We know that there's something seriously wrong with the standard North American diet.
We know that fresh is better than processed.
We know that empty calories are just that ... empty of nutrition.
We know that what we eat does indeed affect our bodies ... probably more than we can possibly imagine.

Give or take a few facts and/or opinions, this is what has drawn us toward a Primal/Paleo type lifestyle.

OK, I'm in. We're planning to do a whole30 starting Jan 2 or 3rd (weird, I know - it is depending on family leaving to eliminate the temptations around us). We're going pretty serious for the 30, but I may need advice. Especially for a "mainstream" nitrate, sugar free bacon product. Any ideas? I don't want cane sugar either.

Arkansas - do you have a Trader Joe's locally? They have really good nitrate free bacon. I'm planning to do the whole30 - starting tomorrow or Sunday. I'm hoping eliminating dairy will help me shed a few pounds (coconut milk in my coffee).

Good luck!

Susan- love your new intro

Good Morning and Happy New Year!

Thanks Claire! I wanted something that would grab attention and not sound as weird as some folks seem to think we are I'm running onto 10 months Primal and I feel great and love my little clothing!!!

no, not a trader joe's within travelling distance unless you mean by plane. I have aldi's, walmart, harps, countrymart, kroger, sams club - and probably a couple I can't remember - within driving distance. Anything at any of these?

Cleaned out cabinets yesterday, well most anyway. I have a box to store of fairly healthy stuff I will save for looser primal days post whole30. Pitched a lot of stuff. Will finish that today. We're fortunate to have an extra fridge - so we have a "grok" and a "gork" fridge. The gork fridge contents will be donated, discarded, and for a small amount of stuff saved for later. Almost took a pic of my grok fridge - a drinking water filter tub, a couple jars, some mustard, and a mesh bag of avocados. I coulda parked a truck in the empty space.

Today, shopping and starting flylady program - so gotta clean my sink. Which won't be easy since I can't find it. Tomorrow - flylady whatever's next and doing some prep work to kick off whole30 tomorrow or Monday.

LOL Kel! I finally got done all the serving dishes, left over food and resealable things yesterday. Hey look! There's a kitchen under all that!

Susan great motivating intro!!

I weigh a LOT this morning... but I still fit in my size 8 and I don't feel that bloated... I must have done something right during the month of December, I still want to see the scale go down though, I have a fitness conference to attend in February and I want to look and FEEL good ...

What is whole30 ??

Hi all. I'm new here, but certainly not to dieting, lol. I've been reading up on Paleo/Primal lifestyle, and considering giving it a try. It certainly makes sense to get rid of processed food. I've done various low carb plans before. I'm not big on vegetables, though. Any ideas to make me like them more? Sometimes removing the texture helps with some things, like I enjoy smoothies and pureed soups.

Welcome Phil! I love vegetables (prepared most any old way), so I will have to think about some suggestions to make them more palatable to you.

Susan and Ilene - you know my weight right now is a bit on the high side for me, yet I've been wearing my smaller pair of jeans all of Christmas break - I wore them last night to go out and felt slim-ish, yet my weight is up. Interesting how our body composition IS different now. I still have a ways to go (down a size or maybe two would be nice), but I still note the changes and am pleased.

Well, I've been primal since about May and have decided to up the ante and have a hardcore more paleo month. I've been listening to tons of Robb Wolf's podcasts while walking, and I feel I'm ready. So I, too, am going to be doing the Whole30 too -- the changes for me will include:

-- no dairy (I currently eat cheese 2-3 times per week, use butter (to cook eggs, etc.), and often put whipping cream in my coffee
-- morning coffee will no longer have cream OR any stevia or sweetner-- just plain old coconut milk for me
--no treats/cheats -- for one month, the only treat I will indulge in (and only if I'm having severe cravings) will be dark chocolate. No little Christmas treats here and there, etc.
--no alcohol. I can make it one month!!!
--no processed unknown food -- very limited eating out (only if I absolutely cannot avoid it).

So, it'll be a very clean month -- eggs, vegetables, meat, some fruits, good fats and oils, yum. I am actually looking forward to it, and I've been searching out and finding lots of delicious looking new recipes (I'm going to do a Crockpot Carnitas this week). I am also interested to see if dropping dairy for 30 days will help me to "lean out" as Robb Wolf says. Hope so. I hope to feel better and stronger all around after the month.

ArkansasKel - I will be starting on Monday!

I think this is going to be a very healthy year for all of us!

The only Christmas food we had left was some of that marshmallow sour cream salad. I ate it! Besides that ... I had a good day yesterday.

I would think that vegetables in a smoothie and a nice bit of purreed vegetable soup would be good each day. My go to vegetable is almost always salad.

Claire, thanks for that link and I'm definitely in for the Whole30

-- no dairy,
-- no cream in coffee
-- no cheese
--no treats/cheats
--no alcohol , as you said Claire " I can make it one month!!! " me too
--no processed unknown food

(basically I cut and paste Claire's changes ) ... I think the hardest part for me will be not stepping on the scale : for 30 days ... I weighed in this morning at 158.9 *sigh*

Today I made quinoa pancakes for DD and I she bought me the cook book, they were quite good I had them with almond butter and jam not primal but not that bad.... the rest of the day will definitely be primal and tomorrow I start the Whole30...

Have a dinner date tonight with family, then tomorrow will be hit it and get it day for our 30. I am coming from a true "American" diet to the whole30 - so it's going to be a bit of a boot camp experience for us.

I am giving up:
-sodas - drinking only coffee, tea and water
-wheat - we have still kept low carb bread and plain oatmeal around all this time
-sugar - even if it's the last ingredient on the list
-artificial and natural sweeteners - aka - sodas, and splenda in my tea
-nightshades as we both have inflamed joint problems - just to see as is recommended (this means tomatoes, potatoes, peppers including hot sauce, and spices like cayenne)
-no legumes (DH is already mourning his peanut butter)
-no dairy (bye bye butter and cream in my coffee)

Still on the hunt for that elusive nitrate free bacon!
BTW my sink is all nice and shiny now!

Hi! Can I join you?

I am starting Whole30 tomorrow. I am already completely dairy free (serious adverse reaction to it - possibly allergy) and I rarely drink so those two things won't be tough to 'give up'. I do have a lot of soy and flour products in my kitchen so I need to work on that. I have been looking up recipes and making grocery lists.

Kirsti - of course! Welcome!

I've had a bad start in some ways, but I won't let it deter me...

I sent husband to Trader Joe's to stock up on meat yesterday (had plenty of veg already). He comes home with free range chicken, pork loin, three packs of grass fed ground beef -- all but the pork were dated JAN. 2. Ugh. That gives me the heebie jeebies right there, but I decided to go ahead and stick everything in the freezer except the chicken which I opened to cook -- all the bags were open and leaky - sticky and gross. Needless to say, this will be the first return I've ever made to TJ's. I must teach husband to look at the dates on meat!!! He also bought me a bag of avocados (per my list), and they were past mushy. I'll be returning those too.

Also, it's the first Monday back to work, and I feel really unprepared because I didn't grade or plan enough over break. This led to stress/anxiety, which led to me getting ... oh, maybe 4 hours sleep. ARGH.

Sleep is my Achilles heel and a major part of my goals this month... I must do better.

On a good note, lunch is packed, and I'm enjoying my coconut milk and coffee (I do miss my stevia but I'll be fine).

Hope everyone else's day goes well!

Hooray for all the new folks joining,

I enjoyed reading all the intros and "resolutions". Sure help boost the enthusiasm factor going back to the gym. Weight is about the same but I feel mushy. Have been working hard (sitting) the past week and a half. Need to Move!!!

Here's to 2011!

Good Luck everyone...