RE-INTRODUCTION: you owe it to yourself to NOT eat that pizza and why it matters....Hi folks!
Lots of awesomeness happening and lots of people close to reintro and expressing some nervousness/cravings and such. I'll try and provide you with some info, things to think about and ideas for your reintro.
Truth: Whole 30 is not a "Diet" So why did you do it?If you did the Whole 30 just to lose a little weight and give yourself a rest after Christmas, Awesome, carry on, you might not need to do a reintro.
The whole premise around a whole 30 is to eliminate foods that might be causing you a problem and REINTRODUCE them.
If you skip this part, or go out and eat a bunch of different foods at once, you are basically cheating yourself out of the knowledge to make your life better. You are doing all the work and basically deciding at the last minute that it doesn't really matter and that your cravings/psychological need for things etc is stronger than you are.
This thread has been around a while, and the main difference between people who are successful in making lasting changes and those who aren't, or that come back for another round from the same place they were before is the reintro. It is a super important part of the process. It is the REASON you spend all the time detoxing and re-examining your relationship with food in the first place. The data and information you will learn about how different foods affect you (or hopefully don't) is the main reason to do a Whole 30. The weight loss is awesome, the other benefits are great, but don't you want to keep feeling that way? The reintro provides the knowledge and power for you to do so!
You are stronger than whatever psychological bull crap your mind (and body!) is trying to pull on you right now.
For those who just want on keep on going:It is also tempting to keep eating this way forever if you have noticed a big improvement. I don't recommend this either - unless you have systemic chronic inflammation and stuff going on that you don't think is quite gone yet. You may want to extend which is fine, but when you feel like you are in a good plane DO THE REINTRODUCTION!!!
I am so so glad that I spent some time in reintro-mode. It makes getting back on the plan (or whatever your version of it ends up being) so much easier.
A reintrroduction gives you context to your decisions - and power. With the whole 30, there are a bunch of rules that, at times, seems arbitrary. The initial appeal is "it is only for 30 days!" but doing it longer without the re-intro it makes it much harder to stick with and be motivated if you don't have a "personal" reason for staying away from certain foods. It is the extra little bit of self-knowledge and understanding with your body that adds another level of determination and creates a new lense for how you interact with food.
Especially if you discover problem foods. It is much, much easier for me to resist the sirens call of wheat/gluten when I know that I will be paying for it with a fibro flare-up that lats days. I'm not denying myself and resisting becuase a plan tells me I must, I am doing it because I know how it affects me and no moment of temporary pleasure is worth the consequences.
Stratagies for dealing with cravings:Just realizing that a food has this kind of psychological hold is a big breakthrough! Sit with it for a while, become the observer of your thoughts and feelings around it and don't let the feelings and cravings take hold. Make your choices conscious and deliberate and from a place of knowing how far you have come, how amazing you feel, and the "new" you.
Creating your Reintro Plan:1. Spend some time making a list of all the things that you have noticed have gotten better since you started your whole 30. That way you have an idea of what to look for to see if anything gets worse. It is also a great way to track and realize your successes.
2. Create your Reintro timetable:
http://whole30.com/step-two-finishedI did a slower reintro that started like this:
week1: - Milk (unfermented dairy)
week2: - Fermented dairy (Yougurt, Kefir)
week3: - Cheese (casin can apparently cause issues)
week4: - legumes
week5 - Fermented soy - (soy sauce, miso)
week6: - Non-gluten grains
week7: - gluten grains
week8: - Sugar
Now, it went much faster because I discovered I had issues to dairy and wheat and if I have more than trace sugar. So after having some immediate negative effects on a few of these, I had gotten enough data and didn't need to break it down as much as I had planned.
Keep a journal while you are reintroducing foods Sometimes the effects will be really notable and swift, sometimes they will be slower. Sometimes you will notice old aches and pains coming back slowly. Or the brain fog that comes with wheat, even if you have no immediate physical reaction.
3.
Develop a Maintenance plan - or figure out how you are going to live!Once you have all this data, you get to figure out what to do with it! You might decide to do another round of WHole 30, you might develop some guidlines that you want to follow depending on what you may have reacted to. This is pretty much where your training wheels come off and you get to decide what works best for you!
This is the maintenance plan we settled on that we generally follow while not on Whole 30:
- no sugar or natural sweeteners (except for the occasional special occasion out, and it is deliberate and thoughtful)
- No dairy (except for the occasional special occasion out, and it is deliberate and thoughtful)
- No Wheat
- Small amounts of other grains/seeds (Buckwheat, chia, quinoa, rice, oats) mostly when we want a bit of variety or for Hubby's breakfasts or are going out to eat
- Legumes - Occasionally.
I know if I eat wheat it will trigger my fibro and I'll feel it for days. I know that dairy causes sinus issues and congestion and such - but will go away in 10 or so hours. So I know to stay away from wheat and can choose to have dairy knowing what it does to me. This is the power that comes with reintro. It allows you to make the decisions that are best for you.
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Okay that is a lot, and I don't mean to get preachy, I just think it is such a key to success. You all have been doing awesome and I want to see you all feeling better and rocking life :D