Whole30 Myths - And How To Overcome Them {Whole 30 Results}

Before I began my Whole30 Experience I scoured the internet for more information. I read books, studied recipes, and spent countless hours reading and watching videos about other people's experiences.

I stalked people on Instagram, and posted a million things on Facebook. I researched and agonized and worried and stressed... because let's face it - there is a lot of stuff out there and the general consensus seems to be  that "it sucks!!! (but it is worth it.)"

The more I posted and the more I read, the more I saw a few common excuses myths keep popping up. Since I have now been there and done that, I wanted to debunk a couple of these for anyone who is contemplating their own Whole30 Journey.

1 - It is so HARD.

The one thing that kept coming up in all of my searching was how "hard" it was. The Whole30 crew addresses this by saying things like "fighting cancer is hard - not putting creamer in your coffee is not hard." But I want to bring even more to that - because for me it was different. If you read and watch everything that is out there - it will have you scared to even try. Had my friend Jen not been so persistent and challenging, I probably could have talked myself out of even giving it a shot, based on how "hard" everyone said it was.

Mine was not hard. Mine didn't even suck that bad. In fact most everyone that has joined our Whole30 Facebook Group has said it hasn't been near as hard as they thought it would be - and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we simply do not focus on the bad - instead we laugh and share the good. You can absolutely choose to focus on the headache you may get the first day... or you can get excited that it is working. You can whine and complain about getting tired, or you can realize how badly you have fueled your body in the past that you are "hungover."

Everyone is different. You can not compare someone else's experience to know how yours will be. The standard "schedule" that even Whole30.com put out wasn't even my experience. Yes I was tired the first day or two - but that was about it. I didn't have a "Kill All The Things" Day until Day 15 - and that I think had more to do with hormones than eating.

Point is - it isn't that hard. AND you will get more of what you focus on. So focus on good.

2 - My Partner won't do it.

So....?! Why does that have any bearing on anything? Look, I used to smoke - my exhusband and I both did. I quit. He didn't. Did it suck to be around him while he still smoked? Of course it did. But I knew it was what was best for me, and now 7+ years later I know it was still one of the absolute best things I have ever done for myself. It took will power, dedication, and determination... sound familiar?

Saying you are not going to better your health because someone else isn't is like saying you are not going to repair your car cause the guy next to you is broken down. It doesn't make any sense. What someone else does should have absolutely no bearing on you. Fact: you do not need someone to do this with you. Fact: you do not even need anyone's approval. Fact: your partner will probably come around anyway when they see how well it works for you.

I did not change my family's diet or routine at all when I began my Whole30 journey. If dinner was something I couldn't eat - I made myself something else. Or if dinner was chicken and rice with veggies... I just simply did not put rice on my plate. They eat fried chicken - I bake mine. They want pasta, I eat spaghetti squash. They saw me making changes and began wanting to "taste" mine... what has happened is the whole family has now begun eating better. Leftovers seem to be more of the "not allowed" stuff and I can't keep veggies in my house for the life of me.

Only YOU control what you ACTUALLY put in to your mouth. Not everyone in your house has to be Whole30 for you to succeed. I open the cabinets every day and have everything from long grain wild rice (my favorite) to popcorn to kidney beans... and every day I choose to not eat them. My family does, but I do not. I disagree with the whole "clean everything out" routine that most diet books tell you to do... instead I stare temptation straight in the face and celebrate that food has no control over me anymore. THAT is Whole30.

3 - I am going to starve to death.

The irony here is that you are actually eating yourself to death if you are eating all of the crappy foods that your body can not handle. But even if that wasn't the case - you are still not going to "starve." Table the drama. Seriously. "I can't give up cheese!" "OMG Bread!?!" "WHAT WILL I EAT!!?" 

Whole30 isn't about not eating - its about eating what is right for your body. Seriously, you are going to "starve" without your pasta? Really? In the words of Mark Twain - "If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got." If you continue to eat foods you know make you fat/lethargic/grouchy/sick - then guess what will happen? You will ALWAYS be fat/lethargic/grumpy/sick. Is that what you WANT? Because it is what you are choosing every time you put food in your mouth that you know makes you that way.

What you want is irrelevant. What you have chosen is at hand. ~Dr Spock

There is actually a lot more food on the "allowed" list than the "not allowed" list - however most of those allowed foods we do not focus on. I whined about "no dairy" for weeks - because I was the girl who had milk for breakfast, cheese for lunch and a yogurt before bed. I remember my parents saying it would be more cost effective for them to just buy a cow with all that they spent on milk. However since I completed my first Whole30, I have had dairy twice... and both times I got sick as a dog. And while I was on Whole30 I replaced my milk with ice water, my cheese with chicken salad and my yogurt with salted watermelon. Not only did I not miss dairy a single time, I felt better, felt fuller longer, and woke up feeling great - not hungover and sleepy.

My advice to not "starve" is to not make that many changes. I didn't trying to make a whole bunch of crazy out-of-the-ordinary recipes that I might or might not like. I did not want to risk not liking the new recipe and ending up at the drive thru so I didn't eat the furniture. I cooked all of the same meals - leaving out the things that were not Whole30 compliant. Easy.

4 - It's So Expensive!

No it isn't. Well, wait - it may be at first. But then it isn't. Yes, healthy food is generally higher priced than processed filler filled junk (sadly) but when you compare the quantity to the price - it really balances out. See, when you start eating the RIGHT food, you do not need as much - because your body isn't having to work in overtime to find enough nutrients from the junk to run properly. With Whole30 I eat three meals a day - and then normally a snack at night or mid afternoon. Even when I was "eating clean" I would eat 5 or 6 times a day - literally grazing all day long.

If your typical snack is a bag of Cheetos and a soda ($2-ish, right?) then your Whole30 snack of a handful of raw cashews and a water is actually cheaper. Add in an apple and it is STILL cheaper. If your dinner is normally baked chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans - all you have to do is replace the mashed potatoes with another compliant veggie - like carrots - it costs almost the exact same.

Whole30 mayo is WAY cheaper than anything you are going to get in the store - as is every other condiment. Plus when you deduct what you will be saving on food that isn't serving your body right (hello Starbucks!) you will actually be able to save money and use it for better food.... or for new blue jeans, 'cause you are going to need those too.

5 - There is Just.No.Way.

Whole30 is ONE.HUNDRED.PERCENT mental. One hundred percent. You have to be ready to commit to it like your life depended on it - because if you do not, you will fail. You will fail and then you will beat yourself up with all of that negative self talk that you have probably been doing to yourself for years. If you are NOT 100% committed - do not even bother. Why set yourself up for failure again?

This year when I went to Kennedy Space Center they have the quote "Failure Is Not An Option" on everything. I have heard it before, but on that trip it became my mantra - and of course that was long before I had any idea what Whole30 was. I have applied that to everything in my life since that trip - and Whole30 is no exception.

Also the saying "If you think you can, or you think you can't - you are RIGHT." This is so true with Whole30. I knew when I started that failure was not an option, and that I was GOING to "suffer through" 30 days because I COULD. It was 30 days - 90 meals - it is NOT forever. Tory Johnson's book "The Shift" she talks about the mental "shift" you have to make in order to succeed. If you are stuck in "there is just no way I can do that" - then you are absolutely right. Don't bother. If, however you are in the "yikes, I know I can do this... it may be tough but I am GOING to finish" - THEN and ONLY THEN will you succeed.

Since I began my Whole30 Lifestyle I have gotten tons of questions, tons of comments, and tons of cheers. I have also heard dozens of excuses. None of them are valid. NONE of them. They are the lies that we tell ourselves to justify why we do not change. Change is hard - it's leaving your comfort zone. But there will come a time when you are DONE - when you realize that you are NOT comfortable in your own skin. When your comfort zone becomes your place of sadness. When you are DONE hiding behind people in pictures - or avoiding the camera all together. When you are DONE hating Summer because that means bathing suit season. When you are DONE beating yourself up before, during, and after every meal you know sucks. When you are DONE hating your body, and yourself.

When that moment happens you realize you CAN in fact live without bread for 30 days. You CAN in fact break your addiction to soda. You CAN in fact change your life in 30 days - as cliche as it sounds. When that moment happens, you realize your excuses are irrelevant, and you BECOME Whole30.