Our life after whole30/20……..

We finished our whole20! The whole family did a great job and stuck to our goals. It honestly has gotten to be such a “lifestyle” that the sacrifice or difficulty of eating healthy isn’t a huge deal anymore. Really. If we know what we can eat- food that comes from the earth or an animal- then we’re not tempted by all the other food because we know it’s not an option. We also are very much aware of how good we feel when we eat right that it’s hardly worth it to eat the processed foods.

When it comes to our goals we met most of them. We have been in The Word, we’ve slowed down our workouts, and we’ve been doing good at it all. Unfortunately, Brandon was not able to lose the 10 pounds he had wanted to but he’s okay with that. He has continued to shrink and build muscle at the same time, it just doesn’t show on the scale. Thankfully we are not depending on the scale to tell us we’re doing a good job, but on how we feel.

Our main desire in how we eat and exercise is to bring glory to God. If we are eating the foods that he intended us to eat, if we are honoring Him with our bodies being healthy and working to their fullest potential, if we are in The Word, then we are glorifying God and that’s what is most important. And that’s what makes us feel good and that’s what keeps us going.

So where do we go from here? Well, we are off whole30 but that doesn’t mean we are done eating healthy. Knowing now what we know about how good food makes our bodies work so much better we want to keep eating healthy. As a family we have decided that we will be eating “primal” 90% of the time. You’re probably scratching you head at this point asking what on earth that means. Well, let me explain. “Primal” means that we will be eating very similar to how we’ve already been eating. We’ll be eating meat, veggies, fruit, natural sugars, some berries and nuts, lots of good fats, and CHEESE. Now, I don’t like cheese, but Brandon and Jeremiah are cheese connoisseurs and have greatly missed their good cheese. So we will be integrating some good cheeses every once in a while. We will also now have some sugary items like pure maple syrup, honey and sugars like stevia.This is a very whole foods way of eating, very similar to whole30, just not as strict.

Why the 90/10? Because sometimes that cupcake or onion ring is worth it. Pretty simple, huh? I leave the 10% open to eating whatever we want because sometimes we can go through all the questions in our heads of “is it worth it or is it not?” and it is. When those times come up I don’t want us to have to miss out or feel chained down to a “diet”. All of this is a choice. We are choosing that for the majority of the time we will be eating very healthy, but when a super yummy unhealthy food comes up and we have decided it really is worth it to have…we’re going to have it. And we’re going to enjoy it.

Now, sometimes that will come with consequences. On our way out of town for Thanksgiving I got myself a pumpkin spice latte. It was incredibly good. So good I couldn’t stop talking about how very very good it was. Half an hour after I drank it we had to pull over. We then had to pull over 4 more times. I was so sick from having that coffee it didn’t end up being worth it. At all. So yes, I could have the coffee without feeling condemnation for it, but my stomach might be hating me.

Of course, we will continue to study God’s word. Jeremiah and I are still studying Daniel. Brandon recently joined a small group of men who are doing a bible study to learn more about being a great father. We are still having daily bible study times as a family. With God’s help we will continue to learn about Him and He will continue to reveal Himself to us.

So…our journey continues. I hope that we can continue to encourage you, give you ideas and tips on healthy eating and exercising, motivate you, and walk with you as we journey together and continue to glorify God. It’s a wonderful journey, isn’t it?