I have posted about Whole 30 before. I stayed on it for a good 6 months, lost weight, and felt great. But then I went to Germany, and there was no way I was saying no to delicious German food. That was the end of my Whole 30 diet streak. I did manage to start it up again last summer, but then I became pregnant, and I used that as an excuse to eat a rich and varied diet. After all, I figured baby needs calcium, and I’d need to be drinking milk. Seems it was a good idea since baby is very strong and robust. That, along with the intense pasta cravings that I just couldn’t fight.
But, the plan was to start up Whole 30 again once the baby was born. I was determined I would lose all the baby weight. Well, it took a few weeks/months to get started, but now I’m back on it. And I remember how much I loved it before.
Why do I love Whole 30? Let me count the ways…
- I no longer have cravings. I used to intensely want anything sugary, and if I saw something available, I could not resist. Hell, I even bought materials to make frosting, just to eat the frosting (to be fair, it’s really good frosting. Luckily I did not go through with my frosting plan, and the materials are still in the pantry). Now, it’s like it doesn’t even process as food. Seeing it is just registering another thing about the world, like, “Oh, the walls are painted blue, there are cookies right there, and there’s a broken lamp.” I don’t have to wrestle with myself of “should I eat it?” or deal with the guilt afterward.
- The Weight Loss. It’s slow, but the weight is coming off. I don’t think I need much more of an explanation than that.
- It’s cheap. I can’t really ever eat out because almost no restaurants have a Whole 30 option. I have to go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients, and make it myself. It ends up costing less than my old ways. But then again, I ate out a lot before…
- It helped my relationship with food. I used to just want food for any reason. I was bored, it was there, it was offered, etc. It really felt like a huge portion of my day was just devoted to thinking about where I could get food. Turns out I really didn’t need all that food. Now I don’t crave food just to pass the time anymore. I go hours and hours without thinking about food, and I realize when I’m actually hungry. And, if I’m eating something, I’ll recognize when I’m full and don’t need anymore.
- I have so much energy. Notice how much I’ve been posting recently? I have the same amount of time that I did before, but now I have more energy! And, this is especially helpful with keeping up with the baby!
Whole 30 isn’t for everyone, and it definitely feels extreme to start with. No dairy, no grains, no alcohol, no processed foods? That’s basically everything in a normal diet! But, it becomes the new normal and very sustainable. I am truly so happy about it, I’m going to keep shouting it from the rooftops. If you feel like you have an issue with any of the above, I urge you to give it a try. If you have tried it, let me know how much you liked it! (You can also tell me if you didn’t like it, I’m just not quite as enthused about that)
Try some delicious cold brew!