There was a time when everything I did to try to become healthy was wrong. The wrong diets. The wrong exercise. The wrong plans. Even the motivation was wrong. I looked for shortcuts, for tricks: I looked for anything that would help me get healthy. None of it worked.

I never had the money for fancy pills, powders, products, or plans that promised the miracle of losing weight and getting healthy. If there was a diet or plan that promised substantial benefits towards getting healthy and losing weight, I tried them. And they all failed.

That’s why when my cousin, a Physician Assistant, recommended I try Whole30, I was incredulous. I thought, “Great. Here goes another plan that is doomed to fail,” but out of respect for her and with a healthy dose of fear that she gifted me through a heart-to-heart conversation about where my poor health and heavy weight were leading me, I was able to convince my wife to give it a try. I had high hopes, but no real expectations for success. What ended up happening was far beyond what I could have even hoped for.

That first month, I lost 20 lbs. Then, for the following 12 months, I lost roughly 10 lbs for a total of 130 lbs lost in one year. I had physicals throughout the year because I wanted to monitor my health as my body was undergoing such a rapid transformation. Each time test results came back, they were better than the last. Heck, the first physical I had just 2 months after starting Whole30, my Type 2 Diabetes was nowhere to be found. It was so confusing to my primary care physician that they ordered a second set of tests; they thought they made an error and received someone else’s results in place of mine. They couldn’t believe the Diabetes was gone. Neither could I.

Fast-forward 12 years. I’ve kept the weight off, the Diabetes is still gone, cholesterol is healthy, and I’m still leaning heavily on Whole30 from time to time. Normally, my wife and I eat Paleo, but as we are human and prone to slipping into bad habits, we need the refresh that Whole30 gives us. What is funny to us is how, once we’ve decided to do another one, we don’t dread it. We actually look forward to the many benefits we know it will provide:

• Mental clarity
• Fitting better into clothes
• Improved energy levels
• Improved self-image (I like what I see in the mirror or those selfies much more)
• Last but not least, the smaller number on the scale

I don’t frame Whole30 as a restrictive diet (I never did, actually) although I did have fears that it would be on my first round. Now, I see it as revisiting an old friend, one who feeds me with delicious and healthy foods I don’t have to feel guilty about. Foods that nourish my body without artificial chemicals or ingredients that also taste great. I see it as a rebirth of a good habit: eating better food.

My wife had to remind me one night at dinner after she asked me if I was full (and I responded that I wasn’t really) that I was allowed to eat more. Whole30 doesn’t restrict your serving sizes, although one should still be mindful of over-eating (which is my biggest problem). I ate an additional half serving and then it hit me; I was full and felt sated.

Some things I have to remember and re-teach myself every Whole30:

• Sleep is important. For me, 7 hours or more a night is key for actual weight loss
• Serving size is important but not set in stone. Eat until full (or just about full) and stop
• Fiber is important as I tend to be protein-heavy on Whole30’s
• Fruit is okay, but be mindful of the amount of sugar (which is why I prefer blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries over bananas)
• Trust the process

That last one is also key, but it’s become more than a slogan for me. It’s a reassurance. Every single time I’ve done a Whole30, I’ve been successful. The length of time after a Whole30 that I can go without doing another one seems to be 9-12 months, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go on without doing another one (because I have those life-long bad habits and psychological issues around eating), but I no longer dread them. To the contrary, I welcome them and look forward to the positive changes that Whole30 give me and brings to my life.