Today begins my official start to the Whole 30 Diet.  I first heard about the Whole 30 Diet a while ago and knew that I wanted to try it as one of my 30 Day Challenges.

The Whole 30 program describes itself as a short term nutrition reset. The aims of Whole 30 are to help end unhealthy food cravings, restore your healthy metabolism, and balance your immune system.

 

Whole 30 emphasizes eating lean meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, natural fats, herbs, seasonings, and natural fats.

The foods that are not allowed on Whole 30 are:

• Added real or artificial sugars
• Grains (breads, pasta, rice, cereal, quinoa, etc.)
• Dairy
• Legumes/
• Alcohol
• Carrageenan, MSG or sulfites
• Baked goods, treats or junk food with substituted ‘approved’ ingredients

There are several similarities between Whole 30 and the Paleo Diet (which I had tried back in early 2017) but there are a couple main differences between Whole 30 and Paleo. Whole 30 doesn’t allow any sugar but the Paleo Diet is just restrictive towards refined sugar.  Paleo emphasizes eating grass fed meat, but Whole 30 doesn’t really differentiate. The biggest difference is that in the Paleo Diet using approved ingredients to make processed snack foods is ok, but in Whole 30 it is not allowed.

For the next 30 days, my goal is to stick as close to the Whole 30 rules as possible, focusing on healthy meals comprised of lean meats, vegetables and fruits.  I may deviate slightly from the formal plan by not being completely restrictive with alcohol and focusing on staying away from refined sugars but allowing some natural sugars.  Wish me luck!