The first time heard about the Whole30 was when a friend of mine was taking it on. This was sometime in early 2014. I went to google, my prime source for information, and essentially focused on all of the do not eat items.
No sugar? At that point I hadn't gone more than 3 days without some kind of sugar in something. Probably 0 days if you get into all of that hidden sugar that I didn't want to think about at the time.
No dairy? Maybe these Whole30 people don't understand the close, personal relationship I have with cheese. Melted, soft, hard, grated, crumbled... cheese and I are soul mates.
No legumes? Even in the winter? When it's so great to make a warm pot of beans or peas? That's insane.
No grains? Of any kind.. at all. This is mostly fine, but I do love rice... and cookies. And popcorn. and corn tortillas. and oatmeal. AND sandwich bread. Well, maybe it wasn't mostly fine.
No alcohol? But wine is made from grapes and grapes are fruit.... and I love wine. and a martini on Friday. And a margarita by the pool. I digress.
I decided that doing the Whole30 was for super clean eating people, or people who hate wine, or crossfit junkies and I was none of those.
That May I decided to give up refined sugar for the month. And the results were so good for my life. That 30 days really changed the way that I eat to this day. I wasn't a slave to sugar anymore and that was an amazing thing. But as recently as this February I was talking to my friend who gave up sugar and dairy while trying to get pregnant (and she now is, by the way!) and I could not picture myself not eating cheese and butter, or voluntarily saying I was going to not have a glass of wine here and there.
The thing is, I kept coming back to the Whole30, and there were a few things that pushed me into picking a start date.
1. I knew I could give up sugar for 30 days. It wasn't as much of a challenge or an achievement anymore. I was looking for something challenging to take on.
2. I had friends who wanted to do it with me. Granted, our start dates didn't end up working out, but it always helps to have a friend to go through things with.
3. When I was reading the Whole30 info, there's lots of tough love. I kind of like that. I don't need any room for excuses, and I kept coming around to this section:
"This is not hard. Don't you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You've done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It's only 30 days and it's for the most important cause on earth -- the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime."
4. It's not a diet. This is where you want me to say "it's a lifestyle" but it's not a lifestyle either. Its a tool. When I started thinking of it that way, it really made me excited to get started. Some foods give me headaches. Some foods make me have an awful night's sleep. Some foods turn my stomach upside down up to 24 hours later. But which foods? I'm eating everything. I love it all. This program resets your system and gets you back to neutral so you can build the foods that you enjoy back into your life while you learn how they affect you. You introduce them back in slowly and individually so you can find the foods that might change your mood or your health. Then you get to build your ideal, personalized diet. Or lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it when you are done.
5. Last, an old high school friend is running 365 consecutive marathons to raise awareness and money for those battling addiction. 365 MARATHONS. In a row. 26.2 miles A. DAY. While working. And he has a family. And that is awesome. If you want more info: Click Here. So every day I wake up and can't have cheese, or sugar, or wine... at least I don't have to go out and run a marathon that day. Because.. y'all. THAT is hard.
So here I am. I made my plan end of April and ordered the new Whole30 Guide and read. You can really get all the information you need from their website, I just wanted recipes (this has about 200) and I like having a book when I feel like I am studying up on something. The book also has a great 7 day meal plan that will get you used to your new life in the kitchen. Because you will be cooking everything that you eat. It also helped me understand portion sizes (they are satisfying) and the breakout of a meal. The website does have tons of tools though, printouts and testimonials. And if you want to do some digging, go for #whole30results on instagram. The book that explains the science behind it all is It Starts With Food. I have not read that one, but I hear I should. I have learned how much food affects your mind and body, so I didn't need extra convincing.
I have been documenting every meal, some snacks, and my meal plans. There's usually 1-2 food pics a day on Instagram but the rest will go up in a few blog posts. Tomorrow I'll feature the first ten days worth of food as well as the first ten days worth of personal experience. I'm really enjoying the challenge of this journey so far. And I'm learning every day that I can do things I never saw myself doing. Making homemade mayo, homemade almond butter, homemade almond milk, doing fourteen thousand dishes... things like that.
The kids are eating what I am eating (and I'll have more about their reactions to the food) but I am really the only one in the house doing the whole program. I say this as my husband is off tasting wine at a work event. #jealousy. He ate the last of the crunchy almond butter, which is a dangerous offense in my Whole30 house. Sleep with one eye open, my love.
-Becky
It
is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is
hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your
coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and
you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only
thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the
only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at:
http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf
It
is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is
hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your
coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and
you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only
thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the
only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at:
http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf
It
is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is
hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your
coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and
you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only
thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the
only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at:
http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf
It
is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is
hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your
coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and
you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only
thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the
only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at:
http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf
It
is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is
hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your
coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and
you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only
thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the
only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at:
http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf
Good luck Becky! Brooke did it and so can you!!
ReplyDeleteAww thanks, Beth. Brooke is the best! Love her. :)
DeleteAwesome! It's definitely harder at some times more than others! I'm wanting to do one again! ( this times with less cheats) lol
ReplyDeletethat's a great endorsement that you want to do it again! I've been good so far. I'm too afraid to cheat at this point. Hopefully that won't change! ;)
DeleteAwesome Work Becky!! Keep us updated!!
ReplyDeleteYou're next!!
DeleteHey there, so I had this loooong, rambling comment last week and don't know where it ended up after I hit the publish button. So I'll try again... from what I remember, I definitely loved this post. I usually don't like any of these timed challenges, or "fixes" because I always say that if you can't see yourself eating this way for the rest of your life, then it's not sustainable and you'll fall back to your old ways. But then I read your insight on what the whole30 is all about and WHY you're doing it. This is not meant as a crash diet to lose the last 5-10 lbs, although weight loss is probably a "side effect".
ReplyDeleteFrom studying nutrition and learning about human digestion more than I want to at times, I also learned about what an elimination diet is and the whole30 is very similar to that as it rules out many of the most common allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, nuts, ...and the stimulants coffee & alcohol and the ever-so-evil sugar) - although eggs were allowed. It's like a cleanse but not in the way most people think (juices and salads only), but in a healthy and nourishing way. This sort of reset is really helpful if you suspect food allergies or sensitivities but can't figure out which foods cause it. After the whole30 you could introduce those allergen foods one by one and find out which one causes a reaction.
Anyways - see I start rambling again. I just love talking about nutrition ;o)
I would seriously like to try this myself. How did your husband and kids go along with it? We love grains and cheese in this house... And I can't imagine making separate meals on top of everything else that's going on from 5:30am to 10pm.
Thank you for posting this and the follow-up post with the food pics.