My Whole 30 Experience

Wait.. no wine allowed?

It’s been well over my 30 days of Whole 30 and it’s been such an interesting journey, to say the least. There’s so much to say so let’s just get right into it.

What is whole 30?

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.

That’s where Whole 30 comes in. You are cutting out “hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups,” including sugar, dairy, alcohol, grains, and legumes also no hummus or peanut butter. You should also avoid all foods and avoid carrageenan, MSG, and sulfites.

This also means no baked goods, junk foods, or treats even with “whole 30 approved” ingredients. So can’t recreate cauliflower pizza, or paleo brownies sort of thing. Why? In the words of co-founder Melissa Hartwig, “The fake version is never as good and usually leaves you craving the real thing even more.”

What are the benefits?

“Hartwig says the program improves energy, sleep, digestive issues (gas, bloating, pain, constipation, or diarrhea), skin, joint pain/swelling, asthma, migraines, and biomarkers like blood pressure, cholesterol, and fasting blood sugar. She also says 96 percent of participants lose weight on the program, without counting calories, or weighing or measuring their food.

Why did I do it?

I did it because I wanted to change my relationship with food. I wanted to change how I felt about certain food groups and curb a lot of my bad cravings. My favorite meals were cheeseburgers and pizza and although those sounds divine, I wanted to curb those cravings. Now If you know me, I eat very healthy Monday-Friday and allow cheat days on the weekends so where is all this “bad food” cravings coming from you may ask? Well, I didn’t grow up eating healthy by any means. I loved frozen pizza and lived for ramen so it’s still not natural for me to crave a salad versus a burger.

John actually suggested Whole 30 first. He also wanted to see how food could potentially help his acid reflexes and increase his energy levels.

What were our results?

I’m glad to say that we both experienced very positive results. For me, by week 3 I was noticing a different in how I was feeling. I definitely had a ton more energy, clearer mindset (no food fog), craving more fruits and veggies than ever before and feeling really satisfied with just life! Strange how health can actually make you even happier than you already are.

For John, his energy levels completely changed. He was going to the gym and exercising way more than normal. He wasn’t always so restless and even had better sleep at night. We were both just always active and wanted to go, go, go! We were no longer couch potatoes!

The biggest change we both saw was mental. Mentally, we were just in a clearer, cleaner, lighter space together. Something just seemed to be lifted, now that may just be the weight loss that comes with being on the program but either way feeling light mentally and physically was fascinating.

We both didn’t do this program for weight loss but to learn more about our bodies and how we react to eating certain foods. I don’t know exactly how much weight I lost since I never weighed myself and still haven’t but I can say my jeans are way looser than when I started.

If you’re looking for a change or want to challenge yourself then I would highly suggest trying Whole 30. I mean it’s only 30 days 🙂

I have a ton more details on my vlog. See what we ate for 30 days and how we progress throughout the program below: