Post Whole30

We Made It!!

For the last 30 calendar days, the hubby and I have been following the Whole30 Diet. It's been an adventure of good food, bad food, sugar-withdrawals, and self-control. If you read on their website, the program is designed not as a weight-loss tool, but as a new way of seeing food and what you put into your body. Often, you will lose weight, but you gain so much more than that.

On Whole30, you are following strict paleo for 30 days. That means no

• grains
• diary
• added sugar/honey
• legumes (yes, peanut butter too)
• potatoes
• soy (it's in EVERYTHING)
• MSG/sulfites/other nasty things

Pretty much, you're left with fruits, vegetables, spices, and meat. It's really not as bad as it sounds, once you start getting into it. The first week was by far the hardest.

Learning what you were able to eat and what to avoid made grocery shopping take forever. I had to read every label to make sure there was no added sugar. We had to avoid things that I normally take for granted: ketchup, apple sauce, spaghetti sauce, dried cranberries, etc. We also had to avoid things cooked in peanut oil, or other mechanically expressed oils. (There's a lot more specific instructions on their site.) Once we figured out some basics, it was a lot easier.

We managed to only cheat on accident a few times during the whole month. We learned self-control enough to not cheat on purpose at all. I won't go into additional details, but now that we're finished, I'll tell you what we have from this experience:

1. Above all, self-control
2. Clean digestion and absorption
3. Release from sugar cravings
4. Weight loss (almost 11 lbs for me, and 10 for the hubby)
5. A greater understanding of what is in our food

After some discussion, we plan on maintaining a large part of the style of Whole30 spirit. Eat more fruits and veggies instead of snacking on processed foods, and have more fun with spices!

We missed the reintroduction part, but that's okay. We're planning on taking it pretty slow to start with, so we should be okay. Apparently you can get some nasty side effects if you go straight back into all the processed foods. I guess that says something about those foods. Anyway, it was an interesting experience, and I would definitely suggest anyone who is having health trouble or dietary issues to try it!