Here we go!

Well, that sounds a whole lot more upbeat than I am feeling right now. I just said goodbye to the last square of dark chocolate I will have for a month...it would be a miracle for me to welcome that moment with joy.

Not Your Typical "Diet"

"Diet" is such a loaded word in my world. It's heavy with expectation, riddled with disappointment. It implies restriction and sacrifice, meticulously tracking every crumb that enters the mouth. "Diet" means the search for rapid weight loss, regardless of the means: cabbage soup diet, juice diet, cleanses. The word certainly doesn't connote preparation of foods to love and savour for their taste. Diet also implies a transitory state, an "I'll try this for now" mindset. I resist using it, and when others ask "What diet are you on?" etc. I kind of wince inwardly. I've never been one for "diets" and think most of them are today's version of snake-oil, advertising a cure-all for all your ills if you follow their plan. I've been pretty convinced the only thing it will cure is the burn you feel from the money in your pocket, and that following their advice would be in the long run benign at best, detrimental at worst.

So how did I come to fall hook, line and sinker for the Primal or Paleo diets?

And all that science-y stuff...

Now if I want to actually talk about weight loss, I have to go back to Gary Taubes. I'm sure that the Whole9's book "It Starts With Food" will talk about the same stuff, but I'm only on page 91... How is it that we think we are eating healthy when we aren't? How did we get not-thin in the first place? The Whole30 will switch my diet to focus on good whole foods, including good fats. Wait... doesn't fat make us fat? What does the science say?

Confessions of a Food Nazi

I think a theme that is already emerging from this blog is the idea of a "continuum." There is no "end point" along this trajectory that is my relationship with food. I'm a food lover, foodie, food snob, epicurean - however you choose to refer to someone who derives the greatest pleasure from a stellar meal shared with family or friends around the table. It never was simply fuel for me, and I can't see ever getting to that point. However, I also try to embody the simple principle of "know better, do better" in all areas of my life, thus it is with the food choices I now make. And yes, although I do "know better," sometimes I choose to indulge in something that I know full and well isn't the healthiest choice - or a healthy choice at all.

But I am eating healthy Part II - So what is healthy?

Onward with the journey of exploration. So, if I'm not eating healthy now, how do I start? What is healthy? According to Melissa and Dallas, there are four criteria that must be met in order to determine if a food is healthy; "not three, not most...all" criteria.

But I AM eating healthy...

Or at least I thought I was, until I read "Why we get fat and what to do about it" by Gary Taubes. Living in a perpetual state of hunger, trying to stay motivated to adhere to any number of low calorie diets, I was fed up (or not, if you take it literally) and couldn't figure out why none of these programs were working for me. Leaving a trail of unrealized goals and empty chip bags behind me,

What the heck is all this about?

Welcome to our blog! We are going to collaboratively use this space as a tool for reflection and motivation on our Whole30 journey. Because Nicole is taking the month of August off and won't see Leanne daily in the office, we needed a space to "meet and chat" about how we feel, cheer each other on and share tasty recipes that feature Whole30 compliant foods.

Some of you may be wondering what this Whole30 business is all about.