![]() I’m going to be real with you: I lost IQ points during the first week of the program. I started off with brain fog and lower energy… But after eating a dinner like roasted stuffed butternut squash, shawarma cauliflower steak, or smoky tempeh quiche, I always felt fantastic. And that’s not to say I didn’t eat well or as much as I wanted to - I never felt hungry after a meal. ![]() You know that sluggish, too-full feeling you get after wolfing down a big, heavy meal? I didn’t experience that once during the Plant-Based Whole30. Read next: This Quick Pickled Shiitake Recipe Is an Immunity-Boosting Treat After meals, I felt satisfied but not lethargic But otherwise, hitting the pause button on booze was super easy, and definitely helped me reset my relationship with alcohol. There was one evening when I made a really great, spicy curry that would have been fantastic with a beer, and I felt a genuine craving for it. But drinking turned out to be the easiest habit to break. If I’m out with friends, I’ll usually have a couple of cocktails - you get the idea. I don’t tend to drink a lot, but I do drink very regularly: If I’m cooking a big dinner, I’ll almost certainly have a glass of wine while cooking, then a glass with the meal. I definitely thought the “no booze for 30 days” rule would be the hardest part. Hopefully my experience will help you determine if the Plant-Based Whole30 is a good fit for you, too. Here’s what I discovered on the Plant-Based Whole30. Plus, I had the good fortune to check in with Whole30 co-founder herself, Melissa Urban, a couple of times and she had some great tips for making this experience way more sustainable (including a seriously solid product recommendation, shared below). I wanted to reset my relationship with food, however, so this was a great way to be mindful about it. Which means this program also requires that you go quinoa-, oat-, and maple syrup-free - which makes this a challenge within a challenge, in my opinion: A matryoshka doll of diet challenges. ![]() Of course, just like the Original Whole30, the Plant-Based Whole30 isn’t just a vegan program - it’s also an elimination diet. I was also feeling fairly cocky about my ability to stick to a plant-based diet because I was vegan for a couple years in my early 20s, and still regularly use vegan cooking staples like nutritional yeast and tempeh. Over the holidays, I’d been eating with all the mindfulness of a rat rooting around in a Coney Island dumpster, so I was ready to spend a month focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables. When I was first given the opportunity to do the new Plant-Based Whole30 as part of a beta test group, I was excited for the challenge and seriously ready for a change in diet.
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