I've decided to start Whole30 program. For more information, see www.whole30.com It's not primarily a weight loss program, but should help to heal digestive tract, get your body rid off junk food and help you find balance. I have Crohn's disease and I now I don't do well with gluten, but this program should help me find out whether I react to dairy or legumes as well. Also, I'm hoping staying off ANY form of sweets (dried fruits included) for 30 days could help me beat my sugar addiction. I've been on paleo/primal diet but I still eat lot of raisins, dates and dried fruits in general. I have also had many off daus when I would eat entire bag of cookies or a huge chocolate bar. So I'm going to see if I have what it takes to survive 30 days on:

Vegetables
Eggs
Meat
Healthy oils
Some fruits and nuts

One of the program rules is to not weight yourself daily. So I weighted myself this morning, at whooping 106.3 kg, and I will see myself again when the month is over.

Also - no snacking. That's gonna be tough.

I've been experimenting with IF and I hope to introduce one or two fast days a week into my Whole30 program, but I will have to see how that goes!~

So you're welcome to pop in and read about my progress.

Ronja, the elimination of snacking is not as tough as you think with the elimination of sugar and grain. My plan also limits to three meals a day and, while hungry a good bit, there are zero cravings for me without eating those items.

Whole 30 is much more restrictive than what I am doing so I am looking forward to hearing your progress. It certainly looks healthy.

Thank you for that grannynancy! I've already discovered that eating sugar makes me want more sugar, and grains make me starve both sugar and grains, while eating a protein/high diet seems to help a lot.

Today I feel quite hungry, but at least I know I'm doing something new (that means, I'm not eating cookies and chocolate!).

I feel hungry to but I am getting used to it because I am not having the CRAVINGS so I can go for HOURS with an empty tummy and it really does not bother me. I am not getting lightheaded or anything like that. I am actually learning to like the feeling/sensation of an empty stomach.

I hope you are finding a Whole 30 forum as well. I had to really search to find some for my plan. I see it is not covered here either.

Hi Ronja!! I am interested to hear

I have thought about doing Whole30 as well.. You have no grains whatsoever?

Hello there Emily!! LTNS No grains on Whole30, not even the gluten free ones. But you can have a moderate portion of potatoes and sweet potatoes (which I don't do either way, but it can help if you're new to this style of eating).

DAY 1: Surprisingly difficult start!

B: Three eggs on pan, olive oil, tomato
L: Roasted zuccinini on olive oil, home made meatballs, handful of grapes. Black coffee.
D: Scrambled eggs, ground beef, cucumbers. Handful of hazelnuts and a spoon of coconut oil. Black coffee.

It must be because I have had such bad days carb wise lately, but I found the first day really difficult. I was starving, particularly in the morning. When it came to diner I made sure I had a large enough portion to keep me full for the rest of the day. A good suprise - I actually don't dislike black coffee. I've always had coffee with milk but now I'm surprised it's not bad without it either.

29 days left!

DAY 2: I made a mistake already!

B: Eggs, cucumbers, small can of tuna
L: Beef stew, nuts, some grapes
D: Tomato salad

Today I still felt hungry and very tired. I decided to stick to my plan though and not give in to my body aching for sugar. However, I ate salad for dinner that my mother made and I didn't realize it contained lentils. Since legumes are not allowed on Whole30, I technically broke the program and should start it over. I don't really mind, as I plan to follow a very similar diet once my Whole30 program is over, so adding extra 2 days makes no difference. Onwards and forwards! I do hope I start feeling better soon though.

30 days left!

My daughter tells me you take things out then slowly add them back in to see if they cause problems?

Hey Ronja
The whole 30 sounds very similar to Atkins induction phase. I have been doing that since Oct 2016. It was not until these past few months that I allowed myself an occasional potato/air cooked fries, a spoonful of rice and still have ad not pasta or other grains, white flour etc. Yes I do crave sweets at times but it is a slippery slope for me too. I also have only had a few bites of fruit since Oct also. I can't wait to see how this will do for you. I will check in from time to time

grannynancy yes, that's what I'm aiming for here Staying off everyting that's potentially dangerous, clearing it off my system, and then slowly introducing individual food groups to see what happens. Plus I'm hopin to achieve some scale victories as well Thank you for stopping by!

nancylmrn wow, almost a year! That's a lot for such a strict diet, I bow down to you!!! I came to conclusion that there is no sugar-in-moderation for me. Once I have a little bit of something sweet, I crave more and more of it and before I know it, there went an entire chocolate bar! So yeah, no. Staing off sugar is far easier than trying to regulate its portions for me.

How are you doing today Ronja? It is always so hard to start but I think you will find once you get in a groove it all works. Look at the atkins site for recipes and dietdoctor.com both has some great recipes. I have made many some better than others for sure. But it is amazing what you can do with eggs and veggies

nancylmrn thank you so much for support and for the link, I will definitely check it out! I'm generally doing better. Much less tired for sure. and although I still feel hungry, it's more managable. It's like I feel the hunger, but I don't feel any need to act upon it. I'm hoping for little more energy in coming days, it's still early on, but just going for 3 days without any kind of sugar or even a dried fruit is a major accomplishment for me!!!

DAY 1 (again): Getting there I think!

B: three eggs on pan, red pepper, some grapes
L: Pork chops, red pepper, handful of nuts. Black coffee.
D: Spinach salad, tuna from can, olive oil.

I had a really stressful day yesterday with work and normally I would just grab a piece of chocolate to get me through. I had very little sugar cravings, but I still felt an urge to eat, so I grabbed few nuts and some coconut oil. It's delicious. Having said this I have just realized how little cravings for sugar I actually have, it's suprrising!

29 days to go

Honestly, since I have removed sugar and flour , I am amazed at how my cravings have gone away. Do I miss them? Some but fruit is soooooo much sweeter now and is really a special treat.

DAY 2 (again ): Still better!

B: Three eggs on pan, red pepper. Few nuts for snack.
L: Chicken tigh and steamed broccoli, olive oil
D: Pork chop, broccoli, fresh tomatoes

I snacked on tomatoes and carrot, which I guess is not too bad. I mean to eliminate snacks completely, but a little bit later on, when my blood sugar is stabilized and my body is burning fat and protein for energy!