Whole 30

I recently read It Starts With Food, by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.  I first decided to borrow it from the library, but after reading it, purchased my very own copy that I am still in the process of highlighting.  Awesome, awesome book!  It is basically paleo-in-a-nutshell and scrapes the surface of all the important topics and the science behind them.  They promote their Whole30 program, which basically is one month straight, clean eating, full-paleo, ZERO cheating.  This means: lots of vegetables, grass fed/pastured meats and eggs, some fruit, some nuts, and plenty of healthy fats.  Absolutely NO: grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol, sweeteners (artificial or otherwise).  I also threw in for myself, no dark chocolate and no coffee.  I wanted to break the caffeine addiction, but not only that, I cannot drink my coffee black, which means the inclusion of dairy, a no-no.  They go into the reasons why these things are not healthy for you, so if you are interested, I highly recommend the book or doing your own research, as this post is not about the specifics.  :)

Ryan and I decided to do a Whole 30 for the month of October!  We already eat VERY clean, but had become a little too dependent on coffee, wine, and cheese.  We did very well at only having one glass of wine once per week before, but had somehow gradually increased to 3-4 glasses per week.  And our once considered occasional cheat, cheese, had become way to mainstream in our diet.  Who can have wine without cheese?!  But then we found ourselves having hunks of it here and there without the wine.

Coffee.  That warm, delicious, temptress in the chilly waking hours.  Eek.  Clearly I have a problem.  Dallas and Melissa hit on why addictions are so unhealthy for us, with regard to altering our state of mind and making us crave more.  Caffeine is a drug and it is addictive.  As was our wine and cheese habit.  The more we had, it seemed the more we wanted.  Very unhealthy.  So our goal is to get back to a place where wine/cheese is a special occasion treat and not a weekly Costco size bottle and brick that we devour.  Because let's face it, we are human (and we can fully admit that it won't make us healthier but that it tastes good and we deserve a treat every now and again).  I got some sage advice from my uncle (which now I wish I had taken), who weaned himself off his coffee habit very gradually and suffered no ill effects.  What did I do?  Well,  instead of my two cups in the morning, I decided to have 3-4 in the days leading up to our Whole30.  I wasn't going to have coffee for a whole month and I would miss it, of course!  Boy, did I regret that decision.  On the first day, I was so tired, crabby and my head pounded for 24hrs straight.  It literally hurt to laugh.  The second day was better in the morning and I thought I was home free, but the headache returned that afternoon.  Third day was the same as the second.  On the fourth day I was home free.  Whew!  I am still missing it (obviously), but I am unsure if it is the ritual or the caffeine hit that I was addicted to more.  Perhaps both.  And I am not unrealistic, I know I will have coffee again, but I would like to take a different approach.  Whatever it takes to not be addicted, so I will have to do some experimenting with frequency of days per week, amount, etc.  And whenever I find myself desiring to increasing that amount, I will do another Whole30.

So here are the four basic guidelines of the Whole30 Program:

1. Eat foods that make you more healthy - meat, seafood and eggs, lots of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of healthy fats.

2. Do NOT consume any added sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, or dairy.

3. Do NOT attempt to recreate junk foods or desserts by using "approved" ingredients.

4. Do NOT step on the scale for the entirety of your program.

We are currently half way through!  We have been very good and have not fallen off track.  Like I said, we pretty much eat this way every day, so it wasn't that challenging.  We would only have small amounts of raw honey or pure maple syrup once in awhile.  The only real change has been cutting out the cheese (rBST free), wine, and coffee (for me).  And although we have been tempted, neither of us has step foot on the bathroom scale!  Because it's not about the number -- it's about truly eating for health and nourishment and acquiring a better relationship with food.  Another couple of weeks and we will weigh in and post about the end of our Whole30 and how we feel, what we accomplished, and what, if anything, we will add back into our diets.  However, I think I can say with certainty, that I will be enjoying a cup of coffee just as SOON as humanly possible!