A few years ago, my daughter and I completed a round of
Whole 30. What is Whole 30? It’s an eating plan developed by Dallas
Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig Urban. In
this plan, you eliminate the most inflammatory foods for 30 days. I thought this would be beneficial to me to
see if eliminating these foods would result in an improvement of my psoriatic
arthritis.
Here’s the link to the program rules: https://whole30.com/downloads/official-whole30-program-rules.pdf Essentially, you eliminate sugar, dairy,
legumes, grains, alcohol, sulfites, soy, and msg. Also, you do not step on the
scale for 30 days. Eliminating all these
foods was challenging. But, it was
really helpful to have my daughter as a buddy through this process because we
would check in with each other almost every day for encouragement.
Did I feel better after the 30 days of clean eating? Yes, I did.
I’ve always had issues with congestion, allergies, and colds that lead
to sinus infections. I didn’t have any of those symptoms. I also had more energy. That change was huge
for me! Other than the change in feeling more energy, I didn’t really notice
any changes in my arthritis symptoms.
However, I really like eating “clean” foods as much as possible. This is a healthy lifestyle that has staying
power with me.
Here are some of the things I learned from completing Whole
30:
I was addicted to sugar…big time! The withdrawal was difficult with feeling
cranky and jittery, hot flashes, and extreme fatigue.
I am sensitive to dairy and beans. After completing the 30 days, I slowly
introduced the foods I eliminated. I
noticed the congestion returned when I ate dairy. I had very bad stomach pains after eating
beans. Now, I use either almond milk or
coconut milk products instead of dairy.
I will eat ice cream from time to time without any problems but if I
overdo it with the dairy, I notice it.
The same with beans. I like
hummus but only eat small amounts of it.
I craved oatmeal and rice during the 30 days. When I reintroduced these items, I didn’t
have any bad reactions. These foods are
a staple in my diet now but I fill up pretty quickly when I eat them.
I learned to read ingredient labels in everything I
buy. This was a real game changer. There is a lot of junk in food items that you
would think are healthy. For example,
you would suppose in a can of chicken broth the ingredients would be chicken,
water, and vegetables. Instead you will find the following ingredients: chicken
broth, salt, dextrose, chicken fat, MSG, hydrolyzed wheat gluten, natural
flavors, autolyzed yeast extract, carrot juice concentrate, mono and
diglycerides, xanthum gum, and onion juice concentrate. Whoa!
That’s a lot of junk! I challenge
you to read the ingredients of your favorite food products. It may make you change the way you shop.
I weigh myself weekly instead of daily. One of the Whole 30 rules is to not step on
the scale for 30 days. It was liberating
to stay away from the scale. However, I
did cheat in this area but through no fault of my own. I had a few doctor’s appointments where my
weight was checked. It was good to know
that I lost a few pounds but that wasn’t my sole focus in adopting this eating
plan.
Whole 30 Tools: Here are some resources that helped me stay dedicated to Whole 30
Whole 30 Day by Day:
This journal really helped me stay on track with completing the 30
days. There’s a bit of daily wisdom from
Melissa Urban along with a place to journal your feelings. I needed that in the early days as I was
withdrawing from sugar. I highly
recommend this book if you decide to adventure into Whole 30. https://whole30.com/daybyday/
Paleo Running Mama:
This is a great website by Michele Rosen with Paleo recipes. However, she also features Whole 30
recipes. Every recipe I try is a
winner. Follow her on Instagram for daily
inspiration and new recipes. https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/
The Real Food Dieticians:
Dieticians Stacie Hassing and Jessica Beacom feature clean eating
recipes but also include Whole 30 recipes.
All the recipes I’ve tried from this website are delicious and easy.https://therealfoodrds.com/
Clean Eating Magazine:
This magazine features recipes using clean ingredients. Not all recipes are Whole 30. However, their January/February 2019 and 2020 issues feature Whole 30. https://www.cleaneatingmag.com/
Whole 30 website: This website offers plenty of resources and encouragement to complete a round of Whole 30 successfully. https://whole30.com/
While January begins the Whole 30 campaign to start the New
Year off right, I didn’t really have it in me to start another round of Whole
30. I think it’s living in our COVID
world that has me feeling a little down.
I strayed from my mostly clean foods during the holiday season. But, that’s what fun about the holidays. All those wonderful treats to enjoy! With the
new year, it’s time for renewal. I am
returning to eating the foods that make me feel good. I receive
emails from Whole 30 with inspiration and recipes to get back on track. It’s just the motivation I need to eat right in
order to feel my best.
Why do I eat mostly whole foods and follow this plan? Because living with a chronic illness like
psoriatic arthritis, I want to do everything I can do to maintain good
health. This includes eating well,
exercise, and maintaining a positive mindset.
I read the following quote on Twitter that really resonates with
me. “I may not be able to be as healthy
as the next person but I can be as healthy as I can be.”
