Time to hit refresh

You know how you can eat really well for a while and you feel great, you look great, things are great, super great?

Then all those great feelings give you a false sense of security and they cause you to cheat, sneak a bite, add a food back into your diet you had removed?

It may take a few days, maybe a few weeks, but those great feelings begin to fade away and you realize you felt great because you had gotten rid of all of that junk.

Why was it a good idea to let that junk back in?

I try to be good when it comes to my diet. I know the importance of eating clean. I have been relatively gluten free for over a year. I try to avoid dairy, I try to eat as little processed food as possible.

See how soft and lame that sounds? Not a very firm stance on my diet. That makes it so easy for me to cheat. If I tell myself I eat 80% gluten free or dairy free, then some creamer in my coffee sounds ok. Then, all of a sudden I am drinking a huge glug of creamer in my giant mug of coffee every morning. How did that happen? I don't eat dairy. And who put this donut on my desk and why am I eating it? You know I don't eat gluten.

Actually, I am pretty good about the gluten. This is mostly because I stopped eating it because I believe it was causing me bone loss. A couple of unexplained broken leg bones could make me ok with skipping a sandwich. But, even that has started to sneak back into my gut. I can blame my recent trip to Montreal and the presence of delicious croissants and pastries, but I know it is just my laziness about my diet.

So, now is the time for a reset. I stumbled across the Whole9 Facebook page and found their Whole30 challenge and love the idea of doing a clean sweep of my diet and eating delicious whole foods. I plan on starting on January 1st. This doesn't mean I am stuffing my face with junk in the 2 weeks in between. I am eating a clean diet and using my 2 weeks off of work to cook up a storm and prepare for the next thirty days.

I am armed with some great cook books and tons of blogs full of inspiration. I am going to stock the fridge with fresh winter veggies and some fruits. I bought some ghee, that was a first. Sunbutter, coconut oil, coconut butter, tons of herbs...I need to find a local butcher that does grass fed meats. That is on my list of tasks for the week.

One positive thing that came out of the weekend in Montreal was that my husband saw a picture of himself that he thought made him look fat (his is not). I, very selfishly,  seized that moment of weakness to suggest he join me on my 30 day adventure and he actually agreed! Oh, did I mention he is a carb-o-holic? And he loves dairy in all forms? We will see how his experience goes. Either way, at home he is going to follow it, if he wants to eat what I cook. I can't control what he eats at work, but hopefully he will stick with it long enough to reap the benefits.

Luck would also have it that my towns only crossfit gym has reopened after a sudden shutdown last month. I am going to be able to get back in the gym hard core this week after taking it pretty easy while it was closed.

Perfect timing.