Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Embarking on a New Journey - Day 1

So yesterday marked the first day of the Whole 30 Challenge James and I have decided to commit to for the month of October.  We've both been on a sort of plateau for about three months now.  After a lot of initial progress, we've both stalled at loosing weight and body fat, as well as improving athletic performance.  In short, we've been trying to out run and out lift our diet.  Not to say we eat poorly - compared to the average American, our diet is immaculate, there's just definitely room for improvement.    Enter the Whole 30.

If you haven't read It Starts With Food, you really should consider it.  It's foundations are in the paleo diet, but it has a lot of merit for anyone who leads an active lifestyle.  While the program is a bit extreme, the way the authors breakdown the "science-y stuff", as they call it, helps us average humans understand the way our bodies (and our brains) respond to certain foods without having a degree to biochemistry.

The foundation of the program is to eliminate all processed foods, added sugars and gluten from your diet.  The biggest transition from a paleo-friendly diet being that now all forms of sugar (with the exception of fruit) are off limits - no honey, no maple syrup, no agave, no stevia, nada.  The general idea being, even though our bodies process these sweeteners differently, we still perceive them as sugar in our minds.  One of the goals of the Whole 30 is to change your perception of foods and ultimately, why you're choosing to consume them.

Over the next 30 days, you get to come on our journey with us.  I'll share some of our meal prepping ideas, recipes and just overall feedback on how the program is going for us. While it may or may not inspire you to attempt your own Whole 30 experience, I hope it at least helps you think a little bit more in-depth about what you're eating everyday.

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