A new way of life.

A few things happened around me recently that set off an amazing chain of events that I know I will be so grateful for in the future.

1) I started to care about my level of fitness.

2) A good friend of mine turned 30 and embraced it as a welcome new beginning, not a negative.

(Today is my 29th birthday.)

3) Curiosity finally got the best of me and I researched the paleo diet*.

[* I say diet as in this is the food I eat, not diet as in I'm going on a diet.]

Off the recommendation of my favorite paleovangelist I read The Paleo Coach which I felt like was directed at me personally. Hungry for more I picked up It Starts with Food where I found concepts that made so much sense to me that I have purchased several copies of the book to gift to loved ones. 

After suffering my entire life with digestive issues I finally feel like I'm doing something right. I feel like a million bucks. I also don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Now there's something I must mention, if I hadn't spent the last few months investing so much time into my body fitness wise I'm not sure how I would have taken to changing my eating habits. After seeing what my body is capable when I push it I have so much respect for it and myself. This is a mindset that it took me almost 29 years to come by, before that any dietary changes I tried to make never stuck for long.

I'm a very all or nothing person, I have trouble with grey areas so I decided that if I was going to go paleo than I was going to go all the way. Enter the whole 30 challenge. Created by the authors of It Starts with Food it's been the perfect spring board for me. Their tough love attitude hooked me right away. What jumped right off of the pages for me was this:

Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here).” This is for you.

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.

Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no “slip”. You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program 100% for the full 30 days. Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.

You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no (or make your Mom proud and say, “No, thank you”). Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your sister’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company picnic does not mean you have to eat anything. It’s always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade.

This does require a bit of effort. If you’re cutting out grains, legumes and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your nutrients are plentiful, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. You’ll have to figure out what to eat for lunch, how to order at a restaurant and how often you’ll need to grocery shop. We’ve given you all the tools, guidelines and resources you’ll need, but take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health and fitness doesn’t happen automatically just because you’re now taking a pass on bread.

You can do this. You’ve come too far to back out now. You want to do this. You need to do this. And we believe that you can do this. So stop thinking about it, and start doing. Right now, this very minute, tell someone that you are starting the Whole30. Tell your spouse, tell your best friend, commit on ourWhole30 forum and prove to us – and yourself – that you are committed.

It is exactly the way I need to be spoken to when I'm feeling receptive and I've soaked it all up like a sponge. I care so much about this and have let it become so important to me that I stayed on the program during my birthday, where we had a celebration at a bar because I planned ahead and I don't need to consume alcohol or eat crap "food" to have a good time. 

So be prepared because I have many new recipes to share with you!