The Whole30 Program, As Outlined
Eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re natural and unprocessed.
More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in all kinds of ways.
Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, pre-packaged snacks/meals, protein bars, milk substitutes, etc.
Do not drink alcohol, in any form.
Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, millet, oats, corn, rice, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. (Yes, we said corn!) This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
Do not eat legumes. This includes beans (black, kidney, lima, etc.), peas, lentils, and peanuts or peanut butter. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
Do not eat dairy. This includes all cow, goat or sheep’s milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, whey, ice cream, etc.
Do not eat white potatoes. It’s arbitrary, but they are carbohydrate-dense and nutrient poor, and also a nightshade.
Most importantly… do not try to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold. This means no “Paleo-fying” less-than-healthy recipes – no “Paleo” pancakes, “Paleo” pizza, “Paleo” fudge or “Paleo” ice cream. Don’t mimic poor food choices during your Whole30 program!
One last and final rule. You are not allowed to step on the scale for the duration of your Whole30 program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus only on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic (and lifelong) benefits this plan has to offer. Give yourself a well-deserved, long overdue break from fixating on that number on the scale! Absolutely NO weighing yourself or taking comparative measurements during your Whole30.
The Fine Print
A few concessions, based on our experience, and those of our clients. These are less than optimal foods that we are okay with you including during your Whole30. Including these foods in moderation should not negatively impact the results of your Whole30 program.
Fruit juice as a sweetener. Some products will use orange or apple juice as a sweetener. We have to draw the line somewhere, so we’re okay with a small amount of fruit juice as an added ingredient during your Whole30… but this doesn’t mean a cup of fruit juice is okay!
Processed Meat. On occasion, we are okay with organic chicken sausage (those that are nitrate, dairy, gluten and dairy-free), and high quality deli meat, packaged fish (like tuna or smoked salmon) or jerky. Read your labels carefully, because Whole30-approved processed meats, especially jerky, are hard to find.
Certain legumes. We’re fine with green beans, sugar snap peas and snow peas. While they’re technically a legume, they’re far more “pod” than “bean”, and we want you to eat your greens.
Processed goods. We’re okay with cans or jars of olives, coconut milk, sauces and spice mixtures like tomato sauce or curry, or vegetables like sweet potato or butternut squash, but only if the labels prove they’re “clean”.
So that's what I am planning on eating:
- meat. Mostly ground beef in various ways as that's the cheaper way to eat beef. But also "stew meat" and some kalky. For convenience, grass-fed, preservatives-free beef franks.
- poultry. I am not a big fan of chicken, but it's cheap and it's meat. I will try to focus on organic only. And cook a soup once in a while.
- fish sometimes. I will try to include more fish, but that's mostly either from frozen or cans. It's hard to get fresh and to be honest, I don't even know what to do with it. I like preparing fish-cakes, with various can fish, they can be very tasty and practical (to take for a lunch at work).
- eggs. I probably should make a test if I am ok with eggs and stop eating them for a few weeks... but this is such affordable, delicious and easy food, that it's hard to cut it out! Maybe later :)
- green veggies. Mostly from frozen - cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, kale, brussel sprouts. I am still not sure about the night shades, like tomatoes and peppers.
- black coffee and water only as drinks.
- coconut oil as the main fat source (other than meat), with possibly using coconut milk/cream and dried sugar-free coconut.
In addition to products I already cut off from my diet, like grains, processed foods, legumes, I am planning on cutting also:
- dairy (now that will be really painful!)
- fruits
- chocolate (o_0)
- any sweeteners or chemical additions (I already use it very little, but for a month I will cut it completely out)
- nuts (I am still thinking about macadamias)
- seeds
I think that's for now... I might add something or change later on.
