Today is Monday, July 27. It’s the day after Her Conference, it’s exactly one month from the day I'll leave for a trip to Hawaii for my best friend’s wedding, and it’s day one of my first-ever Whole30 challenge.
What is the Whole30 challenge?
In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a brief overview of the Whole30:
For 30 days, you only eat food that is good for you. No added sugar of any kind, no alcohol, no grains, no dairy, no legumes and no MSG/carrageenan/sulfites/other chemicals. As the Whole30 authors put it, you just eat meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit and “good” fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. The idea is that by cutting out these negative food groups and only allowing yourself to eat natural food, you’re better able to listen to your body and figure out the kinds of foods that have been affecting your health and quality of life.
I heard about the Whole30 from my boyfriend’s aunt. She lost a ton of weight through the program, which is how we got on the topic—she just looked amazing, and I wanted to know her secret. But for her, the Whole30 was about so much more than just losing weight. Once she cut those food groups out of her diet, she not only looked better, she felt so much better. Even now that she has stopped sticking strictly to the program, she continues to leave dairy and non-organic gluten out of her diet, and she feels significantly healthier for it.
I’ve had stomach issues myself pretty much since college started. And, of course, I haven’t had the healthiest diet since my freshman year. I just graduated, and I knew that it was time to press ‘reset’ after four years of pizza and Franzia. I wanted to get back in touch with my body and remember what it actually felt like to be healthy. So I decided I’d take on the Whole30 challenge.
My Experience
Preparing for the Whole30
I convinced my boyfriend, Andrew, that we should both complete this challenge leading up to the wedding that we are going to in Hawaii in late August. We both read the book It Starts With Food to get a better understanding of why certain foods were excluded from the program and how our bodies react to the foods we consume. I spent hours on Pinterest looking up Whole30-compliant meals and constructing a meal plan for our 30 days, because I knew that without one, we would definitely fall off the wagon.
Once I had the meal plan set up for all 30 days, I created a grocery list for each week of the program (so that our produce and meat wouldn’t go bad before we could use it).
And that was it! We were ready… we hoped.
Week 1
Here goes! We are both so excited to get started with this challenge and to feel healthy again. From our point of view, this should be easy. We both love meat and veggies, and if that’s the basis of this challenge, it can’t be too hard. Right?
Here’s our Week 1 meal plan and grocery list, in case you’re interested in trying the plan out for yourself.
This first week was rough. Between the sugar detox and the “carb flu” (the fatigued, headache-y feeling you get when you eliminate grains from your diet) I felt sleepy and grumpy for the first few days. But toward the end of the week, preparing Whole30 meals didn’t feel so abnormal anymore, and I started to feel a bit perkier.
Also worth noting: wow, this challenge is expensive! Our grocery bill for the week was easily twice what it usually is. I guess we’re investing in our health right now. Plus we won’t be spending any money out at bars and restaurants like we typically would throughout the month. Maybe it evens out... maybe.
We did end up getting Chipotle for lunch on Day 4, since we found out that if you order a salad with carnitas, pico de gallo, extra lettuce and guac, it totally fits within the Whole30 guidelines. Score! At least that was one meal that I didn’t have to cook this week.
On Day 6, we faced a MAJOR challenge: we were going to a wedding with an open bar, an ice cream bar, a drool-worthy cake and all sorts of other delicious treats that we couldn’t have. But we talked to the kitchen staff to make sure the steak and vegetables we had asked to eat for dinner were being cooked in olive oil, and we still held strong! While everyone else ate cake and ice cream and drank cocktails, we ate raw veggies and fruit and drank sparkling water with orange slices. What a testament to our willpower! High fives all around.
Hopefully this next week will bring less grumpiness and more rewards!
Week 2
We went grocery shopping again on Sunday and even printed out our meal plan so we’d be 100 percent sure to stay on track. If we made it through that treat-laden wedding full of free, delicious, non-Whole30-compliant foods, we can definitely make it through this next week!
This week wasn’t as bad as Week 1, for sure. We got into a rhythm of preparing Whole30 meals and snacks for ourselves, and by the middle of the week, it was almost starting to feel normal.
Disaster nearly struck on Sunday, however, when my boyfriend’s older brother stopped by. We had babysat his pug for the weekend and to repay us, he came to our apartment with a case of beer and a bottle of wine. We smiled and accepted these gifts—then as soon as he left, we found hiding places for them so we wouldn’t be tempted.
For the rest of the day, it felt like all we could talk about were the things we missed eating. Andrew wanted a box of donut holes and a case of beer (he’s basically Homer Simpson when he’s hungry). I wanted wine and cheese with a baguette and maybe some gelato (apparently I was feeling European). We sucked it up and made ourselves a healthy dinner, and the cravings subsided—but man, it felt like we were goners for a bit there.
At this point, I can tell I’ve lost some weight (though we aren’t supposed to weigh ourselves during the challenge). Aside from that, though, I’m not feeling any of the other benefits that the book talked about. My sleep cycle hasn’t improved, my skin doesn’t look much clearer than usual… but I guess we’re only halfway there. It’s not called the Whole14, right?
Week 3
We headed to a local farmer's market this time to get all of our supplies for Week 3. Then, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few extra things that we had read about on other Whole30 blogs—Lara Bars, Aidell’s chicken sausage and tea. It’s always good to have a few extras on hand in case hunger strikes!
This week, I started to notice that once I was awake and moving, I didn’t feel like I was drifting through my usual groggy morning haze. I was alert and didn’t feel my usual first-thing-in-the-morning coffee craving. Also, my skin looks great! I haven’t worn makeup this week at all and Andrew has still complimented my complexion a few times. Score!
On a more negative note, as sad as this sounds, it’s really hard to socialize with our other adult friends on the Whole30. We can’t meet up for a drink or grab a bite to eat at our usual places. And it’s not exactly like people will be jumping for joy if we invite them over for salads and sparkling water. We’re definitely missing our pals right about now.
Week 4
This week, we picked our own produce at a local orchard. We got peaches, blueberries, strawberries and more for way cheaper than we would have at the grocery store—plus, it was a fun experience!
We’ve been less structured with our meals this week. After three weeks of planning every meal, we’ve figured out the basic components of the average Whole30 meal: protein, vegetables, spices and a little healthy fat. We bought meats that we know we’ve enjoyed cooking and eating (Aidell’s Chicken and Apple Sausage, grass-fed ground beef, and organic chicken breast) and vegetables we don’t mind preparing (microwaveable steamed organic broccoli, sweet potatoes, mixed greens and bell peppers), along with flavorful additions (onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and whole grain brown mustard), and just sort of threw them together in varying pleasing combinations.
We also love eating fresh fruit between meals to keep our energy up. A handful of blueberries or a peach can really kill a sugar craving, I’ve noticed. I also keep cashews and almonds on my desk at work in case I start getting #hangry.
Final Days
I’ve got to say, by this point I really thought we wouldn’t miss non-Whole30 food anymore. The Whole30 community talks about this “Tiger Blood” feeling you’re supposed to get toward the end of the Whole30, where you feel like a superhero… and we don’t have it.
I’m really proud to say that we were able to stick to the Whole30 this long, but I’m not sure how much I feel I’ve gotten out of the experience. My stomach hasn’t hurt throughout the past 30 days, and my skin has been clearer than usual. I don't feel quite as dependent on coffee as I once did. But was it all worth it? I’m not so sure.
Major Takeaways
This challenge is tough to stick to, and I didn’t get as much out of it as the Whole30 community (and the book) made me hope for. I didn’t discover any food allergies that could be negatively impacting my digestive process. My quality of life didn’t really improve. And I am fairly confident that as soon as I start eating normally again, I’m going to gain back all of the weight that I’ve lost in this process.
If you just want to do the Whole30 to lose weight, I can promise you that you will. I lost 15 pounds, and my boyfriend lost around the same. But will your digestive issues be magically fixed? Will you sleep better? Will you feel like a superhero for the second half of the challenge? Will you stop craving the foods that you’ve loved your entire life? Based on my experience, no, you won’t. And you'll spend a LOT of money to figure that out.
However, I did learn a few things. I learned that I can say no to foods that are bad for me and can handle food cravings without succumbing to them. I learned to be more critical of the ingredients in foods that I typically assume (or am told) are healthy. I learned how to cook—and I learned that I can actually make time to make healthy meals for myself on a regular basis.
That said, this challenge was hard. We couldn’t really go out to eat, because restaurants often use oils or spices that aren’t Whole30-approved. We couldn’t go out for drinks with friends, since alcohol is prohibited on the challenge. We had to pack Whole30-approved foods with us when we were invited places for parties or events. Every meal had to be planned and prepared, for the most part. It’s a lot of work. And I’m not totally convinced that the work was worth it.
I do plan to try to stick to a healthier diet during the work week from this point forward, and I hope to only allow myself to splurge on unhealthy (but delicious) foods on the weekends. But I don’t think the healthy part of my future diet will be Whole30-approved, you know? I like Greek yogurt and quinoa. I don’t feel like I need to cut cheese completely out of my diet to live a mostly healthy lifestyle.
Personally, I don’t think I’ll do the Whole30 again, because I don’t feel like the pros outweigh the cons. Maybe it will work for you—maybe you’ll learn that you were allergic to gluten this whole time and your quality of life will be forever improved. I certainly can’t say for sure that this challenge doesn’t work, since it has helped so many other people out there. But for me, it didn’t live up to the hype.
Whole30 Lifesavers
If you do decide to take on the Whole30, you don't ever want to be unprepared when hunger strikes! You'll definitely want to keep these easy (and delicious) foods in your arsenal to make the experience as stress-free as possible for yourself:
- Aidell's Chicken and Apple Sausage
- Microwaveable veggies (be sure to check the ingredients list—make sure the vegetable is the only ingredient!)
- Unsweetened tea (I liked Tazo's passion tea, which you can get on ice at Starbucks!)
- Carrot sticks with Wholly Guacamole (sold in most grocery stores)
- Lara Bars (we LOVED the Apple Pie flavor—other Whole30-compliant flavors include Banana Bread, Coconut Cream Pie and Cashew Cookie)
- Breakfast egg muffins
- Black coffee with cinnamon
- Homemade baked sweet potato chips
- Apples with almond butter (make sure roasted almonds are the only ingredients in the almond butter!)
- Frank's Red Hot Sauce (the original flavor—we added this to EVERYTHING)
- A salad with carnitas, pico de gallo, guacamole and extra lettuce from Chipotle
Basically, it's important to make sure that you've got some simple options on hand at all times that you actually like, otherwise you'll end up wanting to quit. These snacks, drinks and meals pretty much got us through the challenge—hopefully they'll help you if you decide to try the Whole30 challenge, too!
