MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE WHOLE 30 PROGRAM
Hi friends and happy Friday! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen me sharing some food moments over the last month while doing the Whole 30 program. I will also be sharing some of my favorite recipes that we did during the 30 days, but before that, I thought i’d give you a recap on my experience doing this program which entailed NO added sugar, dairy, alcohol, grains, soy, all beans, and artificial preservatives.
I do want to give a quick disclaimer, this cleanse is not for everyone, you should do your own research first before diving into an elimination program like this. Talk with a nutritionist or your doctor to see if this is right for you. This post is from MY personal experience and opinions. Okay, now that we got that out of the way.
I listened to Melissa Urban, the founder of the Whole 30 program, as a guest on one of my weekly podcasts a few months back. I really aligned with all the information she was providing. I had heard of the Whole 30 cleanse before, but wasn’t familiarized with the details of the program or interested. In this episode she really dived into the nitty gritty of the program and what it entails. I definitely had been consuming too much processed carbs and sugar over the last several months and wanted to dial that back a bit. I felt very motivated and determined to do this cleanse after listening to this full interview. Let’s rewind a bit and give you more context on this program.
What is Whole 30?
It is a 30 day elimination diet that involves avoiding certain foods that, according to the founders, can cause inflammation and cravings, and negatively affect hormones and gut health. These foods include; dairy, added sugar, legumes, beans, soy, grains, alcohol, and processed foods. I would not consider this a “diet”. Yes, you are eliminating very specific food groups for 30 days, but you are not counting calories or depriving yourself of food. You can eat as much as you want. The following acceptable foods are; all vegetables (except corn and edamame) meat, seafood, fruit, nuts (no peanuts) and seeds.
I felt very determined and driven to do this program. Foremost I wanted to prove to myself that I could. I believe you can’t convince people to do something that they don’t actually want to do for themselves. I wanted to do this and luckily so did my husband. In the almost 10 years that we have been together, we’ve never done a cleanse like this. We were vegan for 2 weeks a few years ago but that’s it. I have been eating dairy, grains and sugar for as long as I can remember. Those are my comfort foods and I wanted to challenge myself to 30 days without them. 30 days flies by on a regular basis, so I reminded myself of that often. It’s just 30 days, Charlene. There are much more difficult things in life. This is not one of them.
Once I decided I was going to do this, I made sure to really plan out how and when I was going to do it. This is HUGE. Be prepared before you begin this cleanse and find an opportune time that works best with your lifestyle. We used The Head Plan nourish to plan out all our meals, but any monthly layout calendar will do. We only planned 1 week at a time. This certainly helped make this entire process more manageable and easier to consume. It’s a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, so you don’t want to over purchase. Take it one step at a time, and don’t overwhelm yourself. I purchased the Whole 30 meal *book which was crucial for our first two weeks. The last two weeks we were able to take what we had learned and create more of our own meals.
Now, a couple of things that I will say about this program is that some of the recipes in this book were off a bit, by cook times or prep sequence. We definitely tweaked a lot of recipes to our liking. Like I said, during the first 2 weeks, especially the first week, we used this book a lot to create meals and really emerge ourselves in what this was. And we learned a lot along the way. This program is also more pricey in comparison to our normal grocery trips. Especially the first shop. We had to get a lot of ingredients we didn’t have on hand. And with all the quality meat, organic fruits and vegetables, good quality nuts and seeds, it adds up. This was something I did foresee going into this, but take that into consideration.
Having a partner to do this with was so major. Sean was really the one behind the meals. We prepped and planned together but he executed the meals. I knew going into this that it would be a challenge for me. I have sugar, dairy and carbs on a daily basis. Especially sugar and carbs. The first 3-4 days were a little rough. I still had the determination to do this which of course helped but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t feeling it, cause I was. I planned to have 7 days off from work during our first week of this program, which was such a good idea and I am very glad I did it that way. Not everyone will be able to plan this out around their vacation time, nor want to, but this was what I wanted to do to ensure success with this. Because I wasn’t working I was able to dedicate my time and focus to planning meals, building a routine and figuring all of this out. Some might find it easier to be busy and at work while doing this. You gotta do what works best for you.
Like I mentioned, this is not a caloric deficit diet. You can eat as much as you want as long as it is within the perimeters of the program. I ate when I felt hungry, which I did a lot of during the first 5-7 days. Cravings did happen so having sweet and salty snacks on hand was key. We had a lot of dried fruits, beef jerky, nuts and seeds. We also purchased a dehydrator to make our own. Sean made homemade beef jerky too. Breakfast was my domain. I pretty much made the same thing every day. We either had eggs, fruit, bacon/sausage, or a smoothie. There is so much variety with fruit and different ways to prepare eggs that we never felt bored with that combo. I also could have coffee, which let’s just say, thank god for that. Nutpods are the only approved creamer so I had these stocked at all times. I added cinnamon and nutmeg to all of my coffees which was delicious.
I didn’t go into this program to lose weight. That is not what this program is intended for. It is meant to be a self-experiment to see what food groups you should be more mindful of in your daily life. Analyze what works and doesn’t work for your body and mind. I did lose about 7 pounds doing this but it was not my driving factor, although it was nice. I wanted to listen to my body and see what I responded strongly too and what I should be limiting going forward. I now know that my body performs at its best with less carbs and dairy. I overall feel less bloated and lighter with limiting those food groups. I slept better, had more energy throughout the day, and not to give you TMI, I definitely was eliminating well, if you know what I mean.
Once you complete the full 30 days you slowly begin working those food groups back in one day at a time so you can see how your body responds once you’ve given it something it hasn’t had for 30 days. Day 31, I added oat milk creamer with a bit of sugar into my morning coffee. That was my addition for the day. I am not going to also have dairy and alcohol. I will be implementing the food groups I eliminated one day at a time so that I can see how my body responds and know clearly what works for me what doesn’t. Every person will be different when it comes to this. That is the beauty of this program. I am keeping a journal as I go into the next week so I can log how I feel after consuming certain food groups.
I will share some of my top meals from this program in next week’s post. Let me know if you decide to try this program or any questions you might have that I didn’t cover. My biggest take away is simple, we can do anything we put our minds too. Self-confidence is developed through small acts of determination and drive. I feel proud of myself, for not just finishing, but beginning, staying focused, keeping my mind strong and not caving into my cravings. I feel empowered to do more and I know that I can if and when I want to.
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XO,
Charlene
