Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror and Christmas is just around the corner. We all know what that means! Lots of parties with crazy delicious food, fun drinks and yummy desserts. For many of us it also means Tums, Pepto Bismal and a hangover or 2. Shortly after the holiday last year, we decided to do a Whole30 Experiment and radically changed our eating habits. We expected it to last 30 days but we liked it so much we pretty much kept eating according to the program guidelines.
The Whole30 has you eliminate sugar, alcohol, dairy, legumes and grains and replace them with vegetables, high quality meat and healthy fat. We did a strict Whole30 for about 42 days and we ended it when we went on vacation last winter. On vacation we ate and drank anything we wanted and when we returned home we sort of resumed our new way of eating.
Note the red above! Pretty much and sort of are the phrases I used to describe how we stick to the Whole30 now. I would say we follow the Whole30 80% of the time and the other 20% we eat some of the eliminated foods. I don’t eat grains or sugar at home with the exception of drinking IPA and eating dark chocolate! I will occasionally bring home a block of cheese but it is no longer a staple in my diet.
I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years and ate what is considered a healthy diet. Lots of healthy grains, vegetables, dairy and soy. I considered myself healthy but couldn’t lose the excess weight and didn’t feel like I had a ton of energy. Since we started the first Whole30 last January I have lost a total of 15 pounds and managed to keep it off. My doctor was thrilled with my recent blood work and tells me to keep doing what I am doing! Some of the changes that I made on the Whole30 and stuck with include:
- a lot more quantity and variety of fresh vegetables (even for breakfast)
- increased consumption of fish (salmon, sea bass, tilapia, shrimp)
- I started eating organic chicken, chicken sausage, turkey, pork and the occasional hamburger (I had been a vegetarian)
- lots of avocados, olives, nuts (raw and dry roasted) coconut milk and coconut oil for healthy fat
- olive oil and balsamic vinegar for salad dressing
We have decided to complete another Whole30 starting January 1st.
I felt really good when I did it the first time and I want to feel that way again. Although I managed to keep off the weight I had lost, the other benefits did not continue. My finger nails are weak and brittle again, my post nasal drip is back with a vengeance, my sleep is disrupted and my energy has waned.
The Whole30 offered good advice on how to reintroduce the foods that had been eliminated to see what effect each had on one’s overall health but I kind of skipped that step. Someone offered me pizza and beer and that was that! This time I want to do it right and reintroduce some of the eliminated food groups after 30 days, following the directions provided.
I have several friends who have completed their own Whole30 and they loved it! I think this program works best when done with others. Building in a support system to help with planning, recipes and encouragement helps keep people on track and motivated to continue. I like the idea of building a community around taking back our health and our kitchens!
Our health care system is beyond broken with the interests of big business placed well above the health of the consumer. Big food companies, huge farming companies and pharmaceutical companies have the attention of the government. They have profit as a motive – not health. I don’t know about you but I can use all of the help I can get to consistently choose health.
If anyone reading this wants to join me in my January 1st Whole 30 drop me a note in the comment section and hit the “Join Me” tab to receive notification of new posts.
My plan is to share some helpful hints in my weekly posts starting next week to help us get prepared. You will want to review the Whole30 program rules and if you want to understand the reasons for eliminating certain foods I recommend reading “It Starts With Food” by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. I also recommend “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” by Gary Taubes.
These 2 books helped me to understand how the nutritional advice we have been given since I was a kid is wrong! This advice told us to eat 7-9 servings of bread and grains daily and to minimize fat. Collectively we embraced this advice and our nation has gotten sicker and fatter. Diabetes, obesity and metabolic disease is rampant in our country and the sad fact is they are preventable!
Reading these books helped me understand some of the science behind the program and that helped keep me on track. Check out all of the free resources at Whole30.com. I am not affiliated with the Whole30 in any way, nor do I receive any financial incentive for referring people to their site. I am just a fan that has benefited and want to share what I have learned with others who value their health.
If you have been thinking about completing a Whole30 but aren’t sure you want to do it alone… JOIN ME and we can motivate each other to choose health every day for 30 days! During that time, we will install some healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime!
Please remember – I am not a doctor or a nutritionist and my blog is simply my way of sharing my journey towards health, wealth and happiness. If you have medical issues that may be affected by a change in diet, talk to your doctor before embarking on the Whole30 journey. I also encourage you to read some of the testimonials by people who have improved their lives by making the recommended changes to their diet.
Lake Girl