The Problem With Whole30 and other "Diets"

It's the end of the first month of the year, and all throughout my email inbox and Facebook feed are posts about how close people are to finishing their Whole30. This has always ate at me.

The "Whole" part of Whole30 isn't the issue. Whole, unprocessed foods are what is needed if you are to remain in optimal health. And oh, by the way, that whole "everything in moderation" thing ... it's bullshit. But I digress. The problem with Whole30 is the "30". It's 30 days. It's temporary. Like I said in a previous post, what is needed is a life-altering paradigm shift in the way you live.

It also grinds my gears that there's this encouragement going out, like, "Keep going! You're almost there! You can do it!" This reinforces the idea that restricting your diet is some sort of sacrifice, or amazing achievement, like it was one of the 12 Labors of Hercules or something. I want to destroy the myth that has been shoved down our throats, that it takes superhuman willpower to eat clean. It doesn't. All that it requires is the understanding, not just intellectually but actually, that the "foods" you're avoiding aren't really foods, that they're actually poisons robbing you of life and vitality, and that the foods you're allowed to eat, because fat is not only not bad for you but essential for good health, not to mention the flavor of the foods you're now eating, are more than satisfying enough that there's no sacrifice or great feat at all behind avoiding bread, pasta, sugar, and other food-like garbage you'd been accustomed to eating your whole life. It's not a big deal, because what is left for you to eat is still amazing. Especially when I saw the results - and after 30 days if you made that commitment you will see and feel those results - it was obvious to me that I could never go back to that old lifestyle. Very often you don't know how lousy you feel until you no longer feel lousy. Your mind is adept at normalizing whatever condition you're in.

Anyway, just a rant. Don't set your sites on a finite period. Make the commitment, leave the garbage behind, and watch what happens. The Whole30 book is called "It Starts With Food," but really, it starts with your own mind. How you look at things will determine success or failure. Learning how to cook is a huge asset, and I'll be encouraging and helping you with that on this blog.

And oh, by the way ... take the same mentality to physical fitness. It has to be a permanent paradigm shift, or you'll fail, again and again. Namaste.