Whole30 Diet Halfway Mark

I’ve now been doing the Whole30 Diet for 17 days. And I definitely have some general takeaways from it so far. Some good, some not so good. But overall, the biggest takeaway for me is that I can confidently tell you every single thing I’ve eaten for the past 17 days. No, not because I have instagrammed every meal, rather because everything I’ve eaten is REAL. Real food, whole food, completely unprocessed food. In our society, you have to admit that that’s pretty cool, and quite unheard of.

A Whole30 Recap

For those who may have missed my previous two posts, (one and two), here’s a quick refresher on the Whole30 Diet program.

The Whole30 diet includes plants, animals and fat and excludes anything processed. The premise behind the Whole30 is that our bodies can not handle or digest the food that is currently “made” for us. It is a diet that the cavemen lived by. What you can find naturally that hasn’t been processed. So I have been eating meat, vegetables, some fruit, nuts and seeds. A great book to check out about this diet is It Starts With Food.

Though the concept seems simple – pshhh I can eat meat, veggies, nuts, and fruits for 30 days, no problem! I’ve found parts of it to be a lot harder than I would’ve expected.

As someone who doesn’t usually eat much meat, but rather choose to get my protein from plant-based sources, this was probably the biggest adjustment for me. I wasn’t necessarily basing every meal around some form of animal protein, but if it wasn’t there, I never felt completely full after the meal. But I didn’t love eating it either, so I was in quite a dilemma. The whole30 diet doesn’t allow tofu, tempeh, lentils, quinoa or any legumes, so it’s rather difficult to depend on just plant sources for protein while following the whole30. I’m definitely excited to reintroduce plant-based protein after completing the 30 days and see how it affects me.

Other hard parts have been meal prep, which just takes so long, but that’s probably because I haven’t planned ahead properly. Eating out is difficult too, depending on how annoying you want to be. If you want to harass your server with a million questions such as, “what type of oil do you use?” “Is there sugar in the salad dressing?” “What farm do you source from and what kind of diet are the cows fed?” then by all means, go for it. To make sure your meal is compliant, I’d say it’s worth it. I guess I could’ve been more annoying, but I just chose to eat at home for the most part. (Making my social life somewhat non-existent)

But enough about the negatives, let me tell you about all the positives!

I still do feel great! I have bounds of energy and I mentally feel clearer. I really enjoy eating so clean and knowing exactly what goes into my body. And I still get so much joy from cooking, which makes this a really fun program for me. Have I lost weight? I’m not exactly sure, since you’re not supposed to step on a scale until completing the program, but I do feel like my body composition is changing in a good way. Overall I feel healthier and my cravings are completely under control. I’d honestly choose a huge pile of veggies and roasted sweet potatoes over any junk food because of how I feel.

It’s wild to think I only have 12 more days to go! Stay tuned for a final post about my Whole30 diet experience, how I am feeling, the results, and what the future will bring post Whole30.