I’m having a renaissance, a rebirth of sorts of my business – and this new chapter is not going to involve Whole30. In today’s episode, I’m talking about why I quit Whole30. Spoiler alert: it’s not fixing your relationship with food, it’s making it worse. {PS – see below for the episode transcription!}
This is not the kind of quitting where people quit halfway through because it was too hard, they didn’t read the rules, or they fell “off the wagon.” This is coming from a former Whole30 coach who knows the ins and outs of the program like the back of her hand, has done her fair share of Whole30’s starting in 2013 (and took them to the extreme), and coached hundreds of people through Whole30’s. So you could say I speak from a little bit of experience here. A bunch of things in 2018 helped me reexamine everything about my life, my business, what I wanted to be putting out in the world and who I wanted to be serving with my work, plus who I believe I can help the most. And in order to help those people, I cannot support Whole30 as part of my business any more, for many reasons (that I will go into detail and explain during the podcast, duh!). I am grateful to the program and all the people in the community for helping me grow in my business and as an entrepreneur, but like any successful business that evolves as it grows (and especially a personal brand who wants to stay true to themselves and what they support) – I have far outgrown that part of my business.
Here are a few of the bones I have to pick with the way *most* people are using Whole30 now: why I quit Whole30.
- I truly believe the way that MOST people (read: not ALL, but most people) are using the program now, is perpetuating the diet cycle and actually making people’s relationship with food worse. And as you guys have been able to tell over the past few months, I am NOT about that life.
- The way many people are using the program is just another excuse to yo-yo diet, binge eat, perpetuate the attachment of morality to food and the shame spiral.
- A lot of whole 30 marketing is circled around “it’s not a diet it’s a lifestyle change” and “it’s a 30 day elimination protocol and is not supposed to be done forever.” I totally agree with the latter. The problem is, it’s turning into a lifestyle change in that people are trying to adhere to the Whole30 rules forever, doing Whole100’s, Whole365’s, or doing a Whole30 multiple times a year (or a reset every other month). Is this not another form of disordered eating?
- If you get this stuck in this cycle, which SO many people do, the Whole30 is not healing your relationship with food – it’s actually making it much much worse.
- Listen to the episode for more…
This year I also discovered the work of Brené Brown, and it was literally life changing. Her books helped me realize what walls I’ve been putting up in my personal life and with my personal health journey, it’s helped me become more vulnerable and share that with you guys, and then realize where I can make the biggest impact – and that’s not only teaching you guys about nutrition and how you can thrive with real food, but how I can help you learn about where you are in your life and your relationship with food, your body, and exercise, and how I can help people get out of these toxic relationships they have with food, their bodies, and exercise, and finally break out of the diet cycle.
PS. Before you start yelling at me, I know this can be used as a therapeutic protocol for medical and autoimmune reasons. I’m not talking about those circumstances.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.
You’ll love these episodes too…
27 | Stop doing the Whole30. (or so many of them, anyway)
28 | Listener Questions: Whole3 Yo-Yo Dieting and Food Freedom
42| How to find your Food Freedom
49| The Shame Spiral and why you don’t have to love your body with Noelle Tarr
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
Alright guys, we need to chat – because as you can tell from the title of this episode, this is marking a big change in my business and in my life. Also, before we get into all of the details of that, I apologize in advance because I am getting over being sick so if I sound a little bit stuffy or if my voice is really deep, sorry for that. You will still enjoy the episode, I promise.
Last week, or in the bonus episode that came out this weekend, I previewed that I am not going to be talking about the Whole30 any more on the podcast in the sense of teaching you how to do the Whole30 and teaching you how to find food freedom using the Whole30.
So I am having a renaissance or rebirth or new chapter in my blogging business, as does any successful business or brand or whatever it is. We all have these different stages that we go through and you kind of go through growing pains and you realize not only what is going to fulfill you the most as a business owner but how you can serve, if you are in a service based business, how you can serve your customers, followers, or readers or listeners, how you can serve them the best. In particular, this new chapter in my blog and business is going be a chapter for the foreseeable future, going forward, without Whole30.
There are bunch of things in this past year that have helped me reexamine everything about my life, my business, what I wanted to be putting out in the world and who I wanted to be serving with my work, which is you guys obviously, and who I believed I could help the most and Whole30 is not a part of that picture anymore
So since this has been such a big part of my background and building my business I feel like I owe it to you guys exactly why. There are a couple of reasons. Before we go into this, I want you to know that I am not dissing the Whole30, I am not dissing Melissa Hartwig, I am not dissing any of the Whole30 team. I honestly love those people and I am forever grateful to them because they helped me grow my business and I have been a part of the Whole30 community for a long time. But I just think that in the past couple of years as the program has grown and as you guys have heard me say multiple times there are so many people that use the program that is not benefitting them in the long term. Not benefitting them, in particular with their relationship with food and their bodies. So I can no longer support it as a coach or in my business.
I personally will not be doing any Whole30’s any more and I will not be taking on any clients that want to do the Whole30. Because if you approach the Whole30 in mind that you want to heal your relationship with food, as hopefully 99% of the people out there do, it is not working, and I don’t believe that it really can work. You might say “Oh Dana isn’t the Whole30 how you found you food freedom?” Well, that was definitely part of my journey but I didn’t truly find, (interlude: I am going to stop using the term Food Freedom because it is so associated with the Whole30,) I didn’t truly find that I truly healed by relationship with food until I stopped doing Whole30’s.
I know they talk about this in Food Freedom Forever, “Oh you don’t have to be doing Whole30’s all the time and you can just do mini resets”. No! That does not fix your relationship with food either. For example, if during the holidays you were enjoying your relationship with food and you enjoying all of the different holiday foods, if you still feel the need to do a Whole30 after every holiday season and after every holiday vacation, you haven’t truly fixed your relationship with food because you are still relying on this outside diet which is exactly the way that people are using it. To try and reset your cravings and reset your sugar dragon and all of these things.
What if, rather than doing Whole30 reset, what if you just ate in a way that made you feel good? Because we all know that if you are eating sugar and crappy food all the time, meaning food that makes you feel like crap. It’s in that, you’re not going to feel well. Instead of that, without forming a yes/no foods list, without any of these rules you just start eating more food that make you feel good.
When I went to Integrative Nutrition they called this concept “Crowding Out”. As you eat more of the things, not “good” and “bad” foods or labels or anything like that. The way you get out of this cycle is by not labeling things. You add in more things that make you feel good instead of arbitrarily following this yes/no foods list which then, by comparison when you do this for really long time when you do this so many times you become so entrenched in this cycle. Even if you don’t think this way and even if you don’t believe that the foods that are off the Whole30 are bad, a lot of people get entrenched in that cycle. They are literally fearful of introducing foods that are not on the Whole30 because they believe they are unhealthy, believe they will cause them harm, they believe they are bad foods and they believe that it will cause them to gain weight. That is a whole other can of worms because we obviously talk about how so many people doing the Whole30 this January because they are afraid of the weight they have gained during the holidays and they are afraid they have a shitty relationship with food and their bodies. This is not everyone who does a Whole30.
Don’t tag me and yell at me after this podcast although, I’m sure I will get a lot of negative reviews, but this is the way that I feel and this is how I have been since the beginning of the Podcast. I have always been honest with you guys and this has been a rant that has been a long time coming. I actually talked about this way back in April and May and you guys have heard me talk about it before. But I have never said that I was going to stop working with the Whole30 until now.
Wow, I have really gotten off topic here but as you can see this is something so out of control that it needs to be spoken about. So aside from the things that I have I have mentioned. A couple of the reasons that I will not be talk about the Whole30 anymore. The biggest one, and if I reiterate things six times on this Podcast, I am not sorry because it needs to be said, is that I truly believe that the way people are using the program now is perpetuating the diet cycle and actually making peoples relationship with food worse. As you guys have been able to tell over the past few months, I am not about that life.
The second thing is that I discovered Brené Brown this year and I have talked about her on the Podcast and her books have literally been life changing for me. This isn’t specific to Whole30 but this has helped me realize the new direction that I want to go in my business. Personally and business wise, it has helped me to realize what walls I have been putting up in my personal life and in my personal health journey. Reading Brené Brown and a bunch of these other books has helped me realize earlier in the year that I needed to open up with my own personal struggles regarding my relationship with food, my relationship with my body, my relationship with exercise, because when you are vulnerable it allows other people to be vulnerable too. That helped me realize exactly what you guys needed the most help with.
It was not doing another Whole30 or how to do a Whole30 harder or how to do a Whole30 better. Really it’s why are you stuck in the Whole30 cycle? Because you don’t have a great relationship with food and your body and many people are afraid of gaining weight. That is what I need to be focusing on with you guys, not how to do another Whole30. Because if we’re being honest, all of you guys know how to do a Whole30, okay maybe not all of you because I have had a lot of new listeners recently who probably haven’t done the Whole 30. Most of you, I do not need to explain how to do the Whole30, how to eat out on the Whole30, how to go to restaurants, how to bring snacks, how to cook your meals and how to build your plate. First of all, those are free resources that you can find literally everywhere on the internet.
As my Aunt said, the other day, “use the goddamn internet” which I thought was hilarious when someone asked her a question that was readily available. But those are not the things I need to be teaching you because there are plenty of other people that can be teaching you that. That is not what lights me up anymore, I honestly do not care about doing the Whole30 anymore except for the fact that how many people are using it in this way that is making their relationship with food worse.
So back to Brené, the queen, her writing has helped me become more vulnerable and realizing what can make the biggest impact. That is not only teaching your guys about fitness and mindset and how you can help all of those things and thrive with real food, because that is always what this Podcast has been about. But how I can help you learn about where you are in your life in terms of your relationship with food, your relationship with your body, your relationship with exercise and how I can help you and other people get out of these toxic relationships because that what these really are, with food and with out bodies and exercise.
How to break out of the diet cycle, whether is it Whole30 or another diet, feeling like you need to do another diet in order to weigh less, take up less space, be more worthy, have other people like you, all of these things that we don’t really think about as the root cause of wanting to lose weight or wanting to do another diet. I always tell people whenever I have a clients that approach me that want to work on weight loss, before I agree to work with them I always ask them, “What is the reason behind that?” That can be really uncomfortable, digging into why you want to lose weight. “Because I don’t feel good.” Okay that’s fair, but what other things like my “clothes aren’t fitting any more” or “I don’t feel good in my clothes”. Then I ask “Oh okay why don’t you feel good in your own skin?” “Why specifically do you want to lose weight?” “Are you looking for validation? Is there something in your past that would tell you, you would be prettier, you would be better, you would be more moral is you lost weight?” Whatever it is, it is digging into those things that help you break out of the diet cycle. Which is where I want to take a part of my business in the future instead of focusing on how to Whole30 better or tips on how to do the Whole30.
Then about the program itself, so I have been a part of the Whole30 community since I did one with my Crossfit gym in 2013. I will say that there are a lot of great things that come from the Whole30 like, it started me on my nutrition journey and made me want to go back to school. So it’s not something that I am going to renounce as this horrible thing that never served me well or anything. It does help people learn how to read nutrition labels, how to build a plate, how to eat more vegetables, and how to stop relaying on counting on calories and macros and all of those things and just eat well. But the problem is, that after you have gotten past those first things people are just relying on the Whole30 as a diet. I have seen this both as a participant in program, someone who has worked on the Whole30 site and the Whole30 Instagram multiple times and have been a Whole30 coach for the past year and a half. I think it took being a Whole30 Coach and running four Whole30 groups in the last year and a half to pull the wool off of my eyes and see that, not only the way that the people are using the program is making their relationship with food worse or helping them find food freedom.
The program when it first started was so primal and bare bones that you had to learn how to cook and learn how to make your own mayo, you had to figure this shit out because there weren’t a million resources on the internet. There were no websites for Whole30 desserts and all of these things. You had to figure it out yourself. I will credit the Whole30 for being a huge reason why I learned how to cook and why I started a food blog. Because before the Whole30 and before I got diagnosed with Celiac, I did not know how to cook at all. I ate crappy food, in the sense that it was making me feel like crap and I didn’t even know it. A ton of refined carbs and sugars and I will credit it with that.
However, don’t get me wrong, I love these companies, but there are so many companies that have Whole30 certifications and everything like that, that you can literally do a Whole30 without cooking once the entire month. You’re not learning anything if you do that. What is the point of doing a program that is supposed to be not a diet and a lifestyle change and your learning all these things about your body if you are literally not going to learn anything? What is the point? It’s just another weight loss diet, a quick fix, all of these things, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is. Part of the reason that I know this is, not only from being a part of the community but from being a Whole30 coach.
For the past couple that I have done, my number one focus has been, let’s focus on what happens after. Sure, I guided them through but it’s not hard to do that with the yes/no foods lists and sure I want there for trouble shooting all of the questions that they had, and I really enjoyed working with these people. However , whenever we got to the end of the program, people would always say, “ I’ve read the books, I have read Food Freedom Forever, I have listened to everything you have said but I still don’t know how to get to this Whole30 food freedom and fix my relationship with food because I am afraid what will happen when I reintroduce foods or I don’t want to reintroduce foods.” That is doing the Whole30 forever, that is not what they call food freedom and that is not fixing your relationship with food and you body. That is relying on a diet plan forever and making the diet a lifestyle because it is truly a diet. In the way that most people are using it.
That’s not to say that most people are using it this way but most people that I am talking to in my audience and with this Podcast, that is exactly the way that they are using it. Speaking of this whole “it’s not a diet it’s a lifestyle change” a lot of the Whole30 marketing is around that. That it is not a diet it is a 30-day nutritional reset on your health, your habits and your relationship with food and it is designed as an elimination diet where you remove everything for 30 days and reintroduce them back in to see how your body does with those foods.
Do you really know many people who are using the program in that way? Who do the Whole30 once a year, or once every couple of years as just a reset? Because those people, not that there is a right way to do a Whole30, those people don’t really need to program. They are just doing it as a reset. Most people are not using the program in that way. What I think is really sad is that, Whole30 HQ knows that this is true but there isn’t really much that they can do to stop it because it is their program and short of saying “We are never running a Whole30 again.” Which is not a great business model, they can’t stop they way in which individual people are using this.
It’s kind of like you think about the way that Crossfit is perceived. When Crossfit started it was a garage movement and you could do it with no equipment. The it exploded and all you needed to do to open a Crossfit gym was to do their L1 seminar, which is one weekend long. Which is why people got so scared of Crossfit because there so many people getting hurt as a result of so many coaches saying “I have taken my 2 day course, or whatever it is, 3 days of the Crosfit seminar, I am going to open up a gym and I am going to do all of these flashy movements and were going to go to fatigue and were going to go to failure. Were going to do all of these things where you throw the weight over head and it is not super safe.” You don’t have a coach that is focused on safety and technique before you go to intensity. Get the mechanics down first, then consistency, can I do these mechanics consistently? Then can I do them consistently under intensity? That is where Crossfit got totally out of hand and now they are trying to scale back.
This is similar to what is happening in the Whole30 and in the nutrition field and there isn’t really anything that they can do to stop it. And they had actually reached out to me in the spring when I released Episode 27 of this Podcast which is, “Stop Doing the Whole30” and I started talk about all of this stuff. Which by the way, there are a couple of other episodes where I talk about my issues with the program so I will link those in the show notes. You can listen to like four hours of me talking about this. But anyways they reached out to me after that episode and asked if I could come talk on the official Whole30 Facebook page and Instagram page about all of this because they realize that this is problem but there isn’t really anything that they can do to stop it beside raising awareness.
So I talked about this when I was doing my September group, a little bit in my May group and I talked about it when I took over Whole30 recipes Instagram in September. Honestly, when I ran my September Whole30, don’t get me wrong I love those people, but that was the complete last straw for me. I knew after that month that I was never going to do a Whole30 again and I was never going to run a Whole30 group again. It has become so apparent to me, over the past year that this is monster that is getting out of control. The original intentions of the program are so far removed from the way that it is being utilized now, to the point that they say it’s not a diet, they say it’s a lifestyle change and they say it’s supposed to heal your relationship with food but people are now using it as diet and it’s turning a diet into a lifestyle change in the sense that you are dieting forever and that they are trying to adhere to the Whole30 rules for 60 or 90 or 180 days.
Also, all of this is aside form specific medical concerns. I am not going to fault you if you have to follow an elimination diet such as the Autoimmune Protocol because it makes your symptoms flare. This is a totally different can of worms. But when your following these rules forever, people who don’t have medical conditions. When your following these rules for 60 or 90 or 180 days, your turning this into disordered eating. The Whole30 is not fixing your relationship with food, it is actually making it worse. I don’t want you to think that I am yelling at you through my Podcast mic or saying that you are a bad person. The reason that I know that this happens, is because not only have I seen this with countless clients and countless groups and taking over the Whole30 Instagram, but it’s because I have been there myself.
There were years when I did four Whole30’s in a year. There way a year that I did a Whole75. So if you get stuck in this cycle, there is nothing wrong with you or where you are. It is a part of your journey. All you need to realize that you are stuck in that cycle. You are not a bad person for doing another Whole30 this January. I am not tell you, you are a bad person, I am not saying you need to stop it right now. I would encourage you to reexamine your “why”. Why do you want to do a Whole30 this January? Why did you want to do three of them this past year? If it is truly to fix your relationship with food and your body and you are doing another Whole30 you are barking up the wrong tree because the Whole30 is not going to fix that.
Okay so now you understand why I am not going to be talking about Whole30 any more or promoting Whole30 or any of these things. Let’s talk about what you can expect form me and the Podcast going forward. Because if you have been doing Whole30’s to get to this elusive food freedom and heal your relationship with food and fitness and your body. That is what I am going to be talking about. Real healing and thriving in your relationship with food and with your body and how to figure out how to weed through all of the BS advice out there which is actually just promoting diet culture. That has what been happening.
People are promoting intuitive eating and other tools that we use in the anti-diet community to promote diet culture. Which is so incredibly Effed up that people are just trying to make a quick buck with all of their different weight loss routines or diets. It’s important to remember weight loss and diet culture in January and in the US is trying to play on your insecurities. They are trying to sell you something you don’t have. Otherwise this would not work. We are not going to be talking about Whole30 food freedom because people rarely get to food freedom by doing more Whole30’s. As I have said, probably five times at this point, in this Podcast, people are further entrenching themselves in the yes/no food cycle, in the fear food cycle, in the shame spiral, by doing more Whole30’s to find their food freedom. Doing another round isn’t going to get you out of that.
What you can expect from the Podcast and me going forward, is lots of stuff on healing our relationship with food and exercise, for real ditching the ditching the diet cycle and thriving with real food. That is exactly why I put that in the Podcast intro. That is not the only thing. I am not going to be changing my tune completely because I still have other passions. I am still going to be talking about nutrition science and teaching your guys since the beginning of the Podcast. I am still going to be talk about hormonal imbalances, Adrenal Fatigue, GI conditions, fitness. I will have more fun guests on, everything that we have been talking about this year already. Everything except Whole30 and other things that might perpetuate diet culture.
So if you want to listen to the other episodes where I have talked about the Whole30, not in a disparaging way, not in “you’re a bad person kind of way and this is what you’re doing kind of way”, just in a more enlightening and instructive kind of way, I will link those in the show notes. The episodes I am talking about are “Stop Doing the Whole30, or So Many of them Anyways”, “Whole30 Myth of Fact Edition” and “Food Freedom” which I believe is episode 42. I will link those all in the show notes.
Now I have an action step for you guys, actually two things. Instead of focusing on eliminating things this January, focus on more of what you want to do more of this year. Like more time with friends and family, more laughs and love, more self-care, more vegetables or more water, more putting your self first. Or in my case more saying no to stuff that is over burdening you and maybe more reading for pleasure. I will make one exception, to spend less time on social media, less time on stressing about things that you can’t change, less time obsessing over your food and less time hating your body. Those things we can widdle down and eventually eliminate for good except social media and your phone because who knows when that is going to go away. It’s kind of like a bad case of SIBO that just keeps coming back.
One last piece of advice for your guys, rest up because we are going to need all of our strength of fight the New Year’s diet culture shit storm ahead. Happy New Year, Happy 2019! One thing I would love to hear from you guys is one: What did you think of this Podcast? Two: Let me know what you want to hear more of in 2019 whether that is a specific guests, topics, send in your listener questions because I will be doing another Podcast on those soon. Yeah and that is it! Congrats on making it to 2019! You did it! You guys are the best for following along. Let’s start off 2019 by saying that I am grateful for all of you.
PS: This is kind of like when you get to the end of the movie and there is all this bonus content. I wanted to share with you when I was interviewing Meg Doll a couple of week ago for episode 53, after we stopped recording she was talking to me about the Whole30 and she was asking me, didn’t I just do a Whole30 in September and why am I not going to be doing this anymore? She was being completely supportive because she is the best but I thought you guys would find it interesting when someone was asking me these questions instead of me just telling you what I think. So here is a part of the interview with Meg.
Dana: I also forgot to tell you that I am not doing anything Whole30 anymore.
Meg: I am sorry. You still like Whole30 right?
Dana: No
Meg: But you’re not doing anything Whole30?
Dana: No, its nothing wrong with the people that created the program or anything, it’s just the way that people are using it. Just using it as an excuse to yo-yo diet and binge eat before they do one and after they do one.
Meg: Oh my God. I am not even in that air. I didn’t even know people are doing that. Oh my gosh.
Dana: Because it is a yes/no food list. It has gotten to the point that people don’t know how to eat healthily or to fuel themselves without doing the Whole30 now. So it’s like they do the 30 days and it is basically perpetuating the diet cycle and fear food cycle. But I mean what you were talking about, it being a part of your journey and it has been a part of my journey. I am not going to renounce that.
Meg: I did one.
Dana: Which is what you are supposed to do. You are supposed to do one and then be done.
Meg. Yeah, I did one and I was like “wow”. What I liked about it is that it actually showed me how to build a plate. I think I used it in the right way. I was like okay, I am going to start eating real food but how do I build my plate? Okay focus on protein, and veggies and that sort of things.
Dana: There are a lot of really good things about things about the program like getting away from the scale and teaching people how to read ingredient labels. Those are all the best things about the program. The way it was originally intended was to be used once or everyone once in awhile.
Meg Doll: Like one a year. Just like a tune up, if that.
Dana: Yeah. Exactly. But now it is like every other month for people and they are doing a Whole180 or 365 and I just can’t support this anymore.
Meg Doll: I totally understand. It is part of my journey but I have never been like “Here do a Whole30”. So was that fairly recent then? I swear I just saw you this summer posting about Whole30.
Dana: Yeah so, I did a takeover for their Instagram in September and that was kind of like the last straw.
Meg Doll: Okay so I am not like super out to lunch. Because I was like, “I am pretty sure I just saw something”.
Dana: We didn’t even talk about that when we were recording for your Podcast either.
Meg Doll: I get it.
Dana: I had started thinking about it in May, people are using the Whole30 in the wrong way and I think I said it outright on my Podcast in April or May, Stop Doing The Whole30.
Meg Doll: Yeah I remember that, it was like the truth about the Whole30 or something like that.
Dana: Exactly. The I did another one like that in September and I talked about it to their audience on their Whole30 recipes Instagram. Finally, people were like Oh My God this is so true! It wasn’t in-authentic for me to be working in that because it was a big part of my journey and I was trying to help people get out of that cycle. But I just got sick of all of the BS and I was like I am not doing this anymore.
Meg Doll: Good for you!
Dana: I’m really excited too because this January will be the first time since 2013 or 2014 where I haven’t been doing a Whole30 in January or I haven’t been running one. The past two or three January’s I haven’t been doing one myself but I have either ben running one for my Crossfit gym or I ran one online, like last January and it is just so stressful where I am like, “I can’t wait until I have a January where I don’t have to worry about this BS.” There is no “starting over or Whole30 or whatever it is and I am just going to work on this course and it’s going to be great!
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I have yet to listen to the podcast episode but I 100% agree. I did my first and only Whole30 in August 2018 and I have been struggling with binge eating and yoyo dieting ever since. This is something that was never a problem for me before doing Whole30. I became obsessed with reading ingredients and then felt major shame when I ate sugar or dairy. I regret ever doing the Whole30.
Hi Shanny, thank you for sharing and I’m so sorry to hear that. I would highly recommend you listen to episodes 40, 45, 49, and 53 of the podcast – those are where I dress this issue specifically and how we can start to see the other side of it 🙂
I feel the exact same. I did the Whole30 three times and while I felt great while I was on it, it was extremely hard to maintain since I am a picky eater and have struggled with healthy eating since I was a kid. Ever since I started Whole30, my binge eating and guilt about eating in general has gotten extremely bad. I keep thinking I’m the one that’s failing Whole30, when now I’m starting to think Whole30 is failing me. It may work for some people, but I exactly fit the bill of what’s described here.
Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth! It’s important to bring light to this – you definitely aren’t alone! You wouldn’t believe the number of responses I’ve received from people saying the exact same thing. It’s not you who is failing. There is no one thing that will work for everyone!
Hi! I first “met” you during your whole30 take over on IG. Loved your stories and quickly started following you on your own IG. Then I discovered your podcasts. I couldn’t stop listening to them and talking about them with my fiancé. Then I listened to the ones about whole30 and they made me really think.
I did my first whole30 in March and was doing pretty well in my clean eating food journey and then I crashed after my whole30 ended. I ate all the things. So then thought we should do another one to “Clean up my act”. This was around the time I started really listening to your podcasts and slowly starting to question what I was doing by doing another whole30. Cue many conversations over dinner about this topic. I waited for this podcast after the announcement and was so excited to listen to it this morning! I’m so glad you did it! It came at a perfect time for me as I was starting to feel some pressure to do the Jan Whole30 but was deeply starting to wonder if it was acutally doing me more harm then good.
It took guts to do what you did. Not only did you recognize an issue but you choose to do something about that. And that takes courage. Thank you for voicing what had been going on in my head.
Keep doing what you’re doing and I cant wait to see the direction you take us!
All the best,
Kristi
Thank you so much Kristi, and thanks for sharing your story!! I really appreciate it and you for being a listener 🙂 Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty around your choices – no one knows your body and your needs better than you!
I’m newer than most it seems to Whole30 and have only done it once, pretty recently. I’ll be honest, my main motivation was weight loss. I hoped to be get on track with eating healthier/cleaner in the process but losing a few pounds was the real motivator. It did help me with eating more mindfully, but I was also so scared to reintroduce the no-no items after the 30 days. So yes, I’m sure I’m one of the many you have in mind when you’re talking about viewing Whole30 as a diet — fair enough. Whether or not the Whole30 folks intend it that way, I’m sure you’re right — most view it that way.
Hi Karen, thanks so much for your comment! The program can be used as a great learning tool (which is why I loved it when I first learned about it!) but unfortunately as the program has grown people are not learning as much, or learning that it is intended as written to be a tool used every once in a while – not every other month or a few times a year, which can really promote disordered eating tendencies 🙁
I thought your podcast made perfect sense. You acknowledge that Whole 30 was helpful to you at first, and that it can be a useful tool, but your experience from doing and teaching Whole 30 has given you new perspective. You need to be true to yourself in your business endeavors or your won’t be successful.
I’ve done one Whole 30, and was thinking of doing another, but my food issues are more about the stuff in my head than needing how to read labels, and purchase and cook fresh food. I love all the good for me food, and all the not good for me food, and when I’m stressed….I’m sure you know what happens. That is what I need to work on. I follow you on Instagram, and I love your very real and honest approach. I tend to be just a silent observer, however. I’ll continue to follow you there, and I’m looking forward to more of your informative posts and inspiration going forward.
Thank you, Debbie! It did really help me at first, and I acknowledge that – I’ve just grown out of it. I really appreciate the feedback!
I haven’t had the chance to listen yet but as I am newer to the Whole30 community, I completely get where you are coming from. Whole100, not reintroducing, deciding to eat all the things for two months and then doing a Whole30 seems to be what most people are doing. I don’t think people are necessarily reading the book and doing it as intended. I did two rounds and learned a lot and healed some problems. But the more posts I see and people I talk to about it, many people are doing it to lose weight. Or clean up after eating like crap. So without even listening, I know I’ll agree with many of the points. And I respect your decision. And I say that being a Whole30 supporter because it has worked for me, as a person with some autoimmune things. I appreciate your honesty. I hope you get more positive than hate 🙂
Thanks, Colleen! I completely agree with you – and I’ve been saying for years that one of the main reasons these things are happening is *because* people are not reading the book and doing it as intended.
Dana! This is the most fantastic episode ever!!! This is my first year not doing a whole 30 in January in like 3 years, and that is food feeedom to me!!!! I agree with you 100%!! It’s taken me a long time to get to this point but I finally get it! Your podcasts have been so helpful!!!
Thanks so much, Jennifer!!
I found and started following you during your Whole30 recipes takeover last year, and I’m so glad I did!
I just want to say that while I can see your POV and totally respect your decision (bravo for standing up for yourself and what you believe!), the Whole30 DOES still help some people. I did my first one last summer and it completely changed my outlook and the way I view food. I am doing the January Whole30 because I feel like I need some structured help in finding my focus again after the holidays, but once we reach the end of it I’m looking forward to getting back on my food freedom horse. My first Whole30 and reintro taught me so much about the way certain foods effect my body, and I will forever be grateful for that because I truly had zero idea beforehand.
So, anyway, just wanted to throw that out there! I love your outlook and what you preach and while I’ll miss seeing you around the usual Whole30 haunts, I look forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve moving forward.
Hi Elle, I appreciate that and totally agree with you! It helped me for a long time and it can be used as a great learning tool (learning to read ingredient labels and find out what’s actually in your food, to figure out which foods make you feel good and which don’t, etc.). I think just the manner in which many people are using that tool has gotten totally out of control and has started to fuel an unhealthy cycle. Thank you again!
I really enjoyed this episode and this is coming from someone who loves the whole 30 because it did and has worked for me. I haven’t done one since last January and have no plans to do it in the future. It taught me a lot, but I can definitely tell that people are abusing it. Also, you have people on the other end of the spectrum that say they are doing the whole 30 and when you see them drinking a coke they tell you they “took the day off”. Can’t stand it. I appreciated this episode and can’t wait to share with my husband who will ask me, “what about X product is not whole 30?”. He needs to quit that. Thank you for this and your vulnerability! I really appreciate it.
Thanks Virginia!! It worked for me in the past too, which is why I made sure to say I’m not bashing the program itself, its creators or intentions – just the way that most people are using it (which goes against the program’s intentions, to be used as a learning tool every once in a while). I totally understand your frustration!!
Thank you for posting this, it’s really interesting! I have an autoimmune disease (Hashimotos) and am trying to heal it holistically. My dietician suggested Paleo, and Whole30 and Paleo seem very closely related, yet Paleo/Autoimmune eating is for life. What is your opinion on Paleo vs Whole30 for someone working on an autoimmune disease? Note that I eat relatively healthy now, a lot of salads, nuts, veggies, green smoothies, I don’t overeat, but I do drink alcohol and indulge moderately in dairy and desserts.
Hey Alexandra! Great question. So what I’m speaking about in the podcast is totally autoimmune and medical conditions aside. Doing a therapeutic elimination diet for autoimmune or medical reasons to find out what foods may be triggering your symptoms can be a really good idea to put some autoimmune symptoms in remission as part of a larger healing plan. I’d highly recommend checking out episode 39 of the podcast where I interviewed Dr. Becky Campbell – she has a 30-day Thyroid Reset Plan book and protocol that is designed to help heal thyroid conditions with food and lifestyle changes like reducing stress, cleaning up your personal care products, and really getting to the root cause of thyroid conditions through examining the liver, the gut, the adrenals, etc. Once you’ve used a tool like that and have figured out what foods are affecting you in particular (because even with Hashimotos, everyone is different), you can design your own food plan to minimize your symptoms while not feeling overly restricted 🙂 https://www.realfoodwithdana.com/39-the-thyroid-leaky-gut-and-adrenals-connection-thyroid-reset-plan-with-dr-becky-campbell/
Thank you so very much for addressing this and taking ch a huge risk with your business. Healthy living is so bio-individual. We have to address underlying issues in our gut and for everyone, that is so very different. I am still learning and working with a functional nutritionist, but what I have learned is we all have to eat wholesome food and figure out what works best for our bodies. I appreciate your transparency.
Hi Haylee, exactly! Bioindividuality isn’t talked about enough, and it’s so essential in achieving optimal health for each person. I love how you brought up addressing the root cause as well! You hit the nail on the head. Thank you!
Thank-you, Thank-you. I have only done 2 Whole 30s, I do like that it made me more aware of the amount of sugar in everything as well as other nasty ingredients. I am one of those lucky few that doesn’t need to diet and over all did eat healthy. I tend to be OCD, so when I learn how bad grains, legumes and dairy are I tried to just go easy on those. But when I did incorporate some of it in my meal, I felt bad and my mind was telling me that it isn’t good. Example. I use to eat bread all the time. No problem. I thought that “gluten intolerance” was made up. Well now I can’t eat bread. I now have IBS. So I have gotten rid of all the foodie/health related emails telling what I should eat or not eat. Paleo vs. Whole 30 vs. Keto. No more. I now will eat what I want, within reason and not in excess. But I won’t stress if I have ketchup that has sugar. I just don’t eat deserts for example. I will try to incorporate bread back in my diet. What I am doing is when I do eat something I bless it and tell my body it is good for me. I am working on the spiritual aspect of enjoying food and knowing my body is where it should be. I work out regularly, for fun, I do endurance riding. I need calories. I also live way out on a ranch so I can’t just run to the store. Also, I have to be on the road a couple times a month. I need to have food at home when I need it, plus I can’t always pick and choose when I eat out. Anyway, I am venting and I usually don’t comment. So glad to hear that the Whole 30 isn’t all.
Hi Sharon, thank you for sharing! I’m sorry to hear you’ve gone through so many struggles with this over the years, but it sounds like you’re heading in the right direction, both physically and mentally with your relationship with food!
I have never thought of the Whole30 as a “relationship with food” solution. I have considered it a way to cleanse my organs and lower inflammation in my joints that have been building up during the end of year festivities. I have done it every January for 4 years now. I am on day 3 and already feeling better and sleeping better. But to each their own. For my wife and I it is purely a reset and gives us a chance to shop together, cook together and eat together. I will admit that I probably wouldn’t survive each year without doing it as a team.
Hi John, thanks for your insight! I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you and makes you feel great. The program guidelines talk about the whole30 as being a tool to help heal your health, habits, and your relationship with food. It can definitely help bring down inflammation and be a great learning tool for your habits, but unfortunately the way that a lot of people are using the program now is making that relationship with food worse (by using it as an on-again, off-again diet, instead of a reset every once in a while as you do)!
I agree with what you said on your podcast. My wish is to eat food that makes me feel good but I still eat the food that doesn’t . I want a right relationship with food but don’t know how to achieve that. I know I weigh more than I ever have, but haven’t stepped on the scale. I really need help cultivating a right relationship with food! I normally eat Whole30 or healthy which is really what it is but my snacking is out of control. It’s so easy to go back to those quick unhealthy foods when you are hungry. Since last January’s whole30 I haven’t been able to eliminate those foods that make me feel icky and I don’t want another diet. I want to just eat right but can’t seem to get off the junk snacks and sugar that are so readily available.
Thank you, Tammy! You’re in the right place – I will be doing a lot more episodes coming up this year on how to help heal our relationship with food and our bodies 🙂
I love this. I’ve done the Whole30 twice (with a couple failed attempts in between) and I felt like it did a lot for me to teach me how to eat properly and fill my plate correctly. However, I know so many people who do the Whole30 to lose weight for a vacation or they modify it so they can still eat cheese and miss the entire point behind it! I’ve made the decision I’m never doing one again because I don’t need it. I stopped following their Instagram early last year so I missed your commentary about how people are using it wrong, but I am so happy somebody has pointed this out to them! P.S.—I loved this podcast. This is the first of yours I have listened to and I sincerely hope in the rest that you sound so comfortable in front of a mic. You have a new follower!
Thanks Laura! You’re right, it can be a great learning tool – but so many people are using it just as a diet and not really learning anything.
I just listened to your podcast episode. I completely agree with your thoughts. Seeing you on the whole 30 takeover was the reason I started following you because I felt a connection with your message, and listening to this episode now clearly explains to me why I connect with your message and philosophy. I did only 1 whole 30 in my life, back in 2016, and I learned so much about cooking and being aware of how foods make me feel. I’m super grateful for that. But ever since then my goal has been how to better learn and improve on intuitive eating. So I’m very excited to continue to follow your blog and podcast and see where you’ll go in the future! Thank you for all your honesty and hard work!
Thank you so much, Angela!! Happy to have you here!
If it hadn’t been for the Whole30 I would never have known how negatively dairy affected me. I knew about Gluten but I was totally blind to the dairy & I chose to ignore the alcohol, so I will always be thankful for that! Having said that, I honestly have never done a reintroduction properly and that speaks to what you are saying here. I actually did really well over the holidays for the first time ever by just listening to my body cues. I am very thankful for all the wonderful recipes & insight you have imparted to us all so I am in on the new journey!
Hey Anna,
Awesome! So glad you were able to figure that out. Reintroduction is definitely the hardest part and many people never do a ‘proper’ elimination-reintroduction, in the sense that they aren’t able to completely figure out what the culprits of their symptoms are, so you’re definitely not alone! So happy to hear you’ve been able to listen to your body more over the holidays as well 🙂 Wishing you the best!
Dana, thank you so much for sharing! I think this is a crucially important point – and as the anecdotes above show, clearly it resonates with many people. Thank you for your work!
Thanks so much Caitlin!!
That was a great podcast and very informative. I love Brené Brown!!! I’ve only done one Whole 30 this past August and it was great. But yes I have been struggling with “food freedom” every since. Because I don’t want to live on a diet but I really like the way I felt when I was eating healthy. So I have been reading and discovering other nutritional ways to find a healthy relationship with food. That’s how I found you. I’ve still been doing a modified version of Whole 30 and I was going to do the January one but life didn’t permit me to. So now I’m just on a journey to eat smaller portions and make healthier choices. Your message confirmed that I’m on the right track! Thank you!
That’s awesome! So happy to hear and so thankful for you sharing your story!
YES DANA! Yes yes yes! Have been having SO MANY of these same thoughts. I made a resolution at the beginning of last year that I WOULD NOT do any rounds of Whole30 in 2018 because I had previously abused the system as a way to ultimately stay in that yo-yo pattern with foods. In all of my 6 rounds of Whole30 (one being a Whole100), I have NEVER done a true reintro….. I see my downfalls in how I’ve used the program in the past (even as someone who “follows the rules”) and it has truly opened my eyes to how these things have set me back, even considering the ways they’ve helped me! So appreciate your thoughts and your bravery in sharing this!!!
Thanks Katie!! Thanks for your honesty and thanks for sharing your story!
Hi Dana, I’ve been following you for 2-3 years because of your gluten-free recipes. I also sought you out when I decided to do my first Whole 30. I completely respect your decision to no longer push, follow, and support Whole 30. I’ve successfully completed one round of Whole 30, and it taught me which foods hurt my body, and for that I am forever thankful for finding Whole 30. I agree with you that people are using it to drop weight fast! I don’t think some of the people doing it this January care about which foods are harmful! I did! In addition to my gluten intolerance, which makes me VERY sick, I realize sugar is my nemesis. It is such an irritant to my system and once it gets back into my diet, it’s hard to get it back out! So, a mini-reset using Whole 30 approaches have helped me remove sugar and the pain it brings! I eat pretty healthy, cooking a lot using real food, but struggle to keep refined sugars out of my diet. I am excited to see where you will go with your blog! Thanks for being there and thanks for stepping out into the “lion’s den” with this news. It needed to be presented and talked about!
Thank you Nancy!
This episode was incredibly insightful – and my FIRST episode listening to Dana. I’ve suffered from immune and GI-related disorders for years (to answer your Q at the end of this epi, more episodes on those topics would be so helpful!) and have stemmed all of my issues to food, specifically, the nutrient-lacking, processed diet I eat. This negative relationship I have with food and the subsequent effects my body is beginning to feel, has ‘woken’ me up, in a sense. I’m CRAVING a new, nutritious, accurate, healthy relationship with food and thought Whole 30 was the way to do that. However, after seeing all of the holiday sugar/eating posts w/ the intention of January Whole 30 to balance it after, it appears to sound more of a binging way of eating that isn’t my true goal here. This episode confirmed my hesitations and I’m so looking forward to listening to more! Again, my vote for topics are GI-related health, autoimmune disorders and diet, and possibly a few plant-based approaches to wellness! Thanks again for a great episode!
Hi Maggie, welcome to the podcast and thank you! Will definitely take those suggestions to heart. I do have a few episodes on leaky gut, autoimmune disorders, food sensitivities and testing, so be sure to check those out while I’m working on new ones too 🙂 Here are the few I would recommend starting with (and you can find all the episodes by topic on my home page!):
11 | Leaky Gut & Intestinal Permeability: what are they? How do you know if you have them, and how can you heal?
12 | Food Intolerance Testing, Food Sensitivities, and Allergies, oh my!
25 | Cristina of the Castaway Kitchen on AIP & Real Food Keto for Healing Autoimmune Disease
39 | The Thyroid, Leaky Gut and Adrenals Connection with Dr. Becky Campbell
Hi Dana!
I haven’t got the chance to listen completely through the podcast, but I can relate a little . I recently was talking a work about possibly doing another whole30 this January and one of my co workers said ” wait didn’t you just do one of those?” ( which I had in September). It stopped me in my tracks and was a sort of a whoa maybe I dont have a good relationship with this if I feel guilty for enjoying non Whole30 foods and feel I need a “reset” every few months. It changed my goal of doing another whole30 with the same end result to one of just being more present with what and when I eat. Regardless, I am always super excited with your posts, podcasts, and recipes and look forward to what the next stage holds for you!!
Thanks so much for sharing, Laura! I really appreciate it. What an “aha” moment!
Hi Dana,
This was the first time I listened to your podcast, and I really enjoyed it. I have been binge listening to all your podcasts for a few days now. I have done a few W30’s, but didn’t follow the reintroduction rules, quickly undoing any progress. But I am determined to keep working on a healthy way to look at food and exercise.
I wondered if you could address the following issue or point me in the right direction. I am 52 years old. I run and workout regularly, not insanely but enough to be in decent shape. I’ll run 1-2 half marathons a year, and run 3-4 days a week, plus some strength work about 2 days a week. I am heading into menopause but not there yet. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of eating/exercise talk geared towards what our hormones and aging are doing to our bodies (other than grinding our metabolisms to a halt) for active women my age. Any suggestions? I’d be curious to hear your thoughts and feedback. Thanks for a great podcast, I look forward to hearing more.
Hi Mandy, thank you! You’re right – that’s a niche not many people have tapped in to. I know that Dr. Becky Campbell and Magdalena Wszelaki have both spoken (and have books!) about this topic, so I’d highly recommend checking their websites out for resources. I also interviewed both of them for the podcast – episodes 39 and 41 respectively, if you’d like to check those out!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I am soooooo glad that I found your podcast!!!
Thank YOU, Rebecca!
Hi Dana,
After finishing my first whole30 on nov 30th 2018 I have been struggling with eye migranes, accourding to the doctor, for the last two weeks. Never had any in my life before and now the head pressure on my head won’t go away. It started with loss of and blurry vision for a good 30 minutes two weeks ago and headaches/migrane after the vision became stable again. The blurry vision came back yesterday for about 30 again and headaches became more severe after that. Heard of any similar cases and what to do to get rid of them. Doctor gave me some pills for migrane headaches and normal painkillers that does not make it better. Any food suggestions that may help?
Thanks for your great page and pod cast!
Hi Joe, thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately this is not my area of expertise and I don’t have any training on eye migraines. There are a few foods that may help with vertigo and migraines (aka vestibular migraines), but it sounds like there is something going on a lot deeper than food. I would definitely encourage you to get a second opinion – try finding a naturopathic doctor through the Institute for Functional Medicine (https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/) who can dig deep into your health history and current symptoms! Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Hi Dana! It’s very coincidental that I came across your blog. I was contemplating starting a Whole30 at the end of January (after my vacation). I was so struggling with why I wanted to do it. I already know what food don’t like me, (or is it my body doesn’t like these foods? Lol) I’ve already done 3 Whole30s in the past. After reading your blog, I think I have ended my struggle and will continue to “eat smart” and work out. Thank you for your insight.
Hi Mindy, props to you for listening to your body and what it truly needs instead of following a set of rules ‘just because’. Keep up the great work!
I am overjoyed to see you going this direction!! My two favorite health & wellness podcasts have always been yours and the Nourishing Women podcast (which focuses on intuitive eating and empowerment). It didn’t always make sense to me that I was drawn to these two podcasts given the fact that the stances were quite different, but I totally see it now! It’s like your tone/vibe was preaching this stuff before the words caught up. Thank you for being true to yourself and choosing what you feel to be the right thing over the easy thing!
I know this must have been scary as hell because Whole30 is a marketing powerhouse – I’ve done a few rounds and always thought I was doing it for the “right” reasons until my most recent round. I gained a pound and a half that month, and the way I felt about that revealed to me that I was clinging to the weight loss and body composition changes as my motivation. As someone who has struggled for years with eating disorders, I’m still learning to step back from big promises of life-changing results and evaluate them objectively. I can’t express enough how much I appreciate you using your platform and voice to speak out on this!!! Thank you for all the amazing knowledge you’re putting out into the world 🙂
Hi Courtney, thank you!! I really appreciate that. Also love the Nourishing Women podcast! That’s awesome you were able to be so insightful and really listen to those inner cues for what your WHY was behind the Whole30’s. Thank you again!
THANK. YOU.
I feel like this was really important for someone to put out into the universe and I am glad you did.
While I recognize the benefits for people who actually ARE trying to figure out what bothers them, for people treating or branding their whole30s as “resets” its EXACTLY THE SAME AS CRASH DIETS THAT ARE BRANDED AS “DETOXES” maybe like physiologically better but mentally exactly the same. I was one of those people, and i recognized that so I stopped.
anyway yeah proud of you thnx again!!!
Thank YOU, Mal! Exactly.
I seriously was just about to do the whole 30 again but I’ve been hesitating for the same reasons you mentioned on yout pod cast. This just reassured me of the things my body had been trying to tell me. To cut so much out only makes for binge eating after the whole 30. Thank you
Jen
Hi Jen! My only advice is to listen to your body, because no one else can do that for you 🙂 And then stick up for what your body is telling you. Thanks for writing!