Early this year I went on Medifast to try and drop the very very stubborn pregnancy weight that wouldn't seem to go away - and I did,
I dropped almost 30lbs. in just 2-3 months. Sure I was losing weight, but I also knew that what I was putting into my body was not whole food. It was powder mixed with water. Highly processed, full of minerals and vitamins produced by a pharmaceutical company.
I learned a bit about myself during that time, and what it did was help me to believe that I could be disciplined and commit to eating differently. But what I really longed for, more than to look good in skinny jeans, was to find a way of eating that was healthy, wholesome and improved my overall health. I also wanted to figure a way to get the husband and daughter on board, and hopefully help heal my husband's GI issues. Then a couple of months ago I was at BlogHer and met Gina from
Running to the Kitchen, and heard a little teeny tiny bit about Paleo & Crossfit. I came back, googled a few things (when I had time) and decided to present it to my husband.
With the hubs finally on board, and a toddler that didn't really have a choice, we purchased our first paleo book, "The Paleo Solution" by
Robb Wolf. While the book is an easy and even entertaining read, there was a ton of science and we were growing impatient to dig into the actual changes. We got the main point about gluten being an enemy to the body, and so our first major goal was to begin eliminating it from our diet. We took a
14-Day Gluten-Free Challenge and were amazed at how much better we felt without Gluten in our diets. We started Robb's 30-day-plan shortly after, but felt like we were missing a bit without having fully read the whole book. We made it a few weeks in but felt overwhelmed and a little out of sorts without a better way of planning.
Then I ordered a copy of "Practical Paleo" by
Diane Sanfilipo and that book has been our go-to source for entering the Paleo world. We haven't been 100% on plan - its extremely hard to be this time of year, but we are striving to get there. We decided to start November with the Autoimmune Condition eating plan included in the book - and we've been loving our new way of eating. Food is flavorful, our energy levels are more stable and we find ourselves satiated between meals. We are no longer snacking which by its very nature has reduced our overall caloric intake. While ultimately our goal is to shed fat, and get lean, we also realize we would be kidding ourselves to think with all of our travel and holiday plans this year that we'll be able to stick to it 100%. Probably closer to 75% really.
And now I've finally arrived at the point of my post today! I would like to formally announce our 2013 resolution, "Lean, Green & Clean in 2013!" I've been working on this plan most of this year, and I couldn't be happier sharing it here with you first! Let me give you a quick run down of what you can expect with LGC2013!
LEAN - I will be focusing on functional fitness, specifically oriented toward the busy mom - I'm qualified for this because I am a ridiculously busy mom, so if I can figure out how to make fitness happen within the course of a busy day at home, any one can do it. The goal of "Lean" is not to be skinny - its to be strong. We're talking strong enough to do a few pull-ups, strong enough to carry my toddler and my purse, stroller and other things all at once up and down the subway station stairs (a very important skill when you live in NYC). I will be learning as much as I can about doing
Crossfit at home, and it would be awesome to figure out a way to start a Crossfit moms group here in NYC.
GREEN - If you haven't heard, green is the new black! And what I mean is that even if you live under a rock, you've probably heard that we all need to do our part to heal our environment, invest in more
sustainable products that don't leave a biproduct of pollution and toxicity in our world, and watch the chemicals we expose our bodies to. I will be tackling everything from energy conservation to making natural products at home. I believe we each have a responsibility to be a good steward of the world we live in to ensure our kids have a healthy future here!!
CLEAN - And finally, we will continue to detoxify our bodies from decades of eating SAD (
Standard American Diet), kicking off in January with a Sugar & Caffeine detox. Two things that will be the hardest challenges for me - I'm a chocolate/sweet lover and an obsessive coffee drinker!! We will be continuing to try different eating plans from the Practical Paleo book starting with the Digestive Health eating plan in January. After I go off caffeine for 30 days I will be limiting my coffee to 1-2x per week!! Now when it comes to chocolate and sweets, I'm convinced that I'll be able to find a way to make my favorite recipes and enjoy them in moderation using Paleo ingredients - I'll be sharing recipes as I create them! I've also been very interested in learning more about supplements so I'll be doing a bit of research and trying to take out the complexity of figuring out which ones to take.
I am jazzed for this new journey our family will be taking next year, and I'd love to have you
join along!!
I'm Courtney, a Christ-following wife, mama and lifestyle blogger.
