Starting Whole30 Today!

[TracyJ]

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself and publicly state my intention to start the Whole30 program beginning today. (Already in process, lol!)

I have an extensive background in both the raw foods lifestyle and community, as well as the Atkins "low-carb" lifestyle. Yet I continue to struggle with my weight. I am absolutely committed to doing my best to prevent the onset of any age or lifestyle-related disease, so I have been greatly limiting my consumption of refined grains (grains of any kind, really,) and sugars, as well as most packaged foods for quite some time now. With the exception that I recently began purchasing and consuming quite a few of the "Atkins" snack bars. I've also been using stevia as my sweetener of choice, almost exclusively, for several years now, thinking it is the best choice for maintaining a stable blood sugar. I also re-introduced quite a bit of dairy into my diet recently when re-implementing the Atkins plan...and it doesn't make me feel fabulous.

So, most of the Whole30 should pretty much be a breeze for me...not a LOT of big changes from what I'm used to doing...but omitting stevia or sweetener of any kind WILL be my biggest sticking point! Though, I'm determined and I think I can make raw cacao/nut/date or raisin balls to help get through those moments...ya? Also, I WAS in the habit of drinking a couple of glasses of red wine with dinner most nights until recently...but I've pulled back from that, too.

Sooo...I'm pretty excited to see what kind of results I experience!

Here are the MAIN issues I will be watching for improvement on:

1. Weight - Currently 180. Lost 30 pounds on a high-raw food diet 3 years ago and got down to 159...lowest weight I've been in YEARS! I'm tall - 5'9". My goal weight is 145. Started having some pretty severe iron and B12 deficiency and anemia symptoms (after being raw vegan for the better part of 3 years) and that is what got me to re-consider my mostly raw vegan lifestyle...AND regain most of that 30 pounds in the process!

2. Menopausal Hormone Imbalance Issues - Night sweats, some mental confusion and slightly diminished memory issues, which really concerns me. Irritability, etc.

3. Joint Pain - Which became nearly debilitating a couple of years ago. I've discovered that high-carbs, starch, and refined grains seem to really aggravate this condition. So, I've learned to mostly manage it with diet, but it's still something I monitor on a daily basis and most days it's THERE, but not incapacitating. Biggest problem is in my knees but, when really bad, can effect my hips, and even my wrists, ankles, fingers, and toes!

Ok, that's pretty much it! I look forward to interacting with all of you and appreciate your support, comments, tips, etc.

Tracy

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www.tracypartridgejohnson.com

[Derval]

Hey TracyJ & welcome on board I hope you W30 helps with your issues.

Re the quitting the sweetener, you should try & stay away from replacing the sweetness in that with another sweetness int he form of the date treats, yummy as they ound, they are re-inforcing & maintaining the sugar dragon that ideally you want to kill stone cold dead during your W30.

Hope that helps.

[TracyJ]

Thanks for your warm welcome, Dervalc!

The sweetness thing IS a dragon, for sure! But there are so many sweet fruits in nature...this is one area where I am a little unclear about the Whole30 vs. traditional Paleo thought. I haven't read any clear-cut guidelines about what "a little fruit" means (I probably just haven't read enough yet!) and it seems that the ideal is to mostly focus on berries and other low-sugar fruit, when fruit IS eaten. I did notice that applesauce and other fruit juices are permitted for use in sweetening things during the Whole30. But I'm guessing that dried fruits are probably too much condensed sugar/carbohydrate for the 30 day period. Is that pretty much the gist of it?

Thanks again for your help and support!