Day Five: Cinco de Whole30

Day Five: Cinco de Whole30

Let's clarify some things: Whole 30 is not a diet. Let's stop calling it that. I am NOT on a diet! And if one more person tells me to eat a hamburger or that I don't need to go on a diet, I'll scream. Sure, weight loss is one of the great things most people will experience while on this plan, but this is only a perk, not a reason to do Whole 30 in the first place.  For me, it's about addressing my unhealthy relationship with food. I have an intense sugar addiction. I want to learn about nutrition and how my body uses the nutrients in the foods I eat.  I want to know more about which foods cause chronic inflammation in the body and how to reduce it in mine. This is specifically important to me because I am trying so hard to fight off disease.

I have an autoimmune disorder called multiple sclerosis.  The Mayo Clinic describes multiple sclerosis (MS) as a "potentially debilitating disease in which your body's immune system eats away at the protective sheath (myelin) that covers your nerves. Damage to myelin causes interference in the communication between your brain, spinal cord and other areas of your body. This condition may result in deterioration of the nerves themselves, a process that's not reversible."  My body is attacking itself causing irreversible nerve damage, and if I can do something to stop this process, you bet I am going to do it. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you want the use of  your hands? Don't you like to walk? Aren't you glad you can see? Yes, I like all of those things too, but if I can't stop the damage to the nerve cells, all these things we take for granted every day could be taken away from me.  Motivation? I think so.


I didn't celebrate Cinco de Mayo with queso, tortillas, and margaritas.  (Oh, how I wanted to though!) The San Antonian in me was dying! Instead, I went to Rudy's and caught up with a great friend of mine from high school.  Melissa and I were in all of our classes together, including dance and (our favorite!) Rigby's biology class.  We've done countless projects together, stayed up late to finish them, and helped each other with homework.  She's now a brilliant pharmacist and I was so glad to catch up with her. Luckily she is in Austin and lives down the street from me, so I envision a little more hang out times in the future. Dog park?

I came home from work with a splitting headache again today.  I couldn't help it and I took Advil to relieve the pain.  It didn't work as well as Excedrin Migraine does, but it got me through dinner enough to enjoy my time. Since Josh is in Washington D.C., it was up to me to take the dog to play. She enjoyed playing in the sprinkler and was completely soaking wet by the time we left. 

Here's a lovely video of what she does best: acting cute while making a mess.

 

After our fun trip to the football field, aka waterpark, Lexi and I went to Barnes and Noble. I finally bought the book "It Starts with Food." This book is written by the creators of the Whole 30 plan, Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. So far, I am enjoying the book.  They include lots of scientific reasoning behind the Whole 30 program.  It's been helpful to understand WHY I've excluded grains, beans, alcohol, and sugar (besides certain torture). With my book in hand, I stepped back to look at the shelves. What was most interesting was Barnes and Nobles' large selection of diet books. "Choose Your Diet?" How is that any different than the section next to it just called "Diet"? That's kind of what I feel I am doing these days.  Choosing some new fad diet after another. But like I said before, let's stop calling Whole 30 a diet and start calling it a lifestyle change. This is the catalyst for my lifestyle change to be in charge of my health.

This entire row of books are just diet books.