Recently a friend completed the Whole 30 program  and raved about it. 

You can change your whole life in 30 days by “letting go of bad habits, guilt, anxiety around food”. 

Change my whole life in 30 days?   Weeeee… sign me up.   But wait, by doing what now?   

Did you know: 

Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it. Are your energy levels inconsistent or non-existent? Do you have aches and pains that can’t be explained by over-use or injury? Are you having a hard time losing weight no matter how hard you try? Do you have some sort of condition (like skin issues, digestive ailments, seasonal allergies or fertility issues) that medication hasn’t helped? These symptoms may be directly related to the foods you eat – even the “healthy” stuff. So how do you know if (and how) these foods are affecting you?

– Whole 30 website

Yes, the Whole 30 programs asks you to eliminate the following from you diet for 30 days:

• Grains (note:  this includes rice, lentils and quinoa!)
• Sugar
• Legumes
• Dairy
• Alcohol

Is changing your whole life really worth that?    I’m was not so sure…

Then I went to Ireland, land of fish and chips, amazing soda bread and Guiness for a week.  I returned feeling like the Michelin Man who could no longer fit into his clothes.   Just a grain, yeast and hops filled bleeeeeecccchhhhh….    Something had to change.   So I thought I’d give Whole 30 a try. 

When I reviewed the above restrictions, I saw basically what was left were fruits, vegetables, some nuts and meat.   Since I am a nearly vegan (well, I am a vegan who on occasions falls off the cheese bandwagon or maybe the cheese bandwagon falls on me, thus I must eat my way free. Something like that), this seemed nearly impossible and possibly not healthy.   I researched and found a whole section of the Whole 30 site on Vegetariana/Vegans .  Read it for yourself, but their position boils down to you should eat some animal based protein.  I’m not going to do that, so I’ll be creating my own Whole 30, the Three Quarters 30, which entails:  

• Limiting Grains – no traditional grain (bread, pasta).  Limited rice, lentils and quinoa (gotta have it, yo)
• Sugar
• Legumes:  limited edamame and organic tofu (as suggested), limited chickpeas and other beans.   I need them! 
• Dairy
• Alcohol   (gah!)

I know the Three Quarters 30 won’t do what the Whole 30 promises, but it will certainly be good for me, so watch me go.