. 

But in general I'm also not missing so many foods @SchrodingersCat so I think Ill keep to mostly Whole30 in general but minimise meat and up the legumes. 

 

[zesty_ruffles]

Also, on the plus side. By continuing Whole30, adding an item then rolling back, while doing the super slow re-intro I’m continuing to lose weight, at a slower rate but I’m hoping to reach my target oh 55KG and stabilise/maintain it moving forward.

I started at 59.4 KG on December 29 

I was 56.8 KG on January 31st

And now I’m 55.5 KG as of February 20

Dairy coming up this weekend starting with Cheese and Yoghurt, and milk on Monday. I’m worried! 

[Jihanna]

I haven't finished reintro, and I'm not going to yet because I need to give my body time to recover from some of the effects I've dealt with as result of testing what I have...

What I know so far:
Sweet peas -> a little gas, but nothing unbearable for an occasional thing
Peanut Butter -> massive issues (gas, bloat, constipation, extreme hemorrhoids), prefer to avoid like plague
Soy -> similar to peanut butter but on a very reduced scale; likely fine occasionally
Dairy -> indigestion and reflux -> nausea -> probable vomiting; obviously not just skin reactions from the allergy, will continue to avoid

I did have one day of wheat combined with soy, but no testing of wheat alone, so I assume nothing. I didn't test non-gluten grains at all, nor did I get to ghee (scared to try even just milk fat after the reactions I got from dairy).

My plan is to run another round starting March 1, then use April as another extended reintro phase wherein I'll probably start with the stuff I'd missed in round 1 before deciding whether or not to re-rest anything I did cover already.