"Preparation" before Whole30?

[Milena]

Hello everyone,

I've been thinking about doing the whole30 soon.

For quite a long time now (about 5 years, after I moved out of my parents, and didn't get healthy biological super-food each day anymore), I've been eating really badly. Like, I ate no fruits and nearly no vegetables. Mostly junkfood at mc donalds, pasta with cheese sauce and pizza. I knew that it was bad, as i had this good example of my parents, but I did not cook, so it was easy like this. Plus i am quite a heavy smoker.

As i am now for the first time in my life living in a tidy appartment with a boyfriend and everything is stable and i have more time, i somehow got interested into cooking.

So i downloaded the ebook "it starts with food" and read that its better to quit smoking before starting the w30.

As junkfood is a heavy trigger for me to smoke, I thought about eating a bit healthier for a few weeks, and to quit smoking at the same time.

Is that a good idea, or would it be better to start now cold turkey on both eating habits and smoking?

I forgot to mention, that I have loads and loads of time as i study arts with only one fixed day per week. the rest of the time I work free at home.

Sorry for my bad english, it's not my first language.

Thanks for your help,

Milena

[tclass]

Hi Milena,

I cannot say exactly what you should do since I no longer smoked (social smoker for 4 years in college) and have not smoked in 14 years. But I do not think it could hurt to jump into quitting and starting a Whole30 at the same time---provided your head is in the game, you've got a plan, and maybe even a supportive boyfriend. One of the benefits of quitting smoking is that your tastebuds return. Why not have them return to tasting real, whole foods instead of junk, processed food. Just a thought.

Tricia

www.expatpaleo.com

[Robin Strathdee]

Welcome Milena!

It's important to know that changing your diet is stressful, and whether or not you quit smoking at the same time should depend on how well you deal with stress. For some people, it's too much to handle at once. For others, it's the perfect opportunity to do both. If it's something you want to try, I say go for it! Just have some plans in place for dealing with stress and cravings - both food and cigarettes.

[melbournegirl]

Brave brave girl! If you've got the time to be miserable for a week or two, why not go for it and get past it quick. Otherwise spend a few weeks trying to reduce and detox a bit first so it's not such a shock to your system?? I cut out alcohol and coffee for a month or two and tried to limit sugar most days before I took the plunge. It helped with withdrawal symptoms but only time can forge new eating (and presumably new smoking) habits. I did a 35 followed by some re intro testing then onto a 100 as I really need/needed to change some poor habits permanently.

[Jessica Reagan]

I wouldn't have considered myself a heavy smoker, I smoked anywhere from 2 to 5 cigarettes a day. I personally did a whole30 for 3 weeks while still smoking. Once I changed a lot of things about my diet, I realized loads of other things I needed to change. I didn't get enough sleep and it fueled my bad eating habits. Smoking made me feel like crap, dizzy, slightly nauseous. Changing my diet led me to tons of discoveries about other parts of my life. Feeling bad every time I smoked helped, and also doing all this good for my body by eating good food and healing my gut kind of made me think... why the heck am I still doing this?!?! It made quitting that much easier for me. Good Luck to you! It's not easy but which ever path you choose you'll feel better body and soul for eliminating something so terrible from your life.