OUR STORIES
Our story starts in 2006, when Dallas (a licensed physical therapist) was reading research relevant to his sister Amber’s rheumatoid arthritis. In Dallas’ own words:
I’ve always enjoyed life sciences, and as strange as it may sound, I actually think of scientific studies as “pleasure reading.” So it was not unusual for me to read an article in the British Journal of Nutrition about dietary factors that were of special relevance for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I tried to keep up with current research about RA for my sister, but during that same period of time, I had been struggling with a stubborn case of tendonitis. My shoulder had been bothering me for almost eighteen months, partly because I played competitive volleyball and hadn’t let it rest long enough to fully heal after a minor injury. After I played at USAV Nationals, I swore that I would let my shoulder heal. And I did rest it, but it didn’t get better.
Being a physical therapist with a special interest in athletics, I knew a thing or two about facilitating the healing of connective tissue. I consulted with other therapists and two orthopedists and ended up getting a series of MRIs that revealed no structural damage to my shoulder. Something was promoting ongoing inflammation in my shoulder’s connective tissues, but I didn’t know what.
The research paper I was reading outlined a theory about how certain dietary proteins (in this case, those from legumes) may exacerbate rheumatoid arthritis by stimulating the immune system into over activity. I knew from my physiology training that abnormal immune activity was the root cause of chronic inflammation, so the idea that something I was eating might be contributing to the inflammation in my shoulder caught my attention. I decided to read more research from that paper’s lead author, Dr. Loren Cordain.
At this time in my life, I was eating a plant-based omnivorous diet—small amounts of meat and eggs and lots of grains, legumes, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. I thought, “If something I’m eating might be causing inflammation in my shoulder, why don’t I just avoid that food for a while and see what happens?” So I did. I cut out all legumes and grains, and six weeks later my shoulder pain was gone—eighteen months of pain and limited functionality gone in six weeks. That got my attention! (Six years later, I haven’t had a single twinge in my shoulder.)
I was eager to learn more about how diet affected inflammatory conditions like RA and tendonitis. I read Dr. Cordain’s book The Paleo Diet and everything else I could find on the topic of food-induced chronic inflammation. I was able to share what I’d learned with patients, friends, family, and Melissa. My sister eventually adopted our dietary guidelines, and almost all of her rheumatoid arthritis symptoms have disappeared.
So how did this experience lead us to create our Whole30 program? Fast-forward to April 2009 when, in Melissa’s own words:
Dallas’ shoulder was still pain-free, and we were both eating pretty well, but an aggressive training schedule, lack of sleep, and some serious stress (working full-time jobs while managing a fast-growing strength and conditioning facility) had both of us feeling kind of run-down. While eating lunch after a particularly grueling Olympic lifting session, I wondered aloud whether cleaning up our diets even more would make a difference in how we felt.
Remembering something we’d heard at a Robb Wolf seminar—you need at least thirty days of dedication to make a real difference—Dallas proposed that we adopt a 100 percent clean, no cheats, no slips Paleo diet for the next thirty days. We started hashing out our “rules,” and when we had a plan outlined, I asked when we should start. Dallas (with a devilish look in his eye) proposed that we start immediately. Now. Like, RIGHT now.
I looked longingly at my Thin Mints, sighed, and accepted his challenge.
During those thirty days, I went through a lot of ups and downs. It was easy. It was impossible. I was tired. I had boundless energy. I tossed and turned. I slept like a baby. But by the third week, something shifted. It was as dramatic as flipping a switch—and my life would never be the same.
My energy levels skyrocketed—and stabilized. I felt just as peppy at 6 a.m. as I did at noon as I did at 6 p.m. I started losing body fat without even trying. My performance in the gym, which had plateaued, suddenly started improving again. I was falling asleep easier, staying asleep longer, and waking up without an alarm clock. As the days went on, I realized just how not-great I’d been feeling, compared to how clean and fresh and amazing I was feeling now.
But the most remarkable thing was how this thirty-day adventure completely changed my relationship with food and eating.
I’d always had an unhealthy relationship with food. Food was my best friend and my worst enemy. It was punishment or reward, control or powerlessness. I went through stages of extreme dieting and extreme exercise. But after just thirty days on this new plan, my relationship with food was different. For the first time in my life, food made me feel good. (And not just the quick-and-dirty “good” that comes with the first few bites of ice cream, followed by a full day’s worth of guilt, shame, and anxiety. Wholesome good. Lasting good. Good good.)
My sugar cravings disappeared. The urge to eat junk food when I was upset, bored, angry, or frustrated just … vanished. My skin was clear, my hair was shiny, my stomach was flatter, and people said I was “glowing.” I had more energy, smiled more, was friendlier to co-workers. All of a sudden, I was indescribably happy.
The remarkable realization I had was that, after all of my complicated multi-step self-improvement initiatives, all I had to do was change the food I put on my plate. For thirty days, I ate nothing but food that made me healthier, as much as I wanted, no counting calories or measuring portions. And those thirty days changed my life in a very real, very positive way.
To this day, I have been able to maintain a healthy and satisfying relationship with food, eating, and my body… all because, for those thirty days, I changed what I put on my plate.
From these revelations, the Whole30 was born.
Dallas’ experience with his thirty days was no less eye-opening, and although he didn’t have the same emotional issues with food, this experiment brought to light the impact of removing all of the potentially harmful foods and beverages in his diet for an extended period of time.
We decided to share our experience with our blog readers in July 2009. We called the post “Change Your Life in 30 Days” and outlined the full rules of the program we had followed in April. We invited our readers to participate and asked them to let us know if they were on board.
We had no idea how many people would take us up on this challenge.
During that first iteration, several hundred people worked through our program and reported their results. We were thrilled to hear that most experienced the same kind of “miracles” we had—effortless weight loss, better sleep, consistent energy, improved mood, and increased athletic performance. Many reported the elimination of sugar cravings and a healthier relationship with food, allowing them to pass up desserts and sweets they used to find irresistible. But what impressed us the most were the number of people who told us the program had improved or completely eliminated their physical ailments. Seasonal allergies—gone. Asthma—not a single attack. Blood pressure—back to normal. Cholesterol—improved by an astonishing degree. Heartburn—vanquished. Stubborn tendonitis—healed. (OK, that one didn’t surprise us!)
Since that inception in July 2009, we’ve freely offered our Whole30 program on our Web site. The program has spread virally through word-of-mouth, and over the past three years, tens of thousands of people all around the world have completed the program and have reported that the Whole30 did, in fact, change their life.
CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
It’s funny how many of our testimonials start with, “When you told me the Whole30 was going to change my life, I thought, ‘Yeah right. Whatever.’ But it totally did!” Our own stories were pretty dramatic, and we have hundreds of readers’ stories and testimonials on our Web site (http://whole9life.com), but if you’re still skeptical about the whole “life changing” thing, that’s OK. Just keep reading.