#whole30

See, it is so trendy, it has a hashtag.

The Whole 30 is a super popular right now. You can blow up your Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest feed with people posting their #whole30 meals, recipes and snacks. And it’s popular for a reason, people who complete the Whole 30 rave about increased energy, weight loss, lessening of medical issues (or issues being completely gone), better sleep and improved skin.

But is this eating plan worthy of all the hype it is receiving? That’s what I wondered when I started. So here is the whole 30 success guide for 40-year olds…the good, the bad, and the results.

The Whole 30 Success Guide For 40-Year Olds

I firmly believe in the adage “garbage in – garbage out”, especially when it comes to food.

I investigated the Whole 30 by reading this book and this one and thought my husband and I were candidates (more on that in a minute) for the “life changing experience” of Whole 30.

What Is The Whole 30 Eating Plan?

‘Cause really it is about what I am going to eat, right?

For 30 days, you will cut out all the psychologically unhealthy, hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups. Which food groups are these you may be asking? Primarily sugar, grains, dairy and legumes. Plus, no booze or wine. And no artificial or substitute sweeteners, like Truvia or honey.

I jokingly called it the… “No Joy Diet”.

The goal of this 30-day eating plan is to let your body heal and recover from whatever negative effects food may be causing it. It’s like pushing the “reset” button with your metabolism, systemic inflammation, and the downstream effects of the food choices you’ve been making. By setting “reset”, you’ll have a better idea of how the foods you’ve been eating are actually affecting your day to day life vs just getting through it because it is normal.

Why I Was Interested In The Whole 30…

I was interested in the Whole 30 for three reasons…

1. To see if I could sleep better at night.

I’ve struggled with sleeping through the night since my late 20s. I have no problem falling asleep, but around 2 or 3 am I would WAKE UP and be WIDE AWAKE for the next couple of hours with no rhyme or reason. I wasn’t anxious. I wasn’t over thinking. I wasn’t anything, but I was UP. And then the next day, I was TIRED.

And this cycle would repeat itself, sometimes up to five times per week, until I would get frustrated and desperate and take a prescription drug to “knock me out”.

I wish I could say that it was “hormonal” or because I “drank too much the night before” or “was stressed”, but there was no pattern to when or why it happened. It just would. And it is hard to function as a mom, wife, business owner, friend, daughter, etc. when you were always tired.

2. To see if I could lose weight.

I lost 20 pounds when I was in my early 30s by exercising five times per week and counting every calorie I put into my mouth. It was extremely effective, but it is also very restrictive and time consuming.

(Imagine taking every recipe you make and figuring out the exact calorie count and portion size.)

But over the last decade, I’ve put ten of those pounds back on and was becoming uncomfortable in my own skin. My clothes weren’t fitting right. I was start to accumulate and keep weight around my mid-section. I didn’t feel as attractive.

But I was DONE dieting. I wanted a plan I could easily follow to help me lose a few pounds (I was shooting for one pound per week) without being complicated or time consuming.

3. To see if I could go without having an “adult” beverages for 30 days.

I like wine.

A lot.

And it had become a crutch. I’d drink a glass of wine when the kids got home or while I was cooking dinner or while I was finishing emails or while I was watching television. It was my way of “relaxing and letting go” from the stress of the day.

At what time I’d have a glass of wine isn’t too suspect, however the amount of wine I was drinking was becoming concerning. It was the normal to have at least one glass of wine per night and it wasn’t uncommon to have at least two to three glasses on certain nights.

You know when you are at the doctor’s office and they ask you, “How many drinks do you have a week?” and the doctor starts listing ranges. Then the doctor gets to the top range and you KNOW you have had WAY MORE drinks than that this week, but you lie so the doctor doesn’t give you stink eye or a lecture…that was me.

I wanted to see if my drinking was a “problem” or a “crutch” or both. I wanted to see if I could find a way to “relax” that didn’t include alcohol.

Whole 30 Takes A Village

My reasons seemed simple enough.

In fact, they seemed completely doable right? But I knew I could not commit to 30 days of this eating plan without some accountability.

Let’s be honest. My first bad day and I’d be hightailing it down to the wine cellar for a bottle of Merlot. I couldn’t do this alone.

I recruited my husband.

After reading the books, he had his own list of reasons for wanting to do the Whole 30. Some were similar to mine, some were different. Regardless, we spit and shook hands, committed to following the eating plan for 30 days, and promised to cheerlead when the other one wanted to throw in the towel and grab a chocolate bar.

The groundwork was set, but all of these steps were minor compared to what was next. It took a full three days to get our minds and pantry prepared for the Whole 30.

Come back next Thursday as I continue sharing the whole 30 success guide for 40-year olds by discussing how we prepared for the Whole 30 (and let’s just say, if you don’t prepare, you might as well just accept you will fail), as well as some learnings during the four weeks of the program that no one tells you about in the books.

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