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My (Modified) Whole 30: Week 4.25 Recap

Whole 30: Week 4.25


I’M FINISHED WITH MY WHOLE 30!
Let the chocolate eating begin. Sort of kidding.
This was definitely an experience that I won’t soon forget. I’ll detail the things I like and dislike about the diet, but first let me show you what I ate the last 1 1/4 weeks:
Whole 30 Day 22
DAY 22
Breakfast: Scramble with hashbrowns and kiwi.
Lunch: Leftover mayo baked salmon.
Supper: (at my family’s house) Burgers with fries, chips, and carrot sticks.
Snacks: Homemade cobbler and rhubarb bars for dessert.
Cheats: Many.
Whole 30 Day 23
DAY 23
Breakfast: Smoothie (strawberries, bananas, milk, cream, and collagen)
Lunch: Leftover meatballs, mashed potatoes, asparagus, butter, and cod liver oil.
Supper: Burger with crispy potatoes.
Snacks: Seaweed snacks, almond butter, pickle, dates.
Cheats (I don’t really consider dairy to be a major cheat): Milk, cream, butter, cheese on burger.
Whole 30 Day 24
DAY 24
Breakfast: Fried egg, hash with bacon, orange juice (given to me by Positive Energy), and kiwi.
Lunch: Leftover hamburger + hash from breakfast.
Supper: Taco Salad.
Snacks: Pickle, carrot sticks.
Cheats: Sour cream and cheese on salad.
Whole 30 Day 25
DAY 25
Breakfast: Banana + almond butter.
Lunch: Leftover taco salad.
Supper: Scramble with pulled pork, potatoes, and an orange.
Snacks: Mango, carrot sticks, apple juice, almond butter, pickles, 1/2 banana.
Cheats: Sour cream on salad, took a sip of Helen’s (unsweetened) carob milk to see if it was too hot.
Whole 30 Day 26
DAY 26
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, almond butter, and an orange.
Lunch: Chicken broccoli stir-fry.
Supper: Apple + almond butter, chicken stir-fry, carrot sticks.
Snacks: Seaweed snacks, dried blueberries, carrot sticks, a date, and a pickle.
Whole 30 Day 27
DAY 27
Breakfast: Smoothie (same as day 23 except without collagen).
Supper: Graduation open house food (besides what is pictured I also had a third of a chocolate cupcake).
Snacks: Almond butter, carrot sticks.
Cheats: Many.
Whole 30 Day 28
DAY 28
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 1/2 grapefruit, dill pickle relish, sauerkraut, and cranberry juice from Positive Energy.
Lunch: Graduation open house food.
Supper: Apple + banana with almond butter.
Snacks: Pickles.
Cheats: Many.
Whole 30 Day 29
DAY 29
Breakfast: Scramble with mango.
Lunch: An apple with almond butter, pickles, carrot sticks, a date, and sauerkraut.
Whole 30 Day 30!
DAY 30
Breakfast: Scramble with grapefruit.
Lunch: Leftover shepherd’s pie.
Supper: Crockpot roast chicken with mashed potatoes, peas, and butter.
Snacks: almond butter, a date, and dill pickle relish.
Cheats: Butter, cheese on shepherd’s pie.


WHAT I LIKE AND DISLIKE ABOUT THE WHOLE 30 DIET
Overall I think my experience was positive, but there were a few things that bothered be about this program.
WHAT I LIKED:
  • * It really makes you realize just how much sugar you consume. It’s in everything! I personally don’t have a problem with consuming moderate amounts of sugar, but it was a bit of an eye opener when I had to avoid all forms of it.
  • * It encourages you to eat the majority of your meals at home. Normally, when I’m not feeling like making supper, I can convince Reuben to take me out to eat. But with the limited options for Whole 30 approved restaurant meals, you’re forced to do a lot of cooking. Which isn’t a bad thing at all!
  • * I ate way more fruits and vegetables than I usually do. Without grains to cut through proteins and fats, you have to consume fruits and veggies or die of nausea (kidding).
  • * When you can’t use grains, it actually simplifies your meals. Instead of coming up with complicated Whole 30 approved dishes, I stuck to simple ones that didn’t call for banned ingredients in the first place.
  • * Throughout the month I have felt less bloated. I notice a bit of discomfort if I eat a lot of grains at once.
  • *  At the start I had a few more blemishes, but they diminished as the month went on. I only had one new blemish pop up, and it disappeared quickly. I’m not sure if it was just the progression of the month (if you know what I mean), or the diet. I usually don’t have a lot of acne problems.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
  • * I’m a little put out that the Whole 30 plan doesn’t allow dairy. I know that a lot of people are allergic to it, but they can be allergic to eggs and nuts as well. You can’t cut out a food just because someone somewhere is allergic to it. People have been consuming dairy for a long time. As long as you’re sourcing organic/grass-fed/raw dairy, I don’t see a problem. In fact, unless you’re allergic, I think that dairy is a very beneficial food.
  • * There is no encouragement to soak your nuts for optimal digestion.
  • * This diet was somewhat of a trigger for me. During the first few days when I was still figuring things out, I was hungry often. It brought me back to my low-fat days. You see, hunger can be addicting, and some of those old feelings came back to me. I don’t think it’s healthy.
  • * My nails seemed a little more brittle – perhaps because of the decrease in dairy and thus calcium?
  • * I had less energy than I normally do, especially at the beginning as my body was adjusting. Nothing major, but it’s not a fun feeling. I’ve also been on the verge of a headache often. This could be a combination of being on the Whole 30 and Helen not wanting to sleep at night…
  • * It’s harder to be spontaneous. If I wanted to take Helen to the park, I had to worry about making supper when I get home. I felt guilty for cheating.
  • * Reuben didn’t like me doing the Whole 30. He thought I was a bit more cranky, which I freely admit to. When a girl can’t have her chocolate, it ain’t pretty!
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS DIET?
Yes, but I would say: Listen to your body and make modifications if you want to. Be strict with yourself most of the time, but forgive yourself if you cheat.
If you want to try Whole 30 for yourself, HERE are the original rules.


Thank you for coming on this journey with me!
Would you be interested in an occasional post about what I eat normally for a day or a week?

Note: some links are affiliate. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting Buttered Side Up!

Frank Kennedy

Thursday 15th of December 2016

Hey,

I completely adore your style. I found your blog and get a ton of extraordinary thoughts for my own particular home. One of the plates in the set had been discovered broken when they unloaded it, and Ona was heading off to the store the main thing in the morning to roll out them improvement it; additionally they had guaranteed three pots, and there had just two come, and did Jurgis believe that they were attempting to cheat them? exhibited your idea in this blog entry.

Thanking youFrank

Erica Lea

Tuesday 12th of July 2016

Hey, Elizabeth!

Thank you for your questions!

It's hard for me to say for sure how the W30 affected me, because I was actually pregnant for the latter half of it (though I didn't know it at the time!). My energy levels were way down, but I think that was due to the pregnancy, not W30. I did see a difference in my body tone, but I was also doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30, so not sure if it was that or Whole 30 that helped. :)

I definitely saw my sugar craving decrease as the 30 days went on. Right now I'm trying to be healthy because of some health problems that cropped up during/after pregnancy (it's just super hard on my body to have kids). I'm eating pretty much how I did on Whole 30, except I'm definitely not limiting dairy, and I'm cutting out more sugar (even from fruit).

I would recommend doing Whole 30 one round to see how you like it, give yourself a break, and then do it again even stricter (limiting really sweet fruits like bananas, mangos, dried fruit, etc.). I think you'll be surprised by how much your sugar cravings go down!

One more note: I personally like the philosophy of grace, but being super strict MIGHT help you. I notice that if I've been being really careful about limiting sweets, but then have a treat, I crave sugar again for a bit after I eat the sweet.

Hope that helped you! Don't hesitate to ask more questions or for clarification. :)

Elizabeth Anderson

Saturday 9th of July 2016

Hey! I really appreciate your willingness to post about your modified Whole30 experience. In the reading I've done, they do a bit of shaming when it comes to posting about doing W30 if you're not fully "compliant." My boyfriend, who just started the W30 with me and is much more lax about the rules, has been worried about me because I've been so anxious about the rules and making mistakes, so it's nice to see that your modified experience went well for you!!

I was hoping you could answer a couple of my questions, which may put my mind at ease:

Did you still find that you felt better and that your clothes fit better even with your modifications? The main reason I decided to try W30 was to manage and reduce my weight. Also, I have a lot of joint pain (probably weight related), so I am also including some mild exercise in my 30 days, and am hoping to do some more intense workouts if/when the diet helps me lose weight.

After the 30 days were over, did you find it was helpful to kick cravings, so that you could continue to eat more healthfully and mindfully after the W30 was over? I'm 99.9% sure I'm addicted to sugar, and I worry that if I allow myself to deviate from the rules, it won't help me kick the bad habits I've developed.

Thanks again for your great blog posts, and I look forward to hearing back!

Julie Jones

Tuesday 29th of December 2015

My husband didn't like me doing the Whole 30 either. I ended up stopping and having cream in my coffee. I am a much happier person with dairy!

Erica Lea

Friday 19th of June 2015

I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the photos! Yeah, it's nice to get new ideas for what to eat - sometimes I just fall into a rut. :) Yes, I totally agree - a bit of white flour and sugar won't harm in the long run.

I definitely ate more when I was nursing. I complained to Reuben that it isn't as fun because I can't eat as much anymore (I get full too quickly). ;)