Day 10

It's been awhile since I've blogged-  we've had an awesome summer filled with family fun and vacations.  I'm going to work on a big vacation post over the next couple days, but in the meantime wanted to do a quick update with a little project we're working on.

While in MN, we were talking to our friends, Joe and Brooke about a 30 day food challenge/ lifestyle makeover they did.  They managed to convince us that the Whole 30 challenge was worth a try.  (The extra 5 pounds we each brought back from vacation helped convince us too!)

The Whole 30 is based on the Paleo diet, also known as the caveman, primal, or similar names.  The idea is that our genes date back to cavemen, and our bodies are programmed to consume only the foods we can hunt and gather.  Animals and plants.




Basically, the diet is a 30 day "reset" or cleanse for your body.  Remove all possibly inflammatory foods from your diet, let your body heal and then slowly reintroduce thoughtful healthy choices after the 30 days is over.  The tough rules-  no dairy (goodbye cheese and creamy coffee), no grains, no legumes, no sugar, no processed foods for 30 days.  No cheating or the "reset" doesn't work.   Eeek!

The good news is that we can still eat big meals filled with lean proteins-  steak, hamburger, chicken, pork, eggs and eggs and eggs.  Instead of starchy side dishes, we just pile on a big healthy dose of veggies.  I buy a lot of frozen veggies and we've been loving fresh seasonal veggies too.

We're on day 10 of 30.  The sugar/bread cravings are subsiding, and I'm confident we'll make it until the end!

Things I've discovered so far:
10 days in, we both notice a difference.  No weigh-ins until the end, but we both feel noticeably skinnier!
Black coffee is not nearly as good as coffee with a little milk and sugar, but I might be convinced after 20 more days.
Jicama is not a valid substitute for potatoes.  Not the same.  But rutabaga is pretty awesome!