Personal finance and fitness actually have a lot in common. No one really wants to do any of the work involved, but we all want the results. And I’m exactly the same. For those who don’t know, the Whole 30 is a 30 day clean eating challenge.

Here are the rules (taken from the Whole 30 website):

1. Do not consume any kind of sugar – real or artificial. That includes maple syrup, honey, agave, coconut sugar, Splenda stevia –
2. Do not consume alcohol in any form, including cooking.
3. Do not eat grains, including quinoa.
4. Do not eat legumes (beans, chickpeas, peanuts, soy).
5. Do not eat dairy (with the exception of clarified butter or ghee).
6. Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites.
7. Do not try to re-create baked good, junk foods or treats with “approved” ingredients.
8. You are not allowed to step on a scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program.

Beyond that, there’s also a pile of recommended rules that really maximize your results.

A few of my friends have really hopped onboard the Whole 30 bus, and my Instagram is constantly full of pictures of their meals that looked incredibly delicious but were still shockingly #whole30. So I picked up the book It Starts With Food and definitely found a lot of the information really interesting – especially about the psychological hold food has on us.

Personally, I’d just come off 6 months of eating all sorts of fast food crap. Even better, I knew I eat even worse when I’m at my parents house since I just sit around binge eating and watching TV shows. I also have a family history of diabetes.

May seemed like as good a time as any to experiment with this sucker and here are a few things I found that reminded me of personal finance.

The Whole 30 Timeline was amazing and so are personal finance blogs.

I was super unsure of what I was about to embark on, but thousands of other people have already done it before me and while everyone’s result is specific to them, there are still a lot of things that happen on this crazy health journey that seem to happen to most people at most times. It’s actually so common that the Whole 30 creators compiled a timeline and wrote a post about it.

When I was paying off student loans, I really got into reading other personal finance blogs because while I decided to go whole hog and work crazy jobs on cruise ships and with circuses to pay them off, a lot of the things I was going through were exactly the same as someone on the other side of America on a 10 year repayment plan with an office job somewhere. So much of the human experience is shared.

When I hit a road bump with how I felt doing the Whole 30, the timeline gave me a realistic gage that how I felt was normal and it would pass. It’s way easier to buckle down knowing most people were having crazy, vivid food dreams that made them desperately want a Quick Check sub on days 12-14 and that for almost everyone they passed by day 15. The same is true when you hit debt repayment fatigue and see that everyone goes through phases like that but can still come out the other side still going strong!

90% of the battle is in your head.

One of the most amazing things for me was learning that most of how I felt about food was all in my head and how infrequently I’m actually hungry when I eat. I eat because I’m bored or because it’s there. I can’t tell you how many times I ran errands during May, passed a Starbucks and suddenly needed a coffee. Since I couldn’t actually have it, that was also the first time I realized that if I just didn’t go get it, the need passed pretty quickly. And I wasn’t actually thirsty or even really tired and looking for a caffeinated pick me up.

It’s honestly almost exactly the same with my finances. It’s so rare that I need to buy something. All the little money hemorrhages that happen all month are just temporary wants that pass when they’re ignored.

Most of the other 10% is preparation.

If you don’t do some prep work for the Whole 30, you will fail. The weeks I was the happiest and best fed usually included a few hours of prep work over the weekend so I could just thaw something for dinner after a long day or so that my lunches were just ready to be grabbed from the refrigerator.

Building wealth often starts with frugal living tips. Making more is awesome, but figuring out how to do that often seems to come a few steps later in the process. Frugality is all about the prep work too – hitting up sales for stuff you know you use all the time, bulk buying, coupons, learning new skills like sewing. These are ways to prep to save money and while they’re not always fun to do, preparation reaps some awesome rewards.

Stick to the main rules and work up to the recommended ones.

I made it through the entire Whole 30 with one tiny, accidental slip up according to the main rules. According to the recommended rules, well, I could’ve done better. But since the goal was to feel healthier, sleep better, have more energy and lose a little weight – and all of those were achieved – I’m calling it a successful Whole 30. I’m happy to admit, it was those strict main rules that got me there and while following them was a pain, it was worth it.

I’m also happy to admit I probably would’ve achieved those goals quicker if I’d followed the recommended path too. For instance, fruit juice is very technically complaint, if there’s no added sugar, because you can eat fruit. It’s also encouraged as a sweetener in things. However, part of the recommended rules is that you avoid too much sugar because you’re trying to slay your “Sugar Dragon.” My Sugar Dragon is still alive and kicking because I ate a ton of fruit and drank a compliant Naked fruit juice/smoothie for breakfast every morning on my way to work. Larabars were also a pretty regular snack and not just an emergency option.

Doing both of those things helped me figure out how to eat on the go while I commute into NYC and work crazy long hours (whoever wrote the Whole 30 sure didn’t work in theater). Another recommended rule is just to eat 3 good sized meals and to stop snacking. That didn’t happen either.

When it comes to personal finance, I have several rules that I think of as “main” rules and then a massive pile of recommended ones that I work on as my tolerance for personal finance has grown. Spend less than you earn is a main rule for me. Save at least 20% of your income is another one and so is having a well stocked emergency fund. Cutting out Starbucks isn’t (except during Whole 30s. Ugh).

Haters gonna hate. Everywhere.

I can’t tell you how many people tried to make me have a drink with them during May. I had a show closing night party, a birthday party and baby baptism and a weekend camping trip to weather during this time and I never realized how much people are sort of offended if you don’t drink with them. It’s crazy. Or how many people will try to force you to eat cake, when you don’t even want it! It was really rare to run into a friend who was just supportive (although there were a few).

It’s the same with getting your finances in order, some friends just don’t get it and that can be really frustrating.

On the flip side, there’s also hate from some of the people who are several steps past you. The Whole 30 message boards are nuts. They are like a psycho army of haters who just attack any mistake you make. Sometimes you can get the same vibe in the personal finance world – “oh, you’re only saving 20%? We live off one paycheck and invest the other one.” “Oh, you’re planning to retire at 65? I’ve got it down to 41, but we might be able to hit 39 if we can just figure out how to stop eating.”

You have to find your balance and plow your own path with both things.

These are just a few of the lessons I kept learning over and over again throughout May. On the 31st day, I learned another important lessons. If you’ve reset your stomach so it’s not used to unnatural foods anymore do not binge on Chick-fil-a and Dunkin Donuts. Only bad things will happen. And if you’ve done something awesome like a No Spend week or month, don’t binge on Louis Vuittons and a trip to Prague or your credit card will feel like my stomach did.