Benefits of Whole30 over regular Paleo?

[fujbeck]

Not sure if this question should go here... But I'm just wondering if someone could tell me what they think the benefits are on doing a Whole30 over just converting to a Paleo lifestyle. Obviously it is a healthier diet, but I'm wondering how much of a difference one would notice since doing the Whole30 feels significantly harder.

[runninglawyer88]

I think a lot of the emotional ties we have to food are tackled with a  whole 30 whereas that might not be the case with pure paleo. Also, the structure with respect to meals and a discouragement of snacks makes meal-planning and eating to satiety during meals of utmost importance--again, that may not be the case with ordinary paleo. 

[GFChris]

For me, Whole30 was my first venture into Paleo eating. I didn't do it because it was Paleo, I did it because I wanted to eat vegetables more consistently in my life.

In doing my Whole30, I found the meal template to be genius. It's now my way of balanced eating at every meal.

 

Having completed my Whole30 last June, and having great results (Feel terrific..As of October, lost 10 lbs and 11 inches. Haven't stepped on the scale since, but I've at least maintained if not lost some more inches, at least), I guess you could say I now eat Paleo. I've added back red wine on occasion (but not anywhere near what I had before), and quality dark chocolate infrequently. I make a Paleo banana bread about once a month, and avoid processed gluten-free/Paleo treats. Still off grains, dairy, soy and legumes, unless I encounter something special/unique while out to dinner or at someone's house. 

[JohannaE]

Not sure if this question should go here... But I'm just wondering if someone could tell me what they think the benefits are on doing a Whole30 over just converting to a Paleo lifestyle. Obviously it is a healthier diet, but I'm wondering how much of a difference one would notice since doing the Whole30 feels significantly harder.

 

For me, it's the strict rules that have been the most helpful more so than anything I can't eat on Whole30 but could eat on a regular paleo diet.  Not snacking and eating three round meals has been immensely helpful, plus no alcohol!  That might be the biggest difference for me...

[jent103]

What the others said! Eating Paleo addresses what you're eating, but it doesn't address the ways that we've taught ourselves to think about food (restricting calories or other stressful monitoring), and it doesn't teach us how to eat to nourish ourselves best. The strategy of Whole30 is to address not only ingredients, but also to help us learn to listen to our bodies rather than our emotions/habits, and to get hormones (insulin, leptin) back to where they should be naturally. I could munch on a half cup of roasted almonds every afternoon and call that Paleo, but that's not the ideal thing for my body or my brain to be doing. I could make Paleo pumpkin pancakes every morning, but that's going to give me less nutrition than a meal that fits the Whole30 template (and make me hungry two hours later). When you do a Whole30 in the way it's intended, it really does change your view of how you nourish yourself and challenge you to think about why you reach for that Larabar or whatever.

 

Plus having a clean 30 days under your belt lets you see how you function when you're at your best, and afterward, you're so tuned in to how your body feels that you are able to notice what happens when you introduce gluten, dairy, etc. That lets you know what the consequences for you will be when you choose to eat/drink ____ in the future, so when you're not eating Whole30, you're informed. That's immensely helpful to me.

[praxisproject]

Diagnosis - Whole30 helps you identify whether you have any disruptors that you are better off without (for me, wheat, dairy, soy, many of the things on the Whole30 no-list).

 

A have a new normal now and I don't want to give it up.