My First Whole 30: Looking at Food Differently

Making the suggestion that people try a whole food diet I feel like Laurence Fishburne in the Matrix. There is a red pill and a blue pill and you must decide. One will keep everything the same and the other will change your life and your health in so many ways the odds of you turning back are slim to none. I must warn you though, as I’ve adopted a whole food diet I’ve become sensitive to the things I’ve given up. Since my first Whole 30 diet I have learned that I have an autoimmune disease and that is why I am so sensitive. Everyone is different so I’m not saying this will be true for you but it has definitely been the case for me. Below is my diary of eating only Whole 30 approved foods for a month and what happened when I tried to add some things back.

My motivation for sticking to the Whole 30 diet is the muscles of my body. They have been tight for as long as I can remember. Muscles in my back and feet crunch when you run your fingers over them and I’d give anything for them to let go. I’d rather have feet that don’t hurt and a back that doesn’t ache more than I’d have any of the things that I’m giving up. I’m not sure if Whole 30 approved foods will work but I’m a firm believer that you are what you eat and chronic inflammation does not do good things to the body. So, I’ll let you know.

Day 1 Of My Whole 30 Diary:

This morning we went to a funeral and in the mix of getting ready and picking up the babysitter, I didn’t have much time for breakfast. Looking for some Whole 30 approved foods that were ready to grab and go I packed a pear and a bag of almonds to eat in the car. They got me through the service. After we left my husband suggested a lunch date since the little one was already occupied with babysitters. We don’t have any family in town so dates are rare so I jumped at the chance.

My husband chose the Yard House and over lunch, I told him all about the Whole 30 diet. The biggest challenge was deciding what to order. Everywhere I looked there were potatoes, soy sauce, wheat, sugar, corn, or cheese. I just assumed I’d get a salad with chicken but they all had one of these offenders. Sure I could have ordered it without _______ but I wasn’t excited to eat a bowl of lettuce without dressing and very few toppings. Part of me simply wanted to leave.

I’d ordered a burger there before without the bun but all of their burgers came with either fries or one of their salads. I had settled on a bunless burger with a boring salad when my husband orders steak and shrimp. Well heck, if you’re having steak I might as well too. I ended up with the filet that came with a side of vegetables. I try not to be one of “those people” at restaurants who make many special requests but I’m learning that I might have to just get over that.

Like I’ve read on many blogs the first day isn’t that big of a deal physically. Figuring out what to eat is the real trick. It seems that most things that are quick to eat fall into one of the do not eat categories. Since most people think they are short on time and often opt for convenience is probably why this diet seems like such a huge challenge.

A piece of fruit, a handful of berries or nuts, or a vegetable salad are all quick and easy. After reading that last sentence most of you are probably thinking that you will die of starvation on this diet. That is the gluten talking. The first week I gave up wheat I felt like I was going to starve and then it went away. Now when I get hungry it’s more of a gentle reminder and not an all-consuming pain.

Although I’m writing about my day 1 experience, I’m actually on day 4 physically. Reading over about other people’s experiences with the Whole 30 many feel horrible day 2-4~ish. Read other takes on the first week of Whole 30 to 30 days in from: Whole30.com, brockpaperscissorsblog.com, and limitless365.com. 

Days 2 and 3 of strictly eating whole 30 approved foods were slightly rough for me but not to the extent some people have experienced. My advice would be to give up gluten for a week before you start so that you’re not hit by so many withdrawal symptoms all at once. What’s most disturbing is that people have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating many of the staples of the American diet.

Whole 30 Day 2:

Today I have a headache and I feel like I could sleep all day. Just let me lay here and do nothing. Not going to happen, I have a 3-year-old who starts his day jumping on the bed and maintains that level of energy all day. Tonight I wanted to rip into a bag of marshmallows. Instead, I had pickled asparagus I bought at the farmers market wrapped in ham. I also have raw cacao nibs in the refrigerator that I’ll eat a handful of when I get a Whole 30 sugar craving. So far it has worked. The biggest challenge is eating out and trying to find whole food. It is very difficult to find something on a typical restaurant menu that doesn’t contain: potatoes, cheese, soy, corn, gluten, grains, or sugar. When you see how difficult it is to easily find Whole 30 approved foods you’ll begin to understand America’s health issues.

Spices:

I’ve heard people say that eating a whole food diet is boring. Instead, I’m learning that I enjoy food so much more because everything isn’t served on a starchy canvas. Seriously, can you name a grain or legume that is delicious on its own without any seasonings, fat, or sugar added? Today I cooked up a few dishes for the next few days and these are the spices I used:

• allspice
• cinnamon
• cumin
• arbol chili
• pepper
• curry powder
• smoked paprika
• coriander
• cayenne
• coconut aminos
• bay leaf
• mint
• garlic
• onion

Breakfast-Ratatouille with Poached Eggs 

The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat – From: Well-Fed

Oven Roasted Caluiflower – Emeril Lagasse (omit cheese)

I published this post in 2014 and I have since created several Whole 30 recipes. You can find all of them here.

Whole 30 Day 4:

Holy wow, I feel amazing! After going to bed at midnight I was up at 7:15 and ready to go without an alarm clock. In our house I’m known for coining the term: “SLEEPIN’,” as in, “leave me alone.” So, for me to be excited to be awake that early is an anomaly. We’ll see if it continues. The biggest change I’ve felt since adopting the Whole 30 diet is an unbelievable sense of peace. I spend most days sun up to sun down alone with a 3-year-old because my husband works 12 and 24-hour shifts. I’ve often wished I could trek to the Himalayas to go meditate with the Buddhist monks to find that inner calm you hear in their voice. I now feel like I have some of that and my body doesn’t feel like someone has turned the electricity up too high. I don’t really know how to explain it with words other than an amazing sense of peace.

Whole 30 Day 5:

I think my husband thinks I’m crazy when I tell him about the sense of peace I have from eating a whole food diet. I’ve tried to explain to him that you can’t know what it’s like or what you’re missing unless you do it. I no longer feel like my body is fighting itself and my shoulder muscles that have always been incredibly tight are beginning to soften on their own.

On the Whole 30 website, they have an A-Z list of medical conditions where people have given testimonials on how the Whole 30 diet has improved their health. So don’t just take my word for it. Check into it. There’s a lot of information and advice from people who have exclusively eaten Whole 30 approved foods more than once.

Using the word DIET reminds me that weight isn’t a focus of Whole 30. You’re not supposed to weigh yourself for 30 days. So please don’t get caught up in the numbers. I’ve never owned a scale so this one was easy for me.

Whole 30 Day6-7:

What I’m learning is if you’re new to exclusively eating a whole food diet you must have a plan. Your quickest snacks are raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts but eventually, you will want something substantial to eat. Whether you go Paleo or not I think the weekly cook-up approach is genius. Why spend an hour in the kitchen every night when you can spend 2 hours and have food for the week that is ready in minutes? No plastic trays or ridiculously small portion sizes here, just lots of whole food.

Week 2 Of Whole 30 Approved Foods:

Removing sugar, dairy, grains, legumes, alcohol, and vegetable oils I continue to feel amazing and I have this incredible sense of peace. It’s the #1 reason I’d recommend the Whole 30 whole food diet to everyone. With this crazy world who couldn’t use more peace in their life? 

Melissa Joulwan has a post on her blog TheClothesMakeTheGirl.com listing 30 Reasons to do try the Whole 30 diet. Initially, I was skeptical but now, 2 weeks in, I completely agree with all 30. I’m excited to see what happens in the next 2 weeks but these first two have really made me think about the American Diet and it makes me sad.

A month or so ago I joined a local city councilman in taking the FedUp Challenge. For 10 days I didn’t eat any foods with sugar added to them. The biggest lesson I learned is that sugar is everywhere. Start looking around your pantry for the 309 names of sugar and remember that the ingredients listed first have the highest content in the product.

When I go to a restaurant, walk through the grocery store, or I’m simply looking for a quick bite to eat is when I feel sad. There are very few choices that comply with a whole food diet lifestyle which is strange because I think without modern technology paleo is what everyone would eat.

I know people who are sick and stressed out and when you walk through a supermarket the aisles are full of sugar, grains, dairy, and inflammatory oils. It makes me sad to see shopping carts go rolling by that are full of chemicals and inflammatory ingredients. I check out shopping carts because I’m a foodie and I’m looking to see if I missed something terrific.

Then there is the part of me who used to work in a lab 20 years ago and I have read food ingredient labels ever since. The more you learn about the food on the shelves the less you will likely buy. Start paying attention. Start checking out shopping carts and see if you see a trend.

Not only is most food on grocery store shelves working against most people, they are then told to borderline starve themselves and that they must also have a gym membership to see results.

I know people and so you do. They have tried losing weight with various methods for years. Each time they resume eating normally because it’s not natural to starve yourself indefinitely. People who follow traditional diets always end up with more weight than they started with.

One of the ways I think diets sabotage people is they allow for cheat days. With the Whole 30 diet I had cravings in the first week but once I broke down those chemical cravings by not eating, let’s say sugar, then I no longer had those cravings. I think by allowing cheats in any diet people never get over their addiction to things like sugar. Sugar is addictive like a drug so if people don’t give it up completely how can they ever break the addiction?

Will I never eat sugar again? No. I’m too much of a foodie and I recognize that sugar is a key component to balancing flavor. For me, the difference is that I’ll be aware of choosing to add maple syrup or honey to a recipe and I won’t load up on sugar like someone looking for a fix. If you’ve ever hit the leftover Halloween candy dish hard like I have in the past you know the feeling you get from binging on sugar.

Basically in 2 weeks it’s all come down to one simple concept. If it doesn’t make you feel good, why are you doing it?

The Testing Phase After The Whole 30 Diet

I finished my month of only eating Whole 30 approved foods a week ago and I’ve been in the testing phase. After the inflammatory foods are removed you try them out individually and see how your body responds. So far I’ve had some pretty extreme reactions to dairy and potatoes.

*Note: When I followed the Whole 30 diet in 2014 potatoes were off the list of whole 30 approved foods. Things change and Whole 30 now allows white potatoes but they can’t be in the form of chips, fries, or contain any ingredients not approved on the Whole 30 diet.

In my opinion, the testing phase after following 30 days of a whole food diet has been the hardest for me. To eat something and in a few hours have a pounding headache, dizziness, and a funky taste in your mouth that makes you wish you could vomit in hopes of ending your misery is not my idea of a good time. That has been this former cheese lover’s reaction to dairy. I didn’t plan it but I’m thankful I chose to do my testing at dinner because if I don’t feel well I can simply go to bed early and sleep it off. My symptoms aren’t as intense the next two days but things are also not normal.

Dairy is definitely off the table and I’m finding that other foods don’t work either. I made a recipe that called for raw honey as a sweetener and I felt like I had a continuous hot flash for the next 4-5 hours. My sensitivity to sugar has definitely increased because I taste sugar in foods that I didn’t think were sweet before and those sweetened for the American palate I now turn away.

One morning I pulled the bacon package from the trash because I wanted to see if there was more sugar than bacon in what I was eating. The corn chips at Chipotle taste like sopapillas and I expected a drizzle of strawberry sauce and whipped cream on top. A barista told me that the matcha was naturally sweetened which in a momentary lapse of judgment I thought she was talking about the matcha itself. I took one sip and ended up throwing my iced matcha away because it was sickeningly sweet. A few paragraphs back where I said I’d go back to sugar, I haven’t and I’m now 2 weeks past the end of my whole 30.

Potatoes now give me tummy troubles and I’m pretty sure my body is not a fan of the entire nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants). Nightshade elimination isn’t part of Whole 30 but one morning I made a ratatouille (above) and I didn’t feel great afterward so I’ve been paying attention ever since.

I’m finding it difficult to stray off the Whole 30 approved foods list and I’ll most likely eat paleo-ish for the rest of my life because I feel so much better. I’m sure you’ve done something that gave you an ah-ha moment where you could no longer see life through the eyes you had before the event happened. That is what the Whole 30 diet has done for me and, yes, there are people who suspect I am crazy (it’s evidently common among Paleo people), but it’s opened my eyes to our food system in a way I could never have imagined.

I have eaten these foods for nearly 40 years and I only gave them up for a month. Now I’m finding that a number of them now make me sick. It’s made me stop and think. If I had continued with my prior diet would my life expectancy have changed? Would I have developed some sort of disease?

These questions can never be answered but it makes me think about the American diet. Grains, Dairy, Sugar, and Vegetable Oils are served at nearly every meal and snack. Did you know that 70% of Americans take a prescription medication? Antidepressants and painkillers are 2 of the top 3 classes of drugs prescribed. There are people who genuinely need antidepressants but please: read up on Whole 30. One of the reasons people recommend it is the overwhelming sense of peace it brings.

I think painkillers are definitely called for in acute injuries but it’s those who take them for chronic pain that has me concerned. Life shouldn’t physically hurt every day and food shouldn’t make you sick. I wonder how the health statistics in America would change if everyone gave up inflammatory foods and adopted a whole food diet.

Of the ten leading causes of mortality in the United States, chronic, low-level inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of at least seven. These include heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and nephritis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011; Bastard et al. 2006; Cao 2011, Jha et al. 2009; Ferrucci et al. 2010; Glorieux et al. 2009; Kundu et al. 2008; Murphy 2012; Singh et al. 2011).

It ALL Starts With Food

I’m sure some will say that I’m doing this in reverse by reading the book after making the changes but I’m 100 pages or so into the book written by the creators of Whole 30. I bought it because I wanted to learn their rationale and science for coming up with this eating lifestyle. It’s really very simple:

We know the American diet is inflammatory and we can also see the toll it takes on our health. So remove the inflammation and health conditions are either greatly reduced or eliminated. It’s so simple. There aren’t many books I come across that I think EVERYONE needs to read but It Starts With Food is definitely one of them. Since I began my paleo journey and became a health coach I have read countless books. Here are some of my other favorite paleo/health books.

Ill health is not your fault. An inability to lose weight is not your fault. Our food system was designed this way by playing on the flavors our genetics make us crave. It’s how industrial food companies drive profits. Let’s go with sugar as an example. If we were hunter gatherers sugar would be difficult to come across. So our taste buds are sensitive to it because it is a quick source of energy.

There is a greater explanation in the book but this is my summary of a chapter that was a huge eye opener for me:

In the modern world, sugar is everywhere and chronically elevated levels of blood sugar lead to an increase in body fat and triglycerides. That, in turn, leads to leptin resistance. Leptin tells your brain when you are full and when your body is no longer sensitive to it your brain will drive you to eat more sugar/simple carbohydrates because it thinks that you are too thin and it is trying to put on weight.

Trying to accumulate weight it also slows down your thyroid which plays a key role in the body’s metabolism. (An active thyroid equals an active metabolism and vice versa.) Then you try a “diet” where you greatly reduce your calories and kill yourself in a gym and the body releases more cortisol, which also slows down the thyroid. Cortisol, the fight or flight hormone, directs the body to look for a quick source of fuel. That lands you back on to the simple carbohydrate diet and the cycle keeps repeating.

My Results 2 Weeks After Whole 30

I can definitely say that I will be Paleo for the rest of my life. I’ve done a few tests of the things I’ve given up and I can honestly say that none of them taste good enough for me want to feel that bad after eating them. The crunchy muscles have been gone in my feet for weeks and my feet no longer ache. My muscles have never been this loose. I still have some tight spots but I find myself craving a good stretch on the floor and in time I know that they will also let go. I sleep well, I still have a wonderful sense of peace and I have great energy.

The most surprising thing I’ve gained is great will power in other areas of my life. I don’t crave any of the foods that I gave up so will power isn’t an issue with food but I’m learning to apply the same outlook to other areas of my life. If it doesn’t make you happy, why are you doing it?

Whole 30 Diet UPDATE

It has been 7 months since I started this Whole 30 and so far I haven’t had much success adding foods back. Some things I react to right away and others hit me the next day. I began another Whole 30 whole food diet in January but it wasn’t working for the joint pain I had in my hands.

Last year I had the same joint pain during the winter months but I attributed it to practicing massage therapy and turning 40. Now that I knew that my body was reacting to these foods I began to suspect it was an autoimmune problem, rheumatoid arthritis. So in the middle of my Whole 30, I switched to AIP (autoimmune paleo). It was tough to follow at first but then with a number of stumbles, I think I’ve finally made peace with it. With AIP all of my rheumatoid symptoms disappear but I’ve learned that this process is a marathon and not a sprint. Now I’m just looking to see what version of paleo ends up working for me. Here is an article about the beginning of my AIP journey.

Originally posted on September 15, 2014 @ 22:05

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