Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Victory Belt Publishing (2014), Edition: 1, 328 pages
Description
An outline for a clear, balanced, sustainable plan to change eating habits forever. Over the last three years, the Hartwigs' underground Whole30 program has quietly led tens of thousands of people to weight loss, improved quality of life and a healthier relationship with food.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
If you read Richard Dawkins for fun, this isn’t the book for you. While I agree with most of the message, the presentation didn’t work for me. I LIKE science (or cloyingly, science-y stuff, as the authors put it). I UNDERSTAND science. My brain works. Not to say that this book is written for
Anyway...it isn’t all bad and before I get to some of what I didn’t like, I’ll tell you what I did. I liked the parts that dealt with the gut and the problems that can happen there. Intestinal permeability was well illustrated and explained, albeit like they were trying to explain it to a 6-year-old. I also liked the build your plate section and some of the meal planning and shopping advice. I think books like these ought to give people ideas about what to buy and how to put it together, not just focus on what you can’t buy or eat any longer. Also their enthusiasm for the subject is quite intense and that shows through. Finally, this is not another “caveman” diet book. Those have been done to death and some have even been detrimental to the credibility of the paleo/primal/ancestral eating movement. That aspect is kind of refreshing if you can choke down the pithy little bon mots.
So let’s talk about the writing and the tone for a sec. It reads pretty strangely to me with lot’s of ‘see, this is what’s going on’ and, ‘ok, are you with me here’ and cutesy little asides that I suppose are their idea of creating a conversational tone, but really were just annoying. Also, they must think their audience is stupid because just a few pages from explaining something, they explain it again, like I must have forgotten it already. When it comes right down to it, these folks really do know how to suck all the fun out of the room despite the fact that they are trying to be bouncy and cheery all the time. They are rule makers. Scolders. Finger-wagglers. They are those people who would remind you to wipe your feet when you came inside. Ugh. Maybe that works for some people, but it really turned me off.
Also they seem to think that common knowledge has changed or that the majority of researchers agree with their claims; they casually say things like scientists now believe, or studies now show, without stating that only fringe scientists really believe this and that precious few studies are actually done that prove anything about this diet. I’m not saying there are none of either, but common knowledge has not changed. Dieticians are still advocating high-carb diets for diabetics. Doctors are still recommending statins for anyone with cholesterol over 210. Health “experts” are still advocating whole grains and skinless chicken. Nothing’s changed. I think they’d like things to change, and have seen studies disproving this “wisdom”, but the tone of ‘it’s already happened’ got to me.
And the over-simplifications did, too, not to mention outright omissions or mistakes. Maybe it is a result of just reading Good Calories, Bad Calories which is scientifically dense and journalistic of tone, but a lot of things made me go ‘hmmmm’. Most of the online research I can find does agree with what they’ve said, but the way they said it made me wonder. That’s not good. At least not for a reader like me. Between the tone and the over-simplified science it has a faddish air about it that lacks heft. Which is sad because as I said, the overall plan is right on target and it works. Hopefully it doesn’t get shelved with other fad diet books as a result.
It’s pretty clear they’re not into science-y stuff because often they’d drop something in without explaining it or referencing why. Like categorizing PUFA lipoproteins as fragile. That’s it. No explanation or description of why they’re fragile. I guess they need counseling or something. Again, I’m clearly not the right audience for this book, but it’s still sloppy. As are their assumptions about lactose intolerance, alcohol abuse and people actually liking their food. Over and over again they warned that eating this or that might cause an unhealthy psychological reaction and you might eat too much. You mean, I might LIKE my food!!?? No way, your food must not make you too happy. I found that to be a bit overplayed. Ditto with the alcohol component. Most of that was a stretch and I actually laughed out loud when they compared the neurotoxin in alcohol with other neurotoxins like lead, botulism and formaldehyde. I mean, seriously...you need to hyperbolize that much to make us fear alcohol? Um, those toxins we can’t metabolize into harmless substances, alcohol we can, and do. Often. Sure it can be abused, but basically the no-booze rule for them is based on what OVERCONSUMPTION does to a person, not everyday, normal consumption. Hilarious.
Well this turned out to be harsher than I intended and I’m sorry for that. It Starts With Food explains the reasons why the Standard American Diet is killing you, (in an albeit condescending way), talks anecdotally and a tiny bit scientifically and gives you some concrete steps to take after you’ve eliminated the food that is making you fat and sick. Overall, for the right person, this could be a nice introduction to a whole foods eating plan (oh and don’t forget to do your Whole30, which is really the whole point of this book...a sales pitch for their re-formulated diet intro). Don’t let them fool you - it’s a sales pitch and there’s a address to their website every few pages. Not to say it’s bad, Mark Sisson did the same thing in Primal Blueprint, but I found it more overt in this book. Still, the principles and overall concept are good and not unheard of. Eat whole foods. Eat real foods. Eliminate sugar, refined-flour and other grains from your diet and your health will improve. Don’t fear fat. Don’t get too mental. Play with the foods you eat a bit to see where your specific intolerances are and you’ll find the optimal plan. Just don’t break any of their rules.
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dumb people, but it certainly has been dumbed down, over-simplified and presented in a way that if you are comfortable with just taking people’s word for it, will work for you. I don’t think I’m the right audience for this book. If Good Calories, Bad Calories scared you off, start here and see if you can apply the principles to your life. You’ll feel better for sure.Anyway...it isn’t all bad and before I get to some of what I didn’t like, I’ll tell you what I did. I liked the parts that dealt with the gut and the problems that can happen there. Intestinal permeability was well illustrated and explained, albeit like they were trying to explain it to a 6-year-old. I also liked the build your plate section and some of the meal planning and shopping advice. I think books like these ought to give people ideas about what to buy and how to put it together, not just focus on what you can’t buy or eat any longer. Also their enthusiasm for the subject is quite intense and that shows through. Finally, this is not another “caveman” diet book. Those have been done to death and some have even been detrimental to the credibility of the paleo/primal/ancestral eating movement. That aspect is kind of refreshing if you can choke down the pithy little bon mots.
So let’s talk about the writing and the tone for a sec. It reads pretty strangely to me with lot’s of ‘see, this is what’s going on’ and, ‘ok, are you with me here’ and cutesy little asides that I suppose are their idea of creating a conversational tone, but really were just annoying. Also, they must think their audience is stupid because just a few pages from explaining something, they explain it again, like I must have forgotten it already. When it comes right down to it, these folks really do know how to suck all the fun out of the room despite the fact that they are trying to be bouncy and cheery all the time. They are rule makers. Scolders. Finger-wagglers. They are those people who would remind you to wipe your feet when you came inside. Ugh. Maybe that works for some people, but it really turned me off.
Also they seem to think that common knowledge has changed or that the majority of researchers agree with their claims; they casually say things like scientists now believe, or studies now show, without stating that only fringe scientists really believe this and that precious few studies are actually done that prove anything about this diet. I’m not saying there are none of either, but common knowledge has not changed. Dieticians are still advocating high-carb diets for diabetics. Doctors are still recommending statins for anyone with cholesterol over 210. Health “experts” are still advocating whole grains and skinless chicken. Nothing’s changed. I think they’d like things to change, and have seen studies disproving this “wisdom”, but the tone of ‘it’s already happened’ got to me.
And the over-simplifications did, too, not to mention outright omissions or mistakes. Maybe it is a result of just reading Good Calories, Bad Calories which is scientifically dense and journalistic of tone, but a lot of things made me go ‘hmmmm’. Most of the online research I can find does agree with what they’ve said, but the way they said it made me wonder. That’s not good. At least not for a reader like me. Between the tone and the over-simplified science it has a faddish air about it that lacks heft. Which is sad because as I said, the overall plan is right on target and it works. Hopefully it doesn’t get shelved with other fad diet books as a result.
It’s pretty clear they’re not into science-y stuff because often they’d drop something in without explaining it or referencing why. Like categorizing PUFA lipoproteins as fragile. That’s it. No explanation or description of why they’re fragile. I guess they need counseling or something. Again, I’m clearly not the right audience for this book, but it’s still sloppy. As are their assumptions about lactose intolerance, alcohol abuse and people actually liking their food. Over and over again they warned that eating this or that might cause an unhealthy psychological reaction and you might eat too much. You mean, I might LIKE my food!!?? No way, your food must not make you too happy. I found that to be a bit overplayed. Ditto with the alcohol component. Most of that was a stretch and I actually laughed out loud when they compared the neurotoxin in alcohol with other neurotoxins like lead, botulism and formaldehyde. I mean, seriously...you need to hyperbolize that much to make us fear alcohol? Um, those toxins we can’t metabolize into harmless substances, alcohol we can, and do. Often. Sure it can be abused, but basically the no-booze rule for them is based on what OVERCONSUMPTION does to a person, not everyday, normal consumption. Hilarious.
Well this turned out to be harsher than I intended and I’m sorry for that. It Starts With Food explains the reasons why the Standard American Diet is killing you, (in an albeit condescending way), talks anecdotally and a tiny bit scientifically and gives you some concrete steps to take after you’ve eliminated the food that is making you fat and sick. Overall, for the right person, this could be a nice introduction to a whole foods eating plan (oh and don’t forget to do your Whole30, which is really the whole point of this book...a sales pitch for their re-formulated diet intro). Don’t let them fool you - it’s a sales pitch and there’s a address to their website every few pages. Not to say it’s bad, Mark Sisson did the same thing in Primal Blueprint, but I found it more overt in this book. Still, the principles and overall concept are good and not unheard of. Eat whole foods. Eat real foods. Eliminate sugar, refined-flour and other grains from your diet and your health will improve. Don’t fear fat. Don’t get too mental. Play with the foods you eat a bit to see where your specific intolerances are and you’ll find the optimal plan. Just don’t break any of their rules.
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LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
I mostly bought this book to express support for the Hartwigs - the core of their plan, the Whole 30, is available totally for free on the website and has been very useful to me in the past. But I was pleasantly surprised - this is a good book. Readable, clear, persuasive, and it has the best
Their website is still free, and you could totally get as much out of their plan by just using that, but if you're interested in a more structured approach to the reasoning, or just get to the master recipe section (which is, I repeat, great) the book is definitely worth it.
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cooking-for-dummies section in the back that I've seen yet. It Starts With Food avoids some of the problems other, similarly-themed books have - Cordain's dry, poorly-simplified science in The Paleo Diet, Robb Wolf's occasionally grating bro humor and evangelist tone in The Paleo Solution, and the offputting nature of "paleo" as a concept. (It's brought up and dismissed very early on - while the Hartwigs could be more or less described as "paleo" people, they don't have much use for the label and they don't spend much if any time going off about evolutionary biology - they stick pretty much to modern science.)Their website is still free, and you could totally get as much out of their plan by just using that, but if you're interested in a more structured approach to the reasoning, or just get to the master recipe section (which is, I repeat, great) the book is definitely worth it.
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LibraryThing member cattylj
I wasn’t crazy about this. It was recommended by a friend, so I stuck it out, but it wasn’t for me. I think mainly it was the tone and the approach. True, compared to some greater life tragedy, making a dietary change isn’t difficult. But framing the argument in that way made the whole thing
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seem a little absurd to me. And you know what - when you’re not facing some terrible tragedy, making a major dietary change of the type they’re demanding IS really difficult. Our relationship with food is emotionally complex. Our relationship with food is psychologically complex. Our relationship with food is physically complex. Ignoring that or simply saying “get over it” doesn’t help and makes it that much more difficult to adopt such a major change as they’re advocating. And I get it. Go cold turkey, detox, reset your cravings, and reset your mentality. But geeze, where’s the kindness? That type of extreme, unforgiving, no-excuses type of diet is what makes people so hard on themselves and causes them to fall back into old habits. I’d say that unless you’re already a bit of a health nut or are SERIOUSLY committed to making a 100% lifestyle change, this might not be for you. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeniseB12
This is a great book for anyone who wants to eat healthy and change their health. It is not a diet but a whole new way of thinking about food. What I thought was healthy in the past, doesn't even qualify for food now.
LibraryThing member mattch45
Good concept: cut out all potentially unhealthy foods from your diet for 30 days, then slowly reintroduce them to see what's right for you. The specific cases for what's unhealthy struck me as weak and inconsistent -- in addition to being largely unnecessary given the premise to determine what's
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right for you with a self-experiment. And the testimonials with each chapter were a bit hard to swallow. Show Less
LibraryThing member JennysBookBag.com
This book is packed full of information and honestly, it was too much information for me to fact check. I didn't take it as gospel because it's obvious that it's a biased opinion, but it did get me to rethink what I'm eating and how it affects me in mind and body. That's the real point of the book
The book gets scientific, which I like and it's organized well with diagrams, charts and recipes thrown into the mix. There are even some color photos of some delicious healthy meals. The Whole30 program sounds extreme since you can't consume sugar, dairy, grains or legumes for up to 40 days (10 days is part of the reintroduction phase), but it's only for 40 days. It's not a permanent lifestyle change; it's a nutritional reset.
I personally would love to do a reset. I was eating very clean for a while and feeling great, but then I fell off the wagon as they say and now I physically and emotionally feel like crap. I'm tired a lot and I have more mood swings than I ever did while eating clean. I'm tired of feeling blah, so I'm hoping this program will help me get back on track.
By the way, if you decide to try the program, be prepared to hear a lot of negativity from the people around you. People will try to talk you out of it and they'll give you a thousand reasons why they're right and you're wrong, but decide for yourself. It's your body.
Anyway, there are many great quotes in the book, but this is one of my favorites:
"Genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger."
I love this quote because I want it to be true, but I keep wondering if this is just another nutrition "expert" who's just playing the blame game a little differently. Or, maybe they're trying to teach us accountability.
I've decided that I'm not going to get hung up on the minutiae of this book, but to focus on how I can use the program to help me feel better. I want to have full control over my health, both mentally and physically, and not feel like it's some sort of health lottery. It'll be a challenge giving up certain food groups for 40 days, but I'm up for it. I'm considering it a personal experiment to test the validity of their theories. No harm in that. I'll still get all of my nutrients.
I'm just going to listen to my body. If my body starts asking me, "Hey, what the heck are you doing to me?" then I'll just stop and resume my old eating habits. But there's a good chance that I'll feel incredibly awesome afterwards and realize that my so-called healthy eating wasn't as healthy as I thought. Bon Appetit!
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anyway. The book gets scientific, which I like and it's organized well with diagrams, charts and recipes thrown into the mix. There are even some color photos of some delicious healthy meals. The Whole30 program sounds extreme since you can't consume sugar, dairy, grains or legumes for up to 40 days (10 days is part of the reintroduction phase), but it's only for 40 days. It's not a permanent lifestyle change; it's a nutritional reset.
I personally would love to do a reset. I was eating very clean for a while and feeling great, but then I fell off the wagon as they say and now I physically and emotionally feel like crap. I'm tired a lot and I have more mood swings than I ever did while eating clean. I'm tired of feeling blah, so I'm hoping this program will help me get back on track.
By the way, if you decide to try the program, be prepared to hear a lot of negativity from the people around you. People will try to talk you out of it and they'll give you a thousand reasons why they're right and you're wrong, but decide for yourself. It's your body.
Anyway, there are many great quotes in the book, but this is one of my favorites:
"Genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger."
I love this quote because I want it to be true, but I keep wondering if this is just another nutrition "expert" who's just playing the blame game a little differently. Or, maybe they're trying to teach us accountability.
I've decided that I'm not going to get hung up on the minutiae of this book, but to focus on how I can use the program to help me feel better. I want to have full control over my health, both mentally and physically, and not feel like it's some sort of health lottery. It'll be a challenge giving up certain food groups for 40 days, but I'm up for it. I'm considering it a personal experiment to test the validity of their theories. No harm in that. I'll still get all of my nutrients.
I'm just going to listen to my body. If my body starts asking me, "Hey, what the heck are you doing to me?" then I'll just stop and resume my old eating habits. But there's a good chance that I'll feel incredibly awesome afterwards and realize that my so-called healthy eating wasn't as healthy as I thought. Bon Appetit!
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LibraryThing member Sandralb
What a life changing experience! I love this book. I found it very easy to follow and understand. Is the program easy. Yes and No. Read the book and try it for yourself. My husband and I were at a point in our life and we had to do something. His doctor gave us a list of 5 different programs and
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the Whole 30 was at the top of the list. The doctor said pick one and stick to it, and we did. I feel so much better, I never want to go back to eating like we were. Show Less
LibraryThing member trayceetee
Okay, I've finished this on a Saturday evening, am ready to dive into the actual Whole30 book and hopefully start the process on Monday morning. Wish me luck!!!
Even if I don't 'succeed', I feel very enlightened by the things I've learned in this book! I feel like it's a must-read for anyone dealing
Even if I don't 'succeed', I feel very enlightened by the things I've learned in this book! I feel like it's a must-read for anyone dealing
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with health issues of any kind. Show Less
LibraryThing member ASKelmore
Okay, so (as discussed on my review of Dr. Perlmutter’s book), I’m trying to sort out the food that is going to make me healthy. I know it isn’t sugar (I type, having finished some delicious chocolate ice cream), although man, if I could thrive on pasta and chocolate cake, I’d be a happy,
What is ‘it’ exactly? Well, it sounds a little like paleo, although it isn’t. Not exactly. The authors are very up front that they don’t particularly care about what our ancestors ate; they are interested in what science and our experiences tell us is health for us to eat. We know that generally speaking, veggies are healthy for us. Twinkies are not. But … what about the rest?
The Hartwigs spend a few chapters explaining why certain food groups may present some challenges for us and not be contributing to good health. They are interested in things that have a negative impact on us psychologically (think the foods you crave and eat because you are emotionally – or chemically – dependent on them), hormone imbalance, digestive tract issues, and inflammation. Most of what they say I’ve seen in other books (reputable and not reputable), although, as we discussed on one of my previous reviews, they are very skeptical about our need for any grains (not refined, and not whole). They aren’t arguing that these things are necessarily BAD for you, but that they might be bad for some, and there are much healthier options anyway, so no need to eat them.
But again, their approach is to cut out all of the foods that evidence suggests might be problematic for some of the population for 30 days, and then reintroduce them and see how you feel. So, starting on April 26, and finishing on May 26, I’m going to not eat any form of the following:
- Added sugars or sweeteners (including stuff like stevia, honey, etc.)
- Alcohol (even in cooking)
- Grains (refined or whole)
- Legumes (I KNOW – I’m already tearing up at the idea of parting with my morning PB and apple)
- Dairy (with the one exception: clarified butter)
So … what will I be eating?
Vegetables. Lots. Fruits. Some. Healthy fats. Meat. Seafood. Eggs. For 30 days I’ll see if I can get some of the (not serious, but annoying) health issues I have cleared up through some diet changes. And then, I’ll figure out if I’m someone who really shouldn’t eat dairy, or if I’m one of the lucky ones who can process delicious, delicious cheese.
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happy lady. But we all know that isn’t the case. I’ve got a good friend who has followed this elimination diet and had some pretty fantastic outcomes. I picked up the book and am going to try it. What is ‘it’ exactly? Well, it sounds a little like paleo, although it isn’t. Not exactly. The authors are very up front that they don’t particularly care about what our ancestors ate; they are interested in what science and our experiences tell us is health for us to eat. We know that generally speaking, veggies are healthy for us. Twinkies are not. But … what about the rest?
The Hartwigs spend a few chapters explaining why certain food groups may present some challenges for us and not be contributing to good health. They are interested in things that have a negative impact on us psychologically (think the foods you crave and eat because you are emotionally – or chemically – dependent on them), hormone imbalance, digestive tract issues, and inflammation. Most of what they say I’ve seen in other books (reputable and not reputable), although, as we discussed on one of my previous reviews, they are very skeptical about our need for any grains (not refined, and not whole). They aren’t arguing that these things are necessarily BAD for you, but that they might be bad for some, and there are much healthier options anyway, so no need to eat them.
But again, their approach is to cut out all of the foods that evidence suggests might be problematic for some of the population for 30 days, and then reintroduce them and see how you feel. So, starting on April 26, and finishing on May 26, I’m going to not eat any form of the following:
- Added sugars or sweeteners (including stuff like stevia, honey, etc.)
- Alcohol (even in cooking)
- Grains (refined or whole)
- Legumes (I KNOW – I’m already tearing up at the idea of parting with my morning PB and apple)
- Dairy (with the one exception: clarified butter)
So … what will I be eating?
Vegetables. Lots. Fruits. Some. Healthy fats. Meat. Seafood. Eggs. For 30 days I’ll see if I can get some of the (not serious, but annoying) health issues I have cleared up through some diet changes. And then, I’ll figure out if I’m someone who really shouldn’t eat dairy, or if I’m one of the lucky ones who can process delicious, delicious cheese.
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LibraryThing member claidheamdanns
I’ve actually had a physical copy of this book since 2013, but back then I only read as much as I thought I needed to in order to do the Whole30 (we actually did the whole Lent season — 46 days, instead of 30). We were looking for solutions for persistent stomach pains that our youngest was
I recently started downloading audiobooks of books that were still sitting in my Goodreads library unfinished, and this was one of them. And so, while commuting, I have been listening to books, and this was one of them.
Listening to this all the way through, I realize now that I have never done the Whole30 the way it was intended. And looking back through my journal, I found that I’ve done it at least 8 times!
I have to honestly say that I find the Hartwig’s writing style very annoying, very cutesy — but their information is VERY important. So, if — like me — you don’t care for this style of patronizing writing, please grin and bear it, and listen/read ALL the way through, like I have now, and give this lifestyle change (not diet — as I had been treating it) a try.
I will be digging in and doing so myself.
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experiencing. I recently started downloading audiobooks of books that were still sitting in my Goodreads library unfinished, and this was one of them. And so, while commuting, I have been listening to books, and this was one of them.
Listening to this all the way through, I realize now that I have never done the Whole30 the way it was intended. And looking back through my journal, I found that I’ve done it at least 8 times!
I have to honestly say that I find the Hartwig’s writing style very annoying, very cutesy — but their information is VERY important. So, if — like me — you don’t care for this style of patronizing writing, please grin and bear it, and listen/read ALL the way through, like I have now, and give this lifestyle change (not diet — as I had been treating it) a try.
I will be digging in and doing so myself.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
328 p.; 6 inches
ISBN
1628600543 / 9781628600544
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