http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/

Anyone here W30 alumni?

Sounds like an Adkins diet to me.

Gf and I tried it, only made it 10 days, too restrictive.

Wife and I tried it, we made it 10 days. It is restrictive but it is doable. Definetly made us more aware of what is in our foods and has helped us cut back some carbs. I suggest doing your shopping at a Whole Foods if you have one nearby, far more acceptable options than HEB imo. Good luck!

I have three friends on it now. Thursday will be day 30 for them. They will all tell you that day five is the worst.

Personslly I found it too restrictive. I wasn't willing to give up legumes or my morning protein smoothie. Instead I cut sugar and made about 90% of my diet meat, fruit, and veggies. Currently on day 23 of no added sugar.

I can tell you that it is all about meal prep and having things on-hand. You have to be willing to put in the prep time for it.

Sounds like paleo/primal. Those aren't diets though, but lifelong changes in eating habits.

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Wife and I tried it, we made it 10 days. It is restrictive but it is doable. Definetly made us more aware of what is in our foods and has helped us cut back some carbs. I suggest doing your shopping at a Whole Foods if you have one nearby, far more acceptable options than HEB imo. Good luck!

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Yeah, I've bought Pederson's bacon at Sprouts and will never buy any other brand. It is not only sugar free, but absolutely delicious (pricey though!)

Hit a new low...we lasted two whole meals on the whole 30. It was way too restrictive for us! I drink a big mug of coffee with almond milk, a splash of creamer and a Splenda every morning (I know, I know..) Without being able to add any of these to my morning coffee, I was a grumpy, intolerable coworker and wife from day 1. I was also training for a half marathon, and wasn't sure how the diet would affect my energy levels. Instead of cutting things out completely, we prefer to indulge in moderation and make healthy substitutions when able. The whole 30 just didn't seem sustainable to us. The meal prep takes way too long, we enjoy eating out and being social, and all the raw ingredients are expensive! i wish we had the willpower to stick with it, and props to those who are able, but it wasn't worth our time, money, happiness, or frankly risking the state of our marriage!

If not for the dishes, I could eat a mostly W30 diet and would love it. I made it 25ish days. I was never a big vegetable eater before but now I crave them and love them. It made me realize how little dairy my body needs and how much better I do without it.

Luckily I love to cook and have stocked up on tuna, sweet potatoes, onions, LaCroix, coconut everything, Wtrmln Wtr (SO GOOD), eggs, chicken, apples, cabbage, carrots, compliant guac, bananas, compliant bacon, pulled pork and cauliflower rice.

Haha we didn't do whole30, but 21 day fix. Similar but less restrictive, but the dishes thing is so true. My wife cooks and I do dishes (mostly) and I felt like I lived over the sink.

Starting a w30 inspired diet today but will not do the plan exactly. I am going to try to cut out all sugar added foods as much as possible though and alcohol completely. No dairy either and very little bread/rice. I will probably still drink my protein shakes once a day and may eat a little rice from time to time. It will be hard to cut sriracha out completely so I may have a little of that periodically as well.

Wife's bday is in a month exactly so the goal is to make it that long.

Update:

I started my new 'diet' on Tuesday the 5th and so today marks Day #7. For the most part I feel great. I am down ~8 lbs on the scale (I realize much of this is water weight), but I can already tell clothes aren't nearly as tight and I am not constantly bloated feeling. Energy levels are definitely way down though on my runs and I am sleeping in longer than ever before + getting tired much earlier at night.. I feel like my body is in dire need of more sleep this past week. I have been told to give it at least 2 weeks for your body to adjust to the new "fuel" and lack of carbs/sugar it was getting before. I do have a wedding to go to this weekend & while I plan to eat good and stay away from junk food I do plan to have some drinks/beers.

So far though I haven't had any grains/beans/alcohol/dairy and nearly zero added sugar or hard to pronounce ingredients. My wife did use a marinating packet on one of the batches of chicken which wouldn't have been allowed and I did use a squirt of sriracha on one meal but other than that I have stayed pretty much fully compliant with the whole30 plan.

I am almost halfway through my first W30 and am feeling pretty good. I'm down a few pounds and have resisted many temptations (coworker brought a homemade strawberry cake today ) However, I've read "It Starts with Food" and it has really opened my eyes as to why food plays such a crucial roll in our lives and how to finally have food freedom.

Getting to this thread late but did the Whole 30 maybe 2 months ago, I think.

We maintained a strict program for the entire 30 days.

I think over the course of the month, I dropped somewhere between 20 and 25 pounds.

Our timing was bad in that we did the diet during spring little league. I coach my boys, so between work and coaching didn't have any time to work out during that time period. I got 1 3 mile run in while on Whole 30 and still dropped the weight.

We've stuck to a more or less Whole 30 since then and haven't gone totally wild on adding non-Whole 30 foods back - with the exception of our anniversary vacation. From the time we started the diet to now, I'm down 30 pounds.

I will say that our time on the diet was better than some friends mainly because my wife uses Wild Tree spices. Wild Tree has several spices that are designed to be Whole 30 compliant, so we were able to spice up our foods plenty as opposed to going straight bland. Lots of good spices for grilling have sugars that Whole 30 doesn't allow.

I used to load up my coffee with all kinds of fancy creamer but not anymore. I drink it either black or with a little almond milk in it just to bruise it up some.

Haven't had a soft drink in over 2 months but will admit I'm drinking beer again and still keeping off the weight.

The first day or so was fine, but I absolutely hit a wall after a few days and felt like I was nursing a massive hangover. Once that passed, it was smooth sailing.

Now that we're over a month removed, our eating habits are much improved. I can't say I feel like I have more energy etc, but I do love that the weight fell off and is staying off even without much / any time to really work out like I would like.

Lost 11.8 lbs in 30 days on this after reading about it on here.

First couple days you are going through sugar withdrawal no doubt about it. After that was over it was smooth sailing.

Best thing about this, its not overly complicated and easy to stick to once you get going.

Stir fry with cauliflower rice and one of thise gadgets that turns zucinni into vegatable spagetti. Really didnt mind the difference and you dont feel bloated like you do eating rice and pasta.

Going to try to keep it up with some sort of modified version. Id like to add in oatmeal for breakfast but thats about it.

I'm on day 3 of W30. I have struggled to get enough calories so far so have been a little hungry in the afternoons. I'm planning to make some clarified butter and add a potato or sweet potato to my daily menu.

The hardest part for me is giving up sugar and beer... should be able to make it another 27 days though.

What is the overall purpose of this diet? Lose weight, health, both?

Overall purpose is to change your relationship with food and as the author states, "slay the sugar dragon." While dairy, whole grains, and legumes do provide nutrition, they don't come close to what quality meats, fruits, nuts and vegetables can provide.

Today marks the halfway point for me. So far I'm not seeing a lot of progress on the scale (yes I weighed myself even though the official rules say not to). I've lost a couple of pounds at most while sticking to the program and also tracking calories with MFP. I have also not noticed any real difference in energy levels.

The habit breaking aspect of the program does seem like it might be effective. When I'm hungry for a snack my instinct is to reach into the pantry for a granola bar or crackers; W30 has forced me to grab a piece of fruit or handful of nuts instead. I'm mildly annoyed by not being able to have a beer or glass of chocolate milk in the evenings - I've been drinking soda water instead.

Halfway through I'm not sold on W30 but am planning to stick it out to the end.

Great job, Wessimo! I'm almost half way there as well. I've realized about the same results as you. I've lost about four lbs, but I feel much better. I've been pretty irritable and somewhat depressed, but I think that is mostly due to the dependencies I've built up over the years particularly with beer and diet coke. I quit drinking beer about three months ago and I filled that void with sugar. Plus, I used to drink 4-6 diet cokes a day (at least). Now, my body is pissed off because it's not getting any of that. I've been drinking a lot of tea (probably too much). I just don't like water. Anyway, the W30 has made me realize my old habits made me feel like crap all the time. When we are done, my wife and I plan to somewhat continue the W30 during the week, but maybe splurge on the weekends with eating out and some ice cream.

I think the weight loss speed varies for each person.

I can't recall when I started noticing that I was losing - maybe about 1/2 through the 30 days is when I could notice the loss.

I was like you in that I got on the scale early and too often.

Once I started noticing the weight loss, it felt like it just fell off of me.

Oddly enough, I never really noticed any difference in energy levels or better sleep; however my wife noticed those things plus benefits to complexion etc...

I suppose the results vary from person to person especially depending on your eating habits before going on W30.

That's good to know. At this point, if I can kick my old habits and lose 10-15 lbs I consider that great success.

Yep...for me, I've found foods / drinks that I liked a ton before W30 don't have the same appeal anymore.

We've more or less stayed to plan even after 2-ish months past the official 30 days.

Every now and again we have breads/pastas or grain based products but not as much as we did before.

I still haven't found time to get any quality exercise in, but just with eating better the weight has stayed off.

I think I'm hovering around a total of 30 pounds lost since we started the program, and that includes 2 vacations where we didn't eat close to plan at all.

If I had more time to exercise more regularly and was more strict on the foods, I think I would lose even more.

While I didn't notice the other benefits like more energy and better sleep, my wife has seen more of those benefits.

The results I've seen have been good enough that I'd recommend it to people wanting to lose weight just from diet.

Finished my w30 yesterday. Overall I can't say that I experienced dramatic results. My energy levels were about the same whIle on the plan. I lost 2-3 pounds in total. I hoped I'd drop a few more but I wasn't really overweight to start with after having dropped 15lbs since the beginning of the year.

I ate a lot of eggs, meat, vegetables and a few potatoes. I had cravings for sweets and beer but managed to avoid them. I'll go back to enjoying them now but will try to cut back from pre-w30 consumption. Eating w30 was educational because you have to read food labels and it was pretty eye opening to learn how many foods contain sugar. It is hidden in places you would not expect, like the grilled nuggets and kale side at chic fil a (I'm pretty sure the only compliant item at CFA is the fruit cup).

While I didn't see huge changes I think w30 is worth a shot if you are looking at shaking up your routine.

On day 10, haven't gone off plan at all - including no weighing for 30 days. Clothes are definitely fitting better, able to go right to sleep when my head hits the pillow, fighting a sinus infection so I can't really tell if my energy level is better yet.

They really should prepare you for the amount of home cooking you will have to do. I love to cook, but more along lines of when I want to, not every day. Went to a breakfast for Yellowstone Academy this morning and took my own Whole30 compliant bacon I cooked last night - so you can do it if you just prepare. Black coffee is pretty dang good. I've used cream and equal/splenda/stevia for the past 30 years so that was a big step to quit. I may be missing Coke Zero the most... but it made me realize just how many I had been drinking. No gum sucks a bit too.

Committed to the end....

Big fan of the Whole 30 and promote it to all my friends/family. It may be more expensive from a groceries standpoint, but the program itself is free. My wife and I have done 3-4, and generally shop in a Whole 30 manner as much as possible.

I've lost about 20-25 lbs total over the course of doing the Whole 30's and eating healthier, with the same amount of exercise. My total cholesterol dropped from 220 to 180 in the past year. Blood pressure is just about perfect.

It's fascinating our subconscious addiction to sugar. Just on this thread, tons of people say it's "too restrictive" or that they "can't do it". As the founder of Whole 30 says - beating cancer is hard. Cutting out sugar for 30 days is not hard.

Everyone here is capable of completing the program, and I highly recommend it as a challenge for anyone.

The gf floated this w30 out last night, anything on it that hasn't been said here?

My main worry: I am in school and have 3 interviews so far spread throughout January, with more possibly coming. Some people have said their energy was changed, others have not. Did anyone's professional life take a hit from this at a time during the w30?

Edit: we like cooking so that part wouldn't be a problem. And as some have mentioned, I think meal prep is the biggest thing. We'd also have to make sure our budgets could handle it right now.

Chipotlemonger said:

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The gf floated this w30 out last night, anything on it that hasn't been said here?

My main worry: I am in school and have 3 interviews so far spread throughout January, with more possibly coming. Some people have said their energy was changed, others have not. Did anyone's professional life take a hit from this at a time during the w30?

Edit: we like cooking so that part wouldn't be a problem. And as some have mentioned, I think meal prep is the biggest thing. We'd also have to make sure our budgets could handle it right now.

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Professional life didn't take a hit, but it's definitely hard to keep it up during work functions, lunches, etc. You just need to be disciplined and choose foods as best as you can when you don't control ingredients. I never felt stressed as a result of this either.

As you mentioned, the prep is the hardest part. If you don't foresee that as an issue (be warned that it is probably more of an effort than you realize) then you are in great shape.

In terms of cost, yeah it costs more to eat better but I think it's grossly over exaggerated. Just be smart when you shop.

Personally, I had a great experience with this thanks to my wife. She did most of the cooking. Most importantly though, I picked up some great habits. W30 is not sustainable for life, but it damned sure taught me what certain foods did to my body. I still enjoy alcohol and Mexican food now, but I enjoy fresh foods, veggies, fruits and nuts way more than I ever have in my entire life. I'd say I eat W30 about 75% of the time nowadays. It's a lifestyle change and I highly encourage it.

Day 6 of the diet.

The meatloaf recipe with liver in it has been the toughest part so far. Will NOT be making that again.

Think by Sunday I will be over the sugar hump.