Greta Nolan assumed Whole30 sounded like another fashionable diet when she first heard about it: limited, joyless, most likely temporary. She decided to try it nonetheless, after years of feeling lethargic after meals and annoyed with her eating patterns. She was not prepared for the flavour of the food to be that exquisite.
Whole 30 is not a renowned simple programme. For someone who enjoys food the way Greta does, cutting off sweets, wheat, dairy, and legumes for thirty days is rather demanding. She addressed it, nevertheless, with interest rather than trepidation. She remembers telling herself it was only an experiment. One month to see how I would feel.
Greta focussed in on flavour instead of concentrating on what she couldn consume. She manipulated textures, herbs, and spices.
She cooked veggies till they caramelised and turned sweet. She discovered how to give sauces depth without calling for cheese or butter. Her respect of authentic, unrefined foods also developed along with her increasing culinary ability.
Dinner time surprised her to find it more fulfilling than it had ever been. Greta adds, “I was eating to feel nourished, not just to feel full now.”
Since the meals were not about limitation, they tasted nothing like diet food. They were about getting back in line with what food is supposed to be for: nourish the body, pleasure the senses, and unite people.
Greta did not hurry to bring things back even when her thirty days were up. Many of the dishes she had developed, she discovered, were worth preserving. Though it also provided her confidence—not only in the cooking but also in her capacity to take charge of her emotions—Whole30 offered her a reset.
