Rolling with one change a month…starting the Whole30…
September’s change is starting the Whole 30…
In a previous post I wrote about rolling into the new year with a plan to make one change a month this year. Each change was and is intended to help establish a healthy foundation from which to do things a little bit easier and better. The idea was inspired by reading about Leo Babauta’s Sea Change Program on his ZenHabits blog, as well as Dr. Michael Finkelstein’s book, 77 Questions for Skillful Living. I thank Leo for the idea and Dr. Finkelstein for the blueprint, as I review the 77 Questions on a monthly basis and choose one as the inspiration for that month’s change.
In September, I started the Whole30 program. Here’s a brief description of the Whole30 —
“Established by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig (of Whole9) in April 2009, the Whole30® is our original nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system.”
My wife and I started following a Paleo/Primal way of eating in January of 2013. We were on a trip in Thailand at the end of 2012/beginning of 2013 and were fortunate to meet a couple who we became friends with during the trip. They were and still are CrossFit enthusiasts and had been following a Paleo/Primal way of eating as well. This is the first my wife and I had heard of eating a Paleo/Primal diet and my wife was immediately inspired to give it a try when we returned home from the trip.
I reluctantly agreed to go along with the experiment, not really thinking I’d stick to it after the first week. Much to my surprise, I began to feel better, just after a day or two of eating this way. The most noticeable improvement was in my stomach, which has given me problems all my life. It was feeling better too, which got me thinking that I might just stick with this.
Sure enough, almost two years later, I continue to be dedicated to eating this way and am enjoying the health benefits of it. I’ll probably write more on this over time, however for now want to focus on the change for the month, which is the Whole30. There are tons of resources online to discover more about the Paleo/Primal way of eating if you are interested. Mark’s Daily Apple and PaleoOMG are just two sites that are at the top of my mind right now.
Doing this also seemed to fit nicely into my one change a month plan, which I’ve been relating to one of Dr. Finkelstein’s 77 Questions each month. Starting the MBSR program at least partially relates to Question #28 of the 77 Questions for Skillful Living which is —
“28. Do you maintain a skillful diet, low in processed and refined foods and animal products and high in fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables?”
While I agree with the general principle of the question, I can’t say my diet is low in animal products, as the Paleo/Primal diet can be high in high-quality animal products. However, I do agree with the importance of maintaining a skillful diet, low in processed and refined foods…and high in fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables.”
I’m looking at the Whole30 as an opportunity to take the Paleo/Primal way of eating to the next level. I’ve been pretty consistent with the Paleo/Primal way of eating since I started, however am looking forward to the challenge to clean-up a few things that I’ve let into my diet over time. I do believe in in treating guidelines of the Paleo/Primal way of eating as just that, guidelines not rules, allowing in certain foods that, while maybe not “strictly Paleo”, my body can tolerate well and that I feel have certain health benefits.
So, as a result, the challenge for me in the Whole30 will come down to staying away from —
1 — Maple syrup 2 — Raw, organic honey 3 — Coconut sugar, mostly consumed in Fine and Raw chocolate 4 — Raw milk dairy, mostly cheese, and a little bit of yogurt and kefir 5 — Organic, pre-made, fries that you can bake in the oven, which I usually like to have once a week
and a few other things that crash in on my “cheat days” -
6 — Really good pizza from Fornino 7 — Van Leewen vegan “ice cream” 8 — A donut from Dough Donuts, when I can’t resist, for a second or third week in a row, stopping when I pass them by on an early morning bike ride, and one of the first batches is coming out of the fryer ☺
OK, I’m going to stop here, before the Whole30 become the Almost8Hours ;)
In case you’d like to read more, here’s the list of the monthly changes to-date —
January — Establish a daily writing habit and unplug on Sundays
March — Start using the 5 Minute Journal (post to be written)
April — Start daily coffee routine
June — Add second Yoga practice to week (post to be written)
July — Laugh once a day (post to be written)
August — Start the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program (post to be restored)
September — Starting the Whole30 (this post)
