The results are in!

~ ~M

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.

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  • 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!

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

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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

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

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    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.

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

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

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  • 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.

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  • 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!

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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    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:

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    Published by ~M

    “When the weight of the world is upon you and you're left spinning out of control. When you’ve been plunged head first into darkness, and you don’t know where to go. Simply follow that tiny flicker of light, far off in the distance somewhere. It’ll lead you to a place where love abounds and where hope is found everywhere.” ~M

    36 thoughts on “The results are in!”

      1. Thank you Jan, it really did help. I think the biggest thing it did for us, was change our mindset about food and taught us so much about nutrition.

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    3. Reblogged this on Where Passion Meets Inspiration and commented:
      Maybe I should try this… anyone of you looking to lose weight in a healthy way, maybe look into this Whole30 diet. IF you did try it, I’d love to hear other comments and feedback about this diet. Something I am wondering, is it enough for someone running 4 times a week? Will it give enough energy?

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      1. The Whole30 is nothing but pure healthy eating and no limits to how much you can eat. So yes, it’s provides everything you need and isn’t really considered a diet. but rather a way to change the way you think about food and a way to figure out if you have sensitivities to certain foods. It also helps you to form healthy eating habits, which over time will help you lose weight, but that’s not the main intention of this program.

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    4. Pingback: The results are in! – The Militant Negro™

    5. Reblogged this on Putting My Feet in the Dirt and commented:

      I wanted to share this again, as it’s been almost exactly as year since I last did this. I ended up losing 25 lbs total by continuing to eat this way and I still feel amazing. If you want a healthy eating plan that really works, please try this. I promise you that you won’t regret it. 😉

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    9. Hi again Michelle, would you mind if I give a link to this blog in my Good Books page with the book about Whole30? It might be good for people to be able to reach out to someone who is going through it, but I won’t if you’re not ok with it. thanks!

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      1. Yeah, it’s fairly time consuming. I’m at home all day, so it works for us. Glad I could tell you about it. Take care… 🙂

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      1. Oh yes… completely! But only if your entire family is up for the challenge. You won’t be able to do it alone and have very successful results. It requires complete dedication to the plan and if there are temptations around, it won’t be easy to pull off.

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    16. Awesome! Congratulations to all of you! 🙂
      This sounds a lot like how my family eats. It is definitely more expensive and more time consuming, but I can’t imagine doing it any other way. I guess the difference is that we do enjoy coffee and the occasional treat. It’s all about balance and moderation. 🙂

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      1. Thank you! It’s been a very eye opening experience. We are in the process of reintegrating some of the foods that we haven’t been able to have. I want to try rice, oats, and honey at the very least. Then once we see if everyone can tolerate them, we will keep them as an added part of our diet. It’s been hard not to be allowed to have any type of sweeteners. I’ve been using dates and apricots and making pastes out of those to add to recipes that need some sweetness. They work very well in my homemade ketchup. Overall it’s been a fun experiment in eating. 😉

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          1. Lol… well we can’t have anything with added sugars or sulfites, so I have been making all of our condiments. The homemade mayo is amazing. I would never buy store bought again. I haven’t tried making homemade mustard yet, but want to try it. Making the clarified butter took me a few hours, so I’ve resorted to buying it. It’s pricey, but saves me time. And the BBQ sauce I made was really good. You make it with a sweet potato. Who would have ever thought you could make BBQ sauce with that? But it turned out delish! 😉

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