Whole30, let's do this.

It's time to bring in the reins a little.  Even though we eat almost all "whole" real foods at Casa de Bailey, we've gone a little overboard lately with the sweeteners {even natural ones like maple syrup and honey}, smoothies choc full of fruit, and "healthy" Paleo desserts.   I realize that during a tough day of parenting, I reach for the dark chocolate or another sweetened latté faster than I can say a prayer for help.  It's time to take a step back and lessen the hold that food has on my body and emotions.

Enter Whole30 - where you clean up your diet for 30 days straight, eating only whole, real foods.  The focus is on healthy meats and veggies, healthy fats, some nuts and seeds, with a bit of fruit.  No grains, no legumes, and no sweeteners of any kind are allowed, not even Stevia (insert wide-eyed nervous face).   Here are the rules. 

This is going to be hella-hard, but good.  I've done an anti-fungal diet for a month, and it's difficult, but at least I had Stevia so I could still have my beloved coconut milk lattés.  During Whole30, they're going to have to be unsweetened, which makes me shudder...which confirms how much I rely on that sweetness to satisfy myself.

What am I hoping to get out of this?

• Get back to the basics of simple food - taste and appreciate food in its most unprocessed, whole form.
• Loosen the grip of treats in my life, even those made with natural sweeteners.   Recapture the real taste of food without added sweetness.
• Along with strenuous walks and other exercise, get a jumpstart/reboot on toning up my body again, as it's pretty much unrecognizable to me after this last pregnancy.  I know I have a lot of muscle and strength under that fluff, so I'm not freaking out about it.  I'm just doing what I can to be as healthy as possible.

This morning, I went to the grocery store and stocked up on a rainbow of veggies and some fruit {mostly berries} to begin the journey.  This weekend, I'll add more produce from our Urban Acres share, some chicken and grass-fed beef, and Holy Kombucha. 

Whole30 starts tomorrow.  But first, a practice round this afternoon...{unsweetened} iced coffee with {unsweetened} homemade cashew milk and some cinnamon.  It really hit the spot.  I can do this. 

If you've done Whole30, do you have any recipes I must try?  And if you're doing Whole30 now, let's support each other!  We owe it to ourselves and our bodies to set our minds to this and do it fully.  I know I'll feel so much better at the end of this 30 days.  Are you with me?