A Pescatarian's Ultimate Guide to Whole30
As someone who generally eats balanced meals (read: BALANCED, and not 100% clean), I love having flexibility with my diet. This may come as a surprise to those of you reading this that are all too familiar with my three month raw vegan challenge or my more lengthy three year vegan / health food influencer stint.. but trust me when I say we all need a reset. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for orange-zested old-fashioneds and homemade chocolate cake, but there’s just something to that blossoming feeling of vibrant health that just makes the temporary restriction worthwhile… at least that’s what I’m telling myself.
Whole30 was “conceptualized” by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, two certified sports nutritionists who took to blogging about their experience on the strict diet and saw incredible success (note: more on the holistic health side than in weight loss). Despite the many people who refute the legitimacy and safety of the program, there are hundreds of testimonials from people writing on their website who have created lasting changes in their eating habits following the 30 days. Ultimately, you’re butchering everything you’ve come to know and love about your consumption routines and rebuilding from the ground up.
Here are the basics for all you Pescatarian’s looking to get on the plan:
Things You Can Eat
Vegetables! Pretty much any and all of them (including regular old potatoes)
Animal Protein- Fish, Shellfish and Eggs
Fruit, though in limited quantities (no more than 2 per day) as the diet wants you to limit your sugar intake
Nuts & Seeds (but see the note below on Legumes)
Fats: olive oil, coconut oil and ghee
Coffee, tea and homemade sugar-free “mylks”
Now for the less fun part…
Things You’ll Want To Eat But Really Shouldn’t
Dairy- so no cheese, milk, coffee creamer or ice cream
Grains, including corn, rice, wheat, millet, barley, quinoa, sorghum or anything else you’d want to try to make bread out of
Alcohol. I really mean it.
Sugar, fruit sugar is okay but nothing additive like maple syrup, agave, honey or any sauces / dressings that have sugar (ketchup, BBQ saucee, mayo, etc)
Legumes like peanuts, soy, chickpeas, peas or lentils… oh nuts.
Processed Foods like MSG (common in more non-Asian and even upscale restaurants than you’d think, though not a huge problem now since you’ll likely be quarantined at home too!) and sulfites in dried fruits are all to be avoided
“Healthified” Bad Foods. Don’t even think about making pancakes out of egg whites or bread out of potatoes. It’s all out of the question
Ultimately, if you have it in your kitchen and can easily identify it in the first category, you’re good to go. Now, do I think this is a sustainable diet? Absolutely not. Our bodies learn to process and like to continue to process the same amount of macronutrients consistently. Which means that Insta Ina posting pictures of her pizza slices every weekend has actually learned to tolerate and want an influx of more carbohydrates than may be good for her, hence the extra pounds. Her body has adapted to justify the food she’s giving herself because her body assumes that’s all there is out there in the environment and “we’ll just have to make do” with the types of calories we’re getting. But the truth is that a lot of us eat more carbs than we’re supposed to. Resetting the system by cutting grains all but ensures you’ll be eating not only less carbohydrates, but better quality ones. Yes, your body will throw a tantrum and want more carbs to turn into sugar, but that’s when you should allow yourself the extra slices of roasted sweet potato or the second salad. You should never be afraid to eat, you should only be afraid to need exactly the thing you’re picturing during these intense cravings. It may be a sign that your body is addicted to sugar, carbs or even a specific food you’ve clung to emotionally or by habit.
The Things I AM Worried About
Social Misconceptions About Doing This For The Wrong Reasons- It’s hard to explain why you want to reset your body without being “kindly shamed” out of needing one. The concept of the elimination diet explains it best- you cut out a lot, let your body freak out and adapt without it. Then you integrate all the foods again slowly and see if you notice any changes. Almost everyone that’s done this has a story about how they didn’t know they were allergic to something or couldn’t process an ingredient. I’m excited to be more in tune with my body and start from ground zero of being fueled by the best ingredients but hey, if that means I lose weight in the process, then that weight probably shouldn’t have been there to begin with.
Craving Rice and Miso. I eat a lot of this stuff mainly because I’m a savory breakfast person but also because I love Japanese food. Cutting this out completely means I’ll likely want to substitute with coffee and cauliflower rice, but I always get nervous about substitutes that require a lot more effort (i.e. grating my own cauliflower, lol)
Missing Out On Fun Evenings. I guess stay in place / COVID-19 helps in this regard, but I still appreciate having a “sundowner” cocktail and local takeout with my family followed by a shared bottle of wine and game of Catan. I know I’ll still be present and have a good time, but GOD what if my Catan game suffers…
Things I’m Excited About
Getting Enough Collagen. I recently started seeing a chiropractor (more per my mother’s request and not for any existing pain) who got X-rays of my body and determined I had weak ligaments and was overcompensating in certain ways. I never would’ve guessed I had anything wrong, but seeing the pictures compared to stock photos of the stages of deterioration confirmed that I had a lot of preventative work to do. She mentioned I should have a cup of bone broth (fish was okayed) every day if I wanted to see changes. At first I felt like it would be hard to get all the fish bones and make it myself, but now I think I’ll be eating enough where making and drinking the broth just becomes part of my morning routine.
Seeing Results, Yes, Even the Bad Ones! We’ve all heard that everyone’s body is different but man, am I excited to get more information on mine. For years I felt like vegan just worked best for my body and I tended to do so without eating a lot of grains (i.e. lots of other carbs and sugar). I gained weight and grew unhappy, but I listened and added fish back in when it felt right. Almost immediately, I had more energy- to wake up, to go to the gym.. I was just a happier person. Also thanks to my pasta-loving boyfriend, I forced myself to be okay with eating pasta more often. At first it was torture while I waited to see the weight pile back on, but it didn’t and I started to really (REALLY) enjoy our Italian nights as well. I’m just excited to see what new things I can learn about myself throughout this process.
So, here goes nothing! I may not even do this for a full 30 days because I really want to make sure I’m prioritizing how I feel over fulfilling a number of days, but I’ll be sure to document the process. :)