2017 Whole 30 Challenge – Are You With Me???

Christmas dinner 2016 – cooked by child#1

OK – confession warning — I think my entire adult life, I have had a love-hate relationship with food. I LOVE to cook and share good food with friends and family, but I HATE getting on the scale and seeing the results from all the feasting and festivities. Cooking and food have ALWAYS played such a HUGE part of every celebration in our lives, both good and bad. Think about it – birthdays [cake and ice cream], traditional holidays [Christmas – Prime Rib/Ham, Halloween – candy, Thanksgiving – do I need to even go into this one?!], even funerals [casseroles, covered dishes]. We even have an entire category of goodies we term comfort food!

Also – another confession warning — I think my entire adult life, I have been on some sort of diet or another. You name it, I have tried it: Weight Watchers, Atkins, fasting, pre-packaged programs, even the one where you drink a concoction of maple syrup, cider vinegar and colon cleanse (yeah – you know which one I am talking about) that made me feel so sick I had to stop after 48 hours and it took me three weeks to recuperate!

So, rather than beat myself up for not getting this right for 48 years, or setting a New Year’s resolution to “lose XX pounds this year”, my goal in 2017 is to build a healthy relationship with food, where I am able to build health and wellness for myself while eating real food (i.e., no prepackaged fads and gimmicks), and I believe I have found my life long answer. This past fall, I tried my first Whole 30 (The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom), and felt fantastic! It truly was the first time I can recall in my entire life where I:

• was eating real food,
• wasn’t hungry,
• wasn’t obsessed by a number on a scale, and
• I lost weight without constantly weighing myself and everything I put on my plate!

So —- I have committed to joining the January 2017 Whole 30 ! My goal is to finish the Whole 30 and transition right into the Whole 30 Food Freedom Forever, and by fessing up to my plan on my blog, I am hoping it will keep me honest.  😉  If you do the official sign up with me, you will receive emails from Whole 30 as well as freebies and giveaways to help keep you on the Whole 30 path!

I intend to update how it’s going with the Whole 30/Food Freedom at least once a week in a post, so again, hoping it will be the incentive I need to really stay with this for the long haul.

If you are looking for freedom from food cravings, health-related weight issues, and just generally improving your overall wellness — join me for the January 2017 Whole 30!