95% gluten free and Paleoish already and starting Whole 30

[melgirl33]

Hello! 

Curious to hear from others who already ate mainly clean food and gluten free and how going onto a Whole 30 changed you? 

 

Currently I have days where I eat paleo all day, and days where I will eat things like quinoa, hummus, mary's gone crackers sort of things. Lately I have been having some dairy as well, mainly grass fed cheese, goats cheese. 

 

Anyway, I am excited to see the effects of the Whole 30 program. I have never committed to something like this for 30 days. I am guessing doing this yo yo sort of thing isn't good and putting in the 30+ days really makes a difference. 

 

I have a chronic case of plantar fasciitis that is 50% better and I want to kick it's butt for good! 

[kirkor]

Your background sounds similar to mine, and for me I've never experienced any big psychological or physiological differences from following the W30 program. I'm on my 4th or 5th one at this point, and I keep coming back because I like the "tune up" or the "tighten the reins" aspect that a real honest 30 days gives me. Each W30 I think has gotten me closer to developing a truly subconscious automatic lifestyle of 'best practices'. These last couple iterations have really been beneficial in terms of my sugar dragon.

I don't know that I'd be looking for your PF to fade as a result of this WOE, but it's worth a shot eh?

[evaq]

Your background sounds similar to mine, and for me I've never experienced any big psychological or physiological differences from following the W30 program. I'm on my 4th or 5th one at this point, and I keep coming back because I like the "tune up" or the "tighten the reins" aspect that a real honest 30 days gives me. Each W30 I think has gotten me closer to developing a truly subconscious automatic lifestyle of 'best practices'. These last couple iterations have really been beneficial in terms of my sugar dragon.

I don't know that I'd be looking for your PF to fade as a result of this WOE, but it's worth a shot eh?

 

Kirkor, I'm curious how each w30 effected you since you started from a 90-95% compliant base. You mentioned that it felt like more of tune up with each program. Does that mean that you felt very few physical changes ie. your weight stayed consistent for each program? Is that what you wanted?

 

*Sorry for slightly de-railing the OP.

[kirkor]

Correct, very few obvious changes, just a general sense that I was "running better" (not to stretch the automotive analogies too thin). I've long been fairly lean and active, and so I haven't been looking for any weight changes, either up or down. Any weight I've dropped recently is probably just some incidental water weight that fell off once I went ketogenic on purpose earlier this year.

Upon further reflection, I want to clarify that I was saying I'm like @melgirl33 in that I came from a 90-95% paleo/gluten free perspective, not a 90-95% W30-compliant perspective ---- I used to do my fair share of rice, oats, hard apple cider, and peanut M&M's. 

But with each Whole30, I ask myself "Why reintro XYZ?" If an item is worth cutting out for 30 days, even if you follow a proper re-intro and have no ill reaction, at BEST you can say about that food is that it's "not apparently acutely harmful". There's no way any of the non-compliant foods can be categorized as "enhances health". So when the scale runs from "super bad" to "*meh*", why include them at all? It was thoughts like this that prompted my Project X endeavor.

The negatives of never reintro'ing anything seem to mainly be about boredom and social pressure. These are certainly valid reasons, because W30 as we know is as much about our mental relationship with food as it is the physical. But I think if you come at it from a perspective of optimization rather than restriction, things seem a lot less boring and inconvenient.

The restriction aspect is one downside of the 30 day approach -- people see the "light at the end of the tunnel", and think about ways to weave back in some of the non-compliant foods after they're "done with the program". The re-intro phase and the ride your own bike messages are awesome ways to downplay this "finish line" mentality, and hopefully helps avoid the yo-yo-ing that @melgirl33 mentions in her OP.

[ladyshanny]

Hello! 

Curious to hear from others who already ate mainly clean food and gluten free and how going onto a Whole 30 changed you? 

 

Currently I have days where I eat paleo all day, and days where I will eat things like quinoa, hummus, mary's gone crackers sort of things. Lately I have been having some dairy as well, mainly grass fed cheese, goats cheese. 

 

Anyway, I am excited to see the effects of the Whole 30 program. I have never committed to something like this for 30 days. I am guessing doing this yo yo sort of thing isn't good and putting in the 30+ days really makes a difference. 

 

I have a chronic case of plantar fasciitis that is 50% better and I want to kick it's butt for good!

I came to Whole30 from what I thought was pretty much "Whole30 most of the time except when...". The biggest thing that I learned was that I was eating a lot more sugar and carby snacky foods than I thought and that I reached for food a billionty times a day and none of those times had anything to do with hunger. One of the biggest take aways that I had that has stayed with me is the "three meals a day, no snacking".

[jmcbn]

I came to whole30 having eaten fairly strict primal for 2-3 years. I hadn't eaten any processed food in at least that length of time, and I removed grains one at a time until I was eating gluten containing grains only for the very odd cheat meal. I avoided sulphites/sulphates & was *aware* of added sugar, but it wasn't a big deal if I ate any. Like kirkor I was fond of hard apple cider, and gin. 

I didn't really have weight to lose, but I *have* seen my body composition change as the weeks have gone on.

Like ladyshanny I've completely lost the 'need' to snack and I would have previously snacked on dried fruit & nuts mid morning, pretty much every morning. Now I'm a strict 3 meals a day girl, and I believe eating this way is keeping my moods on an even keel, keeping my blood sugars stable, and generally keeping my body functioning better - apart from one blip two weeks in when I learned about the need (for me) of an early morning preWO meal. I like that I'm now in a position where I can pinpoint foods that cause me digestive distress, and feel empowered with that knowledge to decide what does or what doesn't warrant a reintro.

Whole30 has made *me* the boss of me  

[chenmama]

I am interested in the same question, so I hope more people will share their experience. I have been wheat-free since January and "mostly-Paleo except when out in certain social situations where I need to eat rice" since February. I lost about fifteen pound just with those changes and have kept it off. I feel a little more clearer mentally and some days have had more energy than in past years, but my chronic pain and migraine conditions still exist. I am really hoping that by strictly sticking to the Whole30, I can feel some more dramatic changes, like banishing my intense hunger, or helping the chronic pain or migraines. Would be great to hear from others along these lines. 

[GFChris]

I had been gluten-free for 6+ years when I did my first Whole30 in 2013.  I chose to go on a Whole30 because I wanted to consume more vegetables more frequently and stop unhealthy snacking habits (too many M&Ms, cheese, and corn chips). 

 

It has changed the way I eat and my wine consumption. Specifically:
- for me, the meal template is genius. It's how I design all my meals now.  
- I now don't keep any grains, dairy or legumes in my house, and will eat non-gluten grains, dairy or legumes infrequently while dining out or at someone's house only if it's unique and special.
- I've substantially decreased my wine consumption.

- For a treat, I only eat quality dark chocolate sporadically. I don't keep it in the house - only buy it for company.

All these changes, eating primarily Whole30-ish since then, and doing another Whole30 earlier this year, I'm down about 20 lbs from where I was 2 years ago this month. I'm happy to stay at this weight and shape for the long-term: recently tailored 2 suits to fit my new shape, as the pants were falling off me.