Whole30 - started Jan 18

martabeinghealthy
martabeinghealthy Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

I'm Marta, and I'm starting this thread because I am usually absolutely atrocious at sticking to any food/diet/meal plans unless I literally HAVE to (i.e I have Coeliac disease and cutting out gluten after diagnosis was easy as hell - before hand, absolute no).

I have started on 2/1/18 - couldn't to New Years Day start as had nothing in the fridge to plan with :)

Basically, I'm hoping to inspiration, recipes, someone to hold me accountable to complete this and just people to chat to before my other half loses his marbles!

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Some people are so rebellious that they refuse to follow instructions, even plans they have made themselves, for things they want to do. To lose weight, you have to eat less. But Whole 30 is something you don't have to.

    So what is it about diet plans that makes you struggle to stick to them? Is it just the idea of having a plan, or knowing that you have to eat less, or are you doing unnecessary things?
  • martabeinghealthy
    martabeinghealthy Posts: 3 Member
    It's almost as if my brain does not see the difference between being 'full' and 'satisfied'. Also, I'm Eastern European by decent so bread and potatoes are the main staples of my diet. Moving on from Polish sourdough to gluten free bread wasn't easy but cutting it out altogether makes me constantly want to eat 'something'.

    I'm not planning to lose weight, hopefully to actually put a little on as I'm severely underweight (7 st/47kg for a 5'7"/167 cm tall girl is too little), but the idea is to put on muscle as oppose to just get bigger, as even though I'm very small, I'm not actually lean at all.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I can understand having to let go of one of the mainstays in your diet is difficult. But even if you can't eat rye and wheat and barley, you can eat those potatoes, and rice, and buckwheat, corn, beans, nuts, dairy, and everything else.

    Most brains don't see any difference between satisfied and full, our brains didn't come with that capability, because too much food has never been an issue throughout evolution. Right now, I've eaten a good dinner, and I want a cookie. But I have to be careful so I don't gain weight. It's actually great that you always want to eat something. Just eat. Eat all you want and all you can.
  • martabeinghealthy
    martabeinghealthy Posts: 3 Member
    So I've seen my dietitian yesterday, and he is VERY MUCH against Whole30. According to him (and I quote) 'unless you're an American with no health insurance and you cannot afford food allergy testing, do not do it'.

    He seems to think that it's extreme, unhealthy, without any scientific research or backing and with my existing food allergies, I would be at risk of becoming malnourished.

    I'm going to stick to few rules of it (i.e do not eat what you can't pronounce, no added sugars, no alcohol etc.) but I have been advised not to cut out diary and legumes.

    Apparently (again, his words), according to experts Whole30 has been placed at #37 out of 38 diets as one of the worst and unhealthy out there
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    martabeinghealthy wrote: »
    So I've seen my dietitian yesterday, and he is VERY MUCH against Whole30. According to him (and I quote) 'unless you're an American with no health insurance and you cannot afford food allergy testing, do not do it'.

    He seems to think that it's extreme, unhealthy, without any scientific research or backing and with my existing food allergies, I would be at risk of becoming malnourished.

    I'm going to stick to few rules of it (i.e do not eat what you can't pronounce, no added sugars, no alcohol etc.) but I have been advised not to cut out diary and legumes.

    Apparently (again, his words), according to experts Whole30 has been placed at #37 out of 38 diets as one of the worst and unhealthy out there

    Your dietitian is worth his weight in gold :) Everything he says is correct.

    Sensible eating rules are great. Nonsensical rules will make everything more difficult and are potentially harmful. Do not go the route of not eat what you can't pronounce and no added sugar. Educate yourself - no, not so you can pronounce and thus eat more "processed crap" :D , but to not be scammed. Learn what the ingredients are, and you will be less scared. Usually it's perfectly innocent substances derived from plants that are part of our diets anyway. Added sugar is the same substance as sugar found naturally occurring in fruit, and it has the same effect in your body. The whole idea about "focus on healthy eating" and what "diets" get so totally warped, is to get in better nutrition. You aren't harming yourself by eating additives, you are harming yourself if you eat too much, either of one of a few things, or too much overall, over time, or exclude whole ranges of nutritious and delicious foods,
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I happen to agree that the "no legumes, no dairy" (and no grains, for those without celiac, or even for celiacs who find non gluten whole grains (inc. corn) to be helpful in their diet) is really quite arbitrary and the supposed basis for it in the book seems to be bunk. My sister had IBS related to some trigger foods and found and cut them out through a process with a dietitian, and none of her issues would have been helped by W30 at all, so I hate the idea of people with real intolerances wasting time with it.

    I think the focus on cooking from whole foods is nice, and something I try to do independent of W30, so if you are interested in that no harm in taking a set period to challenge yourself to do it if you think it will help you break out of the box or set some habits and try new things. One of the things that helped me do that was getting a farm box and having to figure out how to use it up each week, but right now obviously that wouldn't work!

    If you mostly stick to whole foods and foods you know what they are, reading labels shouldn't be an issue, nor added sugar (unless you want a dessert or mean just a little in some condiment, perhaps). I do recommend understanding what's in a label rather than assuming that if you don't know what it is, it's bad. But taking the time to expand your skills and ability to work from whole foods is not (IMO) a bad idea either, if you are interested in going that and find it motivating.
  • kellyflaca
    kellyflaca Posts: 7 Member
    How can eating healthy, whole foods, and grass fed organic meats be terrible? Cutting out sugar, dairy, alcohol are truly good for the body. Additionally it’s a 30 day reset to help you see what inflames your body. Im not saying it’s great for everyone but it’s certainly not terrible. Maybe do a modified version?

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