Why I Am Doing A Whole30

Last summer my oldest sister completed her first Whole30. She came out feeling great and since then has done the Whole30 again and again with other people in solidarity. At this point in my life I already don’t eat dairy, gluten or soy so for me to complete the Whole30 myself should not be very difficult. The biggest struggle will be the lack of grains and added sugar. I am however, very excited to start it and learn more about myself while doing so.

I decided on my own to try it for the first time and don’t regret that at all. I have been spending time reading It Starts With Food, the book that explains the premise and how one goes about completing their own Whole30. I have been learning about why grains are unhealthy and how the added sugar creates reactions in your body you shouldn’t have. For someone completely removed from the science world and frankly, often clueless about biology, I am fascinated by it. Two days into the Whole30 I do not regret it at all.

Here are some of my reasons for doing the Whole30:

• I want to cut down my sugar intake. I am aware I have a sugar problem. I love sugar and have a total sweet tooth. It sometimes becomes a problem and I want to teach myself how to cut down how much sugar I eat. No sugar for 30 days and then reintroducing it should solve that issue.

• I want to have better workouts. I will be eating a ton of protein and vegetables and no added sugar at all. My sister and brother in law who have done it says it improved their workouts a ton. It also helps build muscle tone and I lost a lot of muscle the past few months.

• Clean eating to the extreme. I have been eating pretty clean since I dropped gluten last March. This will be an extreme level of clean eating. I am so excited about it.
• Learn to like new foods. I really want to learn to like other foods like nuts and vegetables. Not being able to eat rice and some of my staples will really help with that.
• Learn to cook faster. I will have to be cooking all my own food and need to be efficient in it. I will not have a lot of time between classes and student teaching.

My sisters are both doing it with their friends and we have a nice Facebook group going for support and solidarity. I know I won’t be on my own doing it and I can’t wait to learn more about my eating habits and learn how to cut some of the unhealthy food I am still eating.