Day 1: A new way of eating

It has been awhile since my last post, while I have been busy, I haven't found the motivation to write about any of those experiences.

Recently, I have been doing a lot of reading on the Paleo diet. Back in June, I started going to CrossFit in Bundang. For years now, my workout friends back home have been raving about CrossFit and the Paleo diet. So after starting CrossFit and immediately becoming addicted, I decided I needed to look into my eating habits.

Now, anyone who knows me at all can tell you I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I have researched and read about eating healthy for years now, but despite all of my knowledge, I continued to indulge in my daily Diet Coke and sugar cravings. When initially reading about the Paleo diet, I was worried about getting enough carbs. As an endurance runner and cyclist, I have always had a pre-workout meal involving lots of carbs to give me energy. But after a few months of hard training and not noticing any differences in my body. I decided it is time to step it up and go cold turkey.

Cue in the Whole30 plan. http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

I stumbled upon this website on a friends facebook page and have been reading into it for a week now. As with any change in your diet, there are conflicting opinions on whether it is "healthy" or not. I am not claiming it is the healthiest way of eating, but for me it seems to be an option I should consider.

So today is my day 1 of the whole30. After looking through the forums on their site, I have read that my first 15 days will be the hardest. My body has become accustom to the daily doses of sugar. Today I have begun only eating natural foods. Basically I can eat meat, seafood, veggies, fruit and most nuts/seeds. It is not far off from how I usually eat, however I will be cutting out a few favorites, mainly hummus and yogurt.

I am hoping this change will help me in more ways than just dropping a few extra pounds. From research, I have found that many people who completed the diet noticed a major change in their sleeping habits. I have not been sleeping well for the past year or so and I am hoping that this will help that.

So my overall goals for this 30 days are :
-gain more energy
-regulate sleeping patterns
-drink more water
-consciously monitor what I am eating
-feel better overall
-have my clothes fit better


I will try to document my 30 days to the best of my ability so that others who may be interested can have an idea of how it may affect them.

How I'm feeling today: Well it is midday, about 3pm and while I am slightly hungry, I think this has more to do with boredom and habit rather than actual hunger, I am feeling pretty good. I had beef and mushrooms with a peach for breakfast. For lunch I had lettuce wraps with beef and sprouts, a handful of walnuts and some pineapple. I am about to eat an apple for snack and I'll have chicken and veggies for dinner. The only thing that was weird was waking up this morning and not having my daily protein smoothie, instead I had green tea. I will head to CrossFit after work tonight so hopefully my energy levels stay up for that!