Why Whole30

So tomorrow marks the first day of Andrew and me doing the Whole30 challenge (along with a friend and her hubby).

I'm not sure what to think about it all. Part of me is so excited to just get started - this weekend has been the biggest splurge ever I think and I feel TERRIBLE. But the other part of me is kind of freaking out. Will I be able to actually do this? Am I going to be regretting this tomorrow afternoon? Friday morning?

But honestly, I think the biggest part of me knows this will be good for me physically and spiritually.

Why?

I use food in place of Jesus more than I'd like to admit.

I use food for comfort. For stress release. For abating anxiety. As an entitlement.

In short, its not healthy. And I am not healthy.

So why am I really doing this "crazy" thing for 30 days? Because I know that life is more than sugar and processed foods. More than calming my nerves with food and eating because I am bored. For those of you who know my story, I've struggled with food for most of my life - nearly starving myself into rehab twice and never fully accepting that I won't be the skinny little middle schooler I used to be.

I'm doing this because I want to learn what it means to eat because I'm hungry. I want to be healthy. I want to give up using deodorant (if you think I'm crazy look it up - body odor has a lot to do with our diet and I would love to get to a point where my body doesn't produce as much foul smelling "glow" because I'm not putting toxins in...) and crave healthy food not sugar, Mac and cheese or Life cereal.

So, as I start this next month of eating only meat, veggies, fruit and good fats, I would love encouragement. When you're dying to tempt me with some amazing cake or sandwich or granola bar, please instead encourage me. Encourage me to seek Jesus for my comfort and emotional stability, to see boredom as something to sit in rather than run from, and to use food to sustain me not please me.

I'll be doing my best to blog through these 30 days - either recipes Andrew and I have found and loved (or hated), what I'm learning about my relationship with food and other random things that someone detoxing from sugar, diary, carbs and processed foods will blurt out :)

Here goes!!