Why Whole30? Why the blog?

​Hmm... where to begin?

Let's start off with one well-known fact about me (seriously, ask my grandmother): I have one SERIOUS sweet tooth. As far back as I can remember, I have loved sugar in all its delicious forms. Now into adulthood, this is becoming a little more troubling than it used to be.

Example: After a normal, mostly healthy dinner, my brain says, "Ok, now give me a treat." This could be ice cream (a personal favorite), cookies, candy, you name it. I am hardwired to crave sugar.

Enter: The Whole30. And the blog.

What is the Whole30?

This question could honestly take me three days to answer, but ain’t nobody got time for that. So, to directly quote the creators of the program, “Think of the Whole30 like pushing the ‘reset’ button with your health, your habits, and your relationship with food.” (This comes from page 2 of the book you see below. Basically, it’s the Whole30 bible.)

The Whole30 is a lifestyle change; it is not a fad diet or a weight-loss program.

Essentially, it’s a science experiment with my body. For the next 30 days (starting on July 26), I will eat real, whole, nutrient-dense food, and after it’s over, I’ll get to experiment with some of those troublesome foods again to see which ones have a negative impact on my cravings, energy, health, etc.

While I’d like to mostly focus on what good things I’ll be eating and drinking, I’m sure someone is wondering, “Ok, cool. What can’t you eat?” Fair question. Read on…

These are the program rules. (30 days. No cheating allowed. Not even for special occasions.)

No added sugar (real or artificial). No alcohol (yeah, I know). No grains. No legumes. No dairy (later, cheese). No carrageenan, MSG, or added sulfites. No recreating baked goods or junk foods with approved ingredients. No stepping on the scale or taking measurements.

So, why the blog?

The blog is mostly here to hold myself accountable to the requirements of the 30-day program since I'm going at this alone. And, I figured if anyone else is curious about what it looks like day in and day out, well... here it is. Ideally, on each post, I will describe what I ate for each meal, any exercise I did that day, and generally how I’m feeling (groggy, awesome, hungry, whatever). I also plan to include posts about weekly grocery hauls as well as weekly recaps so that the information is more condensed.

Well, that’s all for now. If you've gotten this far, THANK YOU!!!

TL;DR: I’m trying to break my sugar cravings, and I’m doing the Whole30. This blog will follow my Whole30 journey.