Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Whole Living Challenge

Garth and I have decided to do the 2013 Whole Living Challenge. Basically, it is a 21 day challenge eliminating processed foods and beverages, dairy, caffeine, added sugar, and alcohol. Dusty did this last year and I wanted to do it, but I chickened out and regretted it ever since. So this year I'm in! Garth has agreed to it with me which is a major bonus.

I do well with structure, recipes and meal plans already planned out and I like the idea of eating really clean. I think it will be hard, but it will be good for us. I also like that you don't have to count calories. I do a lot of that and it gets old!

I'm excited to do this. My main goal is to get out of my comfort zone and eat unprocessed foods. I'm excited to try new recipes because I am definitely in a recipe rut lately. I'm not sure if I will do this for 28 days like Dusty does and I don't know if I can give up coffee. I will try, but that is definitely going to be the hardest part for me.

Dusty says the best way to succeed is to prepare for each week ahead of time so I will shop and prep ingredients this weekend and start the challenge next week (after Garth's birthday weekend). I will give you an update on the recipes and ingredients next week once I decide on our menu. You can view Dusty's first week prep here. Wish us luck!

Have you done this challenge before? Do you want to join us next Monday in the challenge? I can't wait to start this process and learn to eat and cook clean!

12 comments:

Always Learning said...

My daughter just started a blog with a lot of great recipes for the kind of eating you are taking about. Check it out here ~
http://liverightbehealthy.blogspot.com/

She loves it and is having so much fun eating this way. She feels SO much better! Good luck.

Rebecca Jo said...

I so badly want to turn more clean eating... I'm going to check it out more. Cant wait to see how you do on it. Share your experiences.

Kenya said...

This sounds like a great idea!

Megan Ritter said...

I'm a longtime friendly lurker here, but I wanted to pop in with a warning to be careful about cutting dairy! My roommate stopped eating dairy in an attempt to lose weight and ended up undergoing some serious and painful health problems - turns out she put herself into the early stages of rickets from the lack of vitamin D. This isn't to tell you not to undertake this plan, but just to be sure that you're supplementing whatever you eliminate from your diet with a good multivitamin. Be well, and remember that God makes us all perfect. :)

Carrie said...

I literally posted the same thing! http://thenextqueenb.blogspot.com/2013/01/whole-living-cleanse.html

My advice is make sure you eat enough calories and a variety of foods the first week.

Unknown said...

Good for you! I'm really interested to follow along with you and see how it goes!

Natalie said...

I've never done anything like this but good luck to you!

~The Neaves Nest~ said...

I'm in the midst of the whole 30. Very similar to what you're doing. I'm not going to lie, I miss my coffee, coke zero and bread and cheese, but after the caffeine headache wore off and the tiredness wore off, I feel more energized!! I should have looked for a 21 say instead of a month! Haha

kd said...

I've done it before and it's awesome! The first week is rough, but don't get discouraged! I think you will find that it is pretty liberating to eat as much of you want of the allowed foods instead of worrying about a cube of cheese here and there all the time.

Yerba mate tea is what I drank instead of coffee and I learned to love it!

Dusty @AllThingsG+D said...

Hey girl, thanks for the shout-out! I'm so excited you'll be doing the Whole Living Challenge with me!

Angie @ Bug Meets Blog said...

I found your blog through All Things G&D. I'm doing the Whole Living Challenge too and just wanted to say good luck!

Angie @ Bug Meets World said...

I found your blog through All Things G&D. I'm doing the Whole Living Challenge too and just wanted to say good luck!