swc93 said:

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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.

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Keep up the good work! My hardest part was always remembering not to doctor up my coffee. You get through it.

I do realize I am at a slight advantage. Been eating gluten free for almost 6 years and I take my coffee black.

first week is brutal but gets better after.

if you have the official book, there are several good recipes there.

not sure if you know anybody that sells Wild Tree spices or not, but Wild Tree has W30 workshops and lots of spices that are W30 compliant.

Great program

Sugar withdrawal is sucking.

jake2011 said:

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jab2014 said:

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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!

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Wow this is pretty funny. You might be addicted to caffeine/coffee if a day of missed coffee causes these effects.

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It gets easier. I gave up the creamer when I went through it, and never picked it back up. The results are worth the effort. I dropped 13 lbs and felt amazing.

Got through 30 days with out a cheat. Today is day 71 and have gotten really used to the plan (and the HUUUUGE move to black coffee). Now we are trying to live with our daily diets based on Whole 30 concept but not as Nazi strict. It is overall so healthy that a small cheat is overcome quickly.

I still am going with no sugar or artificial sweetener, no dairy, rarely any grains, wine just on weekends and only a glass or 2 when I do. Drinking water instead of diet drinks. Lots of fruit, veggies and meats. We cook a lot but still are able to eat out regularly. Down about 17 lbs and not having a problem with cravings - just as they said would be a result. I was a 2 Coke Zero a day guy and now I can't finish one because it is so sweet....

As the book says, enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner without being "That Guy" weird about the food. We were able to do that and not go crazy. We've learned a lot about how our bodies react to various foods. I think it has helped our allergies too.

Recommend it.

good deal...

wife and I noticed the same re: foods we used to love that can no longer handle.

I LOOOOOOOVE black beans - well at least I did. figured out they are a massive trigger food for me now. shortly after eating black beans, I'm miserable.

I stayed "fairly" strict after completing the 30 days, but the longer we've been done, the more I "cheat."

we're going to try it again - likely in Feb to detox after the holiday binge.

I'm on day 9 currently. Some rough days in there so far.

Things that helped me were having fresh pineapple and grapes in the fridge at all times for snacking.

Also found that a double meat Whataburger without the bun or cheese - with extra tomatoes and a side of mustard is legal. Have to eat it with a knife and fork. VERY satisfying to cravings.

Buy some bulk cashews and also some dried pineapple at Trader Joes.

Thanks and Gig em!

Some of the Lara-bar bars are Whole30 compliant that are great for emergency snacks. Wife has some of those for her afternoon unsweetened hot tea.

I have found that the unsweetened dried plantain chips that I have bought in bulk from Sprouts are actually pretty good with salsa.

I've had some unsweetened banana chips that are clutch for my chip food group need. I'm like you, rasher, haha.

My wife has a bunch of allergies to several kinds of foods, so we're trying some paleo stuff in addition to a "whole 30" concept.

From what I can tell, the paleo is just a bit more restrictive on what foods are allowed compared to whole 30.

Agree on the food prep item. There's several brands/types of spices that are whole 30 compliant, so we never ate bland when on the strict program.

NICU Dad said:

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From what I can tell, the paleo is just a bit more restrictive on what foods are allowed compared to whole 30..

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Paleo is basically meat, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds (or clean byproducts of those things). No dairy, no sugar, no grains (or products produced from grain) and no legumes. I think Whole 30 is pretty much the same, is it not? That's what I've never quite figured out. To me the Whole 30 people are basically saying, "Hey, try strict Paleo for 30 days." I haven't yet found a difference in the two.

There's also Primal, which is basically Paleo except a little less restrictive on the dairy. It allows for cheese and real butter and a few other things.

The paleo book my wife got may have been an even more restrictive one perhaps?

The book she was looking at basically says, fruits, veggies, protein but cut dairy and grains. But this particular book also said no to legumes and several types of nuts.

It may have more geared to the "extreme" to help with her food issues etc...

rasher, yes the whole 30 is meant to be a 30 day detox of sorts and then reintroduce stuff to see how your body reacts to it.

W30 does not allow real sugar from honey, maple syrup.

NICU Dad said:

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The paleo book my wife got may have been an even more restrictive one perhaps?

The book she was looking at basically says, fruits, veggies, protein but cut dairy and grains. But this particular book also said no to legumes and several types of nuts.

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But isn't that the same as Whole 30? I thought Whole 30 also cut out legumes (including peanuts because they're technically legumes).

Doesn't really matter I guess. My initial point was that Whole 30 is basically just doing Paleo for 30 days without cheating. That's hard for me. I find that I do better by following Paleo roughly 85% of the time but allowing myself to splurge on a cheat meal or a treat every now and then. For example, if I keep my food on point during the week I'll allow myself a reasonable cheat meal on Sunday after church. Or if there's a special occasion and there's cake or something like that I don't make a big deal about it. For me it's all about sustainability. Temporary diets can serve a purpose, but if you can't sustain it then you'll likely just gain the weight back (assuming weight loss is the goal).

Finishing up my second W30 on Friday and results have been great. First round I dropped 14 lbs and then put 6 back on over the next 4 month including holidays. I didn't make any huge changes to my day to day diet afterward. This round I'm down another 15 so far (23 net from the start).

It seems like I do have some mild aversion to something that brings on inflammation and bloat over time. I tried to pay attention last time to what set it off and couldn't really pin point anything. I shed the water weight really fast in the early parts of W30. I think going forward, I'm going to do 2 week regimens every 3rd month or so.

This was done without changing my workout routine which is typically a 4 mile run and short circuit of weights x3 per week.

End of day 28 here. Lost about 9lbs. Didn't work out as I told myself I'd take it one step at a time towards being healthy. Well, I'm about ready to start working out.

Did one of these about 2 years ago and this one was much easier. Why? Smoked meat and a FoodSaver:

Smoked Pork butt - (don't BBQ sauce it up)... throw some on a hot skillet to crisp it up and add some eggs and an avocado for breakfast. Add some homemade BBQ sauce and put it on a potato with ghee. Many uses!

Smoked Turkey - the meat goes a long ways on salads,etc.

Smoked Prime Rib - fantastic on salads

Smoked Salmon - okay, we just got it already cold smoked from Costco and eat with green apples instead of bagels

Cook bulk quantities of meat, food save them and even freeze if needed and your meat needs will take almost no time at all.

My wife and I did whole 30 in February and I lost 15 lbs. in a month. The weight just fell off. However, my wife only lost about 3 lbs. She wasn't too happy. The deal was she was already eating a pretty healthy diet and I ate just whatever. First time in my life I've ever really watched what I ate.

We tried to get kind of elaborate at first with our meals, but discovered quickly how much of a PITA that was so ended up eating the same meal of grilled chicken and steamed vegetables several times a week. That got old. I was so happy to be able to go back out to eat again.

It did me good. I'm more mindful of what I eat now and stick to healthy choices most days of the week. I took that 15 lbs of weight loss and have added on to it by getting back into running and lifting. The 15 lbs was a good and quick jumpstart.

All in all a positive experience for me.

brucoh said:

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My wife and I did whole 30 in February and I lost 15 lbs. in a month. The weight just fell off. However, my wife only lost about 3 lbs. She wasn't too happy. The deal was she was already eating a pretty healthy diet and I ate just whatever. First time in my life I've ever really watched what I ate.

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This was my experience as well for the first one. She had already been about 75%+ Whole30, and proportionally she didn't have 15lbs to lose.

Wife and I are on day 4. (Technically day 3, since I had a beer with Game of Thrones on Sunday night, at least I made it a really good Jester King Sour).

My headaches/fog/cravings get pretty bad from 3pm-6pm, but if I make it past that I feel pretty good.

Food wise, it hasn't been that bad, except for wanting a snack during the mid afternoon/early evenings. Giving up alcohol has been tough though, and will be even more difficult on the weekends and especially next weekend when I have to attend a wedding.

Day 9 here.
My wife and I were just commenting about how full we feel from meals now. And how we aren't constantly thinking about what we were going to eat for the next meal. We eat our three meals, and we stop eating when we are full.
My digestive system still isn't perfect though. I've been fighting constipation since day 3. Taking magnesium has helped with that somewhat.

Day 19.

Feel pretty great and looking good. We will probably keep this eating up for a while. Nothing I really miss except maybe beans every once in a while and alcohol. A burger and fries sounds great sometimes, but I know that leads me down to more burgers and fries so I'm not THAT enticed to get one.

We cheated a little with the alcohol. I was in a wedding last weekend so I had a couple of beers and a few whiskies. They definitely hit me much harder than normal.

Tonight we have to attend a birthday party at a pizza place, which pizza is one of my wife's weaknesses. I'm sure I'll have to talk her down from the ledge a couple of times.

Lt. Joe Bookman said:

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Day 19.

Feel pretty great and looking good. We will probably keep this eating up for a while. Nothing I really miss except maybe beans every once in a while and alcohol.

We cheated a little with the alcohol. I was in a wedding last weekend so I had a couple of beers and a few whiskies. They definitely hit me much harder than normal.

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When I cheated it was with beans, corn, and alcohol.

Day 30

Feel really good. Down into the 160s for the first time since my sophomore year of college. Lost about 9 lbs.

I think we are going to go on a paleo-keto hybrid next. I find myself not really wanting carbs much at all. Though, it's still incredibly hard to drink wine/alcohol instead of my usual beer.

Hoss said:

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I've never quite figured out how Whole 30 is different from Paleo. And I don't understand the folks that blame meal prep time for their failure. How long does it really take to cook meat and vegetables? Just keep it simple. The people that make it hard on themselves are the people that try to make their Paleo / Whole 30 foods look and taste like the crap they're used to eating with complicated and time consuming recipes.

I go to the store on Saturday and buy a bunch of meat and veggies and healthy fats. Then I cook everything Sunday afternoon and the rest of the week is basically just eating leftovers. It's a simple diet. The only hard part is telling yourself no on all the stuff you don't need.

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These diets will come and go often. They'll be relabeled and resold and someone will profit through book sales, videos, clicks, referrals, etc. You are absolutely right. Whole30 'works' because people who are not used to watching what they eat suddenly send their body through a rigid diet that inherently makes it difficult to consume calories. The result? Weight loss. Wow.

I was young when I hit 231 lbs, and so yes, perhaps me going from 231 lb down to 140 lb was easier at 18, but I've also recently dropped 25 lbs when at 33 as well (195 lb -> 170 lb). It is all the same formula: burn more calories than you consume. It doesn't matter what diet you choose. You absolutely must burn more than you eat to drop weight. You need to burn as many as you consume to stay steady.

I'm on no specific diet. I will eat almost anything and everything: full fat ice cream, halo top, bread, rice, veggies, fruits, hamburgers, tacos... you get the point. Having said that, I am also highly aware that if I do eat full fat ice cream, I can't shovel a pint in my face, nor do I have 4-5 slices of bread at a BBQ joint. I keep everything reasonable. I weigh myself every 2-3 days and if I spike a few lbs, I go back to lowering my caloric intake or upping my exercise a little.