We recently received a note from Kim LaPlante, of Detroit, MI. Kim married Seth Arbogast in July 2011, and used the Whole30® to help her prepare for her wedding. Wait – are you rolling your eyes, thinking, “Not another pre-wedding weight loss story?” Given how we feel about focusing on weight loss during your Whole30 (not the point of the program) and “quick fix” diets (unhealthy and unsustainable), do you really think today’s feature is going to be a weight loss story? So read on, and see how Kim used the Whole30 to manage her stress, her energy levels and her overall mood with a pre-wedding Whole30.
Kim’s Story
“I just wanted to send a note of appreciation. Your program stands above the others in its ability to actually better people’s health and lives in measurable and immeasurable ways. Also, it promotes lifestyle change in a way that many other “diets” do not.
I noticed in the Whole30 comments that you asked a woman who was using the Whole30 to prepare for her wedding to write in. I did a Whole30 in June 2011, and was married in July of last year, so I wanted to take this opportunity to share my reflections on the process.
I had a lot on my plate that summer. I was writing my PhD qualifying exam, which was due June 15th – the middle of my Whole30. I was teaching a college course, running my dissertation studies and planning for a wedding. I had been toying with Paleo principles for a few months – but never strictly. I didn’t really intend to lose much weight for the wedding, but could benefit from tightening things up. A friend and I started the Whole30 in June – and it was the best decision I could have made! Here are some of the benefits I noticed:
A clear head for writing.
Writing is my least favorite part of science/academia, but is a necessary evil. In the past, I would give myself permission to eat/drink whatever I want while I was writing – it was my “treat” for doing a loathed task. My qualifying exam was an extensive literature review on my research area that I had 3 months to write. I procrastinated and had the bulk for the writing left to do in the last month.
After starting my Whole30 (and closing in of the deadline), my writing went shockingly smoothly. I attribute this to the lack of garbage in my diet. I no longer had the sugar crashes that had accompanied my junk-food laden writing sessions. My head was clear. My energy was steady. I was sleeping well. I could think! For me, this was the best, unexpected result of doing the Whole30. I now strongly recommend this program to everyone writing their quals!
Energy, Sleep, Mood & Stress
As I mentioned, I had a busy summer. While on the Whole30 I slept well, had stable energy and low-ish stress. I have always known what I ate and my mood are tightly linked. Too much sugar makes me crabby. This has been the case since I was a child. The stress of feeling overwhelmed by too many tasks also makes me crabby. My now-husband usually bears the brunt of those moods.
The Whole30 made me a happier person independently, but also gave me the mental and emotional reserves deal with stress more effectively. I wasn’t nagging and nitpicking my partner, one of the ways I externalize stress. Obviously that was helpful to our relationship going into our wedding.
Appearance
I didn’t do the Whole30 for the superficial benefits, but those were an added bonus. I lost about 5 lbs and my husband, who didn’t fully commit but ate the dinners I cooked, lost about 15 lbs. My skin was the clearest it has ever been. This was great going into wedding photos!
After the Whole30
One of the things I worried about during the Whole30 was how I would feel on my wedding weekend. We had four days of festivities planned, which included copious amounts of non-complaint food and drinks. The first day off the Whole30, I failed to take your advice and had beer and pizza. Afterward, I felt terrible. I was then worried that my options were to a) not be able to drink alcohol or eat my wedding cake or b) feel terrible the entire wedding weekend.
In the next two weeks leading up to the wedding, I experimented with what my body handled well. I found out that beer and sugar are out, but vodka and dairy are kind of okay. When the wedding weekend rolled around, I was able to find a balance and start my days with W30 compliant foods and have a reasonable amount of “treats” so I didn’t feel deprived and felt wonderful all weekend.
This experience has changed the way I cook and what I view as healthy. My husband is more on board than ever before. I am doing another Whole30 starting today to clean things back up. It was really a wonderful way to start our marriage. Thanks for all you do, Kim.”
The Bride30?
Kim’s experience got us thinking… could this be the start of a new subset of our program – the Bride30? Unlike every other “pre-wedding” diet out there, we would not cater to unsustainable, unhealthy weight loss expectations – but what we can offer is so much more! Clear, glowing skin; improved mood and attention span; better sleep; rockin’ energy levels; the ability to better manage stress; fewer aches, pains and symptoms from your medical condition; and yes… probably some effortless weight loss.
If you’re a bride (or groom) who wants to use the Whole30 to prepare for your big event, we are ready for you! Join our Whole30 Forum and let us help you make your wedding day (and the weeks leading up) as happy and healthy as possible.
Woohoo! I’m starting my bride30 in 8 days for those May 19 wedding bells. Forum here I come!
Personally, I’m wishing I had know about the Whole30 as well as the lifestyle choices to help ease up stress for my wedding 4 years ago. I went into our wedding recovering from bronchitis, my thyroid was still out of whack, and I bought into the whole ‘exercise more, eat less’ lie… I think I slept through most of our honeymoon and it took me about 2 months to fully recover from the event.
I think it’s awesome if folks can shift their focus from ‘lose weight quick’ to ‘improve energy, mood, and start the marriage with healthy habits’!
I had a very similar experience last March/April – my first Whole30 right before our wedding, much more for emotional reasons than weightloss reasons! It was a great way to remain calm and focused, and to keep my health a priority in a stressful time. I was also very busy with non-wedding related things during that season and my anxiety was still totally under control.
Can I make a little suggestion, though, Whole9? The name “Bride30″ is rubbing me the wrong way a bit. First, it suggests that only brides – and not grooms – will be doing Whole30s in preparation for their weddings; my now-husband did it with me, and actually that joint partnership was a significant experience that has helped us to remain committed to health and nutrition in our new marriage. Plus, the wedding industry already puts a lot of unhealthy, undue pressure on women (not men) to lose weight pre-wedding – the term “Bride30″ feels similar, in tone, to that culture.
“Wed30,” perhaps?
How about a post-baby 30? Now that our 9 month old is finally sleeping through the night and I had time to think about it, I realized that my diet had become utter garbage. A cycle of sugar and caffeine binges to get me through my sleep deprived days. Wish I’d known about this sooner…then again, I’m not sure I had the time to cook like this when he was younger. Maybe next time! I started this program as a way to recover from the last 8 months, and I’m feeling great. Energy is sky high, I can focus on work like I used to be able too, and I just don’t feel as stressed. Sure, it could be a combination of things getting easier, but after only a week of eating clean I’m sold, and so is my husband. What a great tool for people who need to make some changes to deal or recover from long term stress.
Please, please don’t feed into the wedding industry!! The story is great, but a “Bride30″ seems like it turns the Whole 30 on its head. I think you’d be the end point of a lot of “how do I lose weight before my wedding?” Google searches, attracting women for all the wrong reasons.
Instead, what about focusing on how a Whole 30 can help people going through a stressful time? I hear from a lot of people how they want to wait until life calms down before jumping in to a Whole 30. I certainly understand that, but it ignores one of the biggest things a Whole 30 does for me: it calms me down emotionally. Yes, the food prep can be hard, but the mental clarity, better sleep, increased patience and stable energy levels more than make up for it. I think a “Why you should do a Whole 30 right now and not after your (wedding, baby turns 1, work hours improve, etc.)” would be a better approach.
Kristina – welcome, and congrats!
Steph – that’s why Dallas and I eloped. But yes, our hope is that other brides get the message of stress management, energy levels, sleep and mood and jump on board for the right reasons!
Emily – fabulous story, and an even better suggestion! The wedding is about the two of you, and if couples can get on the same stress-less energy, sleep and mood page, the wedding will be that much more blissful! We’ll make the change after our vacation is done, on Monday.
Jamie – that’s a great idea too… If new Moms think they can handle it plus a new baby, I do think it would help them – and the baby!
Shannon – did you read the article?!? We emphasized in 17 places how we’re thrilled to see people using the Whole30 pre-wedding as anything BUT a weight loss quick fix, and we outlined all of the other benefits of the program for brides and grooms. We’re with you – we will NOT allow the Whole30 to become a “lose weight fast for your wedding” program. That’s not out focus, and not what we want our brides and grooms focusing on either!
Best,
Melissa
Melissa, I should have been clearer, but wasn’t due to my hatred of the tiny iPhone keyboard…
I think you guys do a great job in the article and on your site in general of focusing on healthy eating rather than weight loss. I just find it frustrating when I mention the program to people their only focus seems to be weight loss. I’ve lost a lot of weight on it, although that was a side effect rather than a focus. (Whole 30 controls insulin resistance/blood sugar issues which lead to weight loss because my body finally works right.) So when people ask how I lost weight, I start with the speech about wanting to be healthier and control my blood sugar and highlight all the other improvements I found eating this way. I say the biggest thing is now my body works right, and there’s no way the weight loss would have happened without that. Then they start with questions about if I thought they’d still lose weight if they still ate X, Y, Z, if they could do it for only 2 weeks and still lose weight, etc.. I’m sure you get the idea.
I’ve seen these people try to do the program and abuse it, ignoring all the good advice you guys give and turning it into a month-long low carb crash diet because they want so badly to lose weight. I get where they’re coming from, but it’s frustrating to watch them take a good program, twist it, and self-destruct. Even when I beg them not to take that approach and warn them if they don’t change their lifestyle long-term they’ll just gain any lost weight back again.
I know there’s not much you can do about that, and it’s certainly not what you endorse or recommend. I just worry that entering the wedding planning world will unwittingly tap into a population that is focusing on fitting into a dress at all costs. They’ll read right past the good advice for all the wrong reasons. Again, not something you can control. I can’t imagine how frustrating this stuff must be for you on a daily basis. It makes me want to tear my hair out when it happens.
Keep fighting the good fight! I hope some of the people I know will eventually come around and realize it’s more important to be healthy than thin.
I’m getting married on 10/20/12 and have been doing mostly Whole30 (still using a half packet of Stevia in my coffee and an occaisonal protein shake that I’m sure is not 100% compliant) but I’ve been happier and feeling better than I have in years! It’s definitely helped me focus at work and at home and keep a clearer head about the wedding things. My skin is looking better than ever and I’ve slimmed up which is great! I’m just getting nervous as I’m heading into the final battle royale…showers, bachlorette weekend, wedding week, inclusive honeymoon. I’m hoping to stick to my guns for the most part but still be able to enjoy a few treats withough spiraling out of control. Once I took a look at my overall health and getting rid of the toxic crap vs. eating diet food to lose weight everything got a whole lot easier. Cheers to the other brides to be out there!!!
@Julie: Sounds like you’ve found a good balance! If you find that things get a little out of hand (treat-wise) as the wedding approaches, and you’re not feeling as good as you used to, you can always come back to the Whole30 for just a few days or a single week, to remind you how good you feel when you’re eating clean. It doesn’t have to be the full 30 – as long as you stay on board for long enough to really get back to that happy place. Congrats, and best of luck as your wedding approaches!
Best,
Melissa
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