Thoughts On Our Whole30 Journey

In today’s post I want to share some observations about our Whole30 Journey. We completed this journey about 3 weeks ago. My wife and I have continued to apply most of the Whole30 parameters since officially ending this lifestyle.

I asked my wife Sherry to write down the three most significant benefits that she enjoyed while being on the Whole 30 Journey. They are:

• Weight Loss

• Significantly Reduced Joint Pain and Inflammation

• Eliminated Bloating and Abdominal Cramping

Sherry’s Benefits From the Whole30 Journey

I’d like to take Sherry’s benefits and expand on them. Sherry lost 11 pounds during the program. And since being off of the strict application of the Whole30 lifestyle she is now down 13 pounds. Most of her weight loss has come off of her midsection. This is important since visceral fat in the midsection of your body posses the greatest risk to your overall health.

The second benefit that Sherry noted was “significantly reduced joint pain and inflammation.” This is big for Sherry. Sherry is a special education coordinator for preschool children and there are many days when she would return home exhausted and in pain. Especially at night when the joint pain would flair up and prevent her from getting a good night of sleep. Not only is her joint pain gone but her sleep has improved, which then aids her in her energy levels during the day.

The third benefit that Sherry noted was “eliminated bloating and abdominal cramping.” This is also significant. I could be wrong in this but I believe that for every 7 days out of the week Sherry most likely experienced this issue 6 out of the 7 days. And for Sherry sometimes this bloating and abdominal cramping was pretty severe.

These last two benefits makes sense to me because the purpose of the Whole30 program is to eliminate all the foods that are typically associated with allergies and inflammation.

Dan’s Benefits From the Whole30 Journey

My benefits are different than Sherry’s. I lost weight which I didn’t need to. My problem was getting enough calories. So here’s my first benefit:

My friend Arnold turned me onto nut butters. Arnold suggested that I use nut butters to do two things: increase my caloric intake and keep me from getting hungry. So I tried Almond butter. I did not like the taste. I tried Cashew butter and again didn’t like the taste.

I then found Sunflower butter without sugar but with salt. That was a winner.

It tastes almost like peanut butter but without the potential for allergens. I added it to my morning shake and it make a big difference in helping me go longer before getting hungry. And in the afternoon if I needed a snack I would add it to cauliflower to curb my appetite before dinner.

I also felt better during this Whole30 journey. Once I figured out how to increase my caloric consumption with something that actually tasted good I did much better.

I also believe that the Whole30 lifestyle has helped me improve my overall health.

Final Thoughts on Our Whole30 Journey

I’m thankful to my daughter Sarah and son-in-law Patrick for doing most of the food preparation. Food preparation is essential to your success on this program. In this process we experienced some fantastic meals.

I would highly recommend the Whole30 Recipe Book. We’ve had some of our “best meals ever” from this book. Whether you actually implement the Whole30 program or not these meals are fantastic.

Now that Sherry and I are no longer strict about the Whole30 lifestyle, we’re still wanting to maintain as much of this lifestyle as possible because of the health benefits.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer