For those of you who are not familiar with the Whole 30 challenge it’s all about eating whole natural foods.
Meats, veggies, fruit.
No garbage
It’s very strict on eliminating legumes, dairy, grains, sugar, alcohol and all processed foods. No items with ingredients you cannot pronounce!
I know at first glance this seems like one of those fad diets with promises to drop tons of weight in a way that isn’t sustainable…
I understand that. The first time I heard about this I went HA! No way – not for me – no chance!
But then I educated myself…Here is what whole 30 is meant to be…
The people who created Whole 30 wanted to take certain food groups that are causing us to feel sick all the time. Inflammation, head aches, sinus infections, auto-immune disorders, joint pains, allergies..you name it..food can be causing it. I don’t want to come off as a hippie but I know that I personally eat too much processed foods. Look at the ingredient list on foods in your pantry, can you read all the ingredients? Isn’t that a little bit scary? I used to not worry about it and think to myself why would they sell this if it was bad for us? Because as long as people are getting paychecks they don’t care what these foods are doing to our bodies.
I personally have been feeling pretty terrible lately. I have been working out and eating “right” since January. I have lost 26 pounds..
Yet I was still asking myself “At what point am I going to start feeling better?”
I was still over-tired, still getting headaches, still getting chronic sinus infections..
I have also been battling a potential auto-immune disorder that is super rare..and super hard to diagnose. I am in the works of seeing a specialist but to find someone who knows about this disorder is proving to be a difficult task. Not to mention if I do get diagnosed the drugs that are involved are pretty hardcore. If I could possibly get all of this under control with only food I would be crazy to not try. If it doesn’t work…well then I know. Throughout all of this I have been getting medical care from my family physician. I am not trying to take matters in my own hands without having a professional looking into my matters. Truth is nothing is working. The book title for Whole 30 says it all…It starts with food.
Aside from the physical effects Whole 30 also really targets the mental. Even natural sugars and sugar substitutes are banned due to the grasp sugar in general. Faux desserts? That’s out too. Even ice cream made of bananas is still giving your brain this idea that you’re having ice cram and soothes the anxiety you may have from eliminating your ‘treats’. I most definitely have an addiction to sugars and sodas. Even though I switched to diet long ago I still can’t get through a day feeling like I need it. Our bodies don’t need chocolate cake, soda, candy, bread etc.
My hopes for Whole 30
Better sleep – I have used a sleep aid every night for years
Control my auto-immune disorder – Have you ever had a canker sore? Now imagine having 20 of them at the same time.
That’s what happens to me during a flare up. I can’t eat, drink, talk and it totally ruins my sleep even worse.
Reduce Headaches – I pop Aleve like its candy
Reduce sinus infections – I have chronic sinusitis. I have been told my body attacks the good bacteria in my nose..
to me that also sounds like auto-immune
Fix how I think about food – I cannot go a day without a diet dr pepper or a piece of chocolate
Lose weight – Not my main focus but it will be a definite bonus!
Keep checking back..I plan on showing my food diary daily. With it being summer I may get busy and end up putting a few days into one post but I will do my best to keep up daily. Also I would like to make as many of them as I can video blogs. I want to prove to you all that I didn’t die 😉