Is Whole30 for me?

[Amura]

Hi everyone.

I've recently learned about Whole30 and I'm considering joining, although to be honest I'm not completely sure. Since the community seems ameniable I thought I would ask your opinion.

I'm almost 40, I've always been slightly overweight. After giving birth to my son (4 years ago) and being back to what I consider my normal weight (about 70kg) I decided to start using a contraceptive implant (it seemed so convenient!) but unfortunately I gained A LOT of weight (20kg in 2 years!). I had the %&$@ thing removed, and I have not gained any more weight since then - but I have not been able to lose weight eiher.

My overall health is very good, so to be honest my only reason to go on a diet is losing weight. Which I understand is not the purpose of the program.
But because I don't think "eating in moderation" is my thing (and for that reason I've never been in a proper diet before) I started researching about dictating myself some clear boundaries in which I could base my diet, so I would not need to count calories or count on my non-existent moderation. No-sugar would be my cornerstone, and I was considering a no-grain rule as well, when I found the Whole program. It's a bit tighter than I meant, but maybe because of that it would force me to eat in a more wholesome way?
My routine already includes meal planning, buying fresh food daily, cooking from scratch (I love cooking) so only the ingredient restrictions scare me a bit.

I'm hesitating.
I got the book but I haven't started reading it yet.
I want to lose weight and I want to do it in a healthy way, but I'm not sure if this is the way I should go.

Advice please!

[ShannonM816]

I'd recommend reading the book and looking at recipes to see if this is something you can do for 30 days. It's really not intended to be something you do forever, it's an elimination diet that you do for 30 days, and then you do careful reintroductions to see how you feel when you reintroduce different foods. You use that information to decide how to eat going forward. You may find that occasionally having dairy doesn't bother you, so you may have it sometimes in certain dishes that just wouldn't be the same to you without it.

Read up on how to do the program, the read about reintroductions (there'll be info in the book, but there's some here as well: https://whole30.com/category/reintroduction/), and then read about food freedom (again, there'll be some info in the book, and there's a whole separate Food Freedom book if you want to look for it, and there's information here online as well:  https://whole30.com/category/food-freedom/).

 

[Amura]

Thank you for the kind and informative reply, Shannon!

Yes, I understand it's only 30 days and not meant to be forever. Actually the reintroduction concept is what made me interested at first: it reminds me of when my little one started eating solids, one at a time, in case he had any sort of intolerance. It made sense that adults could work out their food the same way - and looks less scary than diets such as paleo which ban foods forever.

I'll dive into the book then and make a more informed decission. 

[Elizabeth33]

It is a great book and program.

[Amura]

Thank you, Elizabeth. The program really caught my eye, I'm now starting to read the book and the more I think about it the more convinced I am.
In fact I've just told my spouse about my intention of embarking in this adventure

I've set my starting date to August 15, two days after returning from the holidays we are just enjoying.

[Elizabeth33]

Awesome have a great one