30 Whole Days

It's no secret that nutrition has become a huge part of my life. The last three years I've been living on a moderated diet that excluded things like caffeine, gluten and fast food. There was a period of time as I was helping my body heal from several different things that I was even stricter than that. MUCH stricter. That temporary diet was never meant to be a lifelong crazy thing I had to uphold forever. When I got pregnant and when I was nursing, I felt the pressure to eat enough calories to keep my body/baby/milk supply functioning so I started getting further and further away from my recommended food plan.

This year I have mostly avoided gluten (but still ate it sometimes) and didn't really try too hard with sugar (eating it daily- most foods you eat have added sugar in them). It struck me last night that it's November. 2015 is almost over and I've gone a full year of not following my program. I know I still eat better than a lot of people, but I haven't been taking my auto-immune disease and my treatment plan seriously. I'm disappointed in myself, but I also know that this year my attention and focus has been needed other places, more than just what's on my dinner plate.

So I've been thinking a lot about what my next plan is going to be. How do I get back on track? How do I make that track realistic and doable for me? I'm still trying to figure it all out, but I have decided to dedicate the next 30 days to really focusing and trying.

Why 30 days? Because in 31 days my butt will be on a beautiful Mexico beach with my sexy husband and that sounds like a pretty good reward, doesn't it? If I can do really well and restart my behavior with food for 30 days, then on day 31 I think I will be able to enjoy my week long vacation a little more.

So I'm going back to my old rules, which means my thoughts and behaviors are going to revolve around that for a while. And that's OK. I think it's OK to sometimes take a moment and be selfish about your health. Forget that it might inconvenience others or take time/energy away from other worthy things. I think right now in my life, this thing is worthy.

I've never done the Whole30 program, and I don't plan on making my next 30 days a technical "whole30". I will be eating beans and quinoa (because we all know how much I LOVE quinoa). But many of my restrictions line up with the rules of Whole30. No added or processed sugar. No grains. Protein and veggies at every meal. I plan on having a little dairy in my diet which Whole30 doesn't allow.

So who cares? Probably no one. But I'm writing it down and sharing it with all of you so I hold myself accountable. I have done this before, and it was even harder because I was sick and my body was trying to heal.  I'm not doing this to lose weight or feel better about my body. I love my body right now and I'm proud of it. I'm healthy now, and I know this will just make me feel even better.

I stumbled across a blog where the girl documented what she ate every day during her Whole30 process and it was so helpful for me to have that visual! I'm going to have a weekly update of what my meals looked like, and how I am feeling. Again, mostly for me to have a reason to keep track. During my treatment program I had a doctor who I talked to every single week and he held me accountable. I'm hoping this plan helps me the same way he did!

So sit back and read my journey- or don't! I'm sure there will be plenty of other baby-filled posts to keep you occupied!