Reintroduction

Reintroduction is the final step of the Whole30 reintroducing foods that you have taken out and taking the time to see how they make you feel. This gives you and idea if in the future these foods will be worth it.
During my last Whole30 I had a DQ Blizzard on day 31, trying to reintroduce everything at one time and decided I didn't need to do that part, but over two years later I didn't want to pass on the opportunity to fine tune and see if dairy is really effecting me or if I would do fine having it back. I started with non-gluten grains; corn chips, rice that all seemed to go well I did feel a little bloaty after the chips but that may have been the volume I consumed. Next came dairy in the form of cheese, yogurt, latte all the things I hadn't had in a while.

That I when I started to experience a rash on my face and there I was blaming dairy. I went back to whole30 eating for several days and realized the rash was not going away. I was super frustrated and here I was nearly two weeks after my Whole30 I hadn't even got to gluten or sugar and could not get rid of this rash. I sat down at my computer and was doing some homework and munching on some cashews when my face got pretty itchy.

I turned them over and there is was Rice Bran Oil! What the heck is that? I had only just recently done some research on it after trying to figure out what I could eat at Chipotle while on Whole30 and much of their meat is cooked with it. I threw those cashews away and within days the rash was disappearing. At this point Valentines was approaching and I decided not to continue my reintroduction. At first this felt like a failure but after six weeks I wanted a piece of salted carmel dark chocolate from my favorite place, and my friend had brought back some delicious cookies from hawaii.
I didn't follow the plan completely but I learned that non-gluten grains are fine for me as long as I don't over indulge. I also learned that rice bran oil does not agree with me when eaten each day as handfuls of cashews.

Now I am on to Food Freedom Forever. I have read it before but have trouble sitting down so I took advantage of my free Audible book to listen to it. This is really a great look at food and dieting. It is not just for those after Whole30 but would apply to most people a look at how food effects you physically, and emotionally.

January Whole30

This guy and I had a great January Whole30 and lived to tell about it.

This was my second time doing Whole30. Back in 2015 one of my close friends introduced me to the idea. At first it seemed impossible 30 days without all the yummy stuff? But at the time I needed something and this was it. We completed our first Whole30 and it truly changed my life. Okay not so grand as that sounds but it did break my diet cycle. I have been dieting since my teens, very regularly restricting calories measuring everything, writing it down, weighing in, and then gaining back and starting over. Whole30 was the thing that helped me stop all of that. For 30 days only eating real whole food, but only what you are hungry for, no binging, no sneaking, no cheating, and no weighing. It seems so restrictive and seems like it would have the opposite effect but when you are through you feel better, I didn't even know how bad I felt I didn't even know what some of the things I was putting in my body were doing to me. 

Since my first one I have done some mini ones like 7-10 days. It really does get me back into a cycle of eating food that helps me feel better. 

January was my second time completing the Whole30 this time again my husband was my support and another friend. Here are some highlights of my january Whole30. 

My skin is always the first place to notice and improvement. For years I had not idea that it was linked to food. This is just a few days difference.

We did a great job meal planning and grocery shopping last week which has helped with our busy lives, knowing what is for dinner every night has saved time and money. 

 

 Food prep is time consuming but I honestly started to feel a stress relief in cutting so many vegetables as well as appreciating the beauty in fresh food. No bland colors here. We have loved the Whole30 Fast & Easy addition to the collection.
So clear skin, good habits less bloat, more energy those are my results. I did also lose 8 pounds, wasn't really the goal of this Whole30 but I am not complaining.

 Next up my reintroduction journey.