Reintegrating Food

After an Elimination Detox

You got through your detox and you’re most likely feeling great. Now what!?

First of all, if you’re feeling amazing (as you should), I say...keep going! I coach my clients to go at least 21-30 days before reintroducing elimination foods to allow your body a full detox. This also establishes stronger habits and routines around food. They say it takes 30 days to develop a habit and 90 days for it to become a lifestyle which is why we do 12 weeks in the Healthy Mom Club.

When you’re ready to reintroduce some foods, be sure to slowly test potentially problematic foods so you can feel out which foods work for you, and identify those that don’t. You can see a sample reintegration schedule on page 10 of your guide.

Reintroducing Foods One By One

Once you’ve reintroduced one of the common allergen foods for testing (one at a time), you’re looking to observe the following symptoms:

• Headaches

• Bloating and/or digestive upset

• Rashes

• Fatigue

• Joint pain

• Muscle aches

• Racing heartbeat

• Hot flashes

• Brain fog

• Any suddenly occurring symptom like nausea, depression, or anxiety

Keep a journal

Keeping a food sensitivity journal is helpful for identifying your symptoms, and honing in on which foods are causing problems. Pay close attention to your mood…sometimes our symptoms aren’t just physical. You’ll be reintroducing foods one by one, while recording the following:

• Which food

• Your symptoms (from the list above or anything else)

• Whether your reactions are mild, moderate, or severe

When you reintroduce a new food, eat that food twice a day for two days, skip it on the third day, and observe and record your reactions (or lack thereof). If you have no reaction to the food you just reintroduced, you can move on to the next food on day four. If you do notice a reaction to a particular food, such as fatigue or headache, stop eating it, and record your symptoms in your food journal.

Once you’ve identified a food causing symptoms for you, remove it from your diet again. Make sure to take your time; if you have a reaction to a food you’re sensitive to, wait until your symptoms have completely cleared up before reintroducing the next food for testing.

Reintroduction gets easier

While this process of testing for food sensitivities takes some patience, feeling better is so worth it! It takes about two to three weeks to reintroduce and test each food you removed for your cleanse, but at the end of the reintroduction phase you’ll know which foods you can successfully reintroduce, and those you’re better off avoiding. The good news is, once your body has healed more deeply over time, you may be able to reintroduce some foods in moderation that were previously causing problems; your symptoms may also be less severe in the long run.

A Final Note On Mental Health and Food

While I already mentioned this before, pay close attention to your mood and emotions. As I’ve become more in tune with my mental wellness, I’m able to pull the lever on my diet. My biggest red flag is sleep. When I’m eating “clean”, I fall asleep easily, sleep soundly, and wake up rested.

When I’m not, and when I’m drinking alcohol, my mind tends to race at bedtime and I have difficulty falling, and staying asleep.

Notice when you’re feeling anxious, sad, or irritable…it may very well be related to your diet. You should also notice mood swings during your cycle are less severe when you’re in a good routine with food.

While your body may tolerate certain foods (i.e., you don’t experience headaches, bloating, etc.), your brain may not. Pay attention

Xoxo- Whit