Vacation Plan Part 1: My Whole30

I haven't done one of these in awhile.

Behold!

My Vacation Plan.  And this one is so fancy it's a two-parter :)

Now that I'm off of my "time off" and I'm feeling both great and gross (great because I took a break and gross because, well, I took a break), it's time.

It's time to shift things into high gear because I have a vacation looming in 8 short weeks.

This year my boyfriend and I are traveling back east to go on a beach vacation with some members of my family.  And since it's a beach vacation, we want to try to look our best.  Simple enough right?  It's not my MAIN reason for wanting to lose weight it's just what I like to call a kicker.  Just a little something in the not too distant future to give you motivation to gear up for whatever challenge you have in mind.  You know, something to "kick" things into motion.

I like to think there are 2 main components to being healthy, getting in shape, looking good, losing weight - whatever you want to call it.  Eating healthy and exercising.  So today's portion of the vacation plan is going to center around what I believe to be the most important aspect of weight loss.  Well, not just weight loss but in overall health.

FOOD.

I truly believe food is 80% of the equation of weight loss.  Hell, I'd even agree that number could be even higher.

It's no secret that I think eating whole foods is the way to go.  I've spent this whole year trying to eat only whole foods and heal my gut of some food intolerances I've discovered.  I've actually been quite successful on that front.  For instance, gluten no longer has an immediate detrimental effect on me.  When I say immediate, I mean like in 20 minutes after exposure.  Now it's more like 12 hours.  Oh the effect is still detrimental, but still, it's progress and I'm very happy about it.  It actually has opened up my social life quite a bit.  I used to be scared to go to a restaurant with friends due to the fear of something sneaking into my meal.  Now I feel a little more confident.  Dairy also has gotten better.  I can have it on occasion and within reason.  Soy is still weird.  I think it's more of an allergy but only in certain forms.  I haven't narrowed this one down completely.  I'm not sure I ever will unless I get tested.  I'm not too concerned because I don't eat that much soy anyways.  I really try to stay away from all that GMO madness. 


That all being said, this past 4th of July weekend, my diet managed to include ALL of those things.  I was able to eat them but not without side effects which included:  insidious weight gain, bloating, indigestion, brain fog, gastrointestinal effects, and mild depression.

Yes, gluten actually makes me feel really really bad about myself.  Weird right?  Sometimes I don't even believe that it happens but trust me, it does.

THAT is why I think food is so important.  If food can cause all of those crazy side effects imagine what can happen when you nourish yourself with nothing but the BEST of food.

Which brings me to my Vacation Plan Part 1:  My Whole30.

What's a Whole30?  A very, very short explanation is this:  certain foods can make you feel bad and you shouldn't eat them.  So the Whole30 is a 30 day challenge to eliminate those bad foods to see how awesome you can feel.  For the real deal explanation, read this.

What can you eat?  meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and good fat.


So basically if it isn't one of those things, you're not eating it.

Why am I doing this?

Months ago I bought a book called It Starts With Food .  I like to read a lot about food and nutrition and for whatever reason this book resonated with me.  It's written by the folks who created the Whole30.  As I was reading the book, I was already on my elimination diet, but for whatever reason I kept putting off starting my own Whole30.  I don't really have a reason other than I was scared.


I was already not eating so many foods the thought of eliminating more made me nervous.

It wasn't until I connected with some friends via Facebook who were participating in their own Whole30 challenges that I committed.  In fact, I knew 2 months ago that today was going to be the day I started my Whole30.  So this isn't some spur of the moment decision.  I've actually been planning this for quite some time.

So for the next 30 days it's NO:
sugar (real or fake), dairy, legumes, grains (all including corn), alcohol, processed food of ANY kind, white potatoes, carrageenan, sulfites or MSG.

NOTE:  (If this sounds like something you'd be interested in doing please note that there are some exceptions and specific food instructions so read the full explanation in the link above for clarification.)

 There are also some other points to the plan that don't involve food.  You're not supposed to weigh yourself or take your measurements.  Some may disagree with me but I'm not going to follow the weigh-in rule.  I really enjoy my weekly weigh-in blog posts.  I like the weekly feedback so I will continue with my weekly Friday weigh-ins.

As for measurements, I'll post my starting measurements and pictures in part 2 and won't take them again til the end.

I will also continue to log all of my food in Weight Watchers and calculate my points.

After my 30 days are up, I still will have 24 days until I leave for vacation.  While the Whole30 isn't meant to be a forever kind of plan, the literature suggests that it might take you longer than 30 days to see the effects of this new-found nutrition.   What kind of effects?  Well, tiger blood is mentioned in there somewhere.

For real.

Tiger blood just means that you're going to feel awesome:  more energy, more stamina, great workouts, looser clothes, and cravings should be gone.

In fact, there is a written timeline of what you might experience during your 30 days.
 
So if in 30 days I'm not there yet, it's a definitely possibility that I might extend this challenge.  But I don't want to make any sort of commitment just yet.  I just want to get through the next 30 days.

And yes, in case you're wondering, while I'm very excited, determined and motivated for this particular challenge, I'm still scared.

Today's Menu:
B:  quiche muffin (mushrooms, onion, tomato, sausage)
L:  mushroom soup
D:  broiled salmon + peach salsa