Reintroduction Recap

It’s been a few days since my Whole30 reintroduction phase was complete. As I mentioned in my first post, this was my fourth round of Whole30, but only the first time I properly completed a reintroduction phase. In case you’re new to Whole30, reintroduction is the period of time after your 30 days on the plan where you eat foods that were taboo on the W30. The purpose for this phase is so that you can figure out what foods that you previously eliminated during your 30 days you may not agree with your body.

During my reintroduction, I learned some things about my body, but had some difficulties, too, which means I’ll have some further “testing” to do.  I kept track of what I ate and how I felt after I ate it in my bullet journal so that it could serve as a reminder. I would definitely recommend journalling your entire Whole30 journal, especially the reintroduction phase.

I did my reintroduction by the book, so day one was legumes.  I had none at breakfast, and I ate a vegan chili (read: tons of beans chili) for lunch. Let’s just say this: I did NOT need to eat legumes at dinner to figure out how legumes affect me.  That night and for the two (Whole30 days) days that followed, I had a stomach ache and gas.  This is also when my 10-day-long headache set in.

Everyday of my reintroduction was affected by this stupid headache.

The next food I introduced was dairy.  I was expecting some congestion because I usually notice having to cough and clear my throat after having dairy.  But I gotta say, I was okay. Except for the headache.

On day 7, I reintroduced non-gluten grains.  I had the same headache, but also had a little bloating and cramping toward the end of the day.  The day after, I also had some of my chronic neck pain come back (it had gone away during my W30), but I could deal with it.

I had the same affects (and yes, the same headache) when I reintroduced gluten grains.  Also, interesting to note: I was looking forward to this day. But after eating my bagel sandwich and then a soup with a  baguette at lunch, I was just “meh” about the bread.

On day 13, I reintroduced alcohol with two glasses of wine. This was also when the headache finally went away.  But, on day 14 it came back, probably because of the wine.

So, I think it is safe to say, that my body is sensitive to grains and hates legumes.  For me, legumes are never worth it. I’m pretty sure my husband will agree. And while, it won’t be on the regular, I can definitely see me treating myself to a slice of pizza once in a while, because FOOD FREEDOM.

Thanksgiving is only a few days away, and I plan on partaking in all of the regular dishes, even if it’s just a bite of each.  However, I won’t be bringing home leftovers and I’ll be leaving the desserts at my mother’s.

I’m so glad I finally did a proper reintroduction, because now I have something to base my food choices on.  It has made me feel more confident of my choices – when I turn something down or decide to have a bite.  I really feel if you don’t do a reintroduction after your Whole30, especially your first round, you are cheating yourself out of all of the benefits that Whole30 and Food Freedom have in store.

 

 

Welcome to The Whole Bettie!

Welcome to my new blog! Starting a blog is a step out of my comfort zone, but my primary goal is to share some of what I’ve learned (and will learn) on my Whole30 journey (if you don’t know what Whole30 is, check back! I’ll do an overview in an upcoming post).  My secondary goal is to keep this blog to keep myself accountable in my food choices, fitness goals and other parts of my healthy lifestyle.

It’s no coincidence that I start this blog just as I’ve finished my October Whole30.  This last round was particularly hard because I wanted to give up so many times. I thought that since I’ve done this three times before, I was a pro at making good food choices and therefore didn’t need a reset.  But I’m so glad that my smarter voice won out! I reminded myself that it is only 30 days.  I reminded myself of all of the non-scale victories I would get out of this.  And I did. My skin looks great, my energy is through the roof, I have no bloating and even some chronic neck pain I was having has subsided. Oh, and I lost 7 pounds.

If I just completed my fourth round of Whole30, than you know what today is: Reintroduction Day 1.

Confession time:  Though this is my fourth Whole30, I’ve never done a proper reintroduction period. I know, I know.  It may seem kind of pointless to have done Whole30 and not do it to plan – after all, that is the point! So, I’ve made the commitment to do it right this time. I have a plan and this blog is part of it.

I’m a bullet journaler, so I started by adding a reintroduction page to my bullet journal.  I plan on keeping track of what I ate, both on the reintroduction day, and the monitoring days that follow. Then I’ll track how the food I ate made me feel.  We’ll see. Maybe I’ll find that I’m good with everything, but I have the sneaking suspicion that gluten makes me bloated and dairy gives me a cough.

I’ll check in here to give a summary, too. See? Accountability. So, here’s to day 1 and legumes!