What is amazing about your kids getting older and out on their own is that they start to discover things they can teach you. My daughter is wonderful when it comes to that. She is out living her best life, and I love hearing all about it.
One of the areas of her life that she is truly discovering on her own is her health. Last year she tried the Whole30 lifestyle. She had great results. It changed the way she thought about dieting. She has been trying to get me to do it as well, and I want to, but I haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
I know there are many options out there for losing weight and getting fit, and everyone will have different results. But when you find something that works for your body, that can be a life-changer.
I asked her to write about it and share the results of her Whole30 lifestyle experience. Here is what she said!
My Whole30 Lifestyle Experience
“What does it say about our culture that the desire for weight loss is considered a default feature of womanhood?” – Roxane Gay in Hunger
I can’t remember a time in my life where I didn’t think about dieting or the consequences of eating unhealthy food. I’ve used calorie counter apps, Weight Watchers, and juice cleanses I’ve found on the internet, etc. Dieting was always present in my life, yet I was never making any progress.
I first discovered the Whole30 program on Instagram. Someone I followed was posting pictures of their compliant dinner dishes. I’ve always been intrigued and confused about what the perfect diet should be. I thought, could Whole30 be the answer?
The Whole30 is a 30-day dietary experiment designed to help you transform your health, habits, and emotional relationship with food. The goal is to eat real foods and cut out all added sugar, alcohol, grains, dairy, legumes, and artificial ingredients for 30 days. After the 30 days pass, you slowly reintroduce the foods you eliminated to see how they impact you. I was 
immediately drawn to the simple principles of the Whole30 program. It’s temporary, so they don’t expect you to eat Whole30 compliant at all times. How bad could eliminating processed foods and eating real, whole foods be?
I completed my first round of Whole 30 in April of 2018. I was committed! No alcohol, no fast food, no sugar. It was exciting to take on a challenge and prove that I was capable of the “impossible.” Little did I know, I would learn and grow so much more beyond those 30 days.
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For instance, cooking has never been my thing (I’m just like my mom). The recipe must be no more than five simple ingredients, use as few dishes as possible, and be quickly cooked. Doing the Whole30 forced me to be more prepared and have more dishes and meals prepped to remain compliant. I learned so much about cooking different types of meat and how to be creative with veggies. For instance, did you know that sweet potatoes are DELICIOUS? I always ruled them out and decided that they just weren’t for me from a young age. Now I eat them at least once a week!
The Whole30 lifestyle also taught me important lessons in consistency. It was a major wake-up call that made me realize eating veggies and fitting in more activity can improve your health and mood overall. It’s not just a never-ending goal to get fit or lose weight.
Will I ever do a Whole30 again? Truthfully, yes. I love the way it makes me feel! The program’s point is to do the full 30 days once, reintroduce the eliminated foods slowly, then live in “food freedom” forever. For some individuals, grains make them physically sick upon eating. They would know not to consume grains if they don’t want to pay the consequences. For me, dairy makes me a little foggy-headed. However, that isn’t enough of a consequence for me to eliminate dairy from my diet completely. Everyone’s food freedom is unique!
If at some point you feel as though you’ve fallen off the tracks from food freedom, it might be a good idea to do a reset. This means doing another Whole30 or doing a mini one for seven days or so. For me, finding time to do one Whole30 a year has worked well. There are many resources and guides provided free of charge on the Whole30 website – be sure to check it out if you’re interested in learning even more about the program.
Now, for the part we’ve all been waiting for – did I lose weight?
Yes, I lost roughly 15 pounds during my first round of Whole30. Since then, I’ve lost even more. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t important to me or an outcome I didn’t enjoy. I really feel as though I gained so much more from my Whole30 experiences than just weight loss. I learned to enjoy cooking and planning my meals, I focus more on how the food will make me feel, and now I have a good foundation to enjoy food and eat treats when it truly feels right.
How amazing that my new default setting is to feel good and treat my body well?
I told you she was wonderful! She has encouraged me to try Whole30, but I keep putting it off because something special is always going on each month that I don’t want to miss. But the truth is, I’m a little scared to try. I’m afraid that if I can’t eat fattening food or drink alcohol, I can’t enjoy life! But it just means I have to do it a little differently. And like she said, it’s only 30 days! It doesn’t have to be forever.
This program fits in so well with my theory of not worrying about what you look like but doing the little things to be healthy and feel good.
I’m looking at my calendar now!
Have you tried the Whole 30 lifestyle? What were your results?