Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Whole 30

     The Whole 30 program is essentially a reset, a cleansing of all processed foods. A whole foods approach to cleaning the slate. I consider myself a pretty clean/paleo eater, however even I have eaten a few too many non-paleo treats in the past couple months and although I still feel great I know I can feel better once I go strict for a month and clean up my act again. The Whole 30 program (http://whole30.com/about/ )was created by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig who are authors of "It Starts with Food." It is a phenomenal book that delves into the benefits of a simplistic approach to nutrition, eat what is found in nature, food that humans were made to eat, and nothing processed whatsoever. What a concept, you mean eat the food that was put on the planet before processing plants were developed to create and alter food. It is relatively simple, however it can be a struggle for those who struggle with eating for convenience and find themselves turning to the inner aisles of the supermarket for the majority of their grocery shopping. For some it may be I highly suggest doing a Whole 30 if you are thinking of going paleo or just want to clean up your eating habits.
This is not a weight loss diet of any sort, but instead a 30 day path to health and healthy habits. Most people do lose weight however this is not the focus. It is far more important to go into this knowing that at the end of 30 days you will feel healthier, more energized, more focused and all around fantastic. For some coming into this may be harder than others especially if you are coming from a place of eating most of your meals from processed sources. As explained in the book and the Whole30 program you might even experience up to a few days of flu-like symptoms, headaches, nausea and exhaustion, this is quite normal, the body has to process out the toxins and reset for accepting the proper nutrition that it needs.

     At the end of 30 days you will feel amazing and wonder why you hadn't started sooner. With that said I am doing my Whole30 reset beginning today, so all of my recipes posted will be labeled Whole30 approved. I am happy to get rid of the extra little things that have snuck into my daily eating like stevia in my coffee and the occasional dessert. So for the next month the eating is getting clean, super clean....Especially eliminating Dairy and Grains completely! If anyone is interested in learning more about the Whole30 or need a sample meal plan or other ideas please email me any questions. Also if you are doing a Whole30 now post some comments so others can be motivated by your progress. At the minimum give "It Starts With Food,"a good look over its awesome!

2 comments:

  1. I am on day 9 of my Whole30. I was complaining to my sister, Elizabeth Carr, this morning about how bad my cravings are and she sent me here to your site. I'm so excited to try out some of your recipes. Thanks for sharing them!

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  2. Day 9 is awesome ! That is over a week of eating clean :) Yes cravings can sometimes be a pain, but just know that it is because of the toxins leaving you body and you digestive tract repairing itself...I know that seems kind of lame, but so important. One thing that helps me is to make sure that I am never allowing myself to get to the point of starving...A little hunger is ok before a meal, but too much will leave you craving refined carbs...so maybe try increasing your meal sizes a bit...I don't know if you work out hard or what, but sometimes doing too much intense activity can also cause you to crave carbs. If that is the case you might want to dial it back a little with intense cardio, and instead do a lot more walking. Anyways I am glad you found my blog and super excited for your journey! I am on Day 2 of my second Whole 30...its not as bad this time as far as headaches and cravings go...so just know that it does get better :) Lmk if you have any specific questions and I will try to answer them the best I can...

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