The Whole30 Challenge

(ps i had this WHOLE post done and ready to go and ummm GONE - a bit annoyed at you blogger, aughhh - so this is just a quick recap of a well written post now into a time crunch to just get a post out there - sorry readers!)

So yesterday started a new challenge for me - The Whole30 challenge that is! - as many of you know i went to a coo-coo doctor that put me on a cocktail that had me gain 35 lbs in 1 month (oh yes, you are reading that right) and then additional 10 lbs the next month (thankfully that fell right off) - but to combat the coo-coo doctor i took action buy joining the gym and getting myself a personal trainer - well Butterflies after going to the gym for 4 months, 5 days a week, 2-3 hours a day i have yet to shed a darn pound of the initial 35lbs i gained (um can we say depression and makes you wanna hit your head against the wall, i mean a trainer isn't cheap dude! - it would make anyone wanna jump off a bridge - f.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.i.n.g - and i killed my knee on the treadmill last month by thinking sprinting at speed 9 was a good idea, well it injured me so bad i had to go to a specialist and out of the gym for a month - smart move, i know)

so someone (you know who you are) pointed out this new life change called The Whole9 - and well it seemed right up my ally - to forget about losing weight and just focus on getting healthy! - plus it should help combat the 'allergies from hell' i have been dealing with - and what do i have to lose? (hopefully some fat pounds, b/c i have NO idea what i'm going to do this summer) - overall i would say i eat healthy, but i do slip some wine into my diet as well as bread, ect.- and by The Whole30 standards i cheat a bit more then i thought ... here's the deal about the challenge (from their site)

Eat real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. Don’t worry… these guidelines are outlined in extensive detail in our Whole30 Success Guide’s.

More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.

• Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels (and your Success Guide FAQ), because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
• Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. Yes, we said corn… for the purposes of this program, corn is a grain! This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
• Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
• Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold and fingerling potatoes off your plate. (Refer to your Success Guide FAQ for details).

You can go to The Whole30 site to get a more complete guide on how to take the 30 day challenge - i am just hoping that as i get healthy i can FINALLY fit into a pair of pants (do you know how hard it is to have a social life when you can literally ONLY fit into yoga pants? - so not a cute look for 5 months straight) - and by the way, after the 30 day challenge i plan to go Paleo and then slowly convert to a semi-vegetarian  - it's ALL about getting healthy on the inside out now instead of just focusing on the scale and being 'thin' - *crossing feelings* this works on SO many levels - i have a strong feeling it is! 

HAVE YOU DONE ANY WEIGHT LOSE/HEALTHY CHALLENGES?

HAVE THEY WORKED? DID YOU STICK TO THEM AFTERWARDS?