I Tried Whole. 30, and Heres How It Went. It takes 3. 0 days to push the reset button on your health and change your relationship with food. This is the concept behind Melissa and Dallas Hartwigs Whole. By eating non processed whole foods and ditching grains, dairy, and sugar, you will reduce inflammation in your system, clear up your skin, and revitalize your energy stores. These are just a few of the benefits this program boasts. Sounds pretty great, right Well, I tried it, and Im going to walk you through what happened. First, Id just like to acknowledge that Im not a nutritionist or a healthcare professional. The opinions I share here are simply my own experiences and thoughts while trying this program. I also acknowledge that the topics of healthy eating, dieting, and illness are very personal, and what might work for me, might not work for someone else. We are all unique. So Im here to share my experience with this program, and you can make the informed and personal decision as to whether or not this might be something youd like to try. Lori-M.jpg' alt='Whole30 Diet' title='Whole30 Diet' />What Is Whole. During this program there is no calorie counting, no measuring, and no weighing yourself for the entire 3. I know that can be hard especially if youre feeling totally bloated which can happen in the beginning or particularly svelte in the later weeks. Just dont do it. Even though a lot of peoples weight begins to normalize during the 3. Is your sleep better Hows your skin Do you feel like doing cartwheels with that extra energyThe Whole30 Program Rules. Yes Eat real food. Eat moderate portions of meat, seafood, and eggs lots of vegetables some fruit plenty of natural fats. Do not follow the Whole30 diet for a fasttrack to weight loss or to learn longterm eating habits. Whole30 is essentially a month of restriction, even from. BBBrusselsSprouts-Whole30.jpg' alt='Whole30 Diet' title='Whole30 Diet' />The Whole30 plan claims to nix unhealthy cravings by eliminating all sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes and dairy. But is a diet this restrictive healthy I Went on the Whole30 Diet and Heres What Happened. Its not just another fad diet. Believe the hype. Tens of thousands of people have taken on the Whole30 program, a monthlong cleaneating program that promises a bevy of health and emotional benefits. Cool. Buy the book The Whole. The 3. 0 Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom, 1. As far as food goes, youre simply going to eat a lot of fresh, good quality eats and ditch the processed stuff. Beyond that, youre removing all grains, dairy, soy, legumes, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and alcohol from your diet. All of these foods especially in excess, according to the authors, have been linked to systemic inflammation, hormonal imbalance, gut issues, and more. The idea is to remove the stressors from your body and give it the nourishment and time to heal itself it needs. This means less inflammation, a healthy metabolism, hormonal harmony, a happy gut, clearer skin, and improved energy Sounds good to me. Although if were honest, I panicked a bit when I realized no cheese would hit my lips for a full month. After the 3. 0 days are up, you slowly reintroduce foods that were off plan. Much like an elimination diet to detect food sensitivities, youll be able to have a really good picture of what your body likes and doesnt like during this reintroduction phase. Why I Decided to Try Whole. I consider myself to be a pretty healthy eater. Im gluten free for health reasons, and I always try to make sure to eat a ton of vegetables. I make things from scratch, and am wary of overly processed foods. However, just like most of us, I can eat too much chocolate or indulge in something really carb heavy and feel the after effects. For me, this means joint pain and the feeling of being hungover, along with many other equally fun symptoms. Two years ago I got formally diagnosed with chronic Lyme Disease. You can read more about that and what it means here. In my health journey, one of my goals has been to reduce inflammation in my system. There are a ton of factors that go into this, but one of the things I can control is the food I put into my body. Food, and restoring gut health, is a huge part of reversing chronic illness. I once read that 7. Thats a lot So if your gut is out of balance, and youre fighting a chronic illness, it makes sense to try and restore gut health in order to better your immune system, right Plus, I feel like the way I eat directly affects my mood. If I eat sugar, I almost always feel like garbage. If I eat protein and veggies and tons of avocado, I feel stable and much less like I am going to have a stage four meltdown. Blood sugar swings are also real no one wants to deal with me when I am hangry. Its a nightmare. This program is supposed to help with all these things. I desperately wanted to feel better, so I dove in. Related 1. 0 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Did Whole. Meal prep is essential I made a lot of soup. Image credit Gina EykemansSo, What Can You Eat on the Whole. Diet You can fill your plate up with vegetables, meat, eggs, seafood, fruit, and healthy fats. Potatoes of all kinds are allowed, as well as squash and root veggies. You cant eat dairy, but ghee or clarified butter is allowed since its lactose free. I was really happy about this, since Im a big fan of butterGrass fed meat and organic veggies are preferred in the program, but if its going to break the bank, just buy whats in your budget. I tend to spring for the best meat I can, and use this Clean 1. Dirty Dozen guide to facilitate what produce Im going to buy organic. Read more Heres What You Can and Cant Eat on Whole. Lets Talk About Sex with Your Pants On. Sex With Your Pants On SWYPO is a term used to describe the idea of recreating treats such as pancakes, brownies, or pizza with Whole. The Hartwigs feel that if youre trying to recreate a pizza made out of cauliflower crust in order to scratch a craving itch, then youre kind of missing the point. To quote the Whole. You can tell yourself its okay, its still pretty good, youre totally satisfied but thats kind of a lie. Because you know exactly how good pants less sex feels. I understand the concept of what theyre trying to say, but I feel awkward likening a lackluster cauliflower pizza to dry humping. Were going to be practicing abstinence for those 3. In short, keep your pants on and dont try to make pancakes. Its too sexy. It might tempt you to take your pants off eventually and go full pancake. Im going to stop talking about taking my pants off now. Perfect. This program is famous for its tough love approach. The most quoted line of Whole. It is not hard. Dont you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You wont get any coddling, and you wont get any sympathy for your struggles. So you can imagine that their stance on cheating in the program is very stringent. If you cheat, youre supposed to start again at day one with no exceptions. As an intense perfectionist in life, this scared me more than any other rule or dietary restriction. And to be fair, I think that any dietary change is hard. Maybe its not like quitting heroin, but its also not like a spa massage. Did I mention that I also dont like when people tell me what to do As a really small child, I stabbed myself in the eye with a fork because my mom told me not to. Yeah. tough love isnt my love language. Life is complicated. This Mason Jar Tuna Salad totally saved my life Image credit Gina EykemansWhat I Ate on My Whole. Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites on this page. Diet. Those are the general guidelines, but what about the specificsWhat do you actually eat Heres what worked for me Ill share more specifics and recipes later this week. Breakfast My favorite breakfast during this program was leftovers from the night before it was easy and usually had all the elements I needed to feel full and jumpstart my day. If there was leftover protein, I might throw it over some greens and make a salad. If there was soup, that was always perfect too. When I was feeling breakfast y, eggs did the trick with some roasted veggies. Lunch I got really into making Mason jar salads. I would pile all kinds of salad goodies into Mason jars during my Sunday meal prep, and simply dump it into a bowl when I was ready to eat during the week. This is a lifesaver during a workday. Dinner Crispy chicken thighs, roasted veggies, and sauted greens slow cooker kalua pork with cabbage soup of various kinds and thinly sliced steak over a salad. There were tons of meals that I loved for dinner. This was almost always my easiest meal. Snacks Carrots and celery dunked into a guacamole This was a lifesaver.