Well, as many of you know, I have been participating in the Whole30 program over the last month.  For those of you who don’t know what this is, it’s a diet program which mainly consists of eating fruits, vegetables, and meat for 30 days.

It worked so well for my family and I that we have decided to continue eating this way on a regular basis.  We all feel so much healthier and have a lot more energy.  My husband had been dealing with skin rashes for over a year now, and those have been completely eliminated.  And I had been suffering from lifelong digestive issues, and have found that I am free of the issues I used to have.  But just to give you a little more in-depth knowledge before you go and jump on the bandwagon, I wanted to give you some pros and cons for this diet plan.
 

Pros:

You can eat as much as you want and you don’t have to count calories. We ate three meals every day and usually a couple of snacks as well.  Nobody was ever left feeling hungry and it was nice not having to write down and keep track of every single thing we ate.  Most diets require this, and I feel like it begins to get too overwhelming for me and then I just give up and lose interest.

 

You will lose weight. Without exercising, I still lost 6 lbs and 2.5 inches around my waist.  My husband exercised some, and had better results than me.  He lost a whopping 15 lbs!  So proud of him!  Our girls lost a total of 8 lbs, and have found that their clothes are starting to fit better.  Not bad for a 30 day period!

 

You will have more energy and many of the health problems that you may already have, usually improve immensely.

 

You don’t need to worry about vitamin supplements. If you eat according to the Whole30 plan, those expensive supplements aren’t needed.  You get enough nutrients through the foods that you eat.

 

You’ll learn a lot about nutrition and feel accomplished when you figure out that most of what you’ve been buying at the store, you can actually make at home yourself.

 

You’ll begin to crave sugar less, and find out just how good fresh fruits and vegetables really are.

 

You’ll love the way your body looks and feels and have a more positive outlook because of it.

 

Cons:

You’ll have to spend a lot of time planning before you begin this program. We ended up completely gutting our pantry and had to give most of our food away before we even started.

 

This program is time consuming. You have to read every label at the grocery store and cooking becomes an all-day chore at times.

 

Your skin will break-out more in the beginning, because the toxins in your body are being expelled.

 

There will be days in the beginning when you feel like giving up, because you may suffer headaches from caffeine withdrawals and feel tired because instead of getting your energy from sugar, your body is now having to get that same energy from fat. This process takes a few weeks, and so you’ll begin to wonder if it’s even worth continuing.

 

You’ll find your pocket book a little lighter. Buying organic is pricey and some of the grass fed meats I found were as much as $10.00 per lb, and that was for chicken!

 

You’ll find it’s very hard to eat this way if you are someone who has a very busy lifestyle, and needs the convenience which fast food offers. There really isn’t anything at a fast food restaurant that is allowed during the Whole30 program.  So you’ll have to pack your home cooked meals and take them with you when you’re on the go.

 

And the biggest issue of all… you’ll feel so good by the end of it, that you’ll almost be afraid to ever eat another candy bar again or drink another caffeinated beverage. It will ruin your life in the best possible way and you will resent the Whole30 program because of it.

 

My family and I considered this an experiment with food and we’ve realized just how much junk food used to negatively impact our lives.  I truly believe that if we continue eating this way, we will all live longer healthier lives and be happier for it.  So with that said, I highly recommend the Whole30 diet program for anyone who wants to eliminate starvation diets, have more energy, and have fewer health issues.  The only way you’ll know if it’ll work for you, is to give it a try.  I hope you will, and if you do, let me know and I’ll be happy to give you some moral support along the way.

Here’s a sampling of some of the meals we’ve been eating: