Whole 30 – A Revelation of Your Inner Strength
The world is being swept off its feet with a new dietary revolution called the Whole 30 program. This program is fast gaining reputation as one of the most effective ideas to diminish and eliminate most health issues arising from inappropriate lifestyle routines. The aim of this altruistic plan is to give a true feel of clean and healthy eating and how it helps to improve your quality of living.
Mellissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig are sports nutritionists, physical therapists and functional medicine practitioners. Both created the concept of Whole 30 in 2009, through their books ‘It starts with food’ and ‘Whole 30’. The most recent book ‘Food Freedom Forever’ is authored by Mellissa Hartwig. The central idea that encompasses all three books is that one must establish a healthy relationship with their food without feeling guilty or full of anxiety. When you know that you are eating real healthy food (not processed food), automatically the monkey on your back is set down and relief sets it. This invokes a health conscious pattern that helps you lose weight and eliminates any negative symptoms, in a natural way. A general sense of well-being is established in the 30 days that you follow your food plan.
The Whole 30 Plan
Whole 30 program is to have a food routine free of dairy products, legumes, grains, sugar, alcohol and additives for thirty days continuously. This plan requires a lot of planning and preparation as to which food stays and which goes.
What Happens After Thirty Days?
Once you have completed thirty days of whole 30, you will stop all that you have followed in those thirty days and continue with your normal diet. Only this time you will be able to identify all food that adversely affect you and can certainly do without. If there was something that had been your addiction, like caffeine or soda or sugar cravings, this diet detracts you from your cravings and brings you to neutral. From this point onwards, it will be easy for you to make healthy food choices and keep them up. It should be considered more of a lifestyle change than a diet.
The Game Plan – Do’s and Don’ts
- Always eat real food and real food consists of meat, eggs, sea food, plenty of vegetables, oils, nuts, seeds and fruits
- Avoid direct / refined sugar, additives, processed / tinned food at all times
- Some food that form an exception to Whole 30 rule are fruit juice, vinegar, salt, green beans, snow peas and clarified butter / ghee. These items can be consumed as they contain essential nutrients
- Always plan your breakfast, lunch, dinner and light snacks, a day ahead
- Avoid social dinners and party food and be prepared to explain patiently why you cannot have what you cannot have
- Join a group or forum where you can meet people who are also a part of Whole 30 and are trying hard to get through it, just the same way as you are
- The planned lifestyle changes must be meticulously followed without slipping up even once