Why We are Doing Whole 30

Why We are Doing Whole 30

In case you missed the news of the decade - Chris and I decided over the weekend we were going to do Whole30! Here is how that conversation went:

Me - Would you like to do Whole30 with me in March?
Chris - Why don't we do it for Lent?
Me - Oh that is a good idea!

.....

Me three hours later - UM LENT IS IN LIKE 5 DAYS.

So I quickly jumped on IG and pleaded for help and man they DELIVERED. You say the words Whole30 and people come running out of the woodwork with encouragement and advice and recipes and must haves. It was awesome and definitely made me feel like we could do this!

Always looking for an excuse to share an adorable family photo, right? Photo by Allison LaSalle Photography in The Woodlands

What is Whole30?

Maybe I just spend too much time online, but I thought everyone knew what Whole30 was. I was wrong - so I thought I would give you a quick and dirty rundown of the Whole30 program here just to give you the high points. It is essentially a complete elimination diet where you remove dairy, grains, gluten, soy, sugar, legumes, and alcohol for thirty days and give your body an opportunity to reset itself and start healing from all the junk we (as in we, me and Chris, not society, but also society) eat.

You mainly stick to protein, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats for thirty days. When you say it like that, it sounds super easy right?

But did you know that corn is not a vegetable - it is a legume? Did you know that SUGAR IS FREAKING IN EVERYTHING???? And did you know that there is a difference in soy lecithin and sunflower lecithin? No. No you did not. You have to become an avid label reader and understand what all the different things in the ingredient list actually are.

Whole30 is also notoriously expensive. I've already heard from several people that our grocery budget is going to triple. I'll talk more about this in a bit.

Our Three Big Whys

We need a CHANGE!

Our first main one is that we really need a change in our diet to facilitate some habit changes. We have been eating somewhat healthy, but mostly processed foods for the last two years for the sake of getting out of debt. I fully believe this is a noble cause and I would probably not go back and change anything, but there does come a time in one's adult life where they have to actually decide to take care of themselves.

That time has come for us - we are both feeling sluggish, overweight, worn out alll the time, and suffer from a continual bout of brain fog. Our bodies are working as hard as they can to take care of their 35 year old selves while we continue to treat them like their 25 year old selves, and that is just not a sustainable way of living.

We need to break some bad habits (like a cookie every night), incorporate some good ones (like eating a vegetable at every meal), and give our bodies a chance to get back on track after a crazy few years.

Food Sensitivies

We are both pretty sure that Chris has a gluten or dairy sensitivity but neither of us have put forth the effort to really eliminate them from his diet to see. I have no idea if I have any sensitives because I've never felt any different than I do now (other than the tiredness and brain fog, but that has just intensified over the years so I've attributed it to aging) so I would love to know if I feel any different when I don't eat any junk. I'm interested to see how this makes us both feel and what kind of things we need to eliminate from our pantry and fridge!

The Budgeting Challenge

I'll be honest - I'm not convinced that this costs as much as everyone says it does; however, I am certainly not going into this blindly. I'm aware that we are going to have to stock up on some essentials that we currently do not have and that is going to be an up front investment. But as far as the weekly groceries - I think I can still do it and stay within a predetermined budget. Easily.

So to those out there that said this was going to toss an atom bomb on my budget, my answer to that is watch me. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I'm still up for the challenge.

I'll be documenting exactly how much we spend, how much each meal costs, and how we do it for the whole 30 days over on Instagram (mostly on Instastories) and I'll be checking in periodically with what has worked best for us in case YOU want to do it too!

OH - also, we are going to document our starting weight and take before measurements and photos. This is categorically the opposite of what the Whole30 program says to do in the book, but along with how we FEEL and how our brains are working, I want to be able to document the physical changes as well. We will just do it once on Wednesday morning and then once when we are finished.

So, my question for you is whether or not you've done Whole30, how you liked it, what your favorite meal was, and your must have compliant item. Share in the comments below!