If you remember, way back in October, a long time ago, right I said I would never do the Whole 30 Challenge. I set the Whole 30 goal in early October because the cool bloggers were doing it. Well, I’m halfway serious about that, and the little I knew about it at the time, eliminating the remaining bad things out of my diet wouldn’t be too bad. I failed after 6 hours the first time. I didn’t want to eliminate anything and I really didn’t have any reasons too.

What is the Whole 3o Challenge you ask?

Well, back then I just had a general overview of it. For all the details, click but for a summary, read on to this condensed version that I took from the Whole9life.com website.

Our Whole30 program, as outlined as taken from Eat real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. Don’t worry… these guidelines are outlined in extensive detail in our free . More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life. Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. Do not consume alcohol or tobacco products Do not eat grains. Do not eat legumes. Do not eat dairy. Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. Do not eat white potatoes.  In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk foodchoices. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say, “Paleo pizza.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no coconut-flour pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely. Yowza! Sounds like a lot! I didn’t think I needed this because I ate clean. But I do eat cheese, drink wine, have yogurt, gluten free oats, honey, maple syrup, some butter cream frosting on my paleo coconut muffins. Get the picture? Seems I am addicted to sugar. There is no denying it and never has been, even when I gave up after 6 hours. At that time, I really didn’t get all of the reasoning behind this and what it would do for ME if I stuck with it. The thought of doing it was out of mind until the mail arrived this Saturday, and this was in it. I requested to review a a while backas part of being a Ambassador, but at the time, I didn’t connect the book to Whole30 until it arrived. I started to read this on Sunday and couldn’t put it down. It stated everything I have wondered about my allergies on paper!  Perhaps my body is constantly under a state of chronic inflammation due to the sugar and dairy, thus causing a “leaky” gut syndrome where bacteria, toxins and food leak out of the intestines and is absorbed into the blood-stream?   Once it is absorbed, it is attacked by the immune system causing an allergic reaction.   What if I reduced the state of chronic inflammation, or even eliminated it?  Would my allergies disappear?  What about my back pain?  The tendonitis in my sprained foot that is much better, but still? Another intriguing piece of info I have gleaned so far from the book is that if you ditch the sugar and fuel your body with fat it will be very efficient in burning fat during low intensity activities.  Like 90% of the day, sitting behind a desk andheck, even a marathon is a low intensity activity for me when compared to interval training or shorter race distances. Now that would be awesome! So, needless to say even though I stocked up on yogurt and cheese at the market this past weekend.  There was no doubt in my mind after reading what I did that I was going to start this Monday and complete the 30 day challenge.  Granted, I thought I was crazy, and until a Twitter discussion earlier today, I wasen’t sure I was going to tell anyone.  Truthfully I was scared I would fail again.  What if I get stressed and have some wine?  What if I’m really craving sugar and have some honey.  If I don’t tell anyone I’m doing this, it wont matter if I quit.  Right? The Tweets went down like this: So thankful for my real and online friends in keeping it REAL and HONEST!  They motivate me in ways I would never experience without this blog! Alright, so here I am.  Proclaiming to the world that I am doing the Whole30 starting November 26, 2012 andending December 25, 2012 at NOON!  Considering it is Christmas, I’m ending a bit early, but we will see how things go when I get to that point.  Will l want a cookie, wine, cheese?  Who knows, but for now that is the plan and it is only cutting about 6 hours to the deadline since I don’t usually eat late at night. Work with me as it gives me a glimmer of hope. I want to document my reasons for doing Whole30: I believe I have chronic inflammation that is certainly not helping my allergies – both environmental and food.  Not to mention my back pain and frequent injuries.  No amount of sugar or alcohol or cheese is worth these allergies, especially the life threading ones.  Now, I am not expecting to eat peanuts on day 31.  Just to make it clear, but I do hope to stop being so darn sensitive to everything and prevent new ones. Knowledge is power, I barely scratched the surface of the information that “It Starts with Food” contains.  But, really, do I want these foods messing with myhormones?  No To get rid of my afternoon slump that is most likely brought on by my honey in my oatmeal or maple syrup in my coffee. Because I do believe I have the chronic inflammation, I want to get it under control before it damages my body.  I ask a lot of my body in training and running, it deserves the respect for me to stop poisoning it all the time. My Goals for Whole30: To stick with it and get over the rough patches by reaching out to others who have been there.  Several friends and fellow bloggers have done this and there is an awesome support forum on Whole9life.com Document what I eat on Myfitnesspal.com to make sure I am getting enough calories and a good balance of fats, protein and carbs. Reduce inflamation No more cravings for sugar No more mid-day slump A solid, restful sleep each night Clear Skin So, let’s see.  The worst that can happen is I eat healthy?  Right?  Bare with me if I get cranky (as I am today after no sugar since Sunday) and let’s see how I do! Haveyou attempted Whole30 or are you doing it now?   **Disclamer: I received a copy of It Starts with Food By Dallas & Melissa Hartwig to review from the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am not required to participate in the Whole 30 plan. Do not start any diet or exercise program without consulting a doctor. This post and blog are about me and my experiences and thoughts only and are not to be taken as advice.   Like this: Like Loading...