Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development & Support:

I am four full days into my whole foods immersion. Do I get a gold medal yet?

On Monday, I wrote a post explaining that a friend (and walking buddy) of mine convinced me to tackle a new dietary challenge: to go three weeks eating only whole foods.

I thought I would be doing a lot of whining and complaining but actually, so far I haven't had reason to -  the food has been delicious. I signed up for a delivery service that brings me a cooler of food three times each week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) so the items are all very fresh. My walking buddy has quizzed me daily: “Tell me exactly what you are eating!” She has to admit that she’s been impressed by the variety, and so have I: I’ve had healthy muffins or cooked cereals for breakfast, fresh fruit, cut veggies with delicious dips, creamy soups, and scrumptious whole grain and bean entrees.

I have two favorites thus far – the butternut squash soup made creamy with pureed cashews, and the grilled portabella mushrooms and asparagus with a rice pilaf. Yum.

The Challenges

The challenges have been interesting. The afternoon of the second day, my head really hurt. I don’t usually get headaches, but my guess is that this was due to a mild caffeine withdrawal – I am not a coffee or tea drinker but I am a chocolate eater, and two days off of dark chocolate is not usual for me. A good night sleep mitigated that slight issue.

Yesterday, at work, I found myself walking to the shelf where the dark chocolate stash is kept. It felt like I was on auto pilot until, with my hand on the bag, I remembered that I needed to make a different choice. I instead grabbed a juicy nectarine and did not feel deprived at all.

I have also noticed my tendency to want to mindlessly snack while I am preparing the kids’ dinner. They were settling down to veggie burgers, corn chips, salsa, hummus and raspberries and I realized that I would usually be snacking on some chips as I was serving them. So this immersion is definitely helping my mindful eating.

I have had some cravings – melted cheese is calling my name and the ice cream in my freezer sounds really good too.  But I am curious to see how my body feels after three weeks without some of those foods. And my three-week goal is keeping me accountable – I am determined to complete this experiment!

The Benefits

I am already noticing the benefits. My fruit and veggie intake has skyrocketed. I am eating fruit or veggies with every meal and snack. Veggies are definitely the centerpiece of each entrée and I am enjoying eating my 9 plus a day. I am also enjoying the variety of produce – I don’t remember when I last ate jicama or radishes and they certainly taste good.

Since day 3, my energy seems to be higher. I will be tracking my energy closely but I did notice that I was excited (rather than reluctant) to play a rousing game of tag with the kids before school.

And I am loving having all of these nutritious foods prepared for me. Even though I am still preparing food for the rest of the family, it feels like a mini vacation for myself.  It almost feels like a spa in my own home!

The challenges of Labor Day weekend social events await…keep your fingers crossed for me and I will fill you in on the details next week.

PS: The product I happen to be trying is Delicious Planet in Seattle, but there are other organizations out there such as Paleta in Los Angeles and Eat Like the Pros in Chicago. Also, check out sites like Local Harvest to discover where you can pick up fresh, local, organic produce yourself.