"Focus on Health, Not History" - a Whole9 outlook

First, a little update on my life. Choosing to do the Whole30 right now was serendipitous!! Could not have come at a better time, and I didn't even know it. Weighing in at 127 (did some damage control after a bad weekend). The Whole30 is going to help stop me from having a few drinks and eating junk I shouldn't on the weekends.... which will mean no weight gain on the weekends and nothing to do damage control on! I can just get back to 123ish and rock it out.

Also, however, I AM MF-ING SICK. Seriously. Chris had to take time off work last week and miss a party because he was sick (fever, cough, sore throat, etc). I thought I had escaped it, but no. Yesterday started a sore throat and a rumbling congested sound when I breathed. MMMMM. Delightful.

But what better medicine than shoving a bunch of nutritious, clean, simple food into my body and avoiding alcohol and things that inflame my body (inflammation means my body is fighting the food, not the sick germs!)? NOTHING.

Going on with business like usual, but at a chill pace to make sure I don't exacerbate the sickness.

Onto why I am loving the Whole9/Whole30 approach even more than when I did it last time!!

It's the basic paleo approach, but without any of the focus on the "paleolithic" part of it. It is a way of eating food to focus on health - eating things that help and fuel and heal your body, not hurt it.

Definitely take a look!

From the Whole9 Website:

"Our recommendations are based around the framework of a Paleo Diet, with a focus on health, not history.

We eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts and seeds. We choose foods that were raised, fed and grown naturally, and foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.

This is not a “diet” – we eat as much as we need to maintain strength, energy, activity levels and a healthy body weight. We aim for well-balanced nutrition, so we eat animals and a significant amount of plants.

Eating like this has helped us to look, feel, live and perform our best, and reduces our risk for a variety of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.

....

Sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes and dairy are all food groups that have significant potential down sides, and may not contribute positively to your health.

The more you eliminate these “less healthy” foods from your everyday diet, the healthier you will be.

However, you don’t have to eat perfect 100% of the time to have and maintain excellent health."

I am very, very excited to get back to this way of eating. I am hoping that it will improve my energy levels and skin health, as well as help me maintain my goal weight. I know all of these things will happen if I can commit to this.

I like that they are honest about not ALWAYS eating 100% perfect, but maintain that the more you eat whole, healing, good foods - the better you will feel. I don't like feeling like a failure if I have a glass of wine, but I like implementing a healthy life in which I don't drink 4 - 5 glasses of wine at a time or even every week.

Also from the site:

"We want you to use the Whole30 as a learning tool to gain awarenessof how the foods you used to eat were actually affecting how you look, feel, live and perform.

And then we want you to carry that awareness forward, and use your experience to change the way you eat for the rest of your life."

Onwards and Upwards!