The Whole30 Challenge — don’t call it a “diet!”

It’s very hard to stay in it, especially your first time.

My fall-off moment occurred about midway through the month. My best friend from back home came to town for a concert, and we went out on the town and had BBQ, fries, and lots and lots of beer. The peer pressure — plus a strange inner psychic need to rebel against the restrictions of the program — did me in.

The food/alcohol was enjoyable at the time of course, but my body felt terrible afterwards and I had some explaining to do to my wife :)

If you start Whole30, I recommend looking at your social calendar for the month and coming up with a plan for how to handle situations where you may feel pressured to drink or eat non-compliant food.

And if you do “fall off,” don’t beat yourself up too much. Just get right back on.

Lol — it’s totally a diet, I’m just being silly in parroting the upbeat language of its promoters

Read all about it here: https://whole30.com/

In a nutshell: The Whole30 diet is basically focused on eating “natural foods.” Lots and lots of veggies and meats. It involves cutting out any and all dairy, processed ingredients, and complex carbs — including added sugar and alcohol — and other common allergens from your diet. And you do this for a “Whole 30” days in order to “reset” your system.

You very quickly discover just how difficult that is to do in America. You can’t have Coke. You can’t have beer. No burgers, sandwiches, or fried anything. No chocolate and basically no desserts. No milk or cheese. No sauces or salad dressings with added sugar or dairy.

With rare exceptions, you basically have to prepare all your meals at home, and you have to invest a *lot* of time and money upfront searching out and buying compliant groceries.

My wife and I are about halfway through our third or fourth time doing this. It’s something else, in terms of commitment, sacrifice, and dedication required to stick to the program. Left to my own devices, I would never attempt something like this, but my wife keeps me on track :)

A different experience every time — the first time, I was absolutely miserable for the first week. I felt exhausted and could barely think straight. I craved all kinds of banned foods. I appreciated viscerally how much my body was reliant on processed sugar to get me through my day.

This last time, though, has been a breeze. I didn’t feel anything adverse switching onto the diet, and now, halfway in, I feel super healthy and energetic. And in conjunction with our new workout routine we implemented over Christmas/New Years’, my waistline has gone way down.

Curiously, I don’t even really get hungry around mealtimes anymore. That’s because my body’s no longer craving a fix of complex carbs.

As I said, it’s a lot of investment and sacrifice. Not for everyone, but it’s totally worth a try. Any questions, feel free to ask!

Is this a type of elimination diet? I went off sugar and dairy for a week and was amazed at the difference it made.

Do they have meal plans? Recipes? I don't drink soda but I do have a sweet tooth. So that's probably what I would miss most.

Yeah, it’s basically a comprehensive elimination diet in principle

https://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/

These are the rules!

And yes, there are recipes galore. Both online and in print. I recommend investing in a hardcover recipe book or two if you’re first starting out. https://whole30.com/meals-choices/

https://whole30.com/books/
“The Whole30” is I believe the original book and it is the best place to start. It explains not just the nitty gritty details, but also the guiding philosophy, which is important to understand in order to keep your motivation up and your goals in mind.

Whole 30 has grown and grown since we first tried it. There are a lot more Whole 30 options these days at grocery stores than there used to be, so it’s significantly easier to shop for than when we first did it 2 years ago.

Ironically, Wal-Mart of all places has these frozen “Whole 30” bowls now that definitely come in handy in a pinch. https://whole30.com/walmart/

Cool. I'm listening to a podcast now by the cofounder. We'll see how it goes. How do you think it differs from Paleo? Also i'm interested in if your wife has seen significant results, not to discredit your experience but dieting for guys is totally different than for girls.

It's very, very similar to Paleo. I believe Whole 30 is a tad more restrictive, but they are about 95% the same in my opinion. Right down to the elimination of traditional "healthy" foods like legumes, whole grains, and dairy.

After digging a bit, I found that paleo generally permits "natural" sweeteners, like honey, while Whole 30 does not.

I would say my wife is seeing significant results too, but not quite as quickly and dramatically as me.

no

See explanation above but if that’s tl;dr, here’s an even shorter version:

You basically can’t eat or drink anything on this diet except meat, potatoes, veggies, nuts and fruit — it’s great! Lol

There are simple snack bars too made with only natural ingredients, which are nice to have

Are you sponsoring whole30? 😂

I wish!

I get accused of being a paid troll a lot so it’d be nice if I at least saw some financial benefit lol

Lol

Also: Highly recommend Chipotle to anyone seeking to try out this diet. Chipotle is of the few fast food places that’s really oriented toward healthy eating.

Their new “Supergreens” salad bowl is perfect for this diet and comes in handy at lunch, or on nights when you’re too busy or just don’t feel like cooking.

Here’s what you will need to omit on Whole30 if you’re going through the Chipotle line:
—Rice
—Beans*
—Corn*
—Cheese
—Tortilla and/or chips

Chipotle uses very natural ingredients. So everything else on the bar should be fine to add to your bowl. Including the grilled veggies, any salsa you want, and delicious guac!

(*At this point, we “flex” by allowing ourselves corn and/or beans, because our first experience with Whole 30 demonstrated that these foods agree with us)

Oh and sour cream, you can’t have that either :)

Another great on-the-go option is poke bowls.

Rice is not allowed, so gotta order your bowl on a bed of greens.

Certain sauces aren’t allowed either, especially any that are mayo based — check the ingredients — but sriracha should be okay.

Edamame is technically not allowed, but I eat it at this point having done the diet a few times.

Pretty much everything else is fair game!

Yum! I’m getting hungry...