I don’t want this blog to turn into one of those self righteous diet and exercise blogs that, frankly, leave me feeling inadequate and undisciplined. But I do want to tell you about the eating experiment I’m doing on myself because it’s working, it feels good and, did I mention, it feels good.
Many of you have probably heard of the “clean eating”/ Whole30 program. Well, I’m on week three and thought I’d report out.
Although it’s called Whole30, it has nothing to do with Whole Foods, except that you are compelled to eat real, whole food– the old fashioned kind that have ingredients that are real fruits, veggies, spices rather than chemical compounds you just know can’t be that good for you. When asked, I tell my friends that you can have almost anything in the meat, fruit and vegetable category (organic, of course). Those are your sections of the grocery store. Forget the rest, there’s nothing there for you.
Sounds pretty restrictive, huh? No dairy, no grain, no legumes, no sugar or sugar substitutes of any kind. My addiction to sugar substitutes prompted this change. And if I exit this experience with nothing more than a reduced dependence on them, I’ll be happy. Sweet & Low is not my friend, but I can’t resist her charms.
So black coffee isn’t much fun, but I’m loving my exploration of flavored teas. It takes prep work and thought, because you can’t use vegetable or canola oil for cooking (only olive or avocado) so you have to be careful eating out. But thank God there is a hearty community of loyalists who have already pinned the best recipes, restaurants and even shopping lists from Trader Joe’s.
I’m discovering what’s really in the foods I’m eating and let me tell you, it ain’t pretty. The food industry is sneaking corn syrup, soybean oil and other chemicals in everywhere. I’ve seen that on documentaries like Food, Inc and Fed Up, but it took me ten minutes to find a single salsa that was just tomato, peppers, spices, etc. Wow.
Results? Everyone wants to hear about results. You aren’t supposed to weigh yourself during the 30 days but, of course, I have and I’ve lost some. I have to say the real benefit is pyschologic cause I feel good about eating good. And there is zero hunger. That helps. Lots of good fats like nuts and sweet things like fruit galore. How else could I walk past the Girl Scout cookies and pick through the super bowl snack buffet?
I haven’t yet gotten the huge energy boost many tout and I don’t think I’m really sleeping any differently, but I do feel good. So good, I’m contemplating carrying on with this for a while longer. Given my diet history, that is itself a miracle.
Bon apetite!
Boonedoggler 