I have been having some health problems for the last 6 months. Well mid-March is when I first started to notice something was off. It started as extreme fatigue and feeling unrested even after 8-10 hours of sleep. Since then it has progressed my many more symptoms including pain in my joints.

I think its adrenal fatigue or thyroid issues, my mom keeps saying its mono or lupus. While I try to get in with another doctor (headache and a half), I decided that I needed to give Whole30 a real try. Most adrenal and thyroid problems start with your diet, so I need to start there to fix it.

I try to eat pretty healthy anyway, but over the last few years I have reverted more and more back to a high starch diet. This was a problem a few years ago and I know Whole30 will start me off right. So what is Whole30?

Essentially it is a change of eating habits for 30 days. During this month long change here is what is not allowed

• No dairy* – this includes cow, goat, sheep and all of the products made from them – cream, cheese, kefir, yogurt, sour cream.
• No grains – wheat, rye, oats, corn, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, etc. This includes the bran, germ, and starch.
• No legumes – no beans of any kind! Black, pinto, white, Lima, fava, chickpeas, lentils, or peanuts. This includes all forms of soy, so no miso, soy sauce, tofu, edamame, and tempeh. Check your labels for soybean oil and soy lecithin, they are no-nos.
• No sugar – none, nada, not even the artificial kind! No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, stevia, etc.
• No alcohol – none, nada, not even in cooking!

*Exceptions to the rules:

• Clarified butter and Ghee are allowed. The milk proteins need to be removed or they could affect your results.
• Fruit juices are allowed as a sweetener, just don’t overdo it.
• Green beans, snow peas, and sugar snap peas are allowed. They are technically legumes, but are more of a pod than a bean.
• Vinegar – white, balsamic, apple cider, red wine, champagne, and rice vinegar are allowed. Always check your labels, flavored and varieties that contain sugar or malt are not allowed.

Not too bad right?! Wow this is going to be hard. Honestly the hardest parts for me are going to be Alcohol, and Dairy. 30 days without a beer, at least I don’t have the added stress of finishing school.

So I planned to start this journey on August 1, but I went on vacation August 8^th so decided to wait until I go back. So I started August 23. The first week I didn’t notice any changes. I didn’t even really crave things unless it was right in front of me like banana bread or sugar snacks. The second week I actually started to notice a little less fatigue in my normal day. I still have 4 more days left but so far so good. The hardest thing is finding things that are whole30 compliant to have on a long run like electrolytes and foods.

I am now starting to think about what my eating will look like when I finish and what I want first! I think probably a beer. Of course with any cutting out type diet you have to go through a reintroduction phase. So that should be “fun.”

Have you tried Whole30 before? How did you feel about it?