The Whole 30

On Sunday, May 23rd I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend the Whole 9 Nutrition seminar at CrossFit West Houston. Whole 9 refers to the nine factors related to optimal fitness and health goals. These nine factors are Nutrition, Sleep, Stress Management, Active Recovery, Injury Rehab, Fun and Play, Personal Growth, Temperance, and Training. This particular information session was focused solely on nutrition as it is truly the base for a healthy life. You will never reach optimal health and wellness without a solid nutritional base. It's just not going to happen. No matter how much you think you can negate that bad food with exercise or a "promise to do better tomorrow" a crappy diet is still a crappy diet and it will get you crappy results! Get it?

Now I have really cleaned up my diet exponentially since January of 2010 but I have to admit that there was still about 10% wiggle room that I left in there. I love diet cokes! Yes, no matter how much my mother harasses me about them, I still drink them and I still love them! I also have become really lenient with regards to sugars and I drink way too much coffee and not enough water. But after sitting in the Whole 9 lecture and listening to the success stories that many people have had with regards to their health and athletic performance, I decided that it was time to clean it up completely. So I decided to embark on the Whole 30 program. The Whole 30 is kind of a blueprint of what to eat and what to avoid for optimal health. The challenge is to spend 30 days eating a completely clean, Whole 30 approved diet for 30 days to sort of give your body a chance to re-set from all the junk that you've been pumping into it over your lifetime. I have much much more scientific explanations on how this happens, but I won't get into that here.

So as of June 1st, I have been on the Whole 30, that means 30 days of no dairy, sugar, grains, legumes or alcohol! Yikes! So far it has been going really well, but I'm sure I'm in for a bumpy road ahead, after all, a month is a long time! :-)

If anybody wants more information on the Whole 30 or chooses to join me on this journey, you can find all the information online at www.whole9life.com! Stay tuned for some Whole 30 approved recipes and a peak at what I'm eating to stay Whole 30 approved!