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#Whole30: I Can Do Anything For a Month

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At the end of December a friend posted information about her Whole30 adventure and started a group on social media. Okay. I have seen Whole30 mentioned by other friends, but I really hadn't done any reading about it. I figured this would be a good opportunity to find out what it's all about. Here's a link to the Whole30 website.

So, you'll be seeing some posts this month with #Whole30 in the post title. The "rules" are pretty basic. "Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed."

Abbey started on January 2nd. I thought I could start that quickly with little change to my regular grocery shopping. But when I realized just how many of the foods I had just purchased for the week were not allowed - think lentils, brown rice, and more - I pushed back my start to this week.

For example, meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds are the backbone of our usual diet. It's the same for 'very few ingredients' and 'pronounceable ingredients.' We're pretty good about that anyway. But there are some restrictions I needed to embrace. Here's the scoop...

  • NO sugar, including maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, and coconut sugar
  • NO alcohol (okay, so I will be sad during the birthday wine pairing dinner I already have planned for a friend's birthday later this month)
  • NO grains
  • NO legumes
  • NO dairy (ghee is allowed)
  • NO carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites
  • NO recreating baked goods, junk food, or treats with approved ingredients
  • And NO stepping on a scale. That's easy. I don't own a scale.

A couple of notes: I have done some detoxes and some cleanses in the past. You know, no sugar, no dairy, no alcohol, no caffeine. They are all restrictive and, thankfully, more of a reset than a way of life. I have more reading to do about Whole30, but this is what I'm doing for the next 30 days. I can do anything for a month, right?

For several of the gals in the group, this is not their first round of Whole30. Have you ever done Whole30? What did you think?
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  1. UnknownJanuary 9, 2017 at 4:12 PM

    We have friends who do it and I cook for them on our Game Nights. It's a fun way to cook healthy. That said, if you really read that Whole 30 website, you'll begin to see several inconsistencies with their "approved" list. Sweet Potato Bites from @TheWonkySpatula are a favorite of mine. http://whole30.com/2015/12/best-of-whole30-recipes-shareable-bites/

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