How to know when you're in control

[sethb01]

I recently finished my whole30 a week ago. Since stopping, I have gained 7 lbs, had three binges on sugar/peanut butter (my greatest trigger) and am hating myself. I felt amazing at the end of my whole30, and thought it would be pointless to go past 30 days since I felt so great and since I wanted to start making it into a lifestyle with treats here and there. So if I do another whole30, how do I know when it's safe to "ride my own bike?"

[Carlaccini]

Only you can answer that question.

I have done 3 whole 30's and I have found that I still don't have control of my sugar dragon. Something tells me that I need to do a whole 60 or a whole 100 to really curb my little fiendish friend. I went completely off the rails on day 32 into a face plant into sugar (of course I was fighting a monsterus 5 day chocolate/sugar craving) which lead to some gluten into my diet in the form of stuffing and a buttered bagel (both I enjoyed immensely - but cursed later)

I too am trying not to beat myself up too bad... it was my choice after all that lead me here. So I am trying to stay focused the next few days to get myself back on track. I know once I have few days of clean eating under my belt I feel better.

[Krista Billows Rodriguez]

I think it's a very common struggle, the foods are designed to trigger over consumption. I finished my 30 at the end of the January, went through my reintros and tried to "ride my bike" the wheels fell off my bike and I crashed into a pile of alcohol, sugar and grains of all sorts. I had to dust myself back off and commit to continuing to track and log in the Post W30 section. I've found the accountability of logging and journaling how I'm feeling to be very helpful. I started March with a W15 to try to reboot and since then I've been able to off road, mostly in moderation, but it's still a struggle, I'm still a work in progress. The cravings can be intense, it helps to identify your triggers as they are most often not related to hunger. I'm also rereading ISWF, there is so much info in there it is hard to digest on just one reading.

Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint, and there will be miles along the way when all you can do is barely walk. Just keep walking though towards your goal of a happy, healthy you! You can discover what works best for you and how and when you can safely off road. It just might not be time yet for off roading, and that's ok.

[Fenderbender]

Do another and this time maybe go 45-60 days.... Then reintroduce according to the plan and see what is ok to reintegrate and what bothers you.... You should feel like a scientist and your own lab rat!

Know how good you can feel and how awful you feel after eating out of control, you really should just resign yourself to eating w30 most of the time..... Just loosen up a bit like: don't freak out at a restraunt about the seasonings on a steak or the oil they cooked it in ( only if you know that say soy oil doesn't effect you) and eat a template meal

I could very easily go to a Italian place, get an order of fried calamari, a loaf of Italian bread,a whole 14" pizza, share an entree, and get a Hugh piece of cheese cake..... But I KNOW how lousy I feel if I do that and the impact on my long term health..... So I go to an Italian place and get a nice salad, grilled fish with grilled veg and a side of marinara, some sparkling water and an espresso .... Out with my friends and social... Full...happy..feeling great

I know what pizza and garlic bread and cheese cake taste like.... They are ok, but I can have those things any time... They are not special

Save yourself for that once in a blue moon special item and just have a small serving with in the confines of a healthy meal

[Emily]

It's a process; like Krista said, consider this a marathon, not a sprint.

Fender has good ideas too, but you could also try the opposite of his ideas (no offense, Fender)... do just a Whole7 or so to get yourself back in the groove and during that Whole7 really think/write/what-ever-you-do about what "occasional treat" means to you. Then try again.

[Zoodles]

Definitely after my first whole30 I wasn't in control, I finished just before Christmas though which probably didn't help. Much binging and general trashing of my body ensued.... anyway after my second I felt much more in control, and I imagine it will only get easier as time goes by and if/when I do additional whole30s.

As eating this way becomes more a normal way of life rather than a month of feeling like you're doing hard-core restriction, you'll probably find going back to the other foods which make you feel bad anyway less enticing!

[28jessicab]

I finished my Whole 30 a week ago and totally went off track. I didn't do re-introduction, and I feel awful. I'm just trying to see it as a learning experience and work on figuring out why I did it and what I need to do to stay on track now. I'm starting another Whole 30 ( at least ) tomorrow and I am really going to try to listen to my body. The stuff I have eaten didn't even taste good and so wasn't worth it. I think it took this week to make me really understand just how crummy I feel when I eat certain things.

[dizzybell]

Often what we think is a physical craving is really an emotional craving. The worst thing that could happen to you if you resist a craving is that the emotions you're trying to bury will come up. If you never do the emotional work you'll continue to get "off track" then back "on track" in an endless loop.

[MingoNW]

This is, I think, one of the biggest flaws of this program for people. I don't think doing a 30 day intensive, or even 60 or 100 will be the solution, although it will certainly change your body chemistry dramatically and that's a big part of the battle. You can do anything when you know you don't have to do it forever. The thing is, it's also psychological and requires great control over your environment, which requires a whole 'nother structure.

I think you (we!) need a long term structure that works, and I'm not sure for myself what that is. I'm certainly trying to figure that out for myself.

Maybe the thing to do is to do a 60 day plan, with the specific intention of meditating, inquiring within yourself, about what is going to be the best for your life and your body for the long term and create a specific structure for yourself that you will follow.

[Xandra]

Riding your own bike is where the rubber meets the road (to mix up some metaphors), because this is how you have to manage yourself going forward for the rest of your life. You can always come back to W30 as a detox if you need it, but that's not how you are going to live for the most part. And if you need a detox, it means you were toxifying yourself in some way.

So you have to separate what you will eat in moderation and what you will never eat.

If you want to eat something in moderation, it has to be moderation and not bingeing. There's a learning curve that goes along with that, and for me it involved a few binges before I think I got a plan down. I think I can eat some things with sugar and stay in control, but the sugar dragon is still very much alive, and so I have to be willing to live with the cravings in the days following if I want to have the occasional treat. Not an easy thing to do.