whole30

New Year, new resolutions. Last year we wanted to eat better (which basically meant eat at home more, I guess) and it lasted for a minute but it's so easy to think intentionally but another to actually live and act intentionally. And so I slacked on grocery shopping and we ate out far, far too much and ate bad things a lot because bad things are easy for some "the universe is seriously stupid" reason.

So, a few months ago I heard about whole30 and I was intrigued but mostly to the point of, "You've got to be kidding me with that. Pass me that diet coke and take5 candy bar. I'll watch these crazies crash and burn from the comfort of comfort foods."

Basically, you can read more about it here but we're going to change our eating lifestyle by removing processed foods from our diet. AND dairy. AND grains. AND faux grains. AND legumes. AND corn. AND sugar. AND alcohol.

I mean, the list is intimidating and daunting. I can eat healthy but my healthy eating includes dairy in the form of cheese and soy beans and quinoa and it starts small and suddenly is spiraling off into stuffed mushrooms and shrimp drenched in butter and so much candy and sugar and processed food that I cannot even begin to see where I stepped off the "healthy eating" trail anymore.

At first I was super intimidated by even the thought of trying it out. I mean, it's 30-days and in the grand scheme of things that's basically a minute. But, no sugar for an entire month? I one time was going to not eat sugar for a week and couldn't do it. No lattes? No ice cream? No Moscow Mules? No wheat beer?

Well. Impossible.

And then a few weeks ago I started getting really sick. I would eat something sweet and would have the worst stomach ache a minute later. It didn't matter what kind of sugar I ate or how much. I was constantly complaining of stomach aches and finally realized it coincided with my sugar intake. So, I feel like this decision to start eating better isn't a decision that was put into my life by chance but that also God is telling me to take better care of the body he gave me.

I researched it and read stories from people who had done it and succeeded and had changed their entire lives and I was basically sold. I showed Evan one picture and he was sold. He's lucky because he eats better for one week and drops ten pounds. I'm really glad that he's willing to do this with me because, you know, strength in numbers.

So. We started today (had to obviously wait until after the holidays because my mom's carmel corn. Duh.) and the most intimidating part for me was meal planning. I had this idea in my mind that I had to have a specific "meal" every time we ate. I guess I needed approval that what I was cooking under the Whole30 name was indeed okay. And then Evan went and cooked up some chicken, peppers and cauliflower and added some spices and I was just like, "DUH. LA." You don't have to pin recipes for 30 days. Which, for some reason, was lost on me for a minute.

Maddox will still have grains and dairy and a little bit of sugar in his diet. He already loved Evan's lunch (proof: he ate all of his and half of mine) and wants to be included in whatever we're eating. I'm not concerned about his diet in the least and am mostly just looking forward to changing the culture of food in our family.