Ketchup couldn’t hold Heather K. back.
It was Day 19. After a typically busy day, the lawyer and mother of two faced a dinner dilemma.
“I had come home and I was making the family dinner,” she says. “I just needed to do it fast, and so I made sloppy joes. But I made them with ketchup that had sugar in it. I remember being in the kitchen and nearly crying because I was so hungry, but I had just made my family this meal because my two boys were starving. So then my needs came second.”
She says the minor exposure to ketchup with added sugar “destroyed my stomach.” But it wouldn’t derail her Whole30® journey—not this time.
“I’m really glad that I made that decision to not start over,” she says. “Even though the 2017 Heather would have absolutely had to start over.”
Resetting the Whole30 clock to Day 1 was something 2024 Heather considered, too. But so much changed in the seven years since her first Whole30—much about Heather, and much about the Whole30 itself.
“Something Melissa said about ‘I get to choose, it’s not a rule,’” Heather says. “I get to choose.”
The choice to change
Heather discovered Whole30 in 2017—probably through social media, she says. The self-described “nerd” bought the book and I memorized the rules. Heather dove into the community-run Whole30 Facebook forums and groups, asking questions to help her learn and grow.
“What I found striking is in the [fan run] Facebook groups back in 2017, it was all shame,” she says. “I don’t remember ever seeing someone say, ‘I’m struggling’ or ‘I went off plan last night and had a burger and fries,’ and have people respond with, ‘Hang in there!’ or ‘Good job for trying!’ or ‘How do you feel today?’”
Heather says she was “super militant” back then, too. But she was happy with the results, especially when her biggest concern—physical anxiety symptoms—improved. Heather felt good, and frequently stuck to the elimination phase after her 30 days were up.
Then life happened. Two kids and a global pandemic changed things. Eventually, after some time, Heather returned to the Whole30. In September 2023, she lost weight—even though that wasn’t her goal. But then weight came back—and more.
“I was like, ‘What is going on?’ So, I talked to my OB about it,” Heather says. “We talked about hormones and sleep changes. I was seriously thinking of having surgery. I was seriously thinking of going in and having liposuction.”
The weight gain wasn’t even the biggest issue. “I just wasn’t happy with how I felt,” she says. “All summer I was so sick all the time. I felt nauseous all the time.”
That was the summer of 2024, and Heather heard on Instagram about a new book coming out in August that she hoped would help—The New Whole30.
“I purchased it and dove into it and cried because it was like, this was the missing piece,” she says. “What worked in 2017 for me was the rigidity, the form, the bootcamp style. That worked for me until the pandemic. So many things in our life changed because of the pandemic. So many things that I had to figure out the new normal like everybody else.”
The New Whole30, with its new rules and gentler, more flexible approach, was what 2024 Heather needed.
“I actually really liked that the rules didn’t change much, and that the few rules that did were very helpful—like the ‘any oil is okay.’ God, it’s like a lifesaver,” she says. “I felt like the new perspective changed the rules to be more palpable. I felt like the new rhetoric just was so much better.”
A new approach
The book was a big help, but it wasn’t the only change in Heather’s Whole30 approach in September 2024.
“The new book just really spoke to me as a mom in her forties,” she says. “So I felt that the Cohort would help me learn. Even though I knew the rules, I felt like the Cohort would help me learn the new values and principles.”
The Community Cohort was the opposite of the fan-run Whole30 Facebook groups of 2017. Shame was replaced by support. The rigidity and “super militant” approach was supplanted by a new perspective on the Whole30—self-care.
“How I think the self-care piece played out for me, in actions, is all of the emphasis on planning, being prepared so that you have options,” Heather says. “I think what Whole30, and specifically the teachings in Whole30, do is help you practically put yourself first through better planning.”
She did a prep week and a soft launch of her program for the first time. “I found that was, like, absolutely crucial,” Heather says. “I would never do it without doing the soft launch again.”
During her September 2024 Whole30 with the Cohort, Heather was also able to focus on her why—stopping the cycle of feeling sick and anxious all the time. And that helped her experience some amazing non-scale victories (NSVs).
“The nauseousness went away,” she says. “My anxiety—the physical anxiety—went away. I felt so much more confident. My skin was glowing. Everybody at work was really teasing me about my skin glowing like I was pregnant. My hair looked amazing. It still does.”
“I slept better and I didn’t get night sweats during the Whole30,” she continues. “All my clothes started fitting looser and that just gives you energy, and you just feel empowered.”
Making a decision that sparks joy
Ultimately, the ketchup didn’t keep Heather K. from finding her Whole30 success. She had the strength and support to stay the course, and, by Day 28, she felt great.
“I would say that for every time I do a Whole30 successfully, I’ve probably had five fails,” she says.
But September 2024 wasn’t one of those fails.
This time was different. Heather was different—changed and strengthened by life’s challenges, buoyed by The New Whole30, and supported by the Cohort. She chose to push forward. She opted for kindness over shame and self-punishement. And that decision was rewarded with growth, NSVs, and much more.
“I found joy in just how I physically felt,” Heather says. “I think that was my biggest joy, but I also found joy in just how I was showing up for my family. I was happier and I wasn’t really that resentful. I had some hard moments, but I was happier. And so I just enjoyed moments more.”
Want more Cohort success stories? Check out other inspirational Whole30 success stories in our Testimonials section. And if you’re ready for a change like Heather, you can also learn more about the Whole30 Community Cohort.
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