“I was having severe stomach pains, which my family doctor diagnosed as IBS. The stomach pain was always there and it didn’t matter what I ate. The pain continued through two specialists, a nutritionist, and an acupuncturist. I felt like I was crazy. The pain was at its worst and had been like that for a year, I wanted to go to the emergency room but I could not get out of bed. I was on three different stomach medicines, a sleeping and an anxiety medication. I gave the Whole30 a try because I had nothing to lose—and with my first Whole30, I didn’t have pain, and now I’m not on any medications! I also lost 15 pounds and 2 dress sizes. The Whole30 has changed my life.”
—Stephanie J., Coatesville, PA
It’s Day 31—high five! You’ve officially completed our Whole30 program. You still have a little more work to do with our reintroduction protocol, but before you move on, let’s take a minute to evaluate your progress before you jump on the scale.
Wait, what?
We can hear you already: “I’ve been dying to get on the scale for 30 days, and now you want me to wait even longer?”
Yes, we do.
That scale still has the potential to steal your Tiger Blood. Maybe you wanted to lose fifteen pounds and you only lost ten, or you went down two belt holes, but the scale didn’t change. You’re going to jump on that scale the morning of Day 31 and think, “The Whole30 didn’t work!” But you’d be wrong, and we want to help you see the real benefits you’ve achieved.
Here is a very, very long list of the Whole30 benefits you may have experienced. (And we’re sure you’ll find a few that aren’t detailed here!) We call these “non-scale victories”—in fact, that phrase even has its own hashtag on social media, because we believe it’s so critical to evaluating your Whole30 results. So take a moment before you get on that scale to check off everything you’ve noticed in the last 30 days. Be generous here—you worked hard, and you deserve to be proud of what you’ve accomplished!
Whew. Now look back at all your checkmarks, and don’t deny yourself a moment (or longer!) to be proud of what you’ve accomplished and give yourself the much-deserved credit for all of your hard work. Remember, the Whole30 is just the first step in changing your life—and the benefits continue to roll in the longer you embrace the new, healthy habits you’ve learned.
Okay, now you can step on the scale, take measurements, and take your “after” photo for comparison. (We bet you’ll be 72 percent happier with your scale and measurement results after completing our non-scale victory exercise.)
If you’re still feeling underwhelmed when you look at your list of results, you may need a little more time on the program to experience the maximum benefit. Thirty days is a great start, but you can’t always correct medical conditions, long-standing habits, or years of consistent weight gain in just one month. Many people report benefitting greatly from adding another 15, 30, even 60 days to their program—and you’ve come so far now, what’s another few weeks? If you’ve experienced some benefits from the program but still hope to see even more improvement, consider extending your Whole30. This is especially true if you are managing diseases (like arthritis, Lyme disease, or diabetes), lifestyle conditions (like allergies or eczema), and serious cravings for sugar or junk foods. If you think you’d benefit from some additional time on the Whole30, keep on keeping on, and come back to this section when you’re ready for reintroduction.
Now it’s time for phase two of the Whole30: reintroduction. The reintroduction process is critical to your learning experience, so please don’t skip over this part.
Seriously.
This is your one opportunity to slowly, carefully, systematically reintroduce some of the off-plan foods you’ve been missing into the “clean” environment you’ve created with the Whole30. Now is your chance to really evaluate how these foods make you feel in the context of a better relationship with food, improved metabolism, healthier digestive tract, and more balanced immune system. Let’s illustrate the importance of this process with a story.
It’s Day 31, and you decide to celebrate your Whole30 completion by indulging in pancakes, a sandwich with potato chips, a beer (or two), a slice of pizza, a bowl of ice cream . . . oh, and that half a donut you found on the break room counter. Hey, you worked hard—you deserve it!
And on Day 32, when you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck—when your Sugar Dragon is raging, your energy is non-existent, your stomach feels like you swallowed a bowling ball, and you’re crankier than you’ve been in a month, you won’t know why. Was it the pizza or the bread that made your skin break out? Did the pancakes set off your carb cravings, or was it the ice cream? Is your stomach reacting to the donut, the beer, or (most likely) the entirety of the junk food party you threw in your digestive tract?
Thirty days of so much hard work completely wasted, because you’ve learned nothing about how these less healthy foods impact you.
Don’t do that. Please.
You’ve come this far—take the extra time to really reap the benefits of our carefully crafted reintroduction schedules. Be patient, and take the lessons you’ll learn in the coming days with you for the rest of your life. Rush this process, and you’ll be selling yourself short. Way short.
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, we’ve created two reintroduction schedules for you to choose from—the Fast Track, and the Slow Roll. What’s the difference?
The Fast Track reintroduction schedule is just that—our complete reintroduction protocol in just ten days. This is for people who know exactly what they’ve been missing and want to figure out as soon as possible how these foods impact them, so they can start implementing what they learned out in the real world. If you’re satisfied with your Whole30 results and feel ready to bring some of these other foods back into your life, this is the plan for you.
Our Slow Roll schedule is far more gradual, lasting as long as you choose, based not on our timeline, but your own. It’s for people who feel so amazing post-Whole30 that they’re not ready to reintroduce less healthy foods just for the sake of reintroducing them—in fact, they’re happy to keep eating mostly Whole30 until something really amazing comes along, even if that’s a month from now. This scenario especially applies to those who experienced a significant improvement in a medical condition during their Whole30, and suspect their symptoms will come back with a vengeance once they start eating off-plan again.
For both plans, if you don’t miss a particular food or drink that you know makes you less healthy, don’t bother to reintroduce it. Not missing tofu, black beans, cottage cheese, or pasta? With evidence pointing toward these foods making you less healthy and no vital nutrients you aren’t already getting from the healthy foods you are eating, there’s no reason whatsoever to add them back into your diet. Only reintroduce those foods that you suspect you’ll really want to include back into your diet once in a while, and leave the rest happily behind.
With both of these plans, the premise is simple: treat it like a scientific trial, where the Whole30 is your “control group,” and each individual food or food group is the “experimental group.” You’ll reintroduce foods back into your diet one at a time, while keeping the rest of your diet in line with the Whole30 rules. This means you’ll have to plan carefully, and not combine major food groups during your reintroduction period. (Don’t worry—we’ll give you a detailed schedule and sample reintroduction days for each plan.)
Note, we aren’t adding a set timeline to reintroduce added sugar in either plan. There’s really no need, as you’ll be eating some added sugar when you reintroduce these off-plan foods, and it’s nearly impossible to separate the effects of the sugar or high carbohydrate content from the impact of the other less healthy elements in these foods. Just pay attention to the impact of sugar plus other food groups—for example, if you react far more negatively to eating a donut than you do to eating pizza crust, you can be sure the combination of gluten containing grains plus sugar is an especially nasty one for you. (If you really want to pursue the idea of reintroducing sugar on its own, see the Reintroduction FAQ for our best advice.)
We’ll outline our reintroduction plans one at a time, giving specific timelines and sample reintroduction days for each. Read through both options carefully before deciding which one to follow, as you will likely learn valuable information from the description of each approach.
The benefit of our Fast Track schedule is that you get your reintroduction over relatively quickly, and are then free to take what you’ve learned out into the real world. You may find great freedom and joy in being able to quickly reincorporate some of these foods back into your regular diet in a way that still keeps you moving in the direction of “more healthy.” Plus, because the schedule is very structured, you’ll have a clear method of reevaluating these foods without the effects of one food group conflicting with another. Finally, because you have the benefit of knowing exactly when you’ll be reintroducing these foods, you can structure things such that any negative side effects won’t completely ruin your life.
The biggest downside is that you may have a pretty miserable two weeks. Reintroducing so many off-plan foods in such a short period of time (especially when your system has been so happy without them) means your energy, sleep, mood, cravings, skin, digestion, and medical symptoms may all blow up at once.
Remember how just a few days ago you were looking forward to bringing back your beloved pizza, beer, and ice cream?
All we’re saying is . . . brace yourself.
Actually, we’d actually be surprised if you were still planning on an epic junk-food rampage come Day 31. In a 2014 study of more than 1,300 Whole30 participants, 76 percent said while they were planning on eating all kinds of treats on Day 31, by the time their Whole30 was over they didn’t even want those foods anymore!
The good news? Once you’re done, you’ll be able to move forward implementing a healthy, balanced nutrition plan that will last the rest of your life.
Below is a sample Fast Track Reintroduction Schedule. (Keep in mind the foods we select in these sample days don’t have to be your choices.)
Day 1 (optional): Evaluate gluten-free alcohol, while keeping the rest of your diet Whole30-compliant. For those of you missing your red wine, 100 percent agave tequila, or gluten-free beer, take this opportunity to reintroduce. Have a drink or two (don’t go overboard!) at some point today, paying attention to how you feel during and after your experience. Then, go back to the Whole30 for the next two days, and see how things go. Pay attention, evaluate, and decide how, how often, and how much to incorporate alcohol into your lifestyle—if at all.
Day 1 (or 4): Evaluate legumes, while keeping the rest of your diet Whole30-compliant. Try a thick slather of peanut butter on your green apple with breakfast, a bowl of miso soup and soy sauce on your sashimi at lunch, and a side of black beans with dinner, while paying attention to how you feel. Then, go back to the Whole30 for the next two days, and see how things go. Pay attention, evaluate, and decide how, how often, and how much to incorporate legumes into your regular diet—if at all.
Day 4 (or 7): Evaluate non-gluten grains*, while keeping the rest of your diet Whole30-compliant. Eat a bowl of oatmeal, a serving of white rice, some corn tortilla chips, and a sandwich made from gluten-free bread, while paying attention to how you feel. Then, return to the Whole30 for the next two days, and see how things go. Pay attention, evaluate, and decide how, how often, and how much to incorporate non-gluten grains into your regular diet—if at all.
*Corn, brown or white rice, certified gluten-free oats, quinoa, etc. BACK
It’s Fast Track, not Shortcut. You really don’t want to trim this schedule down any more than it already is, or these less healthy side effects could start to pile up, making you feel even worse and making it harder to determine which food caused which negative symptom. Stick to two days of Whole30 eating between each reintroduction group at a minimum—refer to our Reintroduction FAQ for more information.
Day 7 (or 10): Evaluate dairy, while keeping the rest of your diet Whole30-compliant. Have plain yogurt in the morning, add milk or cream to your coffee, top your salad with cheese in the afternoon, and use ordinary butter and sour cream on your baked potato with dinner, while paying attention to how you feel. Then, return to the Whole30 for the next two days, and see how things go. Pay attention, evaluate, and decide how, how often, and how much to incorporate dairy into your regular diet—if at all.
Day 10 (or 13): Evaluate gluten-containing grains**, while keeping the rest of your diet Whole30-compliant. Over the course of your day, have a bowl of whole-wheat cereal or a muffin, two slices of whole grain bread, some wheat crackers, and a beer, while paying attention to how you feel. Then, return to the Whole30 for the next two days, and see how things go. Pay attention, evaluate, and decide how, how often, and how much to incorporate gluten grains into your regular diet—if at all.
**Any product made from wheat, rye, or barley—bread, cereal, pasta, crackers, beer, etc. BACK
Congratulations! Your reintroduction is technically over, and you can now implement what you’ve learned in the rest of your life. Of course, only you can decide what’s worth it for you. If wine gave you a migraine, milk gave you major gas, or bread made your eczema worse, it’s up to you to figure out whether those side effects are worth it. Maybe you love wine so much that you’ll happily trade a glass for a headache. Well then cheers to you! You’re now in charge of when, how much, and how often to reincorporate these foods back into your own life—and where you draw that line is entirely up to you.
Still, aren’t you glad you know?
Thanks to your Whole30 awareness, you know it’s a bad idea to have a glass of wine during a work lunch, a big glass of milk on a first date, or bread before your photo shoot. You know exactly how good Whole30 foods make you feel, and exactly how these off-plan foods will affect you. That’s the benefit of reintroduction—the awareness it brings, and the freedom you’ll now have to create a healthy, balanced, sustainable diet that will keep you moving in the direction of “more healthy” for the rest of your life.
Not bad for just over a month’s worth of work.
The Slow Roll schedule doesn’t follow any particular timeline. The whole point is for you to continue eating mostly Whole30 until something so special or delicious comes along that you decide you’re ready to indulge, and evaluate the effects.
The benefit is that you get to continue your everyday life feeling unstoppable, powered by the Whole30 diet that works so well for you. You’ll also maintain your current quality of life, living symptom-free (or with reduced symptoms) as long as you stick to the plan. Plus, when you’re only reintroducing foods you find absolutely irresistible, you’ll savor them more, and be less tempted by not-so-special “just because it’s there and you can” options. Finally, because you’re only reintroducing a small amount of off-plan food at once (one special occasion dessert, a glass of your favorite wine, your mom’s homemade bread), the side effects may not be as severe or last as long as a Fast Track reintroduction day.
The downside is that instead of setting aside a dedicated three days to reintroduce and evaluate specific foods, you’ll be testing them “in the wild,” not knowing how they’ll affect you. This means you may spend your anniversary weekend dealing with stomach cramps, bloating, and irregularity—not very romantic.
There is one way to keep your daily diet feeling more sustainable without jeopardizing your Tiger Blood. To give yourself a little breathing room on this stretched-out reintroduction schedule, consider relaxing on the Whole30 “no added sugar” rule come Day 31. This doesn’t mean you’re eating frosting washed down with energy drinks, but if you want sugar-cured bacon with your eggs, ketchup on your burger, or the vinaigrette dressing that comes with your restaurant salad, go right ahead. Note that we’re not actually changing your diet much here—you were already eating meat, condiments, and salads with dressing on the Whole30. We’re just broadening your choices a bit, in a way that won’t send you running for the nearest donut shop. Of course, if there are some foods you suspect (or know) will be “triggers” for your Sugar Dragon, stay away! Sweetened nut butters or coconut butters, dark chocolate, or coffee creamers may send you hurtling down the path of cravings and overconsumption.
Plus, when there’s a “worth it” conflict, you’ll have to either pass up a food or beverage you really want, or lose some of the awareness you could have gained from a stricter schedule. For example, say you attend a family dinner, and you really want both your mom’s homemade cornbread and your grandma’s apple pie. You’ve got a dilemma—eat both, and you won’t be sure whether any negative effects came from the corn, the gluten, the sugar, or a combination of all three. Pass up one and you’re going to be sad about what you missed.
If the benefits of a Slow Roll reintroduction outweigh the potential downsides for you, here’s a sample diary we created to illustrate how this works. Understand, however, this is only an example—your schedule will depend on you stumbling across something that’s worth it for you.
Day 31: My Whole30 is done! I’m celebrating with some 90 percent chocolate, but not bringing anything else back just yet. This Tiger Blood feels too good!
Day 35: My mom baked an apple pie for dessert, but that’s not my favorite, and I didn’t really want it, so I passed. And it was easy!
Day 42: Tonight’s my birthday, and I really want a glass of wine at dinner, but I may also want dessert. When I get to the restaurant, I’ll decide if I really want either.
Day 43: Wine gives me a headache, but boy it was delicious. Back to my Whole30-ish (basically Whole30 + ketchup and a teaspoon of honey in my tea).
Day 47: Movie night at home, and I’m dying for a bowl of hot, buttered popcorn. I’m going for it! I’ve still got clarified butter left over, so we’ll see how corn goes.
Day 48: Not bad! No noticeable effects, except eating a little popcorn made me want to eat a LOT of popcorn. Back to Whole30 for a few days.
Day 50: We’re in Mexico, and I’m dying for a fresh churro! Bring on the gluten. (Not really, but I really want a churro.)
Day 51: Bad, bad, bad. My body does not like churros. At all. Gluten is not my friend, and I’ll be thinking long and hard about whether I eat it again.
You get the point—you continue with your Whole30-ish diet until something amazing comes along. You decide to reintroduce. You pay attention, return to the Whole30 for at least two days (if not longer), and repeat.
One of the things we really like about the Slow Roll reintroduction is that it emphasizes a very important point: reintroduction is actually a lifelong process. Now that you have a baseline for looking and feeling your best (the Whole30), every time you eat a potentially less-healthy food, you should both savor it immensely and pay close attention to how it impacts you.
The more experience you have with the Whole30 program, the more your awareness will grow, and the more you’ll be able to identify the subtle nuances of how food affects you. By your second or third Whole30 and reintroduction, you’ll find you’re paying attention to things you never would have noticed—the fact that eating gluten makes you sad, or how too much sugar puts you in a bad mood for two days straight.
Finally, if you’re really paying attention, you’ll also notice your definition of “worth it” changes as time goes on. What’s worth it for you should be critically evaluated on a regular basis by paying close attention to your experience when eating certain foods. Was the idea of the food better than actually eating it? Did you used to love the food, but today it’s just “meh”? Could you happily do without something today that yesterday you thought you couldn’t live without? Don’t be afraid of flip-flopping here—you’re the one who calls the shots, and your favorite “treat” today may be tomorrow’s “this just isn’t doing it for me.”
Another word of caution—the impact of some of these foods on your body may be cumulative. You may not notice any issues with a bowl of popcorn, but eat it three days in a row, and your stomach is suddenly unhappy and your skin is itchy all over. That’s why it’s important to keep paying attention to how you respond to these foods even after your reintroduction schedule is over. You may discover that you have to temper not only the inclusion of some foods in your diet, but the dose as well.
One last important point, and something that trips up many a Whole30er during their reintroduction. If at any point you start to feel out of control with your food choices (like what you’ve reintroduced woke up your Sugar Dragon), get back on the Whole30 for as long as it takes to stabilize. Don’t wait, don’t delay, and don’t try to talk yourself out of it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself covered in powdered sugar sipping a large mocha latte while ordering pizza for lunch and wondering why your pants are so tight again.
You know exactly what we’re talking about.
This is most common with the reintroduction of sugary foods or gluten grains—eating muffins, chocolate, “dessert,” or bread again can make some people rabid with desire for processed carbs and sugar. So be on the lookout for cravings rearing their ugly heads, and halt that process before it takes over your brain by returning to a strict Whole30.
Does this advice sound a little extreme? Like, really, will I feel out of control after just a day of off-plan food? Yeah, you might. And we take sugar and carb addiction very seriously around here so please, listen to us, and don’t feel like a failure if you have to jump back on the Whole30 for a few days to calm things down. You’re actually succeeding, because you’re not afraid to do the best thing for you, your long-term health, and your relationship with food. Winning!
The good news? Chances are it will only take a few days before you’re back in comfortable territory, feeling great and back in control—and will know to be even more careful when reintroducing those “trigger foods.”