I’m in denial, Moms, that 2025 is already here. 2024 has come and gone with such huge life changing events like first lost tooth and youngest starting kindergarten (How does that happen? Seriously? I thought he’d be stuck in a baby cuddle bubble forever and we could just play and hug all the time?!!) Where the time has gone I don’t know, but with the new year beating down the door, it’s time to think about your New Year’s resolutions. For me, I hope 2025 is the year I finally launch a new business. For many others I know the goal will be about health and fitness. Meta, Google, and Apple are teaming up to remind me that I am a middle-aged woman and therefore must be in the market for a new diet, inundating my feeds with NOOM ads along with every other diet imaginable – intermittent fasting, paleo, keto (did you know Weight Watchers is on sale?!!). With so many diets out there promising to slim us down, it’s hard to pick one, which makes it even harder to stick with (why stick with one when there are dozens of others to try?). I admit to being tempted by the promises of various diets throughout the years, even putting myself on a Jillian Michael’s 30-day “shred” program. While none of them resulted in the high-school figure I imagine is still in there, there was one program that rewarded me with real improvements to my health and continues to influence my food choices every day. And that, Moms, was the Whole 30 Program.
What Is It?
The Whole 30 is a short-term elimination diet designed to help you find foods that work for you. The underlying premise is to eliminate certain foods that causes some people problems to determine how these foods affect your body. For example, you may not be lactose intolerant, but it’s possible that your cheese addiction is causing joint inflammation and making your fingers stiff or swollen. The Whole 30 diet has you eliminate dairy and other foods, and then slowly reintroduce them to gauge the effect.
Will I Lose Weight?
The creators of the Whole 30 will tell you that is NOT a weight loss diet. In fact, one of the things they ask you to eliminate is the scale. There’s no measuring, weighing, or counting calories. While over 95% of participants lose weight on the program, it is meant to be so much more than that. If you eat a lot of sugar, snacks, and fatty foods, there’s a good chance your body will respond to eliminating them by eliminating pounds. My husband dropped nearly 25 pounds on the diet. However if you aren’t much into junk food and are already at a relatively healthy body weight, don’t expect to see significant weight loss. In the interest of complete transparency, I actually gained half a pound the first time I did it.
Why Should I Do It?
Weight loss isn’t the only measure of health, and it’s far from the only benefit you can expect to see on the Whole 30. Once you’ve got your body running on healthy foods, you’ll likely to sleep better, have clearer skin, think sharper and just generally feel better. Even though I gained a little weight, every day I was eating Whole 30 felt like a skinny day – my clothes just fit better and I was more comfortable in my own skin. You’ll be able to recognize a craving and ignore it, and you’ll enjoy it so much more on the occasions that you do indulge. All that aside, the main reason I’m an advocate was the measurable change to my health stats – a drop in my cholesterol by 50 points. With so many diets promising major lifestyle changes, I can say from experience that the Whole 30 delivers.
The Big Picture
The main rule of the Whole 30 is to eliminate potentially problematic food groups. These are:
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- Added sugar
- Alcohol
- Grains
- Legumes
- Dairy
Of these, I’d expect sugar will be the hardest to eliminate. It’s easy enough to stop eating bread and cheese, but have you ever realized how much sugar is in all of the foods we eat? Check the labels on you packaged foods and you might be shocked to see that there is added sugar in everything we eat. Mayonnaise, tomato sauce, Cheerios, and pre-marinated meats – sugar is in everything from condiments to ready-made meals.
Pancakes & Scales
The Whole 30 Program envisions a healthier you in one month, not just a skinnier you. With that in mind, they include two rules aimed at how you think.
- The Pancake Rule: Named for the No. 1 item most re-created item since 2010, the Pancake Rule is “Do not recreate baked goods, pasta, cereal, chips, or fries with Whole30-compatible ingredients.” The goal is to break the habit of mindlessly putting potato chips in your mouth, not find potato chips that are healthier to do it with.
- The Scale Rule: Very simply, there is no weighing yourself or taking measurements during the Program, and they’d actually encourage you to toss the thing when you’re done. I made the mistake of skipping this rule the first time around (that time I gained half a pound!). I was so focused on the weight loss (or lack of) that I wasn’t stopping to appreciate that I was wearing jeans that hadn’t fit since pre-pregnancy. I was thinking the program was a failure, when in reality my cholesterol was plummeting from borderline high to comfortably normal. With so many other ways to measure your progress and health, ditching the scale gives you “the freedom that comes with no longer allowing a $20 hunk of plastic to dictate your self-esteem, self-worth, and confidence.”
So What Can I Eat?
A lot! While there are many things off the menu during the 30-day program, there really is so much to try. Take the 30 days to explore new flavors or cooking techniques, and you may find yourself loving your time in the kitchen. I say this admittedly as someone that loves to cook and had zero issues thinking up Whole 30 compliant recipes. If you’re struggling, the Whole 30 offers TONS of resources. First – check out their books. The original Whole 30 Book that I got in my local library gave me a wealth of ideas, including this roasted red pepper sauce that is one of my breakfast staples. Second – search their recipe catalogue, which has literally hundreds of recipes to try. Third – buy some pre-approved foods. There is a long list of items carrying the Whole 30 Approved label including condiments, sausages, and ready-made meals. I found a lot of these at Costco. Fourth – let them cook for you. Yes, Whole 30 actually offers a meal delivery service. I haven’t tried it myself, but it seems like a great option if you need help getting dinner on the table. Fifth – stock up on these 10 Must Have Items to Survive a Whole 30. And finally – I meant it when I said that Whole 30 continues to influence my food choices. Over half of the recipes in my Summer Recipes post meet the Whole 30 requirements. I will continue to advocate for Grilled Summer Squash with Roasted Pistachio Sauce for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
How Do I Start?
Again I’d guide you to either the program books or website. Both are great resources to help you plan your 30-day journey. Download the Program Rules and Meal Template and hang them on your fridge, since you’ll be going back to these program basics over and over again. And then take a look at the getting ready tips from our own Houston Moms archives. I also highly recommend taking a look at The Whole30 Timeline so you have an idea of what to expect.
New Year, New Healthier You!
I’m ending this post perhaps where I should have started it. You do NOT need to go on a diet! I don’t care what ads are stalking your Facebook feed, you are beautiful just the way you are, and don’t need to slim down to meet anyone else’s expectations. Accept your body, with all of its flaws, and love yourself as you are. I encourage you to ditch the scale, leave diet culture behind, and embrace the new year as a chance to change your relationship with food and live your healthiest life.
