Whole 30 (1,010 views)

Sugarbetty,

I'm going to move this thread over to the Diet, Nutrition section. I hope that meets with your approval. I'd would like to hear more about this diet. I haven't seen anything. Whole = does that mean...eating fresh food, rather than packaged, pre-made?

The very basics of the program is 30 days with real food, no added sugar (natural or artifical), no grains, no legumes, no alcohol, no dairy. It isn't hard for me once I get over not having cheese. You eat 3 meals a day, snacking between meals is not encouraged. The program calls for if you slip off program, you start your 30 days over. (I don't adhere to this rule, but I also work at not slipping.) It is billed as a program to recover health, a nutritional reset, but weight loss typically happens. Unlike the paleo world where you can use things like almond meal to make desserts, there are no desserts on Whole30. Combining allowed Whole30 ingredients into desserts is not allowed. Fruit is allowed, but you are encouraged to eat it with meals.

You can read all about it here: whole30.com/. The program founders explain the theory and science behind it in their book It Starts with Food. I haven't read this. I started with The Whole30 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom and followed it for 4 weeks this fall. It has a reintroduction program, which I didn't follow because I timed it badly by starting it a month before a 3 week trip to Italy. I lost 12 pounds in the 4 weeks. I started another round last week. It is a plan intended to reset your habits. You may do a month of it once a year, every few months, for a longer period of time depending on your needs and goals.

I don't find it hard to stick to. Sugar sneaks in in a lot of places you have to be careful of. But there are plenty of delicious ways to avoid sugar. You're going to be making your own food, that is no big deal for me, since I've always done that. But now I make my own mayo (easy peasy, and I actually like homemade mayo, where I tolerated storebought), bbq sauces, etc.

What I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: broc frittata and fruit. Mint tea, water
Lunch: salad with leftover grilled steak tips
Dinner: korean pork ramen with sweet potato noodles instead of standard ramen noodles. My DH had regular ramen noodles. He is very fit runner and eats things I am not eating. His carb needs are easily solved by making a big batch of brown rice every week.

Like any plan, it requires planning. There are lots of resources available. The book I started with has lots of recipes. And a new Whole30 Cookbook was released at the end of December. My copy arrived yesterday, but I haven't looked at it yet.