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Let's Support Each Other — doing a January Whole30


tiffysquid

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Hi there. What if a group of us introduced ourselves in this forum topic, and checked back to support each other throughout the month?

I signed up to do the January 2022 Whole30 on the website. The email from Melissa informs me that this officially starts January 3. I also have a couple of friends in my local town who are going for it.

How about you? Are you doing a January 3 or a January 1 start date? Have you tried Whole30 before?

It would be great if you could answer using complete sentences, and without a lot of Internet  or Whole30 abbreviations, which can get confusing...

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I'm T, and I've done several Whole30s in the past. The first one was extremely successful, leading to a few years of eating Whole-30-ish and lots of great health effects; I have spent most of my adult life dealing with chronic illness.

During Covid I began to slide pretty seriously to a more normal American diet. The health effects haven't been terrible, but I would sure like to feel a bit better. I've also gained several dress sizes.

Whole30 helped me with fibromyalgia, mold illness, tendonitis/tendinitis, chronic pain, inflammation, and sugar cravings. I really hope I can do it successfully this time. The last couple tries, I failed.

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Hi! My name is Gabby and this is my first time on the whole 30. My friend loaned me the whole30 book and I’m starting early, (goal is for the month of January) so that I can begin my adjustment! I’ve been wanting to cleanse since… wait for it; BEFORE COVID ! 
During covid my diet has Sucked. I’m eating and drinking more sugar than I ever have in my entire 36 year old life. 
Let’s support eachother on this journey to wellness and better health ❤️

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My partner and I are starting January 2. I have already kind of started but haven't gone full throttle. I have had this book for years and used to be about 50 lbs lighter.. trying not to focus on weight but focus more on cleansing my organs (they could use it!) Drinking and eating the last several years has been a real problem. Prior to, I was actually quite healthy. I would like to see myself that way again- thanks for starting this thread!

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Hi, my name is Angela, and my first Whole30 was in 2013.  It's been a few years since I successfully completed one, partly because I have less time now than I did back then to prep and cook.  There are food delivery sources that can help me out now, so I'm looking forward to having an easier time of it and getting back that tiger blood!  Glad I found you all - I look forward to the journey together!

A.

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Hi, I'm Liz. I'm starting on Jan. 10. I did my first W30 in 2015 and felt great from it. I also learned to cook simply as I have never been a cook at all. I found my spice cabinet, yes lost some weight which I was happy about, and my sleep was amazing. Some of my favorite W30 recipes continue to be my "go-to's," but alas I've also added in other things that don't serve me as well, treats, wine, etc. I am really looking forward to the benefits that I know I will get from doing a W30, and appreciate all of us supporting each other during this process!  

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Hi I'm Grace. I am starting on Jan 2nd. First time doing the Whole30.

I have been a serial dieter since 2017. Bouncing from counting calories to binge eating and so on. I went vegan for a year and that helped me keep my weight down, but eventually I traveled and wanted to eat pizza in Italy! Since Covid and especially since the beginning of 2021, I have gained 30 lbs. and my energy has been so off.  I can barely focus at work. My diet hasn't been the best and I cant seem to shed the weight off no matter how much hot yoga I do, or how many miles I run. 

I have had a few friends do the Whole30 before and they all loved it. I decided to try it out this year as I think this will help me figure out why I am so tired all the time. I am so excited to start seeing results, I would love to begin tomorrow! (But I do want to enjoy a few more spoonful's of peanut butter first) 

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Hello, my name is Kayla and this will be my first Whole30 experiment/experience. My start date is January 3rd.  
I used to be a nutrition and CrossFit coach at my own gym, and felt the healthiest I had ever felt in my life.  I had to close my gym due to being diagnosed with cancer and then going through a nasty divorce.  In order to support myself and my daughters, I took an office job (which I do love) that aligned with my degree. Fast forward 6 years, and I have never weighed as much as I do now in my entire 36 years.  Not to mention how terrible I feel inside and emotionally.  I’m slowly finding who I am after a long terrible marriage and I’m finally ready to take care of me so I can take better care of my girls and be more present and happy.  

I stopped drinking alcohol 4 months ago, coffee one month ago and now I want to tackle the unhealthy foods that exacerbate my cravings and poor eating habits.  I’ve been preparing for the past 2 weeks to make sure I have meals planned and proper ingredients and even bought the Whole30, Day by Day book, I highly recommend it.  The Real Plans app is also amazing.  I’m looking forward to finding what foods are not my friends and just feeling all around better.

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First timer here... starting January 2nd. super nervous honestly because of the no alcohol rule. But I am also very excited to experience all the positive effects when I reach day 30 & beyond. I'm hoping that is what will keep me motivated to not "slip".

 I'm totally down with being part of this accountability group! 

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Hi everyone~! Thanks for coming in and introducing yourselves.

Gabby/Saturn Girl: I hear you on the Covid food effect. Pretty intense. For me I've been really dismayed to find the Sugar Dragon roaring back, especially with a chocolate addiction (and it is *weird*, the way an addiction is weird -- it's not just craving sugar sometimes, it's wanting to sneak chocolate where my family won't see, stuff like that).

Loop, Angela, Lizzie, Auggiesmama/Laura: Here's to a successful January W30! Please feel free to post specific info about your favorite W30 compliant recipes and how you prepare them.

Maryhannah, KayLynn - I hope your first W30 goes well and is informative!

dLost- I feel like doing a Whole30 can help people figure out whether they have a real alcohol problem or not. With alcoholics in my life over the years, I'm always a little paranoid that I might become one, too. Yet with Whole30, I didn't find stopping alcohol to be particularly difficult. No cravings. I ended up becoming someone who hardly ever drinks, *after* Whole30. Really interesting stuff. The way that alcohol is basically liquid sugar, and W30 helps us reduce our Sugar Dragons, for me meant that giving up alcohol wasn't hard *while I was also giving up sugar.* So anyway, that was my experience. After my first W30 I did add alcohol back in as a cooking ingredient, and would have a drink maybe once every 3 months, while eating "Whole 30-ish" a mostly paleo-diet. I felt great.

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Hi all! I'm Katie :) I started Dec 27the (because at the time I had no plans for new years eve, tho I did end up celebrating last night and am VERY PROUD OF MYSELF for staying committed to this experiment). Yes, I call this an experiment, because I'm really interested to see how my body reacts to different foods and ingredients, etc. 

I am allergic to dairy, though while I get an anaphylactic reaction, technical allergy skin tests are inconclusive. If those are inconclusive, what about other food sensitivities etc? Can I feel this amazing feeling everyone else describes when they are avoiding inflammatory foods? Or is that the feeling I normally live in? Do any of these foods give me headaches I've never noticed, or bloat, or random other inflammation? 

And yes, I still need to crush the Sugar Dragon. I have a FIERCOM Sugar Dragon - I was that person that snuck chocolate, cookies, or even just spoonfuls of honey (cane sugar, etc. GROSS blech). I don't want to be that person. 

I am enjoying that so far, real foods taste so much sweeter than they used to! Sweet potatoes are delicious and sweet, RX bars and Lara bars aren't actually gross, and dates taste as good as chocolate IMO. ALREADY. 

This is my first whole30 and I'm eager to see how it goes!  

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Hello, I'm starting tomorrow.  This will be my 2nd W30.  My first one was a few years ago, I did really well but I failed to follow the reintroduction as recommended.  Few months later, I was back to my old habits :(  Since then I been struggling with weight loss and a lot inflammation.  I have a few autoimmune illnesses and I also have some food sensitivities.  I also have PCOS and I know keeping a diet of no sugar, grains, and gluten is very beneficial to balance my hormones.

I decided to do this Whole 30 because my sugar dragon is out of control and needs to be tamed. I'm also tired of being tired.  It is time to take care of myself and start living a happy and healthier life.

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Hi, everyone. Just completed Day 2 and logged on to meet a few others implementing this major change in January. Motivation was to take control of my eating (and wine drinking) after a year or more of deteriorating eating habits. I was surprised how quickly I lost discipline after two years of managing weight so well. Decided I wanted some alternatives to just discipline, so before the weekend I cleaned out and replaced spices and herbs and bought new oils and vinegars. This evening made the Realplans Korean pork chops. That’s a keeper long after Whole30. 

I have a sense that my decreasing performance in fitness classes and increasing muscle and join aches and pains are directly related to diet.

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i'm officially starting on January 3rd... but i'm starting it weirdly this time. i have some kind of stomach bug or food poisoning, started New Year's Eve. i was just going to indulge in a couple of carby, cheesy snacks and one alcoholic beverage, and didn't get far in. i suppose that part is just as well!

my fever broke, i got a Covid test (negative), i'm still kind of weak and barely able to eat much. today: eggs and squash. seems like a W30 moment already.

 

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Hi everyone, my name is Diane and am easing into the program today and starting tomorrow January 4th as I need to I get my Whole30 grocery shopping done.  My main goal is to feel good, I have been feeling off for awhile and have chronic sinusitis, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and just feel blah most of the time.  In the past I have tried different diets: vegan - 1.5 years, Keto 1 year, vegetarian - 6 months.  The best I have felt is when I follow a ketogenic diet, however my cholesterol went up - could be menopause - but still I want to eliminate dairy to see if that helps with my sinus issues. 

I am starting because I want is good health, energy and to feel good.  I have 3 beautiful grandchildren - so far ;) and want to be around a long time to see them grow up.  

Thanks for reading,

D

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17 hours ago, tiffysquid said:

i'm officially starting on January 3rd... but i'm starting it weirdly this time. i have some kind of stomach bug or food poisoning, started New Year's Eve. i was just going to indulge in a couple of carby, cheesy snacks and one alcoholic beverage, and didn't get far in. i suppose that part is just as well!

my fever broke, i got a Covid test (negative), i'm still kind of weak and barely able to eat much. today: eggs and squash. seems like a W30 moment already.

 

I do hope you are feeling better now.

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Hey all!! My name is Rikki. My first W30 experience was around 5 years ago. It was the one and only time I completed the full 30 days. I did not however do a reintroduction. I just dove back into the bag of M&Ms! :blink: Since then I have tried a few other times and failed miserably.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis two years ago and I really need to make my health a priority. I know it's not about weight loss, but I am the heaviest and least active that I have ever been and those are health markers so I hope to turn them around.

Overall I just want to feel better and have energy again. I miss the old me and I am hoping to find her.

I know from the first round that eggs can give me headaches so I will include them at first while I get used to eating differently, but then I plan on cutting them out. Im interested to learn how other foods affect me. The only other thing I learned the first time around is that I can NOT eat sweet potatoes!! They make me feel like im dying. My gut does not do well with them..... there is a little piece of me that wants to try them again though. Call me a rebel. LOL 

Anywho.. I started this morning, January 3rd. 

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hey folks, 

I started a whole30 on the 1st. Haven't done one in years! Food has gone off the rails and weight gone higher than ever before :( . That said, I do have a bit of an excuse - I gave birth to my first on May 21. She's wonderful and healthy and makes me want to do better with my diet. Anyone else breastfeeding while on whole30? It's only day 3, but I haven't stopped eating. I feel insatiable! Hope this passes or I'm going to eat us out of house and home. 

Happy new years to you all! excited to have some community around this challenging endeavor. 

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hi Laura. hope your first day goes well!

thank you for the kind wishes, Izzy. i am feeling much much better today. still wasn't up for taking a walk (in the two feet of snow!) but didn't nap all day. i cooked non-W30 food for my (pescatorian) husband and (eats-everything) son, and W30 food for me and my son. i'm perimenopausal, on Day 1 of my Whole30, on Day 1 of my moon cycle, and just getting better from stomach/gut sickness, and it's New Year season... so yes it certainly feels like a lot of beginnings.

Rikki, welcome and I hope it goes wonderfully well! Interesting about eggs. may as well eliminate them for as much of the month as you can, then really see what you think upon reintroducing them. if they give headaches, maybe that's a sign to just let 'em go? (lmk if i am being too Advicey, or Miss Helpy McHelperton.) i'm so sorry about the MS diagnosis. that can be such a rough disease.

my Day 1 was successful. i did run into a mini Milky Way candy bar from Christmas stockings, and i sensibly threw it away immediately (in the outside, big garbage). long term it's going to be hard -- feeding multiple people in the house, i have not tried to hide away the many carbs and honey and maple and stuff that is in my house. i'm going to have to do this with willpower and hope.

 

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What are you guys cooking and eating, so far?

I'm doing a lot of eggs (helped my upset stomach). Roasted a chicken tonight. Baked some zucchini with Berber spice (yum!), had Romaine lettuce leaves and various chopped-up things to put in them.

At night, I put sweet potatoes in the oven on a timer -- just a whole sweet potato or yam, 425 degrees, 90 minutes. They're cooked, and the house smells great, when I get up, take my thyroid medication, and wait an hour before I can eat. I think morning is a danger time for me, if there isn't something readily available that's compliant and warm and soothing to eat.

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11 hours ago, Blue_Jay said:

hey folks, 

I started a whole30 on the 1st. Haven't done one in years! Food has gone off the rails and weight gone higher than ever before :( . That said, I do have a bit of an excuse - I gave birth to my first on May 21. She's wonderful and healthy and makes me want to do better with my diet. Anyone else breastfeeding while on whole30? It's only day 3, but I haven't stopped eating. I feel insatiable! Hope this passes or I'm going to eat us out of house and home. 

Happy new years to you all! excited to have some community around this challenging endeavor. 

It's pretty normal for you to eat a lot while breastfeeding. Make sure you're including fat at each meal, more than just the oil you cook in, and starchy vegetables at least once a day (but more than that is fine, if you find they help you feel satisfied). 

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7 hours ago, tiffysquid said:

What are you guys cooking and eating, so far?

I'm doing a lot of eggs (helped my upset stomach). Roasted a chicken tonight. Baked some zucchini with Berber spice (yum!), had Romaine lettuce leaves and various chopped-up things to put in them.

At night, I put sweet potatoes in the oven on a timer -- just a whole sweet potato or yam, 425 degrees, 90 minutes. They're cooked, and the house smells great, when I get up, take my thyroid medication, and wait an hour before I can eat. I think morning is a danger time for me, if there isn't something readily available that's compliant and warm and soothing to eat.

I'm making a giant frittata with kale, leeks, and olives in hopes of beating the morning rush + hunger problem. It's not amazing without all the cream and cheese that normally goes into a frittata, but it is fast, easily reheated, and very satisfying. Also, I made a massive pot of chicken soup with tons of veggies. Makes for a great lunch! 

Roasted sweet potatoes are sooo good! Berber spice is a great idea - that's what's in a lot of Eritrean food, right? If so, that stuff is delicious, though I don't know where to get it around here.  

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Hi Everyone!

 

Started my second Whole 30 yesterday (Jan 3).  My husband and I did our first one in November 2021 and we both felt so much better - more energy, a little weight loss, and better digestion.  We had planned to do it again post holidays so here we are.  Excited to be a support to everyone here and to get some as well.  :)  We are eating this breakfast casserole this week:

https://www.wellplated.com/whole30-breakfast-casserole/

 

Totally easy and delicious.  We are pairing it with a large side salad and just add some Frank's Red Hot for a kick!

 

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