The Whole 30: A vegetarian's perspective
However, as I read the book, it became clear that the Whole 30 is not for vegetarians or vegans and the book is, in its own way, kind of disrespectful of people who have chosen that lifestyle, even suggesting that they re-introduce meat into their diets for 30 days to see how it affects their health. For me, this was a deal breaker. I stopped eating meat because I was having digestion problems that only went away by removing meat from my diet.
The other part that was hard for me as a vegetarian was giving up meat substitutes. While you can have extra firm organic tofu and some forms of tempeh, you can't have most other meat substitutes, which is a big source of protein for me. I get it that these foods are processed and have some added sugar, but it left me with fewer choices and there are only so many ways to eat tofu. So I found myself eating most fruits and vegetables, which, while healthy, ended up not being enough calories at the end of the day.
By the middle of third week, I found myself considering eating meat because I knew I wasn't getting enough protein. The Whole 30 book suggests that vegetarians aim for as little protein as possible, which is unbelievable to me. So in an effort to get some protein, I ate some eggs and they made me sick for about two days. But what was more distressing was the fact that I even made that choice. As a vegetarian, I chose to go along with a plan that went against what I believe in. That was bothersome to me. In my everyday life, I eat pretty clean, opting for mostly organic, non-GMO foods. So I ended up talking to my weight watchers leader about the challenge and she told me that she was very concerned about me doing the challenge In the first place. Her box also does Paleo challenges and knowing how I already eat, she was concerned that this would be too restrictive for me. She suggested that I end the challenge at that point and incorporate the healthful things that I learned into my life, like consuming foods/drinks with little or no added sugar since that seemed more manageable for me.
So in the end, eating less sugar (added sugar specifically) is what I will take away from this experience. I was already good at limiting my processed foods and as a vegetarian, I will probably never be convinced that a diet that includes meat is good for me specifically. I think the goal of The Whole 30 is to see what foods are problems for you and I think that is a good thing especially if you are used to eating a lot of processed junk/fast food. For me, I know that meat, eggs, dairy, and nuts are harmful to my body. And over the past two and half years, I have learned what's better for body. That's mostly because of what I've learned through Weight Watchers and listening to my body.
I will say that after doing the challenge, I can see that I got stronger. Once I got over the sugar withdrawal, I felt like my moods were much more even. I don't have extreme moods normally, but I do feel like I handled difficult situations in a much calmer state of mind. I also think that I became stronger physically as well. I had a couple of Rx WODs and improved my baseline WOD time. So although it seems like hated the challenge, I don't regret doing it. If we do it again, I'll know how to do it in a way that works for me.
And also... Bread-less pudding... Enough said.
