Whole 30 - WHY?

One of my coaches recently told me that she had been having a hard time staying on track lately with her nutrition and has been doing a lot of reading on the Whole30 plan and wanted to give it a try. She asked that I do it with her - and of course I said yes. I love supporting people and I love to challenge myself and try new things.

Now, this isn't really THAT new for me and I'll explain.

I usually try to follow a Paleo-ish nutrition plan. I have studied my body a lot over the last couple years and I've paid very good attention to what my body/gut likes and what it doesn't like. I can tell what makes ME feel healthier and what doesn't.

Do I think that everyone should eat Paleo? No. I think that everyone should eat in a way that makes THEM feel the healthiest.

I know for me - dairy and most grains/legumes severely upset my stomach. So I try to avoid them. Do I always? No. Because bread and cheese is delicious. But when I do indulge, I pay the price.

So how will this Whole30 journey differ from my regular eating? Here is my plan....

1. Absolutely no cheating for 30 days.  No grains and no dairy and no peanut butter (YIKES). The only variation from the Whole30 plan as laid out will be my Shakeology. While I know it violates the rules of Whole30, I really don't care because I firmly believe in the benefits of Shakeology and drinking it daily.

2. No alcohol. I don't drink much - but I do enjoy wine. Before committing to doing the Whole30, I had shared with my accountability group that I would not be drinking for 8 weeks (the duration of my new fitness program) - so this actually was perfect timing. This won't be easy because as I've said....I enjoy wine. But I'm already 12 days in with none, so I can go the distance :) Still a blog to come on the whole alcohol thing....

3. While I always eat with the 21 Day Fix portions/balanced approach - I may not follow the containers exactly throughout this 30 Days. I will eat regularly as we should and listen to my body based on what it needs.

What do I hope to achieve or accomplish from doing this for 30 days?

I know that when I don't eat sugar - I crave it less. I have been reading a book called "Made to Crave" and it really has been personally eye opening for me. I want to view food as something that's mean to fuel my body. Do I think I'm going to have a life-changing experience from following this for 30 days? No - because I already eat very clean and healthy most of the time and I do already know what my body likes and what it doesn't like. But I do think that completely excluding the things I KNOW my body doesn't particularly like - dairy and grains - will make me feel good. And alcohol isn't healthy for any of us. Not physically or emotionally, so time without that is good for anyone.

My life won't change because of this - but I do know that I'll feel amazing. So that's good enough reason for me to do it.

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I know that not everyone may agree with the approach or the theories in the Whole30...and that is totally ok. But I believe in doing things that are healthy for YOU. Those things that are healthy and rewarding for me may be totally different than what works for you.

But I am open to all conversations about this stuff because I love learning. I think we should all support one another no matter what - even if things don't make sense or if we don't agree with someone.

As long as we care about our health - that is the most important thing! Taking care of ourselves on the inside is the most important thing we can do!