Detox Diets Versus Whole30

So, anyone who knows me well or has been reading my posts knows I have done a Whole30 elimination diet. I am currently on day 23 of a second one as I am writing this.

I am not going to go on and on about how much I LOVE the Whole30 program. What I want to talk about is how it is so different from all the detox diets I have tried in the past. 

For as long as I can remember, at least 1-2 times a year, I would do a detox diet. This would be a 2 week program where I would eliminate certain food groups, plus alcohol, from my diet. While doing this I would count calories and take a "detox" kit of pills. I would feel exhausted, sick, dizzy and just plain unhappy. At the time I thought I was "cleansing" my body and that it was worth it. There were multiple problems with this thought process though.

The first problem was I was restricting my calories while doing this. Looking back, I should not have been trying to combine a quick weight loss with cleansing my body. I should have been concentrating on the cleansing portion. By restricting my calories, I became exhausted and dizzy because I was not eating enough. This made me unhappy the whole 2 weeks. 

The second problem was that 2 weeks is just not long enough to eliminate toxins and allergens from your body. This I have learned while doing the Whole30 program. I learned absolutely NOTHING from doing detox diets. When you end at 2 weeks, your body is just starting to get balanced. It takes a couple more weeks, if not months, to start to feel the benefits of a detox or elimination diet. 

The third problem was that when I was done I just went back to eating the way I did before. I would still count calories, but all the foods that I have found to be issues for me came back on my plate. Not only would I eat the foods that disagreed with me, I would almost binge on the things I craved (within my allowed calories of course). 

What I have loved about doing the Whole30 is that it is an elimination diet and detox rolled into one, without expensive pills. There is no calorie counting or weighing yourself (or your food for that matter). It is just about eating whole foods that are good for you and learning what your body needs to be happy and healthy. Your body naturally detoxes as you eliminate bad food and eat only healthy food. 

So, no more detoxs for me. No more counting calories or weighing my food. I just plan to eat as healthy as I can because I know I feel amazing when I do. This doesn't mean I won't enjoy a glass of wine or some good chocolate, it just means keeping a healthy balance. And when life is crazy and bad food habits creep back in to the point where I am not feeling as great, I will just do a Whole30 (or a Whole7, Whole14, whatever I need to reset myself). Eating healthy is a lifestyle, not a diet!

Feeling happy and healthy!