Diet Trend: All It Takes Is A ‘Whole30’ Days To Get You To Your Target Weight

August 4, 2015

Like many of its predecessors, quick-fix diets are designed to, well, be a quick-fix solution for a particular event (your wedding, for example), but are not designed to be sustainable. Reading through a few of these diets might give the impression that you’re taking on a lifestyle change, but cutting out a certain component from your daily nutrients is hardly a long-term plan worth sticking with.

So, naturally, the Whole30 diet is another one we’re taking with a pinch of salt. According to co-creator Melissa Hartwig, “Whole30 isn’t just a harder or more extreme version of Paleo, it’s a short-term intervention designed to teach people how the food they are eating impacts them, and ultimately help them create their own perfect diet.” Hartwig claims that this isn’t a weight loss diet. It’s apparently a tool to help you improve your relationship with food.

Well, we can’t debunk this theory until we’ve tried it ourselves, and as a health website, we are sure we’ll find a guinea pig among our writers to volunteer their services, but until then, we’ll just break it down for you.

For one month, or a whole 30 days, your basic meal plan will be:

8:00 am: Breakfast (your choice of eggs)
10:30 am: Mid-morning snack (a fruit of your choice)
1: 00 pm: Lunch (meat of your choice, with a side of veggies)
3:30 pm: Mid-afternoon snack (your choice of vegetables)
6:30 pm: Dinner (meat of your choice, with a side of veggies)
7:00 pm: Dessert (a large bowl of fruit)

eat-light-small-meals

What This Means For You

You will need to make a very conscious effort to throw away all gluten and sugary foods you have in your kitchen cabinets.
It will involve an overhaul of your groceries (an added expenditure, above the month-long ordeal of what we like to call a sugar withdrawal).
You will need to stock your refrigerator with fresh fruit, veggies, eggs, chicken breasts, ground turkey, and thin-cut pork loins. This also means no bacon. Yes, we sympathize.
With the Whole30, you are encouraged to be strong and not weigh yourself until the end of the month.

Tips To Stay Strong & Go The Whole Nine Yards

Don’t go at it alone. Misery loves company and having a partner makes it easier. There’s also a good chance they will stop you from cheating on the diet.
Get adventurous with your meals. Trying different flavoring agents could help keep you from wanting to kill yourself (figuratively, of course).
Plan ahead. There’s no other way to stick to the Whole30 diet if you don’t have a strong plan of action. Also, it’s a great time saver.
Prepare for your meals in advance. This goes hand-in-hand with planning your meals. Prepping your ingredients in advance will help you stick to your timetable, and also give you a better idea of how you want to prepare your meals.
Finally, don’t skip dessert. Your sweet tooth might start acting up, and depriving yourself now will only increase your chances of satiating that sweet craving somewhere else; in all likelihood, with something you’re not supposed to eat.

As always, if it gives you a stipulated time-frame, don’t exceed it. After all, you are depriving your body of carbs and sugars, and like everything else, cutting out an entire food group is never a good thing. Find a balance and perhaps, like Hartwig suggests, you may just start eating better and improve your relationship with food.

PS: Here’s an exhaustive list of Diets For Weight Loss.
Also, head here to catch the latest in Fitness Trends.