Although I no longer maintain a whole 30 lifestyle, I do want to share my journey with you. I walked away with a lot of knowledge after my three rounds and am grateful for all I gained in the process. What is Whole30 you ask? According to the Whole30 website “Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it… Many of the symptoms you suffer from (weight gain/loss, skin, digestive, infertility, insomnia, depression ect) may be directly related to your diet and the foods you eat. By eliminating these foods for a full 30 days you give your body time to “reset” and heal. You learn how the foods you’ve been eating have been affecting your day to day life. I have gained an abundance of knowledge through the three rounds I have completed of this program. It has changed my life for the better and helped me now have a better relationship with food, all food. I do not live a Whole 30 lifestyle 365 days a year. Obviously. The program is intended to maintain for 30 days while you attempt to figure out which foods are affecting your body negatively. During the reintroduction phase you can then eliminate any foods that cause an adverse reaction when reintroduced and incorporate your findings into your diet. For me that meant eliminating grains and dairy. Both created a lot of inflammation, digestive distress and negative skin effects for me. I have since then started to incorporate sprouted grains and quality dairy back into my diet and have done just fine. But it took my body time to heal and discover that the quality of each was most important. We now live a Whole Food lifestyle in our home incorporating all food groups in their whole form. Organic when possible. Finding balance was both a mental and physical challenge for me, but I can say today I have a much healthier relationship with food than I have in the past.
If you’re interested in beginning Whole 30 I highly recommend you read It Starts With Food. From there decide whether this program is right for you.
The diet is really quiet simple. “Eat REAL FOOD. Meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed.”
- Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial
- Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking
- Do not eat legumes, or soy
- Do not eat dairy
- Do not eat grains
- Do not consume carrageenan, MSG, or sulfates
- No paleo treats. Even if the ingredients are compliant recreating a sweet treat will tank your results. Search “SWYPO”
***Read your labels, companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize!
Many of my recipes are Paleo and some Whole30 compliant or easily modified to be so. For instance you can prepare my Savory Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes but remove the dairy or my Turkey Zoodle Soup minus the Stuffing Dumplings ect. Many times my families recipes are based of the Whole30 guidelines. Because I refuse to make two meals I then add a grain, legume or dairy for my family to round out their meal. Its simple to eat Whole30 and cook for your family at the same time. Just make sure to follow the rules listed above and refer to the Whole30 website as well as It Starts With Food regularly for information. Best of luck with your Whole30 journey! -Xo