The whys behind it all.

I don't like myself much.

I know that's something most of you will roll your eyes at. I know it may seem a bit melodramatic, and I'll be the first to admit that I may have a flare for drama. Still, in this particular instance, it doesn't influence or change the way that I feel about my body. I know that I'm not alone in that feeling. I am merely one individual swimming in a sea full of self-conscious human beings, chiefly women... (or at least we're the more vocal of the sexes). Anyway, I digress. My point is that I'm unhealthy, and I believe that it is a major contributing factor in why I don't like who I see when I look in the mirror. I don't feel well. I don't look well. I feel sluggish, and heavy, and generally ill.

I know that it has everything to do with what I eat.

I've wanted to lose weight for as long as I can remember. Even when I was 118lbs, and capable of fathoming what that number meant on the scale, I felt fat. Of course, looking back, I wasn't at all... But I still wasn't healthy. I had horrible eating habits even when I was "skinny". Sometimes I didn't eat at all, and even when I did, it was a cheeseburger from McDonald's, or some other equally awful, utterly lacking in nutritional value, fast food meal, more often than not.

I've never been healthy.

In all of my 24 (almost) years, I have never once possessed healthy eating habits. That's what this is about. I'm tired of looking at food the way that I do. I'm tired of using food as a reward system. I'm tired of leaning on food for emotional support. I want to change the way that I see food. I want to change the way that I think.

Enter the Whole30.

I discovered this program through a friend who has been eating strictly paleo* for almost two years now. She decided to give the program a try, even though by all standards, she eats very healthy. She was so pleased with the results that she ranted and raved about it, enough to pique my interest. The program boasts the following...

"The next 30 days will change your life. It will change the way you think about food, it will change your tastes, it will change your habits and your cravings. It could, quite possibly, change the emotional relationship you have with food, and with your body."

Well, hey. That happened to be everything that I needed, all wrapped up in one neat little package.

I'll be honest with you. It's not the easiest program by any means. The list of things that you can eat dwindles down with every rule that you read. However, I believe that the results will be worth it. I'm looking forward to changing the way that my brain behaves, and with it, the way that my body functions. This blog is a chronicle of my adventure in the Whole30 and beyond. Let's get started, shall we?