Year after year after year I have promised myself that I would make better choices for my body. And year after year after year I don’t. And how much of the time do we guilt ourselves because of that failure? I know I’m horrible about that. Pair that with any negative self-talk or talk from others about your failures and it can be a recipe for disaster. Follow me to learn more about my “Whole 30” making changes or making excuses journey.
I’m here to say to you right now. STOP! You have the opportunity to do something different if it’s what you want.
The American Diet Disease
We know, in general, that the American Diet is a disaster. Foods that keep us sick, foods that keep us dependent on our failing medical system, and prescription drugs. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about prescriptions that deal with things that we have no control over. But I’m talking about prescriptions that can be eliminated by being a healthier version of yourself.
I recently watched a video about a guy who was a whole foods connoisseur who decided to eat processed food and sugars for 30 days. I already knew that eating the processed junk and sugar in our diets is making us sick. But this man went to eating processed snacks (chips, crackers, cookies, pastries, juice, processed sugars, processed meats, you get the idea) and it altered his brain. The signals that are processed when we are full or when we are hungry have shifted. So he found himself eating more and more frequently. He was never satisfied. It was the same pathways that addicts have. Our food system is making us crave more of the junk and chemicals. And like many addictions, it is making us sick. On top of that, he gained a bunch of belly fat, started having joint and muscle aches, was tired all of the time, and began experiencing digestive issues and depression. All from changing his diet!
Now I’ve known all of this for years. Has it made me change anything in my life? For a short while yes. Then I fell back into the same addictive traps of eating all the foods making me sick and I continued to make excuse after excuse like:
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- I’ll start a new diet tomorrow
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- It’s not that big of a deal what I’m eating
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- My fatigue and pain aren’t because of food it’s because I’m older
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- My digestive issues are because of something else
The list goes on. And while I can’t 100% say that changing my eating habits will “fix” everything I have been going through, I would say it can’t hurt. So today I’m choosing change over excuses.
I will be starting the Whole 30 plan. What is that? Well for those of you, like myself, with inflammation and IBS, it follows the low FODMAP eating which requires eliminating common triggers that cause digestive and systemwide inflammation. For 30 days you eat (basically what we should be eating) whole foods such as meat, most vegetables, healthy fats, and some fruit. By eliminating common triggers of inflammation such as sugar, processed meats (bacon, luncheon meats, jerky, and meat sticks), any boxed or processed foods, dairy, and legumes (beans lentils, etc.) And then once the 30 days are over and you’ve allowed your body to recover from inflammation-causing foods, you get to “reintroduce” things like dairy and legumes, etc. The idea, however, is that you stay with eating healthy foods and stay off of a processed standard American diet. In the process, you may discover that a common inflammation food is what is causing you to feel poorly or making your body react.
30-Day Journey To Health
I will be documenting my 30-day journey here for anyone interested in following along. I’m curious to find out if it helps with how I’ve been feeling and some of my current issues:
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- IBS
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- Brain Fog
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- Chronic Fatigue
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- Moderately High Blood Pressure
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- High Cholesterol
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- Overweight
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- High Body Fat Percentage
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- Poor sleep
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- Weakness
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- Sore joints and muscles
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- Nausea
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- Gas/Bloating
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- Low Mood or “down” days
I think that covers most of the things though I’m sure there are those things I don’t even realize I deal with but these are the most annoying or most concerning when it comes to health.
Interested in your own journey with WHOLE 30? Check Out Their Website
