Helloooo, Whole30!

Well, here it is.  The day after my goal race and the day I officially start both Whole30 AND 10 Minute Trainer.

My big goal for the month is to start to heal what poor eating has done to my body AND mind. I have so many food issues, I could write a book on it.  I DID try writing a blog post on it, but it has become so long that I think I might need to break it apart over the month.  We'll see.  It was a bit emotional to write what I've written so far so I might not be ready to share it quite yet...

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Whole30 is an eating plan covered in the book "It Starts With Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig (I will hopefully have time to get a review up this Friday).  The premise is that between poor foods and a bad relationship with food, it is a good idea to reset ourselves and start to heal our bodies and minds so we can move forward with healthier attitudes toward the foods we fuel ourselves with.  I admit I was skeptical when I first picked up the book - particularly since it is essentially Paleo and Paleo is not typically very veg-friendly.  I've had a few bloggy friends do the plan with fantastic results and I am really looking forward to seeing how my vegetarian version goes.  And the Whole30 people have fortunately included information for vegetarians that has made this much more helpful for my own needs (well - except the whole "how to reintroduce animal protein" which is something I don't intend to do).

In a nutshell, this is what my next month will look like from my kitchen...or, as they say, "The Rules"

• Eat real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds

• Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. 

• Do not consume alcohol

• Do not eat grains

• Do not eat legumes

• Do not eat dairy

• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites

• Do not eat white potatoes

I've been relatively sugar free for almost 2 months so I don't expect to have issues there.  I rarely drink alcohol so, again, no issue there.   Grains and legumes will be tricky, but I think I can refrain for 30 days as long as I am creative with my meals.  Dairy...well - I am still allowed fermented dairy so that will help with the protein (though, do you realize how hard it was to find FULL FAT yogourt in our "fat free" society?)

My fridge is packed with veggies and eggs.  I am two meals in and still doing fine.  

and then there is the 10 Minute Trainer thing.   30 mins/day for a month.  Yeah - I can do that.  I really need to get some strength training in.  So, I will maintain my 3 runs a week and follow the calendar for the program as closely as I can.  Hubby will take my before photos tonight (I'll share all of the photos at the end) and I weighed in this morning for the last time until the end of the program.

Starting weight: 173.7
Staring body fat: 38.1% (according to my Fitbit scale)

I don't know how much weight I will lose (or if I will lose anything at all) but my plan is to have hopefully made strength training a habit and to heal a body that has been wrought with inflammatory foods for far to long.   

I haven't been able to find any other vegetarian bloggers who have done this so, if you know of any - please let me know. 

I'll try to check in weekly with an update on how it's going but I don't plan to bombard you all with every detail of every meal and workout. Wish me luck.