Beginner’s Guide to Whole30

If you’re looking to reset your eating habits, lose weight, have more energy and start feeling all-around healthier, the Whole30 diet is a 30-day clean-eating plan that’s nothing like your typical diet.
For just 30 days you cut out a bunch of unhealthy, bad-for-you things and replace them with all the good stuff. No counting calories, tallying points or always feeling hungry here. Plus, it’s a lot easier to commit to something for just a month rather than the idea of an endless future with no donuts.
The idea behind the Whole30 diet is to break your bad eating habits and adjust your taste buds to stop craving foods that can negatively affect your health and make it difficult to lose weight. By the end of the 30 days, your jeans will fit better and you’ll have far fewer cravings for those foods that are really difficult to give up.
The most commonly noticed benefits that people experience after doing the Whole30 diet include:
- Weight loss
- Sleeping better
- Less digestive problems
- Better energy and stamina
- Clearer skin
And perhaps the two most important and interesting benefits to the Whole30 diet:
Tastebuds are transformed – The first week may be difficult with cravings, but by the end of the 30 days you’ll be surprised at how easily you can actually survive without pizza and how little you’re thinking about it. You may find yourself craving something healthy now instead.
Food reactions are noticed – On day 31 when you can add things back into your diet, a lot of people realize that things they’ve always eaten actually make them feel sick, like dairy or bread. Giving your body a chance to reset lets you notice how things affect it once you reintroduce them to your diet.
If you’re ready to give it a try, here’s what you can indulge in during the Whole30 30 days:
- Poultry
- Meat (say yes to a hamburger, but you’ll have to say no to the bun)
- Fish
- Vegetables (cauliflower is ok, but cauliflower crust pizza is not)
- Fruits
- Fats
- Black coffee
- Here are the off-limit items. Remember, it’s only for 30 days:
- Sugar, including natural and artificial sweeteners
- Grains
- Beans/Legumes
- Soy
- Dairy
- Processed additives (carrageenan, sulfites, MSG, etc.)
- Alcohol
- Smoking
If you’re ready to give Whole30 a try, here are some tips for success:
Be prepared
Check out a recipe blog designed for people on the Whole30 clean-eating plan, like the one at Our Paleo Life. This gives you an arsenal of yummy things to make. Plan out meals a week at a time so you have something delicious to look forward to and won’t be tempted to get takeout.
If you aren’t that into cooking, start small and make some basics that will still be satisfying but not overwhelming to you.
Clear out your kitchen
Get rid of everything on hand that you can’t eat. Give it to a friend for the month, donate it, throw it out – just don’t keep it around.
Enlist a friend
Find a friend who wants to eat clean for 30 days and be each other’s support system. Instead of calling your pizza delivery guy, call your friend.
Remember, every day it will get easier to adjust to your new eating habits, and the benefits will be so worth the struggle in the beginning.