The transition off of Whole30 (day 31)

[calmcosmo]

I finished my Whole30 yesterday. I lost 9 pounds and feel great and have really enjoyed it. But I can't help but feeling a little off balance now with the question of "now what?!?!"

The book says to start reintroducing certain foods one by one (starting with legumes, then dairy, then grain) and see how you feel. I plan on doing that tomorrow with beans and corn (I'm making a chili) and will try some dairy in the next few days too. But I don't want to just go back to my old way of eating. Even if I don't have an inflammatory or GI issue with certain foods, I do think my body is better off without them. Then again, I know Whole30 eating isn't really sustainable in everyday real life forever and ever.

I'm just struggling with the idea of being on my own. I have to really pay attention to food in order to stay a healthy weight. Up until the whole30 I was a big food journaler (Weight Watchers, Fitbit, Myfitnesspal) and one of the super freeing things about Whole30 was that I didn't have to write a thing down! I've loved it! Just don't eat crap and you can eat until you're full. But I'm worried about putting back certain foods and still not journaling and then just completely falling off the wagon. I have serious anxiety about this (I know I have issues with this... I'm working on it).

My question (sorry it took so long): If you did the Whole30, how did you transition back into a less restrictive form of eating? Did you give yourself a guideline like 85/15 in Paleo? Did you totally just dive back into eating whatever is around? A combo of that? I'm leaning toward Paleo with the freedom to have 2-3 "free" meals a week if they present themselves and are worth it.

Thanks in advance!

[calmcosmo]

Thanks! I'll check out the book. If you couldn't tell, I need guidelines to feel "in control" of my eating. Maybe the book will help give me that security.

Awesome job on the 20 pounds! I've lost 14 since January (I started crossfit in January too).