Whole 30 program

MyWhole30Journey wrote: »

Ceoverturf wrote: "And since the vast majority of the population has no food allergies and sugar and carb addictions are not real things, it would seem to be a poor choice of plan to follow."

I do have a sugar and carb addiction so I guess the fact that you feel they are "not real" addictions is mute. Since I have been on the Whole30 program, not DIET, I have been able to control those addictions. Americans in general are addicted to sugar and carbs, it's in everything, just read the labels. Why is it put in everything? Likely to make it addictive.

I also suffer from IBS and this way of eating has proven to be of great benefit to me. I have dealt with this issue for 33 years. Not wanting to take prescriptions which have side affects that in my opinion are far more devastating than the actual condition, I choose to control it with diet.

In addition, my husband had developed a "beer belly" that had him looking 6 months pregnant and feeling quite poorly about himself. He has been doing the Whole30 program for only 5 days now and has lost measurably from his waist. He is already looking better and feeling better.

Not all programs or "diets" are right for everyone, find what works for you and stick to it but don't knock the efforts of others who are, at least, trying. Good success on your journey people

Please share what you mean by addiction here and what your experience is.

As for the whole foods 30, it's just another fad.

I was really stubborn about trying the Whole30. My sister, who is a PA, said all of her Dr's are recommending it, so she and my mom did it in May. My mom has lost 25 lbs and my sister has lost 15. I finally gave in and am on day 8. I said many of the same things...how can beans be bad for you, this is too strict, etc.

I read It Starts With Food over the weekend and I really recommend you read the book before passing judgement. The point of the book is that this is for 30 days, so you can see what negatively affects you. The term "bad psychological response" doesnt refer to beans at all if you read the book. The issue with beans is the Lectin. The psychological response issue deals primarily with grains, sugar and alcohol.

A main thing the book discusses is inflammation, which sometimes you don't have any outward symptoms. But chronic systemic inflammation causes a whole host of diseases. All of those "lifestyle diseases" that americans have are caused by inflammation.

I am not the person to debate all the sciency stuff, but seriously, if you are curious about it, read the book before starting the 30 days.

I did this last year with my husband, I bought and read the entire book, I stuck to the program for the entire 30 days with very few issues but as soon as I tried to get back to a normal lifestyle 'riding my own bike' as they put it I was in a terrible way. For about 6-8 weeks after my initial re-introduction I was miserable

At first everything I ate seemed to set me off and I kept a strict food diary and tried to keep to the whole 30 foods. I went to see a gastro doctor as I was at the end of my tether and he told me to try antacids for 2 weeks, these didn't seem to help or make things worse but after 2 weeks I stopped taking them as directed and slowly felt better. Leading up to this I had been slowly reintroducing items and now I seem to be OK with most things apart from rice.

To wrap up, although I agree with a lot of the principals around the Whole 30 and did feel really good while doing it the aftermath just wasn't worth it for me, I think the plan is far to restrictive and very hard to stick to long term and had I had any idea I would respond to the reintroduction the way I did I would never have done it. I did it as I wanted to improve what was already a pretty healthy lifestyle but still want to be able to treat myself now and again to a glass of wine or a bagel without being ill for 3 days after. I have a pretty good diet in general and even now I stick to whole clean foods and avoid the obvious bad food like junk foods and sugary nastiest but in my case I think everything in moderation for me equals a happier life.

Just as a side note my husband had no issues after doing the program and we both lost about 8-10 pounds but I will certainly never do such a restrictive 'cleanse' again. I think I could get the same results from eating clean with no alcohol and a decent amount of exercise in 30 days.

abarriere wrote: »

I read It Starts With Food over the weekend and I really recommend you read the book before passing judgement.

I've read the book and thought it was full of poor arguments, especially re potatoes.

But I don't think there's any harm if you want to try it.

I do think there are more reputable and reliable ways to explore food sensitivities if you think you have them and if you know you are fine with legumes (which most people likely should eat more of) or dairy or wheat there's no reason to cut them out. But any short term dramatic change in diet (including going super low fat or super low carb) usually results in weight loss since people can't eat lots of foods they were used to eating and it takes a while to adjust and find new ways of eating where the calories creep up again.

I also think a lot of the current obsession with "inflammation" is nothing but woo -- people want to think there's some reason they are overweight beyond eating too much, so they want to think it's "inflammation" or "leaky gut" or some such. Usually they can't even explain what that means.

Well, happily it's on my Kindle, so it's easy to refresh my memory! They say they are similar to grains, and that we are eating the seeds, so they have lots of carbs as compared to the amount of protein. Then they go into a thing about how they aren't anti carb and legumes are less likely to be overconsumed than some other carbs, but if you have been overconsuming other carbs your hormones might be out of whack and continuing to consume lots of carbs--even from legumes--will prolong the hormonal issue.

More significantly (I guess), they say they have lots of phytate so like whole grains they aren't really nutrient dense even though we think they are. While they can be okay if prepared properly (fermented and such) the need to do this suggests they aren't optimal vs. the other foods that are easily available these days (veggies and meat, I guess).

They also claim they are hard to digest and may feed the "bad bacteria" in your gut. This is argued in part based on them being FODMAPs, but of course many foods are that are not prohibited.

There is then a separate argument about soybeans specifically.

On the "phytate" thing: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-phytates-phytic-acid and http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400758/Are-Phytates-Bad-or-Good.html (among other sources). And even from one (more sensible) paleo source: http://chriskresser.com/are-legumes-paleo/

Dr. Weil also thinks legumes are "anti-inflammatory," as well as healthy: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03206/Cooking-With-Legumes.html

My sister-in-law was in town last weekend and doing Whole30. It sounds like unnecessary misery if you ask me.

Interesting to read about any weight lost coming roaring back once eating habits return to normal.

kikip38 wrote: »

victori813 wrote: »

Big advocate of whole 30 program! Starting round 3 on Monday. Please add me if you're also doing it/support it

I'm starting tomorrow, and pretty excited. I gotta say, I'm disappointed to see so much vitriol surrounding an elimination "diet".

So people not enamored of Whole30 are spouting vitriol? Wow.

It's not vitriol, it's just people wondering what's wrong with perfectly healthy foods like lentils and such.

It's the same issue I take with Paleo.

I have absolutely nothing against people wanting to take a nutritious approach towards eating. I love plenty of nutrient-dense foods myself and the bulk of my diet consists of them.

It's the capricious picking and choosing based on what amounts to psuedo-science of what is and is not acceptable to eat among them.

Lentils are good food. So are potatoes.

I think I'm going to make some lentil stew later this week using them both. Or maybe lentil shepherd's pie.

PeachyCarol wrote: »

It's not vitriol, it's just people wondering what's wrong with perfectly healthy foods like lentils and such.

It's the same issue I take with Paleo.

I have absolutely nothing against people wanting to take a nutritious approach towards eating. I love plenty of nutrient-dense foods myself and the bulk of my diet consists of them.

It's the capricious picking and choosing based on what amounts to psuedo-science of what is and is not acceptable to eat among them.

Lentils are good food. So are potatoes.

I think I'm going to make some lentil stew later this week using them both. Or maybe lentil shepherd's pie.

Not to derail, but can I have that recipe?

PeachyCarol wrote: »

Which one?

Shepherds pie

PeachyCarol wrote: »

It's not vitriol, it's just people wondering what's wrong with perfectly healthy foods like lentils and such.

It's the same issue I take with Paleo.

I have absolutely nothing against people wanting to take a nutritious approach towards eating. I love plenty of nutrient-dense foods myself and the bulk of my diet consists of them.

It's the capricious picking and choosing based on what amounts to psuedo-science of what is and is not acceptable to eat among them.

Lentils are good food. So are potatoes.

I think I'm going to make some lentil stew later this week using them both. Or maybe lentil shepherd's pie.

Things aren't always conveyed in an online forum as they are intended. I love lentils, I'm just not eating them for the duration of the whole30. After I determine what food or foods my body is having issue with, I'll incorporate back the ones that I can. Im trying this because I've been eating clean, and at a deficit of about 500 calories a day, for the last year. I've run 3 half marathons, and crossfit 5x a week. I'm not losing weight. I suffer from chronic tendinitis (feet, elbows, you name it). I'm not trying to "reset" my body, I just need to figure out what's wrong. My thyroid has been tested-a-ok. Maybe I have a gluten intolerance. Maybe my body doesn't like dairy. Who knows? I'm willing to give it a shot, to see if anything improves. There have been countless blogs about people's tendinitis disappearing; for that alone, it is worth giving up a few things for a few weeks.

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »

kikip38 wrote: »

victori813 wrote: »

Big advocate of whole 30 program! Starting round 3 on Monday. Please add me if you're also doing it/support it

I'm starting tomorrow, and pretty excited. I gotta say, I'm disappointed to see so much vitriol surrounding an elimination "diet".

It's just nice to finally realize that you don't have to go on some restrictive, unsustainable "diet" plan to lose weight. It's nice and helpful to let others know that it is not necessary to follow some author's arbitrary rules to lose weight. Once you realize that there are no "bad" foods, and you can enjoy what you like in moderation within a calorie deficit, it feels good to spread that information to others who may not have realized it yet.

Hi there! My post wasn't at all meant to say everyone who posted with a contrary opinion was being mean. I was just surprised at the ones that were (there really are quite a few throughout mfp).

vivmom2014 wrote: »

kikip38 wrote: »

vivmom2014 wrote: »

kikip38 wrote: »

victori813 wrote: »

Big advocate of whole 30 program! Starting round 3 on Monday. Please add me if you're also doing it/support it

I'm starting tomorrow, and pretty excited. I gotta say, I'm disappointed to see so much vitriol surrounding an elimination "diet".

So people not enamored of Whole30 are spouting vitriol? Wow.

No. I get that people are all different. It just seems like a whole lot of disdain (is that a better choice?) for an eating plan. A lot of people haven't tried it, haven't researched, etc. I was just surprised. It's not really "wow" worthy. Haha. Maybe I will decide the program sucks. I don't know yet, because I haven't tried it (3 days in, now). I'm new to my fitness pal, and was just searching for support/info. Kind of regretting it now.

Don't regret it. Information is always good.

And, yes, I agree that 'disdain' is a more accurate word here. Doesn't mean disapproval, because people are free to eat however they wish. I had just spent time with my sister-in-law who was doing Whole30 and I didn't understand why she was being so restrictive w/o any doctor's orders. She kept insisting it was to get sugar out of her life. I don't see any of it as sustainable -- and I guess it only lasts 30 days -- so my disdain arises from the fact that once one returns to old eating habits, the weight comes back. Because make no mistake: the weight comes back.

I hope you're successful in locating your possible food allergies.

Of course...that's my concern, as well. Yes, I hope to figure out the issue(s), but I'm not too keen on losing weight, only to gain it back. I suppose that if I determine the culprit, I wouldn't be adding it back in, and maybe I can avoid that unfortunate event.

I make it a general rule not to follow any diet fad. No one ever got thin and stayed that way off of a fad.