Whole30 Complete. Round 2: Re-Calibrate110!

Well, this last Wednesday marked a special day in our household. I finished my Whole30, and aside from a few accidental slip-ups, I stayed true to my word and went a whole THIRTY days without sugar, grains, corn, soy, dairy, alcohol, or processed foods. These are all foods that I strive to avoid on a regular basis, but during these 30 days I committed to not eating them at all, which was more of a challenge than you might expect!

During this time, I also committed to spending more time with God, praying more, and reading the Bible more (especially the first 21 days alongside our church-wide fast.) For those who follow this blog, I thought you deserved a little recap on how it went beyond that first week where we struggled so much. So here’s the good, the bad, and the {not so} ugly.

The Good:

1. Most importantly, I feel much closer to God. I’ve had many instances where He has confirmed in me through His word or through other people that He is indeed listening and that He cares. That He has my best interest at heart and that if I am faithful to seek Him and be obedient to Him, He will continue to guide my steps, give me peace and wisdom, and bless those things that He has called me to put my hand to. Although I still struggle sometimes with anxiety since everything isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, He is teaching me how to put my trust in Him and redirect my thoughts during any storm by praying and worshiping Him. Who knew denying your physical body could benefit your spirit man so much!?
2. I feel really great physically. My clothes fit a lot better. I’ve dropped at least one pant size. My waist is down by 2 inches, and I lost 7 lbs. That was 6% of my body weight! And this is without an ounce of exercise (that will be my next endeavor. Apparently I can only focus on one good habit at a time.)
3.  I’m bursting with ideas on how to make my life and business run smoother and more efficient and how to better live out my purpose and positively affect more people. The last sermon I heard, the preacher said something that stuck with me… that depression is the “absence of hope.” So when depressed, essentially you lose your ability to dream. Over the last two years, boy, has that been true for me! I am so grateful that God has lifted the fog that was so heavy over my mind and that He has given me the ability to dream again and the motivation to carry out those dreams. I know 2017 is going to be a great year as long as I can keep my eyes ever fixed on Jesus and not on myself or my circumstances! And I know that feeding my body foods that promote health and vitality played a huge role in lifting that fog.

The Bad:

1. Living on a Whole30 is NOT easy. (It does get easier the longer you stick with it, but it is not easy by any means.) My goal with our website is to make implementing a healthy lifestyle more manageable for the average American family and doing the Whole30 has given me many ideas on how to improve that and made me realize how valuable what we already offer actually is!
2. Toward the end of my Whole30 I got a little lazier with cooking and instead of cheating I just didn’t eat which of course is just as bad! This made me realize how important it is to keep healthy grab-and-go snacks on hand. You may have to search for these snacks but they are out there and I am going to try and create resources for our readers that will give ideas on what to keep on hand and where to buy these foods.

The {Not So} Ugly:

1. The Whole30, while a admirable endeavor, is not for everyone. I’m glad that I did it and think it is a beneficial experience to anyone who wants and is able to commit to it, but I truly believe many people will struggle to complete it and may even be turned off from healthy eating all together if they try and fail.
2. The Whole30 is so much more than just what you eat or don’t eat. It is designed to be a resetting of your mind on how you view food. And IF you can focus on that and not just count down the days until you are done, you will truly experience a life change and create healthy habits to live by. That being said, I don’t think it is the ONLY way to do that either, which leads me to my next point.

Re-Calibrate110: 

During my fast last year, God taught me about the Seven Species of the Promised Land that you can find in Deuteronomy 8:8 (seven foods that can be found in Israel that carry a blessing and are a sign of God’s faithfulness to His people.) It was fascinating. I read and researched everything I could find out about them and couldn’t stop talking about them for several days. Over the course of the last year, I thought about them often, especially during my trip to Israel for a friends wedding last spring, but never really figured out exactly what God wanted me to do with all the information I was given. Over time my excitement waned, and I didn’t think about them as often.

During the very first day of this year’s fast, however, low and behold God brought me right back to that scripture without me realizing what I was about to read. I was like “again with the Seven Species, God?!” Well, it just so happens that my mom also invited me to speak at her home Bible study group shortly after, and at that meeting I decided to present the Seven Species study. Those who know my mom, know she definitely has a gift for teaching and applying the principles of the Bible. So of course, she was able to take the chicken scratch notes that I presented and create a beautiful comprehensive study + practical application, which resulted in Re-Calibrate110. So if you are interested in learning how to eat Biblically and want to commit to incorporating these foods into your diet while avoiding the foods that are detrimental to your health, please watch this video and join this Facebook group. Marpé will be a valuable resource during the next 110 days for those of us who will be participating in Re-Calibrate110, which starts tomorrow 2/7, since Marpé will be creating and featuring recipes with these seven species and meal plans that incorporate them as well. Please feel free to ask any questions if you have any. I’d be glad to answer what I can!

In health,