Alright I sparked your interest... you are seriously thinking about dedicating one month to your nutritional well being! The next most important step is to read the rules. Here they are from the creators of
the Whole30 :
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The Whole30 Program Rules
Yes: Eat real food.
Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because theyâre totally natural and unprocessed. Donât worry⌠these guidelines are outlined in extensive detail in our free shopping list.
No: Avoid for 30 days.
More importantly, hereâs 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, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
- Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
- Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. 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 of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy â soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
- Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheepâs milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream⌠with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
- Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, itâs out for the Whole30.
- Do not try to re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats* with âapprovedâ ingredients. Continuing to eat your old, unhealthy foods made with Whole30 ingredients is totally missing the point, and will tank your results faster than you can say âPaleo Pop-Tarts.â Remember, these are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first placeâand a pancake is still a pancake, regardless of the ingredients.
One last and final rule: You are not allowed to step on the scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus on your body composition means youâll miss out on the most dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer. So, no weighing yourself, analyzing body fat or taking comparative measurements during your Whole30. (We do encourage you to weigh yourself before and after, however, so you can see one of the more tangible results of your efforts when your program is over.)
*A few off-limits foods that fall under this rule include pancakes, bread, tortillas, biscuits, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, pizza crust, waffles, cereal, potato chips, French fries, and this one recipe where eggs, date paste, and coconut milk are combined with prayers to create a thick, creamy concoction that can once again transform your undrinkable black coffee into sweet, dreamy caffeine. However, this list is not limited to these itemsâthere may be other foods that you find are not psychologically healthy for your Whole30. Use your best judgment with those foods that arenât on this list, but that you suspect are not helping you change your habits or break those cravings.
The Fine Print
These foods are exceptions to the rule, and are allowed during your Whole30.
- Clarified Butter or Ghee. Clarified butter or ghee is the only source of dairy allowed during your Whole30. (Plain old butter is not allowed, as the milk proteins found in non-clarified butter could impact the results of your program.) Refer to our Butter Manifesto for details.
- Fruit juice as a sweetener. Some products will use orange or apple juice as a sweetener. We have to draw the line somewhere, so fruit juice is an acceptable ingredient during your Whole30.
- Certain legumes. Weâre fine with green beans, sugar snap peas, and snow peas. While theyâre technically a legume, these are far more âpodâ than âbean,â and green plant matter is generally good for you.
- Vinegar. Most forms of vinegar (including white, balsamic, apple cider, red wine, and rice) are allowed during your Whole30 program. The only exceptions are vinegars with added sugar, or malt vinegar, which generally contains gluten.
- Salt. Did you know that all iodized table salt contains sugar? Sugar (often in the form of dextrose) is chemically essential to keep the potassium iodide from oxidizing and being lost. Because all restaurant and pre-packaged foods contain salt, weâre making salt an exception to our âno added sugarâ rule.
Give Us Thirty Days
Your only job during the Whole30 is to focus on making good food choices. You donât need to weigh or measure, you donât need to count calories, you donât need to stress about organic, grass-fed, pastured or free range. Just figure out how to stick to the Whole30 in any setting, around every special circumstance, under any amount of stress⌠for 30 straight days. Your only job? Eat. Good. Food.
The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days: no cheats, slips, or âspecial occasions.â This isnât us playing the tough guy. This is a fact, born of education and experience. You need such a small amount of any of these inflammatory foods to break the healing cycleâone bite of pizza, one splash of milk in your coffee, one lick of the spoon mixing the batter within the 30 day period and youâve broken the âresetâ button, requiring you to start over again on Day 1.
You must commit to the full program, exactly as written. Anything less and we make no claims as to your results, or the chances of your success. Anything less and you are selling yourselfâand your potential resultsâshort.
Itâs only 30 days.
Itâs For Your Own Good
Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but arenât sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who âslippedâ or âfell off the wagonâ or âjust HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here).â This is for you.
- It is not hard. Donât you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. Youâve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. Itâs only thirty days, and itâs for the most important health cause on earth â the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.
- Donât even consider the possibility of a âslip.â Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no âslip.â You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program 100% for the full 30 days. Donât give yourself an excuse to fail before youâve even started.
- You never, ever, ever have to eat anything you donât want to eat. Youâre all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no (or make your mom proud and say, âNo, thank youâ). Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because itâs your sisterâs birthday, or your best friendâs wedding, or your company picnic does not mean you have to eat anything. Itâs always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade.
- This does require a bit of effort. Grocery shopping, meal planning, dining out, explaining the program to friends and family, and dealing with stress will all prove challenging at some point during your program. Weâve given you all the tools, guidelines and resources youâll need, but take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness, and quality of life doesnât happen automatically just because youâre now taking a pass on bread.
- You can do this. Youâve come too far to back out now. You want to do this. You need to do this. And we believe that you can do this. So stop thinking about it, and start doing. Right now, this very minute, tell someone that you are starting the Whole30.
We want you to participate. We want you to take this seriously, and see amazing results in unexpected areas. Even if you donât believe this will actually change your life, if youâre willing to give it 30 short days, do it. It is that important. We believe in it that much. It changed our lives, and we want it to change yours too.
