calendar with pinsThat’s right. I am recommitting, again. I have fallen off the wagon a little. Nothing dramatic, but my cheat days have turned into cheat weekends. And my weekends have turned into Thursday-Monday. The nice weather has given me an excuse to increase the amount of beer being drunk. I have indulged in a few things that I know darn well are horrible choices. Don’t get me wrong, I am still eating great about 85% of the time, but I have learned that for me to feel great and have the energy level I know is possible and to effortlessly control my weight, I need to be closer to 95%.

Now, let me be very clear on this. It is not the AMOUNT of food that is the problem, it is the type of food. So, when I say I need to recommit and/or buckle down, this is not a ‘diet’ in the traditional sense. When I am eating right, I don’t feel deprived or hungry. I don’t count calories. I just don’t eat crap and I drink less alcohol. I am very anti calorie restriction diets. These diets very rarely address the real problem that is the kind of food being eating (processed, chemicals, diet foods, etc.). I believe when we restrict calories, we are dooming ourselves to failure.

So what’s my plan? I’m doing a 30 day mini-challenge. If I can do this for 30 days, I know it will be the jump start I need to get back on track. After the 30 days, I can go back to the 95% plan. Here is what I will be abstaining from.
· No Gluten
· No ‘bad’ dairy (yogurt, kefir, raw milk-okay)
· No sweets/treats (I put a little bit of good quality chocolate in my coffee and will continue with this, but nothing else)
· No red bull (my favorite drink is red bull and vodka and yes I know how horrible it is for me and my sleep)
· No dessert drinks from Starbucks (no toffee nut mochas, etc. coffee okay)
· No quesadillas (my family’s favorite quick dinner is ‘dias’ on corn tortillas, I will not have one this month, sad face)

What should I expect? Well, I can tell you right now, I can expect a little frustration and temptation. I can expect me really wanting to give in with a RB&V on the weekend. I can expect trying to convince myself that a little piece of a brownie is not that big of a deal… Sounds bad right?

I can also expect my energy to sky-rocket. I can expect the puffiness in my face and stomach to go down. I can expect to lose weight. I can expect my skin to clear up. I can expect to simply feel better. And, maybe I am just super sensitive to food or maybe it’s all in my head but I genuinely feel happier and less stressed… Sounds good right?

This is the perfect time for a challenge! I don’t know if you have heard of the 100 days of happiness project but I just started my 100 day challenge on Sunday. Every day I am going to post a picture on instagram (@candysbrain) of something that makes me happy. And, it just so happens that being healthy and feeding my family right makes me VERY happy. In fact, I would put health at the very top of the happiness mountain! So, the 2 challenges go perfectly hand in hand. Also, winter is over (mostly) and the weather is turning. Soon it will be time to get back into summer dresses and bathing suits. I’d like to transition to shorts without tears. 🙂

As usual, I invite you to join me. You can either do my challenge or make up your own. It should be challenging though. For example, me just cutting out sweets would not be hard. Sure, it wouldn’t be easy, but not too hard. It is not easy to change habits, but soon enough you can have new habits and it will be easy.

And, 30 days is important because we build up tolerances to the foods we eat. You might not know that you have a sensitivity until you completely take it out of your diet and then try to add it back. Food sensitivities are not like allergies. The reactions are delayed. Sometimes hours, sometimes days. Sometimes, like with gluten, you eat so much of it that it is never really out of your system so it’s impossible to tell if that is causing problems or if it’s something else. And, sensitivities can be vague: joint pain, skin irritation, headaches, gas, bloating, increased menstrual cramps/PMS symptoms, bags under your eyes, anxiety, insomnia, seasonal allergies, etc. You never really know… I would bet that most of us are walking around with sub-optimal health because of our diets not including our weight!

So, ‘insert call to action here’… and join me! I’ll update regularly on FB and Instagram so stay tuned. Also, I want to hear about your challenge if you do one. It’s so much easier if you know someone else is doing it too. xoxo