Not to be dramatic, but Whole 30 has changed my life.
I am gearing up to do my 3rd round on April 13th with the Whole 30 community for Whole 30 at home.
It is wild the amount you learn about food and yourself during a Whole 30 journey.
You are probably wondering how has Whole 30 changed my life. I have spent my entire life with many food and environmental allergies and sensitivities. This has always made navigating life more difficult. I worry about the foods I eat when I cannot read the ingredients. I worry about air fresheners and perfumes while I am out and about because I know they can make me feel sick. The more I am exposed to things I am sensitive to, the less I can tolerate them. Many foods that you don’t eat during Whole 30 are actually foods I am allergic and sensitive to. This is one of the reasons it was a good fit for me.
Whole 30 is meant to be a food experiment. You don’t eat foods that could cause allergic reactions or cause an inflammatory response. After 30 days of eating real food, you reintroduce all the other foods you avoided for 30 days. This allows you to see how your body reacts to these foods.
During my reintroduction, I learned about my gluten intolerance, that sugar makes me feel gross and triggers migraines, and that my stomach does not like corn! I also found out that I can have dairy in small quantities without having a reaction. I for sure thought dairy would have been bad for me.
I have a degree in nutrition and love the fact I got to experiment with food and my body to see what it likes and dislikes. I also really enjoy cooking and trying new foods, so I made sure to do both of those to make the 30 days easier.
By far, my favorite thing about Whole 30 is that it is not meant to be just another weight loss diet. It’s actually against the Whole 30 rules to step on a scale and measure yourself during Whole 30.
I wanted to eat healthily and develop strong, healthy eating habits, and Whole 30 did that for me. Can you lose weight in the process? Yes. But is that why you should do it? No.
I want to be healthy. I want to walk farther, dance longer, perform better at work, and show up more present in my life. Whole 30 did all of this for me. It keeps my brain sharp and gives me the endurance to get through long days. It has taught me to not eat because I am bored or emotional. I use to do both A LOT!
Something else I love about Whole 30 is the founder, Melissa Urban. She is such a role model. She is raw, all the time. She is honest, all the time. She shows up, apologetically herself on social media, in her books, and really anywhere. I love being able to see a real person going through life, good and bad times. She is really inspiring. Through her books, emails, and social media pages, she is a great coach and is what you need to get through a Whole 30. After reading so much of her material, she feels like a friend that you can relate to and comfort you.
I found this especially true while reading her book Food Freedom Forever. Food Freedom is that place where you can say no to foods you don’t want to eat without guilt while eating foods you do want without quilty too. Food Freedom understanding what your body likes and dislikes and using that knowledge to make yourself feel good. It is the empowerment you have knowing you are eating food that makes you feel good, even if that means eating a piece of cake you super want! There is no such thing as a perfect Whole 30. Also, after working hard to to find your Food Freedom, you will move back to unhealthy routines. Heck, after my first Whole 30, after a few months, I went right back to my old habits to eating sooo many baked goods and drinking sooo many sugary Starbucks drinks. And as I said before, gluten and sugar are not my friends, so this was definitely bad for me.
I am currently working on my Food Freedom, and it’s hard. I have spent 3-4 days in a row eating sugary foods when I don’t even really want to eat because it is so easy to fall into my old habits. That’s kind of why I want to do another round. To reset and introduce some of the foods, I haven’t and remind myself how good I feel without sugar.
Whole 30 may not be the right fit for you, but if you’re looking to learn about food and your body, I would consider it. There are so many free resources and people who will help you through it.
If you are interested in learning more about Whole 30, please check out their website here: https://whole30.com/
If you have questions for me about my experience or any cool Whole 30 recipes, please feel free to reach out!
Maria Does Things 