I’m going to be a Whole30 Success Story — in about 30 days. If you haven’t heard of Whole30 don’t feel bad, I just found out about recently and learned it’s been a thing since 2009. Basically Whole30 is cutting out all processed foods for 30 days. You can eat meats, fruits and vegetables and that’s about it. Which wouldn’t be that bad if you had been born a few hundred years ago, before super processed foods became a way of life for us.

The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom

I can give up carbs like breads and pastas. I’ve been living that way (for the most part) for decades. It’s the other things I’m going to have to give up that make me a little nervous about taking the Whole30 challenge. No crackers, no chips, no beans, no corn, no dairy (ouch!), no wine (really ouch!), no nuts and no soy. There are more things you can’t have like rice but I haven’t eaten rice since my second divorce and even then I didn’t like it.

I’m not going to chronicle each day of the Whole30. I’m not going to because we all remember my 30 days without wine and chocolate (and that they lasted for about a week if memory serves me). I do think giving up the wine is going to make this challenge successful. Even though I rarely have more than 2 glasses of wine that’s enough to help me make poor food choices at night, while watching TV and mindlessly surfing the net. It’s much easier to justify a couple of handfuls of goldfish crackers when you’ve had a little wine and you aren’t really focused on anything. So, I won’t post often about it (unless I need to complain), probably an update midway through and then at the end.

I’ve tried many diets before, and I know this isn’t billed as a diet so much as a way of life, but I usually give up or give in after a small success of losing a few pounds. I’ve been losing and gaining the same 5 pounds for the last three years. And that barely touches the baby weight I’m trying to lose that’s going on 13 years now.

Losing weight is hard. Eating healthy after a life of unhealthy eating habits is also hard. I know what I need to do but I’m not always able to do it. But, I was able to quit smoking by going cold turkey. I didn’t even plan on quitting I just decided not to smoke anymore and it’s been four years. I still think about smoking every now and then but I have gone so long without it it’s only a small tickle in the back of my brain. I suspect Whole30 is similar with regard to sugar and processed foods.

I’ve gone cold turkey with carbs before and had success but then life got in the way and well, here we are. I don’t know why this time is any different except it is. I’m not just doing it for the 13 year old baby weight but also because I have joint pain, I don’t sleep well, I have occasional anxiety and I don’t want to take medication for any of it. I’m also heading into menopause in the next few years and I’d like that ride to be as smooth as possible. Whole30 is supposed to make all of those things possible.

Wish me luck and stay tuned!

If you’ve done the Whole30 and want to share your success story, or not so success story, here I’d live to hear it.