Ahhhhhhhh the #Whole30 by @whole9life and my results: Here's my Write-Up, Don't worry I'll be brief. I'm not very good at writing in general but I think it's worth it to put something down here for anyone who might be curious.

Earlier this Summer I attended a mtn bike clinic put on by pro racer, @ericatingey . While there I met a dude named Dallas who, along with his wife Melissa, wrote a book called It Starts With Food. They are both certified sports nutritionists and have done a ton of research in order to write this book. It's definitely worth a read.

After the clinic (which was fantastic by the way), the entire class went back to Erica's sister's house where we were treated to quite possibly one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten.

During the meal, Dallas gave a small presentation on food and nutrition. He emphasized the health benefits of eating organic fresh fruits, organic vegetables, pastured + organic eggs, nuts, pastured + organic meats, and healthy fats. He also talked about how certain foods, including dairy, gluten, sugar, & legumes, can be less healthy for certain people and how they can have negative effects on overall health.

He and his wife have come up with a program to determine which foods might affect you in a negative way, they call it the Whole30 . During the Whole 30 program you set aside 30 days and totally and completely eliminate gluten, dairy, legumes, grains and sugar (including any and all sweeteners) from your diet. The idea is that at the end of 30 days, you slowly add these foods back to your diet and listen to your body and take note of how it reacts to them and then make a calculated decision as to whether or not you want to add them back into your normal diet.

I need to note that this is not designed to be a low-carb diet, you get your carbs from the fruits, vegetables and nuts that you eat every day. Each meal should contain a protein, a carb and a healthy fat. Water too.

After thinking about it for a couple weeks, talking to Erica and reading Lynda Wallenfel's ( @lwcoaching ) write-up of her own Whole 30 experience, my wife and I decided to buy the book.

We read the book cover to cover and decided we'd give the Whole 30 a try. We dove in and committed 100% to the program. Today is day 31 and we're proud to say that we were 100% compliant for the entire 30 days.

I will say that I had to dial back my workouts just a bit as I didn't feel like I had enough energy to go ride for 3 hours without some sort of sports drink, gel or bar. That being said, we still continued to work out 5-6 days a week. I did cardio 3 times a week and weight training twice a week.

There were times that it was tough and I was seriously craving a sweet, sweet treat but I can honestly say that, after 30 days w/ no sugar, my cravings have all but disappeared.

A few people have asked me about the results of our Whole 30. When we started the program, we went in with the mind set that the scale wouldn't be the way to gauge success. We would rely more on how we felt and maybe inches lost.

That being said, I'm quite pleased w/ our physical results and here they are:

Karee:
lost 1.5" off her thigh
lost 1.5" off her waist
lost 1" off her hips
lost 6 lbs (Went from 105 to 99) (Keep in mind, she's only 5' tall, ha ha)

Me:
lost 1" off my chest
lost 2" off my waist
lost 1" off my neck
lost 12.5 lbs (Went from 182.5 to 170)

So here I am on day 31 of my Whole 30 experiment. I'm not going to waste the 30 days by eating everything in sight. Over the next 10 days or so, I'll be slowly testing out the eliminated foods one by one and taking note of what effect, if any, they have on my body.

In summary, I'm glad I did the Whole 30, it was worth it and beneficial. I would recommend reading the book It Starts With Food. I would say if you're going to do this program, don't half ass it, do it all the way, balls to the wall. I learned all kinds of delicious recipes that I'll continue to use from here on out. I wouldn't do the Whole 30 if I was in the middle of training for Point 2 Point or some other endurance event. Thanks to Erica for turning us on to the program.

There you have it, the longest entry I've ever done in my life. Thanks for reading............

\m/ \m/

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