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Confession time. I’ve never made it through an entire Whole30.
I’ve tried four times and haven’t ever made it to day 30. The first three times I had an excuse. I was still nursing my youngest and cutting out grains made my supply tank and I dropped weight too quickly. But this last time I wasn’t breastfeeding, I just have terrible self-control.
I’m great at planning the meals and I even find all the vegetable chopping therapeutic, but I cannot for the life of me NOT eat something delicious if the person next to me is eating something delicious. If you offer me a cookie I will always say yes. ALWAYS.
What’s this Whole30 thing, you ask? Basically it’s a reset button for your system to reduce inflammation and improve your health. You can read all the details here.
Anyhow, even though I’m a big failure at whole30ing, I still love (attemping) whole30s. Here’s why:
-I realize how few veggies I’m eating in my typical diet. It’s so easy for me to eat an egg or oatmeal for breakfast, a quesadilla for lunch, and beans and rice for dinner. Sure, it could be worse, but there’s nary a vegetable in the mix. When I do a whole30 and am eating lots of veggies at every meal it helps me make it habit that extends beyond the whole30. I actually start craving greens.
-My skin looks so good. A week into the whole30 and my skin is so clear and glowing. I assume that means it’s good for me.
-I kick that sugar habit. I LOVE sugar. I also feel absolutely terrible when I eat it often. The whole30 really helps me get out of the cycle of sugar cravings and crashes.
-My afternoon headache/lethargy disappears. You know that 2pm awful feeling? I used to drink a couple of cups of coffee in the afternoon to perk myself up, but since my autoimmune issues (IC) have flared up and coffee makes me writhe in pain (wah!) that afternoon headache is the bane of my existence. But after a couple of weeks on the whole30 I don’t have it anymore.
The first 4-5 days really aren’t any fun (sugar cravings are REAL), but it’s worth it. Maybe someday I’ll even finish all 30 days!
Anybody else a whole30 failure? Love whole30? Hate whole30? Let’s chat in the comments 
Psst! If you are like me and have a hard time following through on your Whole30, I highly recommend the Well Fed cookbooks. In fact, there’s one available in this year’s Ultimate Homemaking Bundle if you want to get it and dozens of other great resources at 99% off:
You can grab it for just $29.97!
While not every book and ecourse will apply to everyone (and really, who has time to read 68 books!) at $29.97 it’s such a steal even if you only use 4 or 5 of the resources. Some of the courses are more than $300 if purchased separately and the free bonuses alone are worth more than $150 (I am definitely grabbing the Maca Powder! Love that stuff!).
But the sale only lasts until Monday, so check out all that’s included before it’s gone!
Disclosure: Links to the bundle sale are affiliate links which means that at no additional cost to you, a portion of the sales made through my links will benefit my family. Thank you so much for supporting Carrots!
I’ve never tried it, but now you’ve made me want to! I even bought It Starts With Food a year or two ago but just can’t get myself to DO it. It’s inspiring to know I don’t have to be perfect at it, that I’ll still benefit from it. : )
Hubby and I did the Whole30 in June 2015. We made it to day 30 and both really liked it. It definitely had a lasting impact on some of our eating habits overall, even a year later. I think often of doing it again and probably will soon!
Well you’re a better woman than me because I haven’t even attempted it, BUT I will say that when we started eating in general more in line with the Whole30 guidelines (except dairy, because I eat allllll the dairy), I started feeling so much better and lost 10 stubborn pounds that have been hanging around since high school. But like you, I can’t just NOT have the cookie, I mean… I can’t. So no whole30 for me, but it’s nice to know how and what to eat when I feel like I need to get back on track, you know?!
Love whole 30 – did three completely and will do another one later this summer. Having my husband and I both doing it together made all the diff in the world – sugar dragon has reared his ugly head again (bread is the culprit) so we need to get back on track!
I am a sugar addict and have a hard time saying no to sweets when they’re offered to me. I also am generally not a breakfast eater (except coffee). When my husband and I tried for a few months to get pregnant and were unsuccessful, I wanted to change up my diet before I sought out any medical help so I did the Whole30 in October….we conceived about 5 days after I finished.
It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve done (excluding growing a human), but I felt GREAT, dropped a few pounds, evened out my hormone levels, and learned how to eat healthy without ever being starving.
I’m not sure if I have it in me to do one again any time soon (especially when breastfeeding) but the whole concept of cutting out sugars, increasing my veggie intake, and saying no to cravings has lasted far beyond the Whole30 experience. I guess in summary: it was super hard, but oh so worth it!
I would love to try it but I’ve got a couple VERY picky eaters in the family, so making separate meals for myself and them seems pretty daunting. Maybe eventually with enough planning I could pull it off! Until then this is a good reminder to eat a vegetable once in a while ?
My husband and I are gearing up for our family to attempt this. I have two boys (6 & 8) that will also be participating as much as possible. My difficulty in planning for this is that I have a son with a severe egg allergy. So many of the recipes involve eggs, especially for breakfast. Do you have any non egg breakfast suggestions?
I’m with you Haley! I love attempting stuff like this but I don’t seem to ever make it to the finish line. Regardless of that fact, I always benefit from it! Earlier this year I tried to do the Body Ecology Diet for 3 months (super super strict!!) and didn’t even make it a full 30 days…but I got so much out of it and plan to attempt it again in the future. I just have low self-control too! It’s hard for me, especially since I’m a baker by profession, to avoid eating cookies and things like that.
I’ve never done whole30 specifically, but it sounds very similar to a 6 week program called The Blood Sugar Solution my NaPro doctor recommended we do prior to our infertility treatments. We barely made it a week before we caved. It was just SO DIFFERENT from what we were used to. We ended up taking small parts of the program as baby steps to work into our every day meal planning. The plan being to eventually make it trough the whole 6 weeks without diving head first into a bowl of spaghetti lol.
I just found your blog today, and have really been enjoying reading your posts!
I’ve done the whole30 two times now, the first time with my mom and sister and the second with some roommates. It was pretty difficult both times, but I found that having an accountability partner, especially if they are in close proximity makes it so much easier. You can share your struggles and successes…and your food! When someone else is eating a plate full of kale at the dinner table it just makes it so much easier!
My husband and I completed a whole 30 about a year and a half ago and I too felt all the benefits that you mentioned. But I feel like that’s mostly from removing sugar from my diet. I’ve kind of grown increasingly annoyed for the whole 30 fad the more I’ve learned about how to traditionally prepare grains and legumes. They claim that both of those foods aren’t heathy when really what’s makes them that way is the way in which they are prepared. Soaking, fermenting, and sprouting are the way to go with grains and legumes, I’m learning. I do appreciate their push for veggies.
I have not personally tried it, but my MIL has and she LOVES it. Her self control is truly amazing.
I’m currently pregnant, so I don’t think that I want to start this up when I need all the good nourishment I can provide, but I definitely know that I want to be healthier for my family and friends. I lost both of my parents by the time I was 26 (GOD was doing all the works for me and my family and it wasn’t just a health related issue) but I do want to be around for my kids and my future grandkids (if that is GOD’s will).
Are you thinking about doing a Whole 30 again? Cause I would join a group of ladies who help motivate me to be stronger and healthier.
Yes! We have a group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1489212834654532/