I believe that fitness is a lifestyle. I believe everything in moderation is okay. I believe in not starving or depriving yourself and I do not believe in diets.
So I get it that it seems little hypocritical that I am wanting to do something as extreme as the Whole 30.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the Whole 30 is a 30 day nutrition reset that is designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system by eliminating all grains, dairy, sugar, sugar additives, legumes and alcohol…..for 30 days.
So I get it, I definitely sound a little bit hypocritical.
Which is why I wanted to take today to explain why I am doing The Whole 30. Because I do not want you guys to think that I do not practice what I preach. Because I do, I promise! I have been researching this program for probably a year – I kid you not. From the moment I first heard about it, I have been intrigued by it. Intrigued and intimidated. More intimidated than anything. Because of this, I have been putting off the program for a year finding every excuse possible not to do it.
Football Season? Oh sorry Lauren, that’s not a good time for you – you beer at tailgate. It’s your Dads birthday next week? Whoops, better push it back another week. Your friends wedding is coming up? Well, that won’t work.
Ya’ll get the picture. Finally though in the past few weeks, I decided it was time. Actually, while researching the program, yet again, I read this quote from the book that ultimately made the decision for me when I was deciding if it would be too hard or not.
“It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your ‘struggles’.”
Bam. That’s when I decided it was time for me to do it.
What made me initially want to do the Whole 30?
Well, in the past few months, my body has been in a funk. I was drinking more than I should, I was splurging more than I normally do and I was grazing in the kitchen like crazy. I was going down a slippery path that I didn’t like. I was finding myself really struggling with portion control and having one too many of Colton’s girl scout cookies before bed. On top of that, in the past few years, I have had serious stomach issues. Maybe I am gluten intolerant? Maybe it’s the dairy? Who knows, but I am tired guessing and would like to find out for sure. Another thing is the wedding. I do want to kick start my wedding fitness regime in gear and I do want to be in the best shape for our wedding. Like I said above, I have kind of been on a path of being not so healthy and I didn’t want that to continue.
The concept of the Whole 30 is that it takes 30 days to push the reset button on your health and change your relationship with food. That is my end goal. Not to lose a crazy amount of weight, but to change the way I think of food. Change the way I look at my body (because the scale is super off limits in the program too.)
So what can I eat?
Literally all of the vegetables, meat, nuts, fruits and fish that I want. As long as it is real WHOLE foods and is not processed nor has added sugar, it’s okay to have.
What am I the most nervous about?
Not drinking & being social. That will be the hardest part for me. I am also really going to miss my nightly glass of red wine. I hate to say that because I feel like it makes me sound like I have a drinking problem, but I promise that’s not the case.
Final Thoughts
I am really excited for this program and to see my results. To see if it’s true what people say, when they that this program will “change your life.” So far Colton is doing it with me for support… but we will see how long this lasts lol. He literally failed the very first day by having chocolate milk and protein powder…. lol. So lets just go ahead and say that he isn’t going to last long.
Every Tuesday until the end of the program I will be giving you updates on what each day has been like for me, what we have been eating and etc.
If you want to read more about the program, click here. If you want to buy the Whole 30 Book (I did) Click Here!
xo,
Lauren
SHOP THE POST
Good luck! I did a Whole 30 a few years ago with my mom and it was so hard! The hardest part was not drinking and still trying to be social… but I would just get a sparkling water with a lemon and a lime and it was not that weird! I will say i went out less often during that time though but that’s not always a bad thing. Good luck!! You can do it!
I can’t wait to read your thoughts on it. I’ve been in the research phase of it for a year too it seems and I always talk myself out of it. I struggle with cooking and preparing meals in general, which is the most intimidating this for me about it!
Amanda John
http://strawberrychicxo.blogspot.com
good luck!