I have always been a calorie counter and never read past the amount of calories on a nutritional label.

I have done two full rounds of Whole30 and I cannot stop raving to family and friends about the changes it has made for me personally. At first, I was just looking for another way to lose weight. I was in a rut and needed to try something new.

I found out about Whole30 through Coach Betsy Karr. When I did the program, I lost weight after each round, but that is not why I love the program the most. I really love Whole30 for the lessons it has taught me and how it changed my relationship with food. I have always been a calorie counter and never read past the amount of calories on a nutritional label. Boy had I been doing that part wrong. Not once on the Whole30 program did I count a single calorie. I focused on the ingredients part of the label ONLY and this has forever changed how I shop for groceries. I choose what foods to avoid and what foods to buy at the grocery store based solely on the ingredients listed. I learned that no matter how many calories a food has that as long as it's “whole” then your body is made to digest it and it will do just that.

Another reason I love the program is because it really does help break you away from bad habits. My bad habits were snacking, sugar, and cheese. I was a cheese addict before I discovered Whole30. I would figure out a way to incorporate it with every meal. I would put cheese on eggs, cheese on a salad, cheese on top off my pasta, etc. If a meal didn’t have cheese on it, I found a way to make cheese work. Not mention it was always my go to snack. Who doesn’t love a string cheese? Whole30 completely cleansed my body of that dairy craving for cheese and I am forever grateful for it. My relationship with food has completely changed for the better because of Whole30. My goal moving forward is to complete the program at least twice a year to cleanse my body and my mind. -M. Terrico