Eating Clean

I've been feeling rundown lately. I think this summer I really put my body through some serious stress -- not enough sleep and certainly not enough exercise. My body was starting to shut down. Sluggishness, insomnia (but not like what I'm used to -- I've suffered with this since I was a teenager), general feeling of malaise, and I was starting to feel the pangs of depression rearing their ugly head. I knew it was time to hit reset. While I consider myself a relatively healthy individual, I knew that overhauling my diet was needed. Too many carbs, too much alcohol, and definitely too much sugar. I have been having digestive issues for a few months and since I was a chronic food allergy sufferer as a child, I thought the best place to start was with what I was putting in my body. I started doing some research and I came across the Whole30 plan. Now before you go getting all excited and frantic, I'm no stranger to "cleanses" and "detox diets"... but I was not interested in some sort of radical detoxification that would force my body to purge itself and then leave it hanging once it was over. I wanted real change. The plan is simple... for 30 days:

And NO CHEATING. Not even a bite or a lick or a sip. If you're interested in the complexities of this plan, follow the link for more thorough information, but the idea is to eat clean to help reset your gut. With that in place all other aspects of your like (sleep, skin, mental health) will improve dramatically. You sort of re-teach your body how to eat, what good food tastes like, and how it should feel when you're treating it with some respect. The "diet" (I hate calling it that because it's not a diet at all) further pushes you to seek out the best possible sources of food you can, avoiding all processed and unnaturally sourced food types (meat, veggies, nuts etc). It takes planning, and a bit of dedication to cooking (which I love) and will power (I did not empty our pantry of bad foods like they suggest). Finally, committing to eating three great meals a day (with limited snacking... this plan is the anti-grazing diet).  I'm nine days in and I can tell you that I am feeling the reward already. I am sleeping WAY better (both falling asleep and staying asleep), getting up easier, feeling more energetic, feeling more focused and clear headed, and better, I feel great about the food I'm eating. I have never, ever been the type of person who can stomach breakfast, and as I've been reading the book that goes along with this plan (It Starts With Food), I am discovering that my hormones are out of whack, telling me not to eat first thing. How crazy is that? On day 7 I woke up hungry for breakfast, and that in itself made me excited. I seriously underestimated how important breakfast was, and no... not the kind where you eat a ton of grains in milk!

I thought it would be an neat thing to post here, since I know a few of you are quite health conscious. What's very interesting about this program is how people react when you tell them you are doing something like this. Some say "oh my God it's the Atkins diet" -- it's not, and couldn't be further from, remember Atkins is nearly carb free (28mg a day), some say "I couldn't go without ______ for 30 days -- Yes, yes you could... most people can without a lot of things for 30 days, some think that I am criticizing their habits by even mentioning this program... look, different strokes for different folks. But if you are unhappy with the way your body looks and the way you feel everyday, then stop whinging about it and do SOMETHING. I am doing something.

I've been keeping a diary of my food (so much good stuff), my activity, and my feelings for each day. I think it will be a neat thing to look back on and reflect how I felt throughout. And to be clear, there's a small part of me that is doing this to prove something to myself, I want to know that I can push through and DO this. This is certainly more mentally challenging than physically for sure. I can't say that it has been easy so far, but it is getting easier each day. Apparently days 8-16 you're supposed to start feeling amazing, and I already do!  So wish me luck as I power though the next 21 days!

In Riley news, he's been introduced to side reins and he's not a huge fan (they mean REAL work, you know!) but he's been pretty good about showing up for work. He's had three sessions in them now and I think his balance and straightness are improving already -- he even offered his right lead canter for the first try on the lunge (he couldn't keep it for a whole circle, but at least he tried). He seems to be working out his own relationship with the contact and we're keeping sessions at around 20 minutes with lots of breaks, changes in direction and transitions (only a tiny bot of cantering on the lunge) and only about 5 minutes each way in side reins. One thing I noticed yesterday was that he started off fine tracking left, but uneven tracking right. I worked him through it and by the time I was putting on the side reins it was hardly noticeable. I think that because he's had issues with the LF for so long, he has gotten used to protecting it which shows up as him seeming lame-ish (thoughts?). I'm hoping that he keeps improving! Sunset ride tonight!

I've got some potentially exciting news to report next week, but you'll have to come back later to find out! For now:

What a dreamboat in the morning sunlight:)