Whole 30 for Sept.

Bentley2718

No way in hell I am giving up legumes. Even for a "mere" 30 days.

Bentley2718

This topic struck my interest and I went to the site to check it out - wow, sounds very difficult even for 30 days!
I was surprised to see that you can't eat legumes in this regiment, they are so healthy for you! I obviously have my disagreements on some of this stuff, but let us know how it ends up working for you!

This is a "paelo" thing. Apparently our ancestors ate ghee, so that's okay, but beans/peas/peanuts are out.

Bentley2718

To all who say it's to hard and you will gain it all back when you go back to eating the way you normally do:

The point of this exercise it to clean you out from all the crap you presently eat and allow your body to heal. At the end of it, you slowly add back some of those foods that you cut out and you will be able to tell if they were actually causing you problems you may have been unaware of. Ideally, you never go back to the way you were eating before. You don't NEED any of the stuff you remove from your diet anyway.

I am joining the Whole 30 starting today, as I need to kick my dairy dependence. The rest is old hat for me.

While a lot of what is removed from the diet is pretty unhealthy anyway (e.g. processed sugar), I'd argue that unless you have a specific food intolerance, the argument for giving up legumes is weak at best.

caribougal

Whole30 is a lot like a food intolerance test diet, because many people are intolerant of foods but don't know it. Gluten causes inflammation and can exacerbate many chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and conditions for many people.

With a food intolerance test, you eliminate a food, like wheat, for some period of time (usually 30 days), and then add them back in. Then you can tell if any of your physical issues were related. Dairy, nuts etc might also be eliminated for the same reason.

With Whole30, the idea is the same. Except the philosophy is also that the foods you've eliminated are also not good for people in general. Grains in general have few upsides and many downsides. Legumes... meh... not so terrible, but not so great, either. Nothing special about them you can't get from more nutrient-rich veg and fruit. Processed foods? Bad. Lots of added refined sugar? Bad.

After Whole30 (or Whole60, Whole90), you can challenge your body to see what foods you can tolerate, and in what quantities, by slowly adding them back in one at a time. You may find that you have no food intolerances, and you're happy that you ate a TON of healthy foods for a month, probably lost some weight, and can choose how to proceed. You may find that you can tolerate rye flour, but not wheat. Cheese, but not a glass of milk. You may find that your unexplained persistent cough, rash, acne, shoulder ache, RA, knee pain, etc disappeared during Whole30, but came back when you added gluten back in. Gluten is usually the culprit for those. So then you know.

And, by the way, Whole30 does NOT equal Paleo. Many people who follow the paleo or primal lifestyle challenge with the Whole30 plan when they are first starting out, or as a motivating reminder of what "ideal" feels like. But most people don't live Whole365 unless they seriously suffer from many food issues and they have to. It's hard because it's strict, because it's a challenge to your body. If you can live that way 365... more power to you but I doubt many people do. It just provides the template to work from for the future.

Whole30 is not for everyone. It's difficult but not impossible for vegetarians to follow. It's difficult for many people to wrap their head around because it goes against so much of what we are used to hearing... low cal, low fat, whole grain = good.

I lasted on Whole30 for a whopping 3 days last week. I'm sure I'll try again in the future, but I hadn't prepared adequately this time, and, those of you on the MFP Paleo group know the other extenuating circumstance to my Whole30 epic fail.

Good luck to the OP!

caribougal

This is a "paelo" thing. Apparently our ancestors ate ghee, so that's okay, but beans/peas/peanuts are out.

Actually, it's because butter is dairy, and many people are intolerant of casein. Ghee eliminates the milk solids, and so is tolerated by people who are dairy intolerant, or who choose not to include dairy in their diet.

Legumes like peanuts, pinto beans, black beans, etc can also cause gut distress for a variety of reasons, which is why to eat them you have to soak them for 12+ hours. Plus, they just don't offer much that you can't get in a healthier veg, and many people tend to overeat, and feel bloated by them. They take up space on your plate and in your belly that could be better filled by a nice dark leafy green or other tasty veg. Peas and green beans are legumes too, but most people eating paleo do eat them because they are more pod and don't cause the same issues as other legumes.

jconnon

One week in and no real issues with food, prep is key. The only thing I miss is a couple of beers on the weekend. The hardest part is that my wife is doing this with me and she is much tougher to please with the food choices.

mjaninec

I started on the 14. Day 6 today for me.

•Days 1-3 - not so bad 
•Days 4 & 5 - started to feel better (no tiredness between 1-3pm, that's a plus) 
•Today Day 6 - feeling really good! 

Slight morning headache the past couple of days that lasted only to 9am (took only 1/2 my reg meds) This is a huge deal for me as my headaches can go on for days. 


Looking forward to the next 24 days! :0) and many more.

This is a very doable plan it just takes more planning for sure. I do not feel deprived or like Im missing out. I like how I'm feeling and hope it continues.