chrstphrgould

A Whole30 is an eating plan designed to break the habit and/or addiction to certain foods that do unpleasant things to the body. You can read all the official words about the program here, but it's related to what is commonly known as Paleo. The goal is to exclude the following from one's diet for 30 days (or more):

• * Processed sugars: sugar, all the various manufactured sugars such as HFCS, natural sugar substitutes (honey, agave), artificial sugar substitutes (aspartame, etc.);
• * Grains: white, rice, barley, corn, quinoa, etc.
• * Alcohol
• * Legumes: beans, chickpeas, peanuts

Why am I doing this? Two big reasons:

1. 1. Weight: I currently weigh about 350 lbs. I have weighed over 300 pounds for over 5 years. It's taking a toll on my body. I can feel it - daily - in my knees, ankles, and chest. I can no longer lie comfortably in my bed. I cannot easily sit down on or get up from the floor. It really sucks. On a less physical level, my weight affects my appearance which keeps me out of the dating scene and limits the sort of roles I am cast in in shows. My weight negatively affects my self-confidence, so I fill myself with a false, overbearing confidence just to function.
2. 2. Blood sugar: Thanks to my weight, I now have Type 2 diabetes. I was first diagnosed about three years ago. Instead of managing my condition on diagnosis, I went into denial for two years. I have been actively managing for about a year. For the last several months, my blood sugar has been out of the normal range. It fluctuates, but I cannot seem to get it down to normal (140 or less).

I tried a Whole 30 once before. I lasted 6 days. It's hard to eat like this. But I also know that the only time I have successfully lost weight in the last five years is the few weeks I spent following Primal Blueprint, a diet similar to Whole30, with allowances for dark chocolate and red wine. I don't like red wine and don't want to eat the chocolate because of the sugar.

I also know a lot of people who do Whole 30. I have several friends who just came off of one and I have a few that are in various stages of them, so I know I have company and support if I need them.

There are other things I hope to accomplish during the Whole30, such as exercising daily ad regulating my sleep schedule, but I am only committing myself to two things: sticking to the Whole30 and writing about it here. At the very least, I will post my daily weight and fasting blood sugar. I hope also to post my meals, how I'm feeling, etc.

I want to give a shout-out to my inspiration, and one of my personal heroes, Stephanie over at A Deliberate Pace. Stephanie is the person who introduced me to Whole30 (and convinced me to attend my first yoga class in years). She has many cool things to say about her own journey, plus she posts recipes, which I probably will not do.