30 Day Challenge

Inspired by the Whole30 challenge, I decided to do my own challenge. Getting Big Benson on board is proving to be somewhat of a challenge in and of itself, but that's a whole different ball game - his biggest issue what the entire thing is giving up beer for 30 days. Go figure.

While I think that cleansing and giving up of sugar, grains, etc. for a small amount of time and reintroducing slowly is a great idea, it can be a bit of a process. I think that by simply allowing a small window of eliminating crap foods, better habits can be created for a lifetime of change. Woah...did all of that just come out of my mouth? Am I drunk? NO. High on coffee? YES. 

I'm on board with the entire Whole30 challenge with two concessions: I'm not giving up diary. I personally have zero problems with dairy. It doesn't make me gassy or bloated or any of these ugly symptoms. And I love butter. Like way too much. If you think that diary could be the culprit of some of your intestinal woes, I would suggest cutting it out for the first week of so of the 30 days and reintroducing it back very slowly. The other "allowance" is beer. For poor Steve's sake, I've decided to allow one beer. Every other night. Muhahaha! This is partially for me too - Woodchucks are so good. Redick. 

So. Here are the guidelines. I don't want to call them rules. Rules are too easy to break. Guidelines sounds far less intimidating. 

1. No sugar or sweeteners of any kind. This means honey, maple syrup, and agave. Eliminating sweeteners helps to cleanse the palate and hopefully at the end of this, sugar cravings will be gone or at least significantly diminished. If you aren't eating canned/boxed food, then you have no worries. If you're eating out, try to find the nutrition guide and be on the lookout for sugar in other forms. See this list of the many forms of sugar. 

2. No alcohol. If you must (and Steve Benson must), limit it to one beer/wine every other night. Most beer has grains (duh!) and part of this is eliminating grains. 

3. No grains. This includes wheat, barley, millet, quinoa, corn, cous cous, oats, you get the point. Here's a handy-dandy list of grains, just FYI.

4. No legumes. Beans, peas, SOY, peanut butter, etc. Green beans and sugar snap peas are ok, as these are more pod than pea. Here's a list of legumes.

5. No carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. This is per the Whole30 plan and for obvious reasons additives/preservatives are harmful.  Be on the lookout for MSG to be labeled in it's full name: Monosodium glutamate. 

6. No white potatoes. This is per the Whole30 diet. 

7. No processed foods, which means nothing boxed or canned. Exceptions: coconut milk, apple sauce, tomato sauce, broths. However, READ THE LABELS! Many things will include sugar or the three additives listed above. 

8. Consume quality dairy. Believe it or not, ultra pasteurized is NOT healthy. If possible, check out your local health market (Whole Foods and the like) and see if they have low heat pasteurized/non-homogenized milk. It taste SO much better and it's not void of all nutrients. If you're up for the challenge, you can see if you can find raw milk (which is what I prefer), but some people aren't comfortable with this. Not a problem. As far as butter/cheese is concerned, look for KerryGold and quality cheese. I like Applegate farm cheeses. Above all, regardless of what type of milk/butter/cheese you eat, GET FULL FAT. Here's a mainstream article about full fat, just so you guys don't think it's another one of my crazy hippy things. And another article. 

Overall, this challenge isn't about organic or grass-fed, blah, blah, blah. If you can afford it and have access to it, then by all means, go for the best of the best. I would say to get quality meat over fruit/veggies first, because you can rinse off some of the crap on the veggies...you can't take away the junk the animals are fed to fatten them up and keep them alive in inhumane conditions. It's about eating REAL food. That's all. 

And that's all folks! Seem hard? I'm sure you THINK it's hard, but if you start anything thinking it's hard, you've already set yourself up for failure. I'm personally a little nervous, but if I know that I have people watching me, it helps. Having Steve do it with me is a maaaaaaaaaaaaajor bonus. So, find a partner. Convince your partner. Anything. After the 30 days, slowly reintroduce grains/legumes/etc. I would still be weary of sugar, but obviously it wouldn't be the end of the world to have a delicious treat or two occasionally. 

I'll post three days worth of recipes/grocery lists at a time. So, I'll always be three days ahead of anyone  who wishes to join me - although I've already conceded to the fact that I'll probably be alone in this journey. And that's ok too. This will be a nice little journal for me.

START DATE: FEBRUARY 1, 2013