Whole 30 for Sept.

jconnon
jconnon Posts: 427 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am going to give Whole 30 a go for September (actually Sept 4th start). Is anyone else thinking of trying Whole 30 for September?

Would love to do this with a few more people for a little support and a few food ideas.

Replies

  • corimac
    corimac Posts: 30 Member
    I started today. My mood has been all over the place today. Started out pretty irritated since I did not have my regular sweet and low latte. I didn't realize how addicted I am to the whole coffee ritual. Life didn't seem complete without my trusty white paper cup in hand during my morning commute. I did, in fact, survive without it and was feeling great by lunchtime.

    I took a lot of time this past weekend to meal plan and prepare several meals in advance for the work week so I don't have any excuse to not have the proper foods. The rest of my family is not on board, but they'll eat what I make along with a baked potato or a grain.

    I'm still working on the book and staying off of the scale will be a challenge for me! I agree some support would be great!
  • JJPAL1
    JJPAL1 Posts: 15 Member
    What is the Whole 30?
  • jconnon
    jconnon Posts: 427 Member
    What is the Whole 30?


    The details can be found here.

    http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

    It is a clean eating plan for 30 days......or hopefully longer.
  • Mistyblu08
    Mistyblu08 Posts: 580 Member
    whats whole 30???


    oops forget it lol just read the post above me lol
  • AnneC77
    AnneC77 Posts: 284
    Wow this seems such a hard eating plan to me. Literally everything you cannot have, I enjoy. You have to leave out more food than you can eat and it makes me wonder what's left? What kind of meals do yo plan to have on this eating plan?
  • jconnon
    jconnon Posts: 427 Member
    Wow this seems such a hard eating plan to me. Literally everything you cannot have, I enjoy. You have to leave out more food than you can eat and it makes me wonder what's left? What kind of meals do yo plan to have on this eating plan?

    Its not easy but I think prep is key. I still need to find some recipes but for the most part I will eat a lot of veggies and meats grilled.
    I went to the store last night trying to find a few things besides fresh meats and vegetables and it is hard to find stuff without crap in it, especially sugar. I think I may need to make a few trips to Whole Foods. No beer will be the only thing that bothers me to give up.
  • laurenjessica315
    laurenjessica315 Posts: 23 Member
    I'm dying to start, as my diet is similar to the program anyhow with two exceptions that are deterring me - my skim lattes and greek yogurt...
  • tsavisky
    tsavisky Posts: 78 Member
    You should go to the Primal/Paleo Support group, there are a few of us starting the Whole 30 in Sept:)
  • polarcubby
    polarcubby Posts: 38
    I plan to start September 4 as well. would have started this week but I have a bbq with friends over the weekend and I'm not ready to fight that kind of temptation.
  • jconnon
    jconnon Posts: 427 Member
    I plan to start September 4 as well. would have started this week but I have a bbq with friends over the weekend and I'm not ready to fight that kind of temptation.


    My weekend will be ugly but I will ready come Tuesday.
  • tommygirl15
    tommygirl15 Posts: 1,012 Member
    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!
  • anacsitham5
    anacsitham5 Posts: 810 Member
    It sounds like atkins or low carb plan. I did that once and when I stopped eating that way I gained back twice as much as I lost and had cellulite for the first time ever. I doesn't sound like this would be any better.
  • Joethebull
    Joethebull Posts: 54
    Started this after midnight since I work graveyard shift. Not going to be easy since my family just bought oreos.
  • divemunkey
    divemunkey Posts: 288 Member
    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.
  • wowserblue
    wowserblue Posts: 2 Member
    I started Whole 30 about a week ago. It looks to me like a really healthy way of eating, especially since I'm supposed to avoid gluten anyway. I also have some health issues that I'm hoping this will help, fibromyalgia and Hashimoto's. Day 5 I felt great!! But I had been preparing all my food at home and went out to eat that afternoon, ate beef fajita meat and guacomole, felt terrible the next day. So I wonder what they put in the food, and if it was a reaction to something, or just a bad day (really TIRED). I understand everyone has ups and downs of energy in the beginning. My intention is to eat gluten free for the rest of my life, not sure about dairy and sugar. :wink:
    Anyway, this is a difficult diet in some ways, I'm having to prepare lots more food at home and think about what I'm going to eat, but I think the effort will be worth it in trms of health benefits.
  • emily356
    emily356 Posts: 318 Member
    I have an out of the country trip planned for Oct 6th. I have been wanting to try this for some time, and I think when I get back, I am gonna give it a go!! So, I will be watching this!:)
  • jconnon
    jconnon Posts: 427 Member
    Its defiantly more difficult to find foods that fit, especially no sugar. Its in everything.
  • beckie32536
    beckie32536 Posts: 47 Member
    I agree that the worst part is having to read the labels on absolutely everything. Who knew that there was sugar in worcestershire sauce!! I'm wrapping up Day 7 of my 2nd attempt (got to day 16 in August and had a few slips due to moving so I decided to have a re-do in September).

    I have found some great websites with amazing recipes so that has also helped. But as others have said, preparation is key. I have to have easy to grab Whole 30-friendly snacks on hand for emergencies plus I haven't allowed myself to buy anything bad at the store so there's very little to provide temptations.
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
    X.X that would be hard but worth it I am sure
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    That sounds an awful lot like a food intolerance test diet...
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    No way in hell I am giving up legumes. Even for a "mere" 30 days.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    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
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    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
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
    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
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member

    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
    jconnon Posts: 427 Member
    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
    mjaninec Posts: 5 Member
    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.

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