An Everydad’s Reflection on Whole30

Just before the Holidays, I offered up my body for the good of science. My wife was interested in trying out the Whole30 eating plan to see for herself how different potentially inflammatory foods affected her, as well as to get an idea of how the plan’s principles might benefit her patients. For my part, I agreed because an eating plan that looks delicious on Instagram and doesn’t force me to give up meat or coffee is something I can totally get down with for a month. While man cannot live on bread alone, he is able to fuel himself quite satisfactorily on a steady flow of brisket and java.

The Whole30 team emphasizes in all of its literature that the eating program is not a diet.

(It’s totally a diet)

The eating plan is designed to change your relationship with food in order to develop healthy and sustainable eating habits.

(If it walks like a diet and quacks likes a diet, it’s probably a diet)

For the duration of the program, participants completely cut out added sugar and sweeteners, grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods, alcohol, junk foods, and baked goods.

(Wikipedia calls Whole30 a fad diet, so it must be a diet)

With the culinary clutter moved aside, participants eat three daily “clean” meals. Approved ingredients consist primarily of meats, healthy fats, fruits, veggies, eggs, and seafood.

(“Fad” is a bit harsh in that it’s really more of a throwback diet similar to the one our ancient ancestors may have survived on, and can, therefore, help us reclaim caveman bodies)

Whole30 pushes participants to pay attention to the Non-Scale Victories, a myriad of which they break down by category. The plan puts a sharp focus on feeling better, as opposed to looking better.

(The truth is, very few people are going to stick with a diet that doesn’t make them feel better when they look in the mirror)

Most kidding aside, Whole30 was an interesting experience. Anyone considering giving it a go might want to take the following reflections into consideration.

The Program Runs Longer than 30 Days

Whole30 rookies are encouraged to reintroduce foods over a couple of weeks following the 30 days of the program proper. The off-ramp allows participants to pay attention to how the reintroduction of different foods affects their detoxed body. It’s a helpful progression, but it also increases the length of the program by 50% which is a lot when you just want a dab of honey atop a slice of Dave’s Killer Bread.

Because the program is in such stark contrast to how most Americans eat, I would also suggest an on-ramp to the full plan. Spend a couple of weeks weaning off any highly sweetened foods or drinks that you’re addicted to. That time is also helpful for honing the art of reading labels, giving your fridge a bit of a makeover and trying out Whole 30 approved foods.

Your First Fight Will Be With Your Calendar

Finding a 45-day window to run the full first-timer program can prove challenging. We had a week-long outdoor music festival and my wife’s birthday delaying our start date last fall, and I wanted to finish our Whole30 before Thanksgiving because one of the things I am most thankful for each year is the opportunity to sample each of the half-dozen pies my wife’s grandma makes from scratch each year.

The very real struggle of calendaring our Whole 30 was mission accomplished regarding the program’s goal of participants evaluating their relationship with food. After doing the mental calculus, I decided that it wasn’t worth giving up the sugary and starchy dishes that I associate with the events on our fall calendar. This would fall under the Non-Scale Victory with Negative Scale Repercussions.

It Helps to Have a Buddy

I don’t have the fortitude to finish out the program without the encouragement and accountability from my wife. It helped to have someone to cook with, commiserate with, and sit with me awkwardly while I told wait staff all of the modifications I wanted to be made to the meals while ordering at restaurants.

Your Second Fight Will Be With Your Budget

Whole30 cuts out most of the inexpensive meal fillers such as legumes and grains, many of which have the potential to remain part of a healthy balanced diet. There is a path to running the program on the cheap, but that route spikes the time menu planning and shopping take up. Our town of 2500 people is fortunate to have a solid little grocery store, but the one rub is that the fresh produce tends to be slim and battered. Shopping once again emphasized the challenges of eating healthy for folks who live in food deserts — rural and urban areas which tend to be areas with high concentrations of poverty.

Your Kids Can Run the Lite Program

Our family policy is that our kids eat the same meals that the adults eat. We modified our stance during Whole30 because it wasn’t worth upending their flow for something that was only going to last a month. Food dyes and most preservatives have been banned from our kitchen cupboards for a few years, so their baseline diet is already clean. Instead of portobello mushroom buns for hamburger night, they still got a baked option. Yogurt stayed on the menu, and we didn’t fully cut sweets from their diet because that would have been cruel and unusual punishment when all of their friends were stuffing Halloween candy into their faces while we were running the program.

Your Third Fight Will Be Specific to You

My wife and I had different weak points throughout the month. She craved sweets something fierce and had a deep desire to bake something. I got so tired of eggs that whenever I saw one I felt like Napoleon Dynamite on lunch break at the chicken farm. Your Whole30 buddy can cheer you on, but the battle with personal preferences will be yours alone to fight.

The best compliment I can give Whole30 is that I would gladly do it again. The scale victory of dropping weight is the primary reason, but I would also like to see if I can get the promised burst of clean-eating Tiger Blood energy under more favorable circumstances. We have a toddler who still doesn’t sleep through the night regularly, and my hypothesis is that my sleep deficit is significant enough that my energy ceiling from any diet change is going to be low. Longer sleep intervals and a bit of light exercise should get me flying at light speed next time.