The Whole 30 Challenge
Lately Than and I had been really talking about improving our eating and cutting sugar. We knew we needed to eat more protein, less lattes, more vegetables, and less bread. The end of each week would come and we would decide we were going to start on Monday. Then Monday would come and we weren’t planned well or there were things going on this week that would make it hard, so we would postpone…again. We just kept putting it off.
Then, last week our wonderful friends Kyle and Tennyson at Cascade Crossfit mentioned a program called The Whole 30 Challenge. They were going to be starting on October 18th and were encouraging many of us from the gym to join them. It would give us accountability and guidelines to follow. I looked at it and decided it was crazy. Unfortunately, I also knew that it was what we needed to do. If we did it with the group, not only would we have help pushing through the hard days, but we would be done before Thanksgiving.
The basic premise of The Whole 30 Challengeis eat super clean for 30 days. There are certain foods that are normally quite heavy in the typical American diet that are inflammatory. The main culprits are grains, dairy, sugar, and legumes. In the challenge, you cut them all out. No cheating, No excuses. Here is their summary of the program…
“Certain food groups (like grains, dairy and legumes) are probably having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it. Are your energy levels inconsistent (or non-existent)? Do you have aches and pains that can’t be explained by over-use or injury? Are you having a hard time losing weight no matter how hard you train, or are pretty lean but still have a little extra puff on your midsection? Do you have some sort of condition (like skin issues, digestive ailments, seasonal allergies) that medication hasn’t helped? These symptoms may be directly related to the foods you eat – even the “healthy” stuff. So how do you know if (and how) these foods are affecting you? Strip them from your diet completely. Cut out all the inflammatory, insulin-spiking, calorie-dense, nutritionally sparse food groups for a full 30 days and let your body heal, recover and reset from whatever effects those foods may be provoking. What, exactly, does that mean? Super strict, by-the-book, 100% Whole30 for the next 30 days.”
The hardest part of this for me was the planning. Trying to think outside the box of grilled chicken and veggies. I didn’t want to get bored because I knew it would make it much harder for me to make it through. Here is my menu in hopes that it will help you get started too. There is still time. Start before Wednesday and you can be done before Thanksgiving too. You don’t even have to plan your own meals. Just check out the menu and go shopping for what you need tonight. Leave me a comment and let me know you are joining us. We can help each other through the hard parts and share our accomplishments.
So off we go on an adventure of epic food-deprivation proportions. If it had been up to me, we would have put it off again but thanks to my wonderful husband who love a challenge, we started today with the group. So far I’m still alive and doing okay. I’ll check in with you tomorrow and let you know what happens when I don’t eat a salty or sugary bedtime snack.
Sarah,
Sounds like a great plan. I don’t know how I would ever cut out dairy. I’ve got to have my milk. Let me just say, I don’t know how on earth you do everything. Between homeschooling my girls, keeping 2 little boys in my home 5 days a week and being the nursery director at my church, I don’t have time to turn around much less come up with something “decent” to cook. I’ve lost approximately 30 lbs. this year and have a ton to go. Good luck. Hope it works for you.
Jill,
Thirty punds is huge!!!! How are you doing it? Dairy was the most daunting but I’m doing surprizingly well without it. I do miss my lattes though. We are using coconut oil in place of butter and used some coconut milk when we mashed our sweet potatoes last night. I’m just having to make things that wouldn’t normally have cheese:) You can also use unsweeteneed almond milk for creaminess.
The menu planning was the most difficult. I’ll post it today I hope. The deciding what to eat has always been the hardest for me especially when I am trying to eat healthy. I just can’t seem to come up with anything fun and then get bored really quickly. So far we have been eating like kings and the prep isn’t much. I think you could do it. You are amazing!!
Love you!!!
This is very similar to the diet that my husband used to loose 80 lbs. Although beans weren’t on his “bad list.” I’m surprised that they aren’t good for your diet. He’s asked me to cut beans out because I over used them, which hurt his stomach. Do you have a website for the diet? How are your kids doing? I tried to cut out sugar, dairy and wheat for my kids without success. I would love to try again! I’m on bedrest for one more week with my pregnancy. Then, maybe we’ll try it
P.S. Amaranth, Quinoa, and buckwheat are not grains. They are in a group of their own called pseudocereals. Buckwheat has anti-inflammatory properties. I learned this in an anthropology of nutrition class in college. Maybe they could be included in the diet.