I am so excited to start my Whole30 tomorrow!
When my friend started hers in April I thought it was crazy. (sorry, I don't think you're crazy now!)
But my second semester of pregnancy was over Valentine's Day and one day at Walmart there was a stand in the isle that had those heart shaped cakes.
I bought a box.
And Kacie never stopped craving them.
Ever since then, I am addicted to sugar. Between a giant belly, a nursing baby, sleepless nights and hours spent in a chair, I just kept grabbing the easiest thing to eat.
I've been trying to get over this problem for months now. And once I actually looked into the Whole30 some more, I realized that it is legit!
Everything you need to know about the program is on the website, for free! There are no supplements, no secret formulas, no extra costs to do this program.
"This is not a 'diet' - we eat as much as we need to maintain strength, energy and a healthy body weight. We aim for well-balanced nutrition, so we eat both plants and animals. We get all the carbohydrates we need from vegetables and fruits, while healthy fats like avocado, coconut, and olive oil provide us with another excellent source of energy."
I mean, yes, there are extra guides that cost money; their book It Starts With Food and I believe there are a few emails that you can sign up for, but it's basically just two people sharing their journey to health!
Getting the book though was the best thing. It really changed my view on food.
"The food you eat either makes you more healthy or less healthy. Those are your options."
I mean, I always knew food was healthy or not, but I never thought of food making me healthy. It is always worded as "eat this or that because it is healthy" but I need to think of it as "eat this or that because it will make you healthy"
I had heard of the Paleo diet but I also thought that sounded crazy. I think part of it is that I don't think I have food allergies. I know that eating bad makes me lethargic and lazy, but I never really feel sick.
As a side note, I am really interested to see if I feel better than I ever have because I don't know any different, but I really don't think I have many food allergies.
Anyway, I just love what they say about the Paleo diet:
"We are far more concerned with health than we are with history. We aren't recommending meat and vegetables because we think that's what our ancestors ate; we don't say cheesecake is a poor choice because cavemen didn't eat cheesecake; and we're certainly not about to debate wether any one food is 'technically Paleo." While the Paleo diet is backed by solid scientific research, we generally don't get all hung up on what Paleolithic man may or may not have eaten. We care about what is making us, here and now, more or less healthy. And we suspect that's what you care about too."
Maybe it's just me, but that really makes sense.
I went grocery shopping!
I bought a lot of (probably) yummy stuff!
I am nervous to try some new things. My taste buds are so messed up that I know my body is going to think some of the stuff I am feeding it is terrible.
But I am going to get through! I'm just planning on the first two weeks being pretty tough!
I hear towards the end you don't snack as much. but in the beginning, I think I am going to want to!
So I made some fruit leather!
It was my first time making it so it didn't turn out great.
But it was tasty! (don't worry, there's still some left)
Kyle and I are going to take before and after pictures. We are going to weigh ourselves (I had to buy a scale because we didn't even own one!). We are going to record our blood sugar and our blood pressure. And last we are going to take measurements, not exactly sure what but there will be measurements.
I am doing this mainly for my sugar addiction - have I mentioned that yet?
I am also looking for improvement in energy. I get up at the same time-ish everyday but I feel sleepy and if I have to get up earlier, it's a pain. I don't want to sit around all day anymore, I want to get out and let Kacie get her energy out. My next babies will not start walking at 9 months. Not that it will really matter because I already have Kacie, but man she is always on the go!
I feel like I don't digest my food easily, and my metabolism could be more efficient.
Sometimes there is a weird squirmy (that sounds super gross) feeling in my stomach. Like there is a baby in there but there definitely is not! -I said my stomach guys!
Since Kacie was born my back has been hurting and I am interested in seeing if it goes away. I think if I lose weight I will see several of my uncomfortable-ness disappear. I am definitely not doing this to lose weight, I just want to be healthy and if I lose weight then FANTASTIC! Because my clothes are tight and my boobs are big.
I also have had this weird problem on my legs. It's not eczema (every doctor has said it's not.) It's almost like I am allergic to the hair on my legs. Like if I don't shave everyday then my legs just itch soooo bad. No one has had any solutions to this and it's been almost 4 years. After Kacie was born, I didn't have this problem for a few months. But it's back again. And I want it gone.
Lastly in the book it talks about people with seasonal allergies that are gone. I about died this year from my allergies so I would love for them to disappear!
Kyle is doing this for a few of the same reasons as me.
He wants more energy. Between work and school he is always on the go or needing to be doing homework. And he wants to work out more, which requires getting up in the morning, which requires more energy.
He is interested to see how this would effect his ADD and attention span.
He also has acid reflux. It's already known that food is the problem. He is interested to add things back in and see what exactly effects his body.
He also feels like the digestion process could be better and his metabolism more efficient.
He also just told me that one day a few months ago it felt like his lungs were collapsing. So let's just hope that never happens again.
The main reason he is doing it is to support me. So that's sweet!
Well, we took our pictures, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar. We measured necks, chests, rib cage, belly button, hips,bums, thighs, calfs and Kyle's bicep - boys, right?
We are really looking forward to this challenge and mostly for the results! Not the physical results, the feeling better results!
I've got a new menu board hung up and our motivational poster!
We are so ready to do this. It's been 2 weeks of anxiously preparing.
WE GOT THIIIIIIIS!!!!
