I know you all are thinking a diet with no gluten, no grains, no beans,and no dairy..."Yeah, Hell to the No". What could possible be left to eat? Lean meat, wholesome fruits, and raw vegetables "but I don't like spinach", well then get used to all that extra love around your waist. On the plus side it will keep you warm at night...although its summer and I'm sure all that love isn't too comfortable. I am currently on day two on the whole 30, and I won't lie and say I've started out strong. I was craving a donut earlier...well I always crave donuts. MMM maple glaze. Anyways back to what I was saying about the whole 30 diet. What does is this diet exactly? And why cut out all this stuff? For starters food groups like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes could have an impact on your energy level causing you to feel fatigued, sluggish and lazy. By eliminating all these foods for thirty days you allow your body to reboot itself and recover from whatever imbalance they caused in your body. The end result allows you to break free from your cravings, gives you more energy, and of course lose weight. Sounds a little difficult I know, but if a girl like me who lives her life anticipating when her next meal is could do it then so could you. Here is a summary of what the program looks like.
For 30 days:
- Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. (Which means No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.)
- Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
- Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Read your labels.
- Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
- Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee.
- Do not eat white potatoes. It’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold, and fingerling potatoes off your plate.
- Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
- No Paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no banana-egg pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely.
*In my next post is the dinner that I made tonight whole30 certified!
