It’s almost the end of January and as a Whole30 fan, I’m aware of quite a few people who are about to come to the end of their Whole30 this month.
If this is you, you may be thinking...
“I’m about to finish my Whole30. Oh no! what do I do now?”
This is a great thought. I assure you it’s normal. I’m glad you’re thinking these thoughts. You see, if you didn’t think about how to properly end your Whole30 or what your game plan is after finishing your 30-day elimination diet you’d probably just end up eating whatever, whenever, and wondering if you ever made any progress in the first place.
Hopefully, over the past month, you have started to see some positive health benefits from removing processed and other inflammatory foods from your diet. You’re sleeping better, you’ve lost a few pounds, your acne has started to clear up, you have more mental energy and clarity.
The last thing you want is to lose those improvements right?
Here are some things you can think about as you near the end of your Whole30 that will help you maintain the health benefits you’ve gained and even go further (especially if you haven’t noticed much of a difference at all).
1. DON’T skip the reintroduction phase! This is a big one. In the Whole30 books, they carefully outline how you should reintroduce the foods that you have eliminated from your diet for the past 30 days.
In short, this starts on day 31 of your whole30 and you eat dairy (or the food that you chose to reintroduce first) in multiple forms and see how you feel. You return to eating only Whole30 approved foods for two more days and observe your symptoms.
What this may tell you is if your body has an immediate or delayed reaction to eating dairy. Because it has been out of your diet for a number of weeks you may notice that you instantly lost your energy, got brain fog or your acne returned.
As you reintroduce foods I suggest you pick the best, most unprocessed forms of these foods. For example, Raw dairy is easier to digest than pasteurized dairy. If you choose to reintroduce dairy using pasteurized dairy you may have a reaction to dairy not because your immune system is sensitive to it but because your body can’t digest it (which would be classified as an intolerance).
The same goes for gluten. If you choose a refined, conventionally produced wheat item you may react to the bread itself or you may react to the pesticides and chemicals sprayed on the wheat. Therefore it’s best to choose an organic wheat product or better yet a gluten-containing grain product made with ancient grains because ancient grains contain less gluten and are easier to digest.
2. Only splurge when you have time for a romantic date. Just because you have completed a Whole30 does not mean that you should complete a Whole365. Food is commonly a part of celebrations and if you are able to eat a special treat it can be a fun way to bond with friends, enjoy some quiet time, or celebrate a birthday. If you tell yourself you’re never going to eat sugar again you’ll most likely fail and end up feeling like you can’t accomplish the goals you set. So why not set a more realistic goal?
For example...
Maybe ice cream is your thing and you plan to eat ice cream sometimes.
Step one - set a definite time frame of when you’d like to eat ice cream. This may look like “On my birthday and on my spouse's birthday” or it may look like “once a month on a special occasion”
Step two - NEVER just shove ice cream in your mouth. Pretend you’re having a romantic date with your ice cream. Pick out a fancy bowl, light a candle, sit on the couch, get a good movie going...whatever you’re thing is and ENJOY every single bite of your favorite treat.
The opposite of all this would be ending your Whole30 and then finding yourself every few days standing in the kitchen with the freezer door open, spoon in hand shoveling ice cream down your throat, and NOT even enjoying any of it. I assure you, if you end up in this scenario you will feel physically terrible and mentally defeated.
The goal is to make a conscious choice (not an accident) to enjoy something that you know may not be best for you. Pre-whole30 you may have been the person that walks by the bowl of candy offered at the bank or in your office and eating three pieces of it without thinking about it. Or maybe eating half a package of Oreos just because. Post whole30 you need to make a game plan before temptations arise and only eat treats when you have the time to fully enjoy them.
3. Keep studying and trying new things. If you’re currently doing a whole30 and feeling great it may be tempting to just keep doing Whole30 month after month after month. The problem with this is that our bodies are designed to benefit and gain nutrients from a wide range of food. If you are avoiding grains, dairy, and legumes just because they wreck your digestion and make you gain weight you need to address the underlying problem. Whole30 can help you identify food sensitivities but it most certainly can not fix your digestion or address the underlying cause of all your health issues. With this in mind use the information you learn about yourself from Whole30 and start asking questions.
“Why do I get acne when I eat dairy”
“Why didn’t I lose weight when doing a Whole30”
“Why am I sensitive to gluten and dairy when I add them back into my diet”
“Why is it still so hard for me to not eat sugar all the time?”
Asking these questions and searching for the answers can lead you towards really addressing the root issues. Maybe you’re someone who needs to start working with a functional practitioner who will help you dig for answers.
That leads me to my last point!...
4. Consider individualized testing. Recently I started doing Gi microbiome testing as well as food sensitivity testing with my clients to help them find answers more unique to their individual health.
If you went through a full 30 days of not eating sugar but you still aren’t able to shake the constant sugar cravings maybe you’re struggling with candida. If eating gluten and dairy instantly makes your acne come back and your energy levels drop you probably have poor digestion and may have an overgrowth of bad bacteria or pathogens. The only way to know for sure is to test.
With the GI-map we can find if you have candida overgrowth, parasites, harmful bacteria levels, excessive inflammation, and a slew of other things. With food sensitivity testing we can tell if you really are having an immune response to dairy or if you simply can’t digest dairy. We can also find out if something simple like beef, spinach, or black pepper has been the culprit all along but you didn’t know it because these weren't things that were eliminated on your Whole30.
After testing my clients get a customized three to six-month protocol with supplement and dietary recommendations that is designed to eradicate harmful bacterial overgrowth, rebalance the microbiome, and heal and seal the gut so food sensitivities and no longer an issue.
In Summary
I have personally done 3 Whole30’s and enjoyed it each time! I also have completed a Gi map test and a food sensitivity test to find out that I had some food sensitivities I didn’t know about as well as an H. pylori infection that I never would have been able to properly address without knowing that I for sure had it.
While I did have positive results with Whole30 I also had symptoms that kept coming back when my Whole30 ended. When I addressed those things found on my test results I was able to make a lot more progress in my digestion and overall health.
I hope you consider all these things as you near the end of your Whole30 adventure!
