Whole30 Worries

According to Facebook, there are a few of you considering joining me for the Whole30: that's awesome!  Thank you!  I'm also super pumped that Mags and Linds, two my best friends at work, are on board.  Since we work super closely together almost every day, it's a great built-in accountability system.

As I said before, I have been doing a lot of research over the past couple of weeks (surprise, surprise).  I started the book last night and absolutely love it.  It's written with TONS of research-based reasoning, but it's written in such an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand manner.

Purchase from Amazon

Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, the creators of the Whole30 program, are adamant about not taking "cheat" days during the duration of the program.

"The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days: no cheats, slips, or 'special occasions.'"

After all, it is supposed to be a systemic reset, and this reset cannot occur if there is constant "cheating" happening.

In the free material from the Whole30 website, the "tough love" really hit home with me:

1. "You have done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written."
2. "You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident."
3. "You never, ever, ever have to eat anything you don't want to eat. [...] Toughen up. Learn to say no.

And when talking about shortening the program, the materials really hit me hard:

"You owe yourself 30 days. [...] If you cop out now, you're telling yourself that the commitments you make to yourself are open to compromise. You're telling yourself that you are not important enough to honor your commitment to you. But that's not true, is it? You ARE important. You ARE worth a full commitment."

Powerful, right?

In order to stick to the Whole30 for, well, the whole thirty, I need to anticipate the obstacles that I will experience, and there are already quite a few.

First, I have dinner plans with two girlfriends next week. We are heading to Tacopocalypse on Thursday for some delicious bites.  Right now, I have NO idea what to order. If any of you have a.) completed the Whole30 or b.) been to Tacopocalypse and can offer some suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Second, my spring break is Day 19 through Day 28 of my Whole30. While I am not hitting up Daytona or Key West this year, I still know there will be temptations. And, I always do better when I have a routine, so not having a routine for a week-and-a-half during this strict plan just might kill me.

Third, I have a social get-together on Day 23, a happy-hour-type gathering at which there will be ample beverages, party food, etc. It is a potluck, however, so I have already planned on bringing a couple of Whole30-approved appetizers, likely from this list from Plaid and Paleo.

Fourth, I am hoping that I will be going on some dates in the near future. Generally, dates include drinks and/or dinner and/or dessert, and I am going to have to find a delicate way to order while out with new people. I mean, I don't want them to think I'm a finicky eater, a crazy person, a fun-hater, etc. I guess I will just cross that bridge when I come to it.

Obviously these are only four of the myriad of challenges and obstacles I anticipate arising in the next 30 days. But, I figure it's a good start if I'm at least thinking of them.  :)

Again, I would love for all of you to join me on this crazy adventure!