Over the years, I've done a handful of Whole30 re-sets, and everyone of them has (a) been different from the others and (b) incredibly eye-opening...
Read MoreWhole30 Day 1 & Goals
A blog reader asked me to share my goals for my Whole30, so I spent a chunk of time sorting through all of my motivations. If I’m honest — rather than politically correct — I’d like to say that my goal for the Whole30 is to lose body fat and feel super energetic. That is my ultimate goal. Always. The whole reason I started to “eat clean, train hard, and live loud” was to be the fit, happy, superhero version of myself that I want to be. For a while, I got really close to my ideal. But then my body kinda melted down and rebelled and here I am: 15 pounds over my goal weight, despite a strict paleo diet with reasonable caloric intake and plenty of smart training.
So… given my current thyroid situation, I need to be realistic about my goals for this particular Whole30. That doesn’t make the goals any less exciting or valuable. I see this Whole30 as a first step — in what will, doubtless, be a long line of interim steps — to get me where I want to be. And that’s OK, because every big success is made up of lots of small — potentially un-triumphant but still important — wins along the way.
My Whole30 goal: To give my body the food and care it needs to heal and grow stronger.
As the thyroid experiment continues, it’s important to treat my body with TLC, and that means best-quality food, rest, and activity that builds me up, rather than tears me down. (And hey! That sounds like a pretty good goal to use all the time, right?!)
And now, whether you’re doing the Whole30 or pursuing your superhero-ness in another way, enjoy the most motivating pep talk EVER:
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August
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My Whole30 Story
It occurred to me that new readers might not be familiar with my long, loving track record with the Whole 30. It's not a success...
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Even though I’ve been eating low carb, gluten, and dairy free I’ve stopped losing weight, have inflammation, hunger, and skin issues. My goal (Whole30 + no nuts/seeds, eggs, and nightshades) is hopefully to improve those issues with a little weight loss as a bonus.
My goal: to give sugar a serious beat-down. It’s my nutritional Achilles Heel.
We are capable of so many amazing things, a lot of which happen in an instant or in situations where we don’t have time to wreck things by over-thinking. People lift cars off of other people, a passerby catches a baby falling out of a window, a young girl swims in a race, rests 10 minutes, and swims in another race and wins a gold medal. Sometimes we aren’t successful at something because we let our mind rule it – we doubt ourselves, psych ourselves out, whatever the case. YOU can do this, I can do this, WE can do this Whole30 thing. Hell, we CAN do a Whole365 if we want. You have my support from afar. I’ve been on the Whole30 for three weeks now and you know what? I’m craving diet soda. Diet soda! One of the worst things I can drink. But you know what, diet soda isn’t going to beat me. Hang in there! You’ve got this already! I can’t wait to read your updates.
My Goal: To lose the last few pounds of this baby weight and to feel healthier than I have in years!! My body needs a restart!
I’m pretty ambitious with this type of thing, so I have to check myself to make sure that my goals are attainable. That said, I’m doing Whole30 to treat my lifelong disthymia and weight problem. I’ve been eating the Paleo way for about 6 weeks now, but I’ve been extremely depressed, as I always am when doing a weight loss regime. I’m hoping that refocusing with Whole30 will teach me some skills to ease the depression/anxiety that I’ve been feeling so acutely lately. Also, I’m inching ever closer to my goal of getting to 150 lbs.!
Best wishes on your Whole30! I just finished one in July. Though oddly enough, my breakfast and lunch are still Whole30 approved 🙂 Have a great time!
Thank you for this, Melissa! My goal for this Whole30 is to examine the nature of my habits and addictions. To food, to behaviors, to people, to substances. Aaaaaand to right my crazy-off-kilter hormonal ship. Who wants to bet I can resolve 18 months of adrenal burnout and hypothalamic amenorrhea nutritionally?
To jump start weight loss again by kicking the nasty carb cravings to the curb and turning my body into a fat burning machine.
Help my body heal and hopefully make my knees feel better.
I’ve done Whole30s in the past, but haven’t focused too much on reaping the psychological benefits and actually changing the way I think about and decide to eat food. One of my goals is to be able to be able to have a treat and then hop right back on the Paleo wagon rather than degenerating into multiple cheats/binge behavior.
Physically, I would LOVE to kick these seasonal allergies to the curb!
My goals are to kick my sugar habit and become physically and mentally stronger stronger…plain and simple…great post!
My goal is to feel refreshed and alive when I wake up in the morning, and have that energy continue throughout the day. I also want to feel excited about things again instead of feeling flat-lined all the time. 30 lb. down, 30 lb. to go- seems fitting that I’m on a Whole 30 program! Bonne chance everyone!
To buff up my discipline muscle and not be controlled by my cravings. This is not my first attempt at a Whole 30, but here’s to motivation and determination of making it through. It’s just 30 days, right…?
Love the video clip! Day one for me! Goals: honestly. More than anything else I want to be happy. I’m not happy with the stop/start/stop/start cycle of eating and exercise. I want this to be a permanent lifestyle change.
I want to see what its like to be free of the addictions!!!! =D
Day three for me!
Two goals: 1) to overcome the aches and twinges that came with menopause & 2) to be a better role model for my daughter who struggles with hypothyroidism.
Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing your goals! I love all of the positivity going on right here. Fantastic!
I hope everyone is having an OK/good/tolerable/awesome first day. I’ve felt SO good today, it’s making me suspicious. I can only hope it lasts and it’s a fluke. Fingers crossed that this little thyroid experiment has a happy outcome.
More tomorrow when I recap Day 1. Hugs to all of you — and dreams of delicious veggies.
I really do not need to lose weight so that is not my motivation. My goals for the whole 30 is to restore adrenal burnout. I have a hard time sleeping at night and over do the caffeine during the day. My goal is to reset my metabolic system as well as restore hormones so I get sound sleep and kick the caffeine habit.
My goal is to re-commit to eating clean. I have been losing weight since my first whole 30 in April with my Crossfit gym mates. This journey is filled with reality checks and lessons galore. I look forward to keeping my journal on Fitday and enjoying my lifestyle with some awesome choices.
My goal is to kick this sugar/food addiction! I have been about 80% Paleo for a year but need a bigger commitment . I Lost 150 pounds 8 years ago and have kept off 125 of it. Now I want to lose that 25 and 25 more while getting healthy and stronger ( with crossfit)! My husband was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder earlier this year and this has sent my food addiction into over drive . Time to OVERCOME! 3 2 1 GO!
I am excited to say that today is my day 1 of the Whole30. I am 52 years old and have hit a paleo plateau that I can’t seem to get past.
I am hopeful that I will get out of my way and allow the Whole30 to work it’s magic!
Your posts and your video are both inspirational.
Thank you and here’s to kicking it up a notch!
Love that video, very motivating!
My goal is to feel better, cleaner, lose a little weight, rev up my energy and sex drive, and develop some good habits.
My first whole 30!
My goals are to take better care of myself…that includes washing off my makeup no matter how tired I am, starting a exercise plan and flossing!
Thanks for your honesty, Mel. And i love your cookbook! It has
a special place in my kitchen.
I have a number of goals: lose more weight, have better performance during my Crossfit WODs, sleep better, feel more energetic. But I think the biggest goal is to simply be free of the foods that mess with my body and mind. Now that I understand the how and why behind the power of these manipulative, culinary demons, I am enthusiastically kicking them to the curb! Melissa, I’m having a ball with your cookbook! I haven’t got all the logistics of the weekly cookup or the cooking WOD down just yet, but I’ll get there soon. In the meantime, it’s been a joy to flip to any given recipe and dive in with abandon. Thanks for all your hard work. Really glad that you knew how you could do that!
Thank you for the sweet words about Well Fed! I’m glad you’re having fun with it… and just like a workout, you’ll get faster with the Cookups as you get more experience. I’ve been at it for 3 years, so I have a head start 🙂
Thank you so much for your posts. I was looking for a place to stay on track for my first While30. We’re doing it as a group at our gym. I walked in yesterday with a lots of energy and a big smile and asked if everyone was ready….. They all stared at me like I was crazy. They hadn’t read the program yet. Not me…raring to go. I gave up soda pop a couple months ago and then started paleo. Been feeling so good and I can’t wait to see all the health benefits of this Whole30. My goals: to clear up the aches and pains as well as get rid of a chronic neck problem. I can’t wait to take control of my eating and figure out what foods make me tick at my optimal level!!!!!!
Another set of awesome goals from all of you. Hope you’re enjoying (surviving?) your Whole30 so far. We’re all in it together!
My husband and I are also tackling the Whole30! Days one through three have been just fine. 🙂 I am documenting the journey as well, I’d love to invite you to check out my blog at http://www.snarkybites.tumbler.com! Woot!
Wait, whoa, I have a question–you say you’re doing Whole30 between 8/1 and 8/23. Uh … that’s 23 days, not 30. Did you start before and just didn’t write about it or what?
I’m only doing 23 super strict days this time because I’m traveling. I’ve done a bunch of full Whole30s before, so I don’t really have a sugar demon or food-related issues any more. I’m focusing on this Whole30 to help me weather some health issues.
Dang! I’m usually a strict follower of your blog as I’ve tried to dig deeper into the Paleo lifestyle but have yet to “kickstart” it. I’ve procrastinated about it lately – although I have worked hard to cut out any “frozen foods” or processed entrees or anything. This is just one more reason to start my Whole 30! I have two HUGE problems though – a very busy lifestyle where I find it impossible to get 8+ hours of sleep, and the fact I’m only cooking for 1. I’m definitely going to use this as inspiration.
My goals – feel healthy! I’m tired of feeling lethargic, and unathletic, and I’m tired of having cravings.
1. Get as much sleep as you can. If you can’t get 8+, get 7 solid. Do your best.
2. Cooking for one is so much fun! A bunch of the recipes on my blog make one serving (pad thai, fried rice) and all of the recipes in Well Fed can easily be cut in half — or make the full recipe and enjoy leftovers or freeze half.
You can do it. For real.
Preparing a menu plan for the week. Referencing your week 1, 2, 3. Am ready to get started. Weigh 240, like to get near half my body weight off! Thanks for the information.
Good luck to you — hope the meal plans are helpful. Have fun cooking!