nicole lee

I’ll be conducting a bit of an experiment over the next month. I’m going to commit to doing the Whole30 diet for 30 days. It’s essentially the Paleo diet, but a super strict version where dairy and potatoes are a no-no.

Do I believe in the tenets of the Paleo doctrine? Well, yes and no. I do think there are some foods that have a history of gut irritation (gluten, dairy), but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily bad. I tend to think it’s because gluten et al are often an ingredient in things that ARE bad for you, like overly processed foods (see Alton’s take on it here). Still, that doesn’t mean going gluten-free is a bad idea — it forces you to not rely on processed foods and instead look for healthier “real food” options. Plus, if you’re a Celiac sufferer, well, there’s not much of an option.

As for dairy and potatoes, even those within the Paleo community are conflicted about that. Some are for dairy as long as it’s full-fat, and some are okay with potatoes as long as you’re already pretty fit. Even with rice (which is decidedly non-Paleo) there are people who say it’s relatively benign, and while it shouldn’t be consumed in large quantities, is not that bad. In the long run though, there seems to be an overall openness to doing what’s right for your body, whatever option you choose. Still, Whole30 eschews dairy and potatoes just as a month-long “cleanse” of sorts (The exception seems to be ghee or clarified butter).

I’ve sort of been eating this way off-and-on anyway as I was trying out the 4-hour Body diet (Very similar to Paleo but legumes are allowed while fruit isn’t. 4HB also has cheat days, which Paleo doesn’t. However, from what I read, not everyone who follows Paleo is super-strict about it — there’s something called an “Eff Off” food list where you allow yourself the occasional indulgence). Still, going Whole30 will be a challenge. I think the hardest things to give up are diet soda and soy. Oh, and no bacon unless it’s sugar-free, which is difficult to find (Maybe a trip to Prather Ranch is in order…).

I’ll admit that I started this thing on a whim without a lot of planning. So we’ll see if I last a whole month. But as the Whole30 folks said, it’s only a month. 30 days is not that long. Heck, Muslims go on a day-long fast for a month during Ramadan. I can at least do this, right?

To record my daily triumphs and struggles, I hope to also write a blog entry every day for a month to go along with it. So here we go; here’s my food journal (or nom diary, as I’m calling it) for Tuesday, 6/26/2012:

Breakfast
Scrambled five eggs with leftover spinach. Ate it with leftover hangar steak. Cup of coffee, black.

Stringless sugar snap peas

Lunch
Breakfast filled me up, so my lunch was light. Had a bag of stringless sugar snap peas, a handful of almonds, and some coconut flakes. I bought a container of berries too, but only ate about five blueberries.

A “garbage stir-fry” of ground pork and mixed veggies. Apologies for the blurry photo.

Dinner
A “garbage stirfry” consisting of ground pork, an onion that I blitzed in the food processor, and a bag of frozen vegetables (it had broccoli, water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, onions, and celery in it). Used coconut oil and coconut aminos instead of my usual soy sauce. Kind of amazingly good considering how simple the ingredients were. I also fried up a goat sirloin chop I got from the Marin Sun Farms CSA box.

I also bought a bunch of groceries that I hope to help me with this plan, like this brand of coconut milk which apparently has no preservatives:

Aroy-D coconut milk in tetrapaks

More on that tomorrow!