I had first heard about Whole 30 a year ago from my friend and office-mate Natalie. As I had then pieced it together, Whole 30 was some sort of diet; all I knew was that for a window of time, she wasn't eating nearly as many cupcakes, brownies, or other treats that found their way to our office as the rest of us, and 'I can't, I'm on Whole 30' was her excuse. In reality, she had probably told me about Whole 30 sooner than that, but was drowned out by the sound of rustling Kit Kat wrappers or loud crunching of 'Chicken & Waffles' Lays coming from my corner of the office.
I became indirectly aware of Whole 30 a year or two earlier, though my friends Kelly and Carolyn. They followed a similar diet - Paleo - which they still follow. Paleo adheres to many of the same principles as Whole 30, and I remember thinking that it would be impossibly restrictive to follow - no high fructose corn syrup IV drip to start the day? Nope. No King Size Reese's Peanut Butter Cup mid-morning snack? Inconceivable! So when Natalie actually had my attention and told me about the program, I initially disregarded it as something I would never attempt.
And now I'm doing it.
What Is Whole 30?
Whole 30, at it's core, is a 30 day nutritional reset. The program details are outlined on their website, and in the book It Starts With Food. This gives you a good sense of their founding principle:
Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it. Are your energy levels inconsistent or non-existent? Do you have aches and pains that can’t be explained by over-use or injury? Are you having a hard time losing weight no matter how hard you try? Do you have some sort of condition (like skin issues, digestive ailments, seasonal allergies or fertility issues) that medication hasn’t helped? These symptoms may be directly related to the foods you eat – even the “healthy” stuff. So how do you know if (and how) these foods are affecting you?Strip them from your diet completely. Cut out all the psychologically unhealthy, hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups for a full 30 days. Let your body heal and recover from whatever effects those foods may be causing. Push the “reset” button with your metabolism, systemic inflammation, and the downstream effects of the food choices you’ve been making. Learn once and for all how the foods you’ve been eating are actually affecting your day to day life, and your long term health
For those of you who know me, you are most likely aware that I am generally cynical towardsEasy Does It'. I embrace all forms of change, but not at the expense of pragmatic or fiscal considerations. Or worse, embracing a change that history will end up ridiculing; one of my worst fears is having my kids in 2030 find pictures of me in whatever the future equivalent of parachute pants, acid washed jeans, adult overalls, or Uggs. My Spidey Sense tingles every time I feel like like I'm being sold snakeoil, and I can't deny that I have my guard up when it comes to lifestyle changes like Whole 30, from which people or companies are profiting. That said, I have kept two things in mind when deciding to pursue this:
fads, trends, or anything that people grab on to and obsess over for a short period of time. My motto could probably be summed up with some variation of '
1. The program commitment is only 30 days, and the book was only $13.57 on Amazon (but if you dig through the website and online, EVERYTHING you need can be found without paying a dime).
2. The program is about NOT eating sugar, carbs, processed foods, and foods with unnecessary additives and preservatives for only a month. Is it a catastrophe that I swap out french bread and Baby Ruths for 30 days and swap in more vegetables, meats, and raw foods?
What can you eat on Whole 30?
For 30 days, you eat absolutely nothing that is tasty, interesting, or satisfying in any way. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but definitely no Shamrock Shakes, Cadbury Mini Eggs or Ben & Jerry's (any flavor!). To give you as sense of what one can eat, it's easier to list what one can't:
- Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
- Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
- Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
- Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
- Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee.
- Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits (chips and fries) and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold, and fingerling potatoes off your plate.
- Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
- No Paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no banana-egg pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole 30 entirely.
- You are not allowed to step on the scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program.
So, to sum up DO NOT eat anything you usually want to eat. What most surprised me about these commandments are that legumes aren't allowed. The book indicates that legumes are an unnecessary source of carbohydrates, not a great primary source of protein, and rich in phytates — 'anti-nutrients which bind to minerals in the legumes'. Who knew?
So this is what I'll be doing for 30 days (and 9 more posts)...but I won't be doing it alone. My roommate Whitney is doing it, and Natalie has also agree to do this (again) with me. Natalie and I had a Skype chat a few days ago to cover the basics:
[3/7/14 1:00:02 PM] Natalie Canfield: Umm.... Did I commit to starting whole 30 on Monday? Just checking...
[3/7/14 1:00:36 PM] Tony Wilbur: Monday should work - although I don't think I'm going to get the book in time :-(
[3/7/14 1:00:55 PM] Natalie Canfield: awwww shiz- Well, you can use the website for guidance
[3/7/14 1:01:00 PM] Natalie Canfield: I don't even have the book
[3/7/14 1:01:01 PM] Tony Wilbur: my roommate whitney is doing it with me as well
[3/7/14 1:01:05 PM] Natalie Canfield: sweet!
[3/7/14 1:01:18 PM] Natalie Canfield: they have shopping lists and everything on the website.
[3/7/14 1:01:22 PM] Tony Wilbur: what's the website again?
[3/7/14 1:01:28 PM] Natalie Canfield: basically, the entire book is there, you just have to be willing to dig
[3/7/14 1:01:59 PM] Natalie Canfield: http://whole30.com/
[3/7/14 1:04:08 PM] Natalie Canfield: also, this is important: http://whole30.com/2013/08/revised-timeline/
[3/7/14 1:06:15 PM] Tony Wilbur: I'm just eating steak, bacon and eggs during every meal
[3/7/14 1:06:19 PM] Tony Wilbur: maybe a little spinach, too
[3/7/14 1:06:29 PM] Natalie Canfield: no bacon dude
[3/7/14 1:06:34 PM] Natalie Canfield: it has sugar in it
[3/7/14 1:06:41 PM] Tony Wilbur: all bacon?
[3/7/14 1:06:45 PM] Natalie Canfield: ha ha
[3/7/14 1:06:55 PM] Natalie Canfield: if you can find bacon without sugar, you will be a hero
[3/7/14 1:07:04 PM] Tony Wilbur: hm
[3/7/14 1:07:04 PM] Natalie Canfield: to all Whole 30ers
[3/7/14 1:07:10 PM] Tony Wilbur: fuck that shit
[3/7/14 1:07:13 PM] Natalie Canfield: it is part of the curing process
[3/7/14 1:07:16 PM] Tony Wilbur: I guess it's just steak and eggs
[3/7/14 1:07:31 PM] Natalie Canfield: my second time around, I didn't worry about sugar content less than 2%
[3/7/14 1:07:39 PM] Natalie Canfield: bacon falls into that category
[3/7/14 1:07:45 PM] Natalie Canfield: so does a lot of processed meat- like sausages.
[3/7/14 1:08:02 PM] Tony Wilbur: FUUUUUCK
[3/7/14 1:08:02 PM] Natalie Canfield: You are going to be shocked about what food items have sugar in them....
[3/7/14 1:08:05 PM] Natalie Canfield: it is NUTS
[3/7/14 1:08:14 PM] Tony Wilbur: apparently I can't eat anything that tastes good?
[3/7/14 1:08:21 PM] Tony Wilbur: this is going to be the LONGEST MONTH EVER
[3/7/14 1:09:54 PM] Natalie Canfield: NOT TRUE
[3/7/14 1:10:02 PM] Natalie Canfield: you will be shocled how delicious food tastes....
[3/7/14 1:10:19 PM] Tony Wilbur: I think I'm shocled right now!
[3/7/14 1:10:35 PM] Natalie Canfield: make these this weekend: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/7486819479/prosciutto-wrapped-mini-frittata-muffins
[3/7/14 1:10:59 PM] Natalie Canfield: Make enough to have 2-3 every morning- they are great to grab as a quick meal in the morning
[3/7/14 1:11:12 PM] Natalie Canfield: I just throw a couple in the toaster oven and they are DELICIOUS
[3/7/14 1:12:29 PM] Tony Wilbur: so I guess you are going to say that Toaster Strudels are not allowed either?
[3/7/14 1:13:07 PM] Natalie Canfield: you are correct
[3/7/14 1:13:15 PM] Tony Wilbur: FUCK
[3/7/14 1:13:19 PM] Natalie Canfield: did you have any idea what you were getting into when you signed on to this?
[3/7/14 1:13:27 PM] Tony Wilbur: of course not
* * *
As Natalie and I move forward with this the next 30 days, we'll each post 500 words on 9 different topics- without reading each other's before posting. Enjoy! We won't.
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