The Whole30 Plan
If you haven’t heard of Whole30 yet, it probably won’t be long before you do. While this diet program has been around since 2009, its popularity over the past year has made it impossible to ignore.
Before you run away, this is not your typical diet. You don’t need to count calories. And you don’t need to do starve yourself during certain hours of the day.
Whole30 gets rid of all the complicated rules into a simple, yet challenging weight loss program that will be extremely rewarding if you are truly dedicated.
What is Whole30?
It’s simple. Eliminate certain food groups (sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, additives, processed foods) from your diet for 30 days.
All these food groups can have a negative impact on your health, especially when you over-indulge. After stripping these from your diet completely for the full 30 days, you can learn how these foods have been affecting your health.
Why 30 days? It’s been said that it takes 66 days to create a new habit, but that can be a little intimidating. 30 days is the perfect amount of time to see results but not long enough that you will be too afraid to start.
Here Are The Rules:
Yes: Eat Real Food
You can eat moderate amounts of meat (without the bun), seafood, and eggs; as many veggies as you want; some fruit; and plenty of natural fats like avocado. Basically if it has very few to no ingredients, it means this food is whole and unprocessed so you can eat it.
Also accepted: coffee (black with no milk or cream); ghee or clarified butter; fruit juice when used as a natural sweetener; certain legumes like green beans, sugar snap peas, and snow peas; all types of vinegar except malt; and lastly salt.
Need help? Click here for an easy to follow shoopping list!
No: Most Likely All The Foods You Love
Use your best judgment with foods that are not on this list. If you are not sure if it is something you can or cannot eat, always think... when in doubt, leave it out!
Before The 30 Days:
The only way this works if you commit 100% for the full 30 days – no cheats, no slips, no special occasions.
By eliminating these food groups from your diet completely, you are literally pushing the “reset button” on your health. Even just one piece of pizza can break the healing cycle and cause new cravings, disrupt the digestive tract, and interfere with your blood sugar.
Helpful Tips For Success:
Do it with a friend. You are going to experience cravings every single day so make sure you surround yourself with support when those temptations hit.
Clear your house of temptations. If it’s on the no list, get it out of the house so it’s not even an option.
Plan and prepare. Before day one, get your first week of meals planned before you even start this challenge. See the Whole30 grocery list (see here) to get you started.
Lose the scale. The only time you should weight yourself is the first day and last day of the challenge. While weight loss is one major benefit, this program is about how you feel and NOT the number on the scale.
Always question what you eat. Before picking up a tasty treat, ask yourself, “do I really want this or am I only eating this because it’s near me?” More often than not, the answer is because it is the convenient choice. Trust us, the craving will eventually pass.
After The 30 Days:
Once you have successfully completed the challenge, you enter the “reintroduction phrase” where you slowly add ingredients back into your diet. We recommend adding these food groups one at a time so you can clearly see what is causing the most problems.
We can’t guarantee everything on this list is going to happen to you, but based off some of the testimonials we have heard, here are the most common benefits:
In Conclusion…
The next 30 days has the possibility to change your life. It can change the way you think about food. It can change your tastes. It can change your habits and cravings.
Commit yourself to the Whole30 challenge and share your experience on our Facebook or Twitter page. We would love to see your results!
Welcome to the Whole30.