Timing and duration

[CuriousCat]

So, I have successfully completed a round a couple of times before. I'm feeling like it would be helpful do another round, and I'd rather sooner than later.

However due to work travel I don't have a 30 day period between now and Christmas where I can control my food intake completely. I have 18 days now, then a 3 day work trip I won't be able to be completely compliant, and then I have 21 days before another 2 day work trip where I could be close-ish, but not compliant, then a couple of weeks back before a 4-6 week work trip where I won't be able to be compliant at all.

What would you all recommend, what would you do in my place? I'm not after advice on how to stay compliant while travelling, I can stay "close to", but the nature of these trips it won't be possible 100%.

Am I better to do a short, 100% strict window now (18 days), or something like 45 days, with two short (slight) off plan windows, or just wait until January.

[Jihanna]

Personally, I see such marked results (positive changes) in my system when I'm compliant, so I'd opt to be compliant when I can control it and then stick close but not sweat it when I can't... that's what would make me feel my best, and even a 2 week reset right before the first trip might be beneficial. I guess I'm just more of a "let's do what we can now and move forward however we have to" kind of girl on this.

Doing 14-18 days on and a few days off, then 21 days on and a few days off... sure, that's not a "real" Whole30 because there are breaks, but it DOES constitute real resets. I'm assuming (since you've done a couple of full rounds) that you've completed a full reintroduction, so know which foods are likely to cause you the most distress during your "can't control it" periods, and that's really where the duration of Whole30 is needed -- to give a very controlled gut environment in preparation for testing/experimentation (reintroduction). Since you've done that already, my guess is that you're looking more for the return to how you felt while on a compliant round, and that's where the often-shorter resets are helpful.

None of that means you can't do a longer period of compliance later, either. I just wouldn't want to delay my own start just because the timing wasn't perfect for the typical timeline, because I know I'm going to feel better after a week of compliant eating... and I know what to avoid during non-compliance so I don't completely undo the good when I don't have full control.

[ashleyparik]

On 7/25/2019 at 10:02 PM, CuriousCat said:

So, I have successfully completed a round a couple of times before. I'm feeling like it would be helpful do another round, and I'd rather sooner than later.

However due to work travel I don't have a 30 day period between now and Christmas where I can control my food intake completely. I have 18 days now, then a 3 day work trip I won't be able to be completely compliant, and then I have 21 days before another 2 day work trip where I could be close-ish, but not compliant, then a couple of weeks back before a 4-6 week work trip where I won't be able to be compliant at all.

What would you all recommend, what would you do in my place? I'm not after advice on how to stay compliant while travelling, I can stay "close to", but the nature of these trips it won't be possible 100%.

Am I better to do a short, 100% strict window now (18 days), or something like 45 days, with two short (slight) off plan windows, or just wait until January.

If you have successfully completed a few rounds before, you could look at doing a mini-reset (10-20 days) and work on living in your food freedom while you travel. I don't see a need to wait until January.