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How and when did you learn about Whole30?


ImanAlAulaqi

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Let me start with myself.  As of before July 2014 I never knew or heard about the Whole30 or even Paleo.

 

(I actually had to google Paleo to know what it means).

 

So here's how I learnt about it: last month I was on sparkpeople (which I love even though don't agree with anymore) then I came across a members blog stating she's on Whole30 day 19.  That's when I decided to google it and learnt about the Whole30.  My first impression was nah this is not for me I RARELY eat meat/chicken/fish there's noway I would eat them everyday for thirty consecutive days.  Then a month later (August 18th) I wasn't feeling very well which is somewhat usual for me and I never knew what food caused me to feel that way so I randomly opened up Whole30 again and decided there is no such thing as this is not for me and to go ahead and try it.  If what it claims is true then I'll feel so much better and if it does not then at least I've tried because I deserve it.  So I went ahead and started it on August 19th, today is my day 10 and to be honest I love it so far! In these past 10 days I haven't felt sick sometimes hungry but never sick or lethargic.  Actually I haven't even felt what the timeline described I felt good from the start the only side effect was I couldn't run as much or as long anymore but as of today it got much better and my legs didn't feel so heavy anymore (I increased my fruit intake to be honest so that might have been a reason) but I also saw many other members said it got better in time when your body starts to adapt.  It's only day 10 but I can already say I've been enlightened even once I complete my first Whole30 I plan to stick to Paleo lifestyle.

 

So I was curious how did the rest of you learn about it? And when you did how long did it actually take you to decide to implement it?

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I ran across the book Wheat Belly while randomly shopping on Amazon. The links or reviews or something eventually led me to paleo and then W30. At first I thought it was crazy, there was no way I could do it. It took about 3 months of reading, following the forum, and thinking about it to actually start, and I had already been contemplating the possibility of giving up gluten for a full year before that. It was that big of a deal to me...love love love bread and any/all/other wheat products. Wheat Belly is what finally got me ready to give it up though.

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I heard about the Whole30 last year from friend who did it early last year and posted about it on Facebook. (Prior to that, I had heard of Paleo, but didn't know much about it.) I called her shortly thereafter (around April) to ask about her experience, she told me all about it, and I made a decision to do it myself.  In looking at my calendar, I chose to start it after Memorial Day 2013, as I had a party that weekend, and a few days after completing my Whole30, I'd had a girls getaway booked. I bought It Starts with Food and devoured it before beginning my Whole30.  So, I did my Whole30 from the end of May through the end of June 2013.

Now, as a result, I eat Paleo 95% of the time. Keep all dairy, grains and legumes out of my house. Only have quality dark chocolate (no gluten, dairy or soy).  I had been gluten-free for 6+ years before that, and still continue to keep that militantly out of my diet.  If I'm at a restaurant or someone's house and it's a special dish with a non-gluten grain, non-soy legume or dairy, I might go for it, but that's it. Oh, and I brought my wine back, but consume it less frequently than before my Whole30.

 

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I was frustrated about not losing more weight through exercise by May of 2010 - 15 pounds in 2 years. The owners of the gym where I trained had just gone to a Whole9/Whole30 seminar and they advised me to try doing a Whole30. I started immediately and lost 30 pounds over the next 15 months. 

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I'd been working on eating real food in a Weston A Price sort of fashion for a little over a year. I had a friend that had seen a lot of results with a paleo lifestyle so I had been doing a ton of research on it and waffling back and forth. In my google searches I found Whole30 and spent a few weeks reading through the backlog of blogs on the Whole9 site. I was starting to feel like I could do it but a few of the rules just were too much for me where I was. No scale? No calorie counting? What?? Around the same time I received Practical Paleo as a birthday present and it was a little less strict so I started there. The amazing results I had with that led me to stay paleo and about 3 months later I was finally ready to ditch the scale and my LoseIt app and I jumped into the Whole30 with both feet. Had even more positive results and have not looked back. While I definitely ride my own bike now I do know that I feel my best and perform my best when I'm sticking closer to the Whole30 template than when I stray.  

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I had my gallbladder removed over 2 years ago now, I've had nothing but problems ever since. My doctor at the time told me that I needed to eat low fat, whole grains and that would solve my problem. Every time I went back to the doctor I had put on more and more weight, he kept telling me that I was eating too much and needed to cut my calories, so after basically eating nothing and occasionally falling off the wagon and going on eating binges, I was tired of it.

 

I hurt my hip in July and decided to see a new doctor. During our conversation about my hip I told her about the problems I'd been having because of not having a gall bladder and how hopeless I felt. I couldn't leave the house without being afraid of digestive problems, it was really limiting my life and making me depressed. She suggested I read It Starts With Food and do a Whole30 and that the problem might not really be my lack of gall bladder at all. Of course I ignored her for about 2 weeks then decided to look into it. I got the book and read the whole thing in one day. I was fascinated but I still felt it was something that would be impossible for me to do. I talked to my fiance' about it and for the first time in response to one of my "crazy diets" he said he thought I should try it. I'm only on day 18 now, but I feel amazing, better than I have in years. Which reminds me, I really need to call my new doctor and thank her!

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I saw a connection on Google+ post that he was starting the Whole30. I'm always interested in what challenges people undertake and did an online search for it. I wrote it off as "just another diet thing", but after a little more reading and discovering it was information being offered for free I began to look at it a bit more seriously. Having faced years of acid reflux and other digestive issues I decided to give it a try. Within 2 months I started the Whole30, and ended up sticking with it for 10 weeks. I dropped almost 20 lbs and felt so so much better. 

Most recently (almost a year after my first go-around) , I did it again. The results weren't as impressive as the first time, but I feel much more aware of my commitment to long-term awareness. It's easy to get sucked back in to poor eating habits with "just this little nibble won't hurt". I joined these forums recently to see if having the online support system in place will be that extra boost. 

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I had been doing Medifast for several months, and while it was definitely helping me to lose weight, I started just not feeling good. Also, my doctor encouraged me to drop the soy-based Medifast meals and use only the non-soy ones, so the already limited food choices got much more limited. I started looking at low carb diets and glycemic index stuff, but paleo kept coming up in my searches, so I looked into it. I think I read Robb Wolf's book first, and it was interesting, but I wasn't convinced. Some link from his website, or maybe other searches about paleo, led me to the Whole30 website, and I really liked what I was reading. I liked that they had the focus on food, but that they also had the other factors in the Whole9. I downloaded It Starts With Food, and it just made sense to me. I liked that while they may have started from a paleo background, their main focus was not on what paleolithic people actually ate, but on what things modern people should be eating to be healthy. I started my first Whole30 last September, before I'd even finished reading the book. I'm working on my third Whole30 now, and while I haven't stuck to it completely between W30's, I keep coming back to it because I do feel better eating this way.

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My niece was going to do a Whole 30, she told me about it, I got excited and we decided to do it together, starting July 21st.  Well, she dropped out, I started July 21, completed it 30 days later.  I'm still eating on-plan, although I do have a glass of wine here and there. Love the way I feel! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have read bloggers who are really into CrossFit and, by extension, into mostly eating Paleo. I never thought it was for me, although I used to eat lower carb and felt AMAZING. I struggle very much with the psychological aspects of food, and I was on another message board forum I belong to and noticed there was a Whole30 board there. I read a bit of what the women there had to say and got re-interested in it. I ordered the book on my Nook and am making my way through it now, with plans to start my first Whole30 tomorrow.

 

The science behind it makes sense to me (and I have a science background and work in healthcare), and I would love to break the hold that food has over me. I hope that this is a step on the path toward that.

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This is a great topic!  I've known of the Paleo diet for years but never gave it any consideration, because I was too hooked on my Lean Cuisines and desserts on weekends.  I only viewed food in terms of whether or not it would make me fat (hence my limitation to desserts on weekends!).  Then I started having health issues, and my doctor and two specialists couldn't figure it out.  I started following a Paleo-ish diet (still needed my desserts on weekends...) on June 1, and learned about Whole30 on the Nom Nom Paleo blog shortly thereafter.  I immediately dismissed it because even though I could give up grains, I could NOT give up dairy for 30 days!!!  (I like cheese...)  However, my symptoms kept getting worse, so out of desperation and lack of answers, I started Whole30 on September 1.  And so far I don't miss my cheese or my desserts.  :)

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I was flipping the tv one afternoon mid-August and hit the Dr. Oz show.  I don't care for him so I hit the button again but as the channel changed, I heard two words.  "food sensitivity".  That sounded interesting so I flipped back and only saw the very last of the segment.  I had my laptop there with me so I went to Amazon and searched those two words in books.  It Starts with Food was one of the top hits.  I saw 1500+ 5 star reviews and so I read a bunch of them and then ordered the book for my kindle.  I was reading reading just a few minutes later.  I finished it the next day and started doing a lot of research on Whole30 and also Paleo.  It all sounded so good.  It took me a couple weeks to finally actually start my first whole 30.  I am now on day 17 and am doing well.  I have diabetes and on day 3 I stopped (with my doc's approval) one of my diabetes meds.  My blood sugar is now stable.  I also was able to stop my blood pressure med and now my BP is now extremely good.  I am very happy by these positive changes but so far I am not feeling that "tiger blood".  I do have other health issues so I am not really surprised but I am still hopeful.  

 

I do have to say that I have not had any strong cravings and I really have been enjoying this delicious new way of eating.  I love to cook and am retired so I have time to prepare something good for all meals.  But who knows, maybe later I will be dying for a donut.  Seriously, I am really enjoying a new positive, relationship with food.  

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  • 2 months later...

I was looking at recipes on Pintrest.An absolute favorite pass time of mine! I kept coming across Paleo recipes and they looked interesting but I never tried one. I wiki paleo to find out more and it didn't really strike my interest. Then I saw a whole30 post on Pintrest. I was curious so I went to the ladies blog and read a little which led me to the whole 30 website. I was setting a start day before the evening was over. It was a few days before my 29th birthday. I had been saying I want to be healthier and look better in my 30s then I did in my 20s. When better to start but 29! I quite smoking on my birthday, and slowly removed each catagory of food a day at a time until my official start day at the end of that week! Currently I am on day 19. It has been very exciting. I thought I would miss cheese as I am a cheese on everything girl, but surprisingly I really only miss bread on occasion. Like toast instead of bell peppers for my tuna. And I miss chocolate. Although I know now when I do go off road with chocolate it sure won't be a plain old Hershey bar, I will treat myself to a few Lindt/Lindor Chocolates( the Good Stuff!) my day 30 comes the day before we go on Christmas Vacation to Texas. Which the kids(who have been 90% compliant) are excited for treats from the family. Daughter 1 misses PB&J. Daughter 2 missed qusadillas and Son 1 misses Rice. I look at this list and feel like I failed as a parent somewhere along the line. I always tried to make sure the we're eating healthy(what I thought was healthy) all whole grain starches! Low fat dairy! Lean Meats and Limited Sugar! But looking at what they each miss the most really makes me feel guilty I was not more informed! On the upside they have all opened up to a larger variety of veggies they will eat and are becoming accostumed to eating the at every meal. Also my husband who eats dinners with us most nights, but is not working the program has Promised to commit to 30 days when we return from vacation! I am so excited about this!! He had high blood pressure and is supposed to take meds for it but often forgets! I have been talking to him about all the benifits and how we should totally go Paleo for life. He seems open to the idea, as long as I can replicate some of his favorite foods! Yeah! Looking forward to seeing my results in 11 days, and the future with my whole family on board!!

Wow that's long didn't realize I had that much to say;)

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Currently I am on day 19. It has been very exciting. I thought I would miss cheese as I am a cheese on everything girl, but surprisingly I really only miss bread on occasion. Like toast instead of bell peppers for my tuna. And I miss chocolate. Although I know now when I do go off road with chocolate it sure won't be a plain old Hershey bar, I will treat myself to a few Lindt/Lindor Chocolates( the Good Stuff!) my day 30 comes the day before we go on Christmas Vacation to Texas. 

 

FYI, if you find that you no longer want soy in your diet after your Whole30, you might want to stay away from Lindt Chocolate. All their products except their Excellence 85%, 90% and 99% bars contain soy lecithin.

 

In fact, most commercial chocolate contains soy lecithin: keep reading those ingredient labels carefully post-Whole30 :)

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