Callan's Reintroduction Log

[Callan]

Whew, hey guys. How's everyone doing with reintro?

I pretty much just vanished for the past few days; it's felt weird not taking daily photographs of my food and posting them in my Whole30 log and blog. I had my first bites of dairy on Friday, which coincided with the arrival of a pretty mild (but persistent!) cold. I kept track of my symptoms and posted them here, which you can check for the full version.

But, because I think it's important for people to see the wide range of reactions that people can have to the foods that were omitted during the Whole30 (and because I like opening a discussion), here's a synopsis:

Day 1: Reintroduction

So, on Friday, I decided to reintroduce dairy. Unfortunately, I was also suffering from a minor cold, so some symptoms of that might be conflated with symptoms of dairy reintroduction… oh well! Keep in mind that everything else I ate on this day was normal and Whole30-compliant.

Around lunchtime I had three small squares of a Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate bar with hazelnuts, along with one of those single serving packets of Justin's Hazelnut Almond Butter. They were both pretty tasty… until I got this weird chemical aftertaste (and burps)! It was awful. Neither of these things had anything overtly questionable in them, but this tasted nasty! There were also a few small stomach pains, but nothing too suspect.

I made an interesting decision come dinnertime (and probably a bad one). I made a roux using butter and chestnut flour, and then added a bit of whole milk. Then I added some aged hard cheeses, followed by spaghetti squash, chicken, and bacon. I ate this with some salad greens and tea. My stomach rumbled a bit, warily, but that was the end of it (until I woke up the next day with an… interesting trip to the bathroom). Surprisingly, I suddenly wanted to eat all things sugary, or just mindlessly eat in general, so I ate tons of handfuls of coconut flakes. Ugh. While trying to fall asleep, I had a brief pang of anxiety that I hadn't experienced in a while. My legs also felt a bit restless.

Day 2: Awareness

As I briefly mentioned above, the dairy seems to have gone right through me as of this morning. That sort of thing had not happened since I took too much magnesium before bed! I am left, however, with a pretty seriously bloated stomach, and my cold symptoms (runny/stuffy nose, post-nasal drip, raspy voice) have not improved.

I made the mistake of making a batch of “sweet potato pie pancakes†(3 eggs, 8oz mashed sweet potato, 1/4 cup chestnut flour, ghee, and berries) and while it was a fine recipe (not for Whole30 – very SWYPO) it felt so heavy to me. No added sugars or anything, but afterwards I just felt like lying down and falling asleep again. I went to the gym and tried to work out an hour later, but felt like I was going to throw it all up every time I lifted. Blugh.

Day 3: Return to Baseline?

I thought everything would be back to normal, but this morning I had diarrhea again (sorry), which (once again) hadn't happened all month. And, I had some pimples on my forehead and chin! What?! I never really had a problem with acne, so this was quite a surprise. Additionally, I'm still suffering from the aforementioned cold symptoms, and my colds never last this long. Coincidence? I'm not sure. I've also felt a tiny bit depressed the past few days, but that is likely unrelated.

Conclusion:

Dairy possibly causes the following in me:

• Mild GI distress
  
• Mild anxiety & restless legs
  
• Stomach bloat
  
• Cravings and mindless eating
  
• Acne
  

Pancakes are not a good choice, even if they contain ingredients I'd eat anyway, because I eat far too many, and they make me feel sick to my stomach.

All things considered, dairy didn't mess me up too badly, but another reintroduction would be necessary to tell for sure. I will likely continue to include it in my diet very sparingly, in the form of raw, grass-fed, and/or aged cheeses (because I find these quite delicious) and probably butter (because it is also delicious, but so is ghee). Oh, and of course, a bit of very dark chocolate here and there. It'll be a few weeks before I have dairy again, but if these cold symptoms come back, I've gotta say it's just not worth it!

What's next?

Honestly, I'm terrified of reintroducing gluten in the middle of a busy work week, so I'll probably proceed with the safer non-gluten grains in the next few days. Hmm... steel-cut oats, white rice, maybe a gluten-free cookie or something? We'll see!

[kshacklett]

I wasn't in the best mood this weekend, either, and while I couldn't really pinpoint it as anxiety or depression, I'm going to go ahead and blame it on the dairy, since I didn't really feel like that at all during my whole30. Seeing that you had the same issue makes me think there's definitely a connection.

[Callan]

Yeah, totally. I will probably have to do this again, but funnily enough, I really don't miss things like steel-cut oats, yogurt, or even ice cream (frozen bananas + cocoa powder is good enough!)... Dropping by Trader Joe's today to see what kinda terrible gluten-free grain products to try. This is fun! :-P

[kshacklett]

I discovered I liked frozen bananas and cocoa powder better than ice cream last summer - who knew! I'm hoping to get the kitchenaid ice cream maker for valentines day (I asked for that, or well-fed and practical paleo, lol) so I can experiment with different frozen, non-dairy treats.

[Callan]

Oof, so, I don't know if I should be allowed in Trader Joe's anymore. Today I popped in and left with a bag of "Fruit leather ends and pieces," a 3.5oz bar of dark chocolate (no soy or milk), raw almonds, and raisins. I ate all the fruit leather (6 servings D: ) and all the chocolate and some of the almonds. Now I have terrible gas, stomach pains, and a bit of nausea. Now I remember why I did the W30 in the first place! I'm not so sure I want to keep doing reintroduction now... I just want to go back to fine-tuning my Whole30, which wasn't quite where I wanted it to be by the end...

But I wanted to ride my own bike, too... Today the wheels totally fell off. Browsing the forums, I see I'm not the only one, but dammit I felt so good! Tomorrow I'm going grocery shopping for real and I'm gonna buy a ton of meat and veggies. My goal is to make food /easy/, simplified, but still interesting and delicious. Bluh. Sugar is just... Sugar is not so good. But even as I type this, I wouldn't mind reaching for the raisins. What?!

Time for another Whole* I think....

[Kaleena]

Not only did I fall off my bike this weekend, I went head-first into a giant pile of chocolate. I'm doing a modified whole30 (keeping cream in coffee, milk in tea nad possibly some soy) for the rest of the month. yeah, re-intro fail!

[Nadia B]

Sorry to read about your little accident. Admit it, even alltogether those treats are not the worst stuff you could possibly eat. Just fix the wheels and enjoy the ride. I love analogy with the bike which is commonly used here. It is so true - in order to keep the balance you just need to keep going.

Hope tomorrow will be better!

[Callan]

So, yesterday I cooked a plantain in a bit of organic cultured butter. No digestive issues, BUT I still have this darn cold! I just about NEVER get sick and now I've had a runny nose, scratchy throat, post-nasal drip, gross yellow-green snot, all that nasty stuff, for nearly a WEEK! As I said, this is abnormal for me. The cold started a day before reintroduction, but does anyone think that dairy (and/or sugar) is prolonging this? I want butter to be okay, but maybe it's really not.

[Callan]

Wow, okay, so last night I reintroduced white Jasmine rice (1/2 cup uncooked) with my stir fry (beef, cabbage, carrots, peppers, onions, coconut aminos, ginger, and a bit of sriracha sauce). SO GOOD. I wolfed it down and took some digestive enzymes, but shortly thereafter I had some pretty bad stomach pains and nausea. Might be because I ate too fast, but maybe white rice ain't that good for me? It was so satisfying, though...

I've definitely been over-carbsuming the past few days, eating a lot of dried fruit and fresh fruit and generally just munching. I also reintroduced white potatoes (boooring!).

This morning I cooked some steel cut oats (1/4 cup dry) with apples cooked in ghee, almond butter, and raisins, and it was damn delicious, but I missed my veggies and protein, so all morning I snacked on baby carrots, more raisins, turkey, and pulled pork. Ha! I don't feel any digestive distress, BUT! ...

I looked at my scalp and scratched at it a bit and holy cow I have the worst dandruff I've seen in, well, a month! I have issues with skin-picking, so I pay close attention to this problem and MAN, I forgot how bad it can be! Nothing else has changed. I wonder, is it the rice, the oats, the dairy (delayed reaction), or just all these sugars and carbs in general? Hmm... Well, that's an interesting and relevant change! Get outta my life, sugars and grains!

Edit: I'm practicing riding my own bike this month, and have been falling a lot. The week after next I'm going to stay with my grandparents for five days and want to enjoy my grandma's food. I know she will be fairly accommodating, but am reintroducing things so I can see where I can be a bit more lenient with my restrictions. Sometime after I get home from that (by March 1st), I will start another Whole* (perhaps 45, 60, 90, 100???) because 30 clearly was not enough for me to squash some of these bad habits and sugar cravings.

That said, this period of time is important to me. I may be overindulging in raisins, or chocolate, and I'm no longer held accountable. This is a relief, a thrill, and a disappointment all in one. I can see that I get a "kick" out of being "bad," and seeing how far I can push myself in an unhealthy direction. I'm fatigued by preparing interesting food, photographing my meals, and sharing recipes. So this is a welcome break, but I'm going slightly off the deep end. I'm currently mentally voting foods off my "food island" and trying to puzzle out how to make my next Whole* more intuitive and easy. I'm not in the best place right now, but things could be far worse. Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to refreshing myself and being useful in the future!

[Krista Billows Rodriguez]

take a break from the documenting if you think it'll help. I know i tried to keep a food blog a few years ago and for a while was right on top of it, daily posts, enjoyed the heck out of it....then life happened and it felt like just one more chore. When food becomes a tiresome burden to prepare, and document, it's easier to justify slipping back into SAD.

Enjoy your time with your grandparents, I know I'd love to have the opportunity again to sit with either of my Grandma's and enjoy their cooking and conversation, they were equally excellent in both regards.

[Aberrantatavia]

Callan, I can't do any grains, gluten free or not, without issues. They really don't agree with me.

I only touch grains when there is some incredibly important reason to do so. It sounds like your trip is one of those times for you, so enjoy it knowing you can go back to grain free when you get home.

I agree with krista, enjoy the special time with them!