T-Minus 6 Days

Duuuuuun duuun dun-dun. Dun dun dun dun dun dun. 

Okay so I don't know how many "dun duns" are necessary but I think you get the point. The big news is... I am less than a week away from starting my Whole30! Woop woop. I am starting Monday August 11th at approximately 0730 or whenever I get to work and start eating. Mark your calenders people.

I thought I would get going and start blogging about what I've been eating up until this point. Over the past few weeks I have been a mess with my eating habits. I consistently eat around the same time, which is good...I guess - but what I am consuming is horrible. Fast food burgers and fries, chips and queso, pizza, beer, wine, oh and we can't forget Splenda. Needless to say I really feel sluggish and am ready for a change.

Most of you who are reading this blog have already heard me speak about the Whole30 plan and the associated book It Starts with Food. Since I've taken the liberty to insert some handy dandy links in my post I will not bore you will the details of the program. My advice, however, would be to buy the book ASAP and jump on the Whole30 wagon. Okay cool. Glad to see your wallets at the ready (is that how the saying goes?).

In a nutshell here is the Whole30 program: (straight from the website)

Here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.

• Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.

• Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)

• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.

• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).

• Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)

• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.

• Do not try to re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats* with “approved” ingredients. Continuing to eat your old, unhealthy foods made with Whole30 ingredients is totally missing the point, and will tank your results faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” Remember, these are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, regardless of the ingredients.

One last and final rule: You are not allowed to step on the scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer. 

Okay now I know what you're thinking "well what the hell can I eat" and the answer is a lot of great and nutritious foods! Meat, vegetables, fruits, some nuts, and this thing called ghee which is like neon yellow glorified butter. But seriously, I found this book and this plan while Googling diets for auto-immune disorders and once I read the book I was hooked. I understand it is intimidating to change what you eat and to such an extreme; however, the results I am planning on having far outweigh the costs of giving up foods and other things that are unhealthy for me.

I am excited, I am committed, and I am looking forward to not having the sluggish icky feeling I have between 2 and 3 PM every day. Let's do this shit.