A few years ago, Melissa’s sister Kelly attended a nutrition lecture at a local gym. There, she learned how to apply the Zone diet principles, and how to portion her food into the Zone’s “40/30/30” standard. She immediately began weighing, measuring, and tracking, and saw improvements in her energy level, training performance, and physical appearance. She loved the Zone, and what it was doing for her fitness.
A month later, we received this email from Kelly:
“This Zone thing is getting out of hand, and I am really am frustrated with myself for not being able to keep it in check. Bread, oatmeal and crackers terrify me. I’m afraid to put any kind of cheat in my mouth, much less anything with sugar. I agonize over everything I can’t measure (like when I go out for dinner). And I’m constantly checking myself out in the mirror – for what? It’s taking over every thought; every meal and snack. Journaling my food intake has become an obsession, not a healthy tracking tool. Help.”
Kelly has always been a very healthy eater, with a strong self-image. She has never been one to crash diet, fixate on food or obsess about appearance. Yet after spending just a few weeks perfectly working the Zone diet principles, Kelly found herself trapped in an unhealthy cycle—with what some might refer to as “disordered behavior” related to food. The Zone was no longer a healthy initiative, but a set of self-imposed rules that somehow became associated with serious (if vague) consequences if not followed perfectly.
Her experience mirrors that of many Whole9 readers, with our Whole30 program.
For those with a history of disordered eating, food addictions or other dependencies, the Whole30 may prove more stressful than helpful. Something that starts off as healthy and balanced slides into dangerous territory, where diet defines you, food is the enemy and self-worth comes straight out of your refrigerator. How does this happen, why does it happen, and what can others stuck in this pattern to do break out of it?
From More Healthy to Less Healthy
Many readers of this site have at one time or another had body image issues, disordered eating behaviors or flirtations with harmful eating habits. Often, these habits are born out of an inherently healthy desire to feel and look better—to become more fit, or leaner, or more muscular. Some people just go about approaching this healthy quest in an unhealthy way, and unfortunately, ingrained, unhealthy behaviors can rise again when someone with a history of disordered eating or other addictions takes on a super-strict program like the Whole30.
For many of you, whether you have a history with “real” eating disorders or simply have had issues with food, diet is a sensitive subject. Old habits are hard to forget, and some of those habits may play a role in your Whole30 experience. You wonder if you shouldn’t be eating quite that much fat, allow yourself to binge because they are all “approved” foods, or obsess over cross-contamination, off-label ingredients or accidental “cheats” that would throw you off your program. And all of a sudden, your healthy eating program is making you decidedly less healthy.
Is it Time For an Eating Intervention?
When someone with a disordered or addicted background takes on a strict new eating plan, the practice may feel familiar and comfortable. The “rules” of the program may be easy to follow, because they aren’t that far off from the self-imposed restrictions or rules of your past behaviors. But in this instance, you assure yourself, these rules are followed in the name of health. You get to apply the same stringent, disordered behaviors to your new, shiny Whole30 program — because this time, you tell yourself it’s good for you.
But some of you have a long history of unhealthy eating habits lingering in your brains, and it may be hard to shove them aside when you first start your new dietary plan. So while your focus may be laser-sharp at first— eating exactly as you should be, in a healthy manner — it’s easy to allow those past behaviors to creep into your daily diet-related tasks. Your brain may start to twist the attention to detail and the strict rules. You may find your brain trying to push these new habits into those old, sick (yet comfortable) behaviors. And your Whole30 may begin to make you feel the way you used to feel, back when food was the enemy.
Quiz: Has your Whole30 gone bad?
- Does the idea of accidentally eating an off-plan food or “cheating” literally keep you up at night?
- Do you feel you have to measure, track and analyze every bite of food (and does being unable to do so make you anxious)?
- Are you hyper-selective with respect to food quantity or food choices simply in an effort to be “more strict”? (Carrots are too sugary, fruit and nuts are off limits)?
- Have you deliberately changed the program (by eliminating calories, fat grams, carbs or food choices) to the degree that it is no longer optimally healthy?
- Do you feel compelled to make alterations to the program for any reason other than health?
If you answered “yes” to more than one of these questions, your Whole30 might be moving you in the direction of “less healthy,” both mentally and physically. (They key concept here is “compulsion.” We all pay attention to labels, plan ahead when we travel and select foods carefully when on the program… but a healthy program does not become obsessive, nor does it detract from your health, at any point.)
So how do you stop the madness that has become an unhealthy Whole30, while still working towards improved health, wellness and fitness? The idea of backing off what you are calling the Whole30 (and what we might call “two steps away from an eating disorder”) might be terrifying.. but it’s time to break the cycle.
Your Whole30 5-Step Plan
So, if you find yourself stuck in a Whole30 gone bad, what can you do to come back towards good health? Here are our best suggestions.
Step 1: Abandon the program immediately.
Right now, just stop. Not necessarily forever—but for a month, minimum, until you get yourself in check. It’s not quitting, it’s not failure – it’s the healthiest thing you can do for your body and your mind at this point in time. When the Whole30 is hurting more than it’s helping, it’s time to abort.
Step 2: Keep your diet clean.
Chances are, you’ve been at the Whole30 for long enough that you know what kind and how much food you should be eating to feel your best, and now is not the time to start making bad food choices. That will only wreak more mental havoc – you’ll feel terrible, you’ll think you look terrible, your health will suffer, and you’ll end up blaming the Whole30 instead of the pizza and ice cream. Follow our general Nutrition in 60 Seconds recommendations for your daily meals, but don’t obsess about it.
Step 3: Get out of the mirror and off the scale.
Impose a moratorium on weighing yourself for at least a month, and don’t allow yourself to stand in front of the mirror, turning, pinching and analyzing. Just let it go. Of course, you were spending an awful lot of time in front of the mirror, scrutinizing your physical appearance—so what should you do with all that extra time?
Step 4: Focus on sleep, stress management and exercise
Take good care of yourself by sleeping lots, practicing stress management techniques, and consider talking so someone (a friend, family member or professional) about your issues with food. Begin (or get back to, or continue) a regular exercise routine. Walk, bike, swim, take a yoga or pilates class, weightlift, Zumba, run around on the playground or participate in your favorite high-intensity activity… but don’t allow exercise to become punishment. (You know what we’re talking about – don’t switch from one unhealthy healthy pursuit to another.)
Step 5: Repeat the cycle as you improve.
If you’re moving your body, sleeping well, de-stressing and eating healthy, you’ll feel good about how well you are taking care of yourself. And that will make you want to continue taking care of yourself. It’s a positive feedback loop that just starts with taking one step forward. And for you, that first step is admitting that your Whole30 just isn’t healthy any more – and then having the strength to quit. At some point, you may feel better prepared to take the program on – and we encourage you to do so. But only if you can follow the “rules” without letting it take over your life, and your sanity.
Do What’s Right For You
The Whole30 program can be a valuable tool in your health and fitness arsenal, but it’s not for everyone. If you find yourself in an unhealthy Whole30, cut yourself some slack. You may be trying to retrain your brain to forget about years of unhealthy behaviors in favor of new, healthy habits. It’s going to take time, and dedication, and maybe more than a few false starts before you start permanently heading in the right direction. In the end, the only thing that matters is that you are moving towards improved health and fitness—both physically and mentally.
Later this week, we’ll hear from one Whole30 participant who discovered her Whole30 was unhealthy halfway through her program – and did something about it. Stay tuned for Camilla N’s story, Thursday on the 9 Blog. As always, we encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences to comments.
I think this post is very important – I tried the whole 30 a few months back and had some of the negative effects that you mention above (also including nightmares that I ate a cheat food). I knew it was time to back off for the sake of my mental health. I just had to realize not to punish myself more for not being able to finish. Overall, I make healthy choices, so the feeling of “constraining” myself just didn’t work for my brain. Thanks for highlighting this.
This is a really interesting post. I found, purely by accident, that the Whole30 had released me of the constantly thinking about food but I know from experience how easy it would be to go completely in the opposite direction & obsess about it.
I find myself immediately stopping the whole30 conversation when I hit the “you can’t eat that much fat & still be healthy/lose weight” because I know it’s heading into the “low fat is the only way & anything else will have you dying of a heart attack weighing 250lbs”
I could have answered yes to every question above while eating any of a number of ways in the past but as I have already said Whole30 set me free.
This totally reminded me of my Weight Watchers experience- after trying a lot of different ways to lose weight, it was the first thing that worked for me. I did great with having the structure of the program, but it got ridiculous pretty quick. I got obsessed with points, and with finding the lowest-calorie-versions of foods I could in order to have enough points left over to eat my tiny Weight Watchers cakes; no bueno! Fortunately the insanity stopped when I quit WW and eased into paleo.
Thank you so much for this! For someone with food addictions it is often too easy to go the opposite direction and obsess. I try not to think about it….I eat when I am HUNGRY…if I “cheat”, I try to do it consciously and not just because I am bored or emotional. I also liked the link to your “60 second elevator pitch”. I have gotten into conversations with people at work about my “diet” and of course the response of “you are going to get fat from eating all that fat”, and “you need to eat whole grains” comes up….then I freeze and shut my mouth. At this point I am letting my ever shrinking size tell the story…
Lots of good ideas and practical approaches to solutions. Thanks for the thoughtful post.
OMG, this is exactly what I needed today. It has literally brought me to tears with the realization that my past disordered eating behaviors have resurfaced into healthy disordered eating (even though my mother has been telling me this for years now). I woke up today and told myself that today is the day I have to relax and stop obsessing about food, exercise, counting, journaling, planning, etc but really had no idea what that was going to look like for me…and here is this post. I have a sense of paralyzing fear but also relief at the same time. Thank you, thank you, thank you…
I think I will start with throwing out my food/exercise journals… Since I went gluten and refined sugar-free in May 2007 and began my journey to optimal health I have written down every bite of food I have consumed or step of exercise I have taken…I literally am currently journaling in book #18, good Lord, how could I have not seen this as disordered?
Next, I’m pitching the scale. Oh boy…I’m starting to hyperventilate!
Ok, well, I CAN do this…
Thanks so much for this post. I was wondering if there were other people out there who found that they had become a little too obsessive and fanatical about food during a Whole30. While my second one was much more relaxed and easier than the first, I still would have answered yes to more than one of those quiz questions. I even had the occasional dream that I ate a sandwich or a ton of cupcakes and felt really stressed out about it when I woke up, but relieved when I realized it was just a dream. Perhaps, “Have you had dreams about eating foods off the program?” should be added to the quiz. Post Whole30 round 2 I am trying to have a more relaxed approach toward food while continuing to clean foods that make me feel best.
Thank you! This is a really important post.
I resisted doing the Whole30 for a good 9 months because I know my history with dieting has not always been healthy. And when I decided to do it, I set myself some parameters: Just focus on eating the appropriate foods. Do not think about meal timing, post workout nutrition, food journaling, carb numbers or ANYTHING ELSE. I actually refrained from buying the success guide because I worried it would give fuel to obsessiveness. I needed to be able to eat a big bowl of fruit, nuts and coconut milk as a meal 3 or 4 times during that month without beating myself over the head that it had too much carbs and no protein.
It was a positive approach for me. I had an opportunity to go to one of Dallas and Melissa’s workshops and I think that was way better for me than flipping through the success guide on Day 1 and then freaking out. I especially liked how Melissa spent time talking about food that creates a healthy psychological response. After my Whole30 I now see binge cycles in a different light… often the “diet” food I ate while in the depths of obsessivness were no more psychologically healthy than the oversweetened junk food I’d binge on. Food for thought.
Thank you for this. Somewhere along the way in the Whole30, the obsession over being fitter and healthier became exposed and while I saw the warning signs (thank God!), it was difficult to admit to my loved ones and myself.
Looking back over the past year when I started CF, I see the tiny seeds of this obsession – agonizing and guilt if I had a cookie. ONE freaking girl scout cookie! I had never in my life had self esteem issues or worried about how I looked. I often joked that my body confidence was freakishly strong for a girl that has never dieted and truly loved my body exactly as it was. But that loved changed somehow and I became critical. Stressing over every inch of my body and every pound on the scale. I cut out all fruits & nuts the last two weeks of the Whole30 cause I knew they made me gain weight. Doesn’t make sense for someone that’s a size 2 now after a year of CF and good nutrition habits.
When talking with my best girl friend, she said something to me which helped set me straight – GRACE. I needed to allow myself grace. Grace to eat a cookie or have a bowl of special K cereal if I want it. I eat clean 85% of the time (yes I did the math) and I learned that I need grace.
I’m VERY thankful that I did the Whole30 – learned so much about food and how different foods affect me physically & emotionally. Learned what I didn’t miss & what foods I truly enjoyed. Perhaps the biggest lesson was that this exposed that growing unhealthy hidden obsession and I’m truly thankful that now I know the triggers. I know I have to work on allowing myself grace. Living under the “law” isn’t really living. The beauty for me is in the grace
Yes, this! And GRACE, like Becky said. I’d love to do a Whole 30 and was all set to jump into it, but I started to slide into my binge eating past– I’d eat something off-program, freak, convince myself everything was messed up anyway and keep eating poorly (it’s king cake season around here– plenty of fodder). This post sums up what many eating plans ignore, the potential for more harm than good when taking on a more regulated diet. Thank you so much for your healthy, forgiving take on this discussion!
Thank you for this post. It puts a very human element to the Whole30 and Paleo in general. It’s so easy to read blogs and think that you are the only one “screwing up” your life expectancy by putting a fun-size Snickers bar in your mouth. As a woman who struggles with disordered eating, it’s reassuring to know that the community can meet me where I’m at.
Thanks so much guys. Steps 3 and 4: those are things I can do.
Thank you for this post. In fact, I had to back off about 2/3 of the way through January because my old ‘friend’ Disordered Eating was starting to rear its ugly head again. I’ll eventually get back to it, and apply mostly Whole30 principles in my daily life anyway, but I can’t at this time “do” a Whole30 without going a little crazy about it.
I think this is an important issue to consider. Stress and obsession aren’t healthy, even if a Whole30 is. It’s nice to see an acknowledgment of that.
Step number 3 is SO hard for me, but I’m working on it every day. I love this post!
I am so glad I’m not alone on this journey! My last Whole30, I had multiple dreams… gorging on jelly beans and cupcakes. I can’t express the panic I feel when I wake up. Its a fear I can’t even describe – but I suppose I don’t need to with this group. I am certainly obsessive compulsive when it comes to food… Old habits DO die hard, but the Whole9 blog and all the information and tough love available have really helped me. My mindset is so much different than it was even a year ago – I think about food in a much healthier way and am not afraid of it. This post was perfect timing… I’m on Day 2 of a Whole30 ‘extension’ – my husband wanted to try it and I said I would do it with him. I’ll be bookmarking this page to refer back in case my neuroses start to slip out again. I can’t express how grateful I am to Whole9 and the community of followers for helping me get my head straight(er) around food and eating. Thank you!
We are glad folks find this perspective healthy, and helpful. For those of you with disordered eating backgrounds, we cannot stress enough that the Whole30 CAN, potentially, be the one program that gets you on a good food track without the same disordered behavior. However, you have to be in the right mindset for that to happen – and you have to work your OWN program.
I will caution folks not to let these concepts be your ticket out of a challenging nutritional program. The Whole30 is strict, and it can be hard, but it’s worthwhile! And having dreams of off-plan foods, feeling the need to scrutinize every label and planning thoroughly for travel days is NOT necessarily unhealthy behavior. Only YOU know whether your Whole30 is truly doing your health (mental and physical) more harm than good… and only YOU know whether you’re “copping out” of the program, or making a brave decision to abandon the Whole30 for the good of your health.
I assure you, however… if your decision comes from the latter perspective, you will not be judged in our house.
Instead, we will applaud you for your common sense, awareness and dedication to healthier habits, and do whatever we can to help you continue your healthy eating habits in a way that is positive. And if and when you decide you are ready to return to the Whole30, we’ll be here to help you with that, too.
Best,
Melissa
This post was really enlightening for me; my girlfriend and I are almost half-way with our first Whole30 (the half-way point is Valentine’s Day, so instead of the usual junk, we’re making ourselves surf and turf, which I think is way better anyway!). We’re both feeling better overall, and having done a couple of 85/15 Paleo stints in the past, it has been nice to go back to this style of eating and experimenting in the kitchen. While we haven’t been doing a food diary, we did start blogging–not so much to take charge of every bite, but rather to share our experience and help keep us motivated. It has been a great time so far, but it would be awful to move toward the excessive. This will definitely serve as a point of reference in case either of us moves too far in that direction. Thanks!
@JJ: I think your approach is brilliant. You’ve tailored YOUR program to be the healthiest for you, and we applaud you for it! I hope others can learn from your experience, and do what they need to do to ensure their Whole30 stays as healthy as possible.
@Brent: Thanks for sharing your perspective. You and your girlfriend are the perfect illustration of how attention to detail (reading every label, taking photos of your food and documenting your experience) CAN be a very healthy process. The same behaviors can either be good or “gone bad” depending on the person, their history and their mindset.
Best,
Melissa
Hot Dang. This is exactly where I am. It’s funny the more I get into the Whole30, I am TERRIFIED to get off of it. I just ate three bites of a whole wheat bun, and came to read this site for encouragement that I can get back “on program.” Clearly I just need to get a GRIP! Not sure how I am going to make this a lifestyle change that is effective and efficient, but i CAN DO IT.
As a coach that’s had to deal with disordered eating and body image issues in the athletes under my care, it’s refreshing to see someone making an effort to address this. Double bonus points for addressing it in a healthy manner.
Ruth – making this a lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint. You can’t be expected to change a lifetime’s worth of habits in just 30 days. It’s an up and down process – but each time you’re up, you stay up longer, and each time you dive back down, you dive shallower, and for less time. It’s a process, so be kind to yourself. (Think… grace.) You’re on a good track. We’re glad you’re here.
D. Otasek – thank you for sharing your perspective. It means a lot, coming from a coach dealing with this issue firsthand.
Melissa
Thank you for this post. This is exactly what I experienced with the new years Whole30. I lasted 2 weeks into it before basically cracking under the pressure I put on myself. (Admittedly I was too embarrassed to seek help on this site). I haven’t been Whole30 strict since breaking at the 2 weeks but I certainly have been more mindful of what I’m eating and trying to gauge how different foods affect me. I still eat junk, but I’m more aware of how I feel afterwards and I’m becoming cleaner. This post reiterates those points and confirmed my feelings that something was off. I am in planning stage of trying another whole30. This time it is planning more efficiently but obsessing less on it. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this fantastic article! I have struggled on and off with eating disorders/disordered eating throughout my life, particularly with anorexia when I was a teenager. I experienced a “whole30 gone bad” this month (in the beginning of February). I was previously eating a pretty well balanced paleo/primal diet with only a few minor cheats here and there (and always 100% gluten free, nearly always grain/legume free). I was really starting to feel great and noticed a lot of healing in my body. However, when I did the whole30 for 15 days, a lot of unhealthy symptoms started creeping back. I knew I was eating really well, but I was so stressed out by the whole30 and so fixated by my compulsive eating habits/disordered eating that I was literally reversing my health. I was having difficulty sleeping, nightmares about eating “bad” foods, cortisol response, bad digestive issues, etc. I have since stopped the whole30 and am in the process of trying to rebalance and eat a solid paleo-style diet without obsessing (which is ironically pretty much the whole30, with maybe a few minor dietary infractions here or there). I think it is so important to recognize the impact that stress has on the body, and that some people simply cannot follow rigid protocols without it developing into disordered eating. Thank you for openly addressing this!!!