Whole30 — The Halfway Mark

Whole30 is a diet where you eliminate foods that are considered inflammatory for 30 days. Sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, and preservatives are a few of the categories that are avoided. This year marks my second January trip through Whole30. The first 15 days have been rewarding.

Weight Loss

I don’t do Whole30 to lose weight, but it is a natural result of the diet. The first few days can be tough. Your body feels like it is continuously craving more food. Generally, I gave my body what it wanted. I had a number of snacks like nuts, carrots, Larabars (apple pie and lemon), and Chomps to help keep my hunger at bay.

As I approached the midpoint, my body has started to make an adjustment and requires fewer of those snacks. With that, I’ve found that I’ve shed a small number of pounds, roughly 3% of my body weight. In my first go-around, I had similar weight loss, losing about 6% of my body weight over the full 30 days. After stopping the diet the first time, I regained that weight.

Inflammation

I typically experience a lot of inflammation. My back, neck, hips, and ankles often ache. It isn’t debilitating, but the discomfort is a distraction in my everyday life and sleep. The Whole30 diet delivers in reducing inflammation. Halfway in, my body feels relatively ache-free. I’m moving and sleeping better.

Kitchen Fun

Another nice benefit of Whole30 is my need to get creative in the kitchen. You can’t make most of your familiar recipes during Whole30, so you have to be creative with dishes like my Avocado Toast Recipe. Other new ingredients like cauliflower rice and coconut aminos are two options that I’ve kept in my diet after Whole30.

Whole30 has again changed my perspective on how and what I eat. After my first time doing it, I was so eager to eat all of the foods I’d given up. This time around, I may take a more patient approach when adding foods back in. Either way, it has been an enlightening and fulfilling journey.