David and I will be doing Whole30 in September.

We're approaching This Thing like a big old experiment. We've talked about doing it for weeks, and when I brought it up again a few nights ago, David went from "meh-meh-meh" to "alright, I'm in."

We talked about when (start now, or plan ahead), and why, and how. We decided to hold off until September so that we have the structure of the month to help guide us through, but also to make monitoring other parts of this experiment a little better.

This eating-whole-for-30-days experiment has two main parts:

• Seeing how we feel
• Seeing if it's really more expensive [for us]

Whole30 Experiment Part 1: Seeing How We Feel

It's no surprise that we're doing this to be healthier and happier. But, we need to make real, measurable goals, like weight, diminished pain, and boosted energy. We have to see how we feel.

Here's Why We're Doing It

Here's why I'm doing it:

• Lose weight: I've been stuck on the scale for months. Like 18 of them. I gained a good bit of weight the Spring before last due to a huge issue with my IUD. Once we got it sorted out, I have been completely unable to shake the weight.
• Manage cholesterol: Partially genetically, I've had high cholesterol since I was a teenager. I'm usually able to keep it down on my own, but haven't been able to so much lately. A recent blood test for getting life insurance brought it to my attention that I've been failing.
• Get rid of inflammation: I have a very bad knee, having had two surgeries in the past 9 years leaving me with little cartilage left in my right knee. Sometimes it just gets aggravated and swells up, leaving me limping around for days. I'd like it to go away forever, along with my occasional desk-job induced carpel tunnel.
• Get rid of bloating: No explanation needed, I'll assume. Adios, bloating.
• Moodswings: I'm a moody SOB. If I don't eat lunch by 1 everyday, run. Just run.

Here's why David's doing it:

• Level out energy: Poor David crashes everyday around 3pm and just passes out. Like a small child (and usually with Cute Kid; their naps coincide).
• Get rid of dry skin and redness: Since we had Cute Kid David has had issues with his cheeks occasionally swelling up, turning crazy red, and becoming very dry. The first time it actually happened was when Cute Kid was a week old, and happens periodically since. We can't figure out what causes it, but have learned to manage it with aloe and coconut oil. But, we'd like it to go away for good.
• Get rid of shoulder pain: David occasionally experiences an unexplained pain in his shoulder. Again, no idea what causes it.
• Manage anxiety: David experiences mild (and often uncalled for) anxiety.
• Sleep better: Unlike me, who can meditate myself to sleep in seconds, David usually has serious trouble falling asleep at night, or waking up in the middle of the night again unable to fall asleep. No good.

Now, I definitely feel all kinds of crazy expecting that 30 days of whole eating will cure all our ailments, but I feel it is important to set some goals, and measure any changes: good or bad.

Here Are Some Things We Expect to Find Challenging

• Not drinking: We don't drink a lot, but we do drink kind of often. More importantly, we don't like being told not to drink. The not drinking part was why David refused to do this with me for so long. I think we both might find this to be the hardest part.
• Not snacking: You know, like really snacking. I like chips and David lives for ice cream. Actually, cutting my usual salty snacks out will probably be harder for me than ditching alcohol.
• Socializing: We always socialize with a chip in our mouth or a drink in our hand. Though, this is something that David and I have discussed changing before (we know it's important that Cute Kid see us socializing in ways that don't involve food and drink) it will still be a huge challenge to find other ways to spend time with our friends and family.
• Dumping our bad food habits: When I'm famished I have a bad habit of going into the kitchen and just popping some crackers in my mouth while I begin prepping dinner. You know, to hold me over. And we also have a bad habit of choosing bad foods without thinking. Like the other morning I made a conscious decision to go the day gluten-free, and then after dropping Cute Kid off for school David suggested we stop by for a chicken biscuit, and I was half-way through before I realized what I was doing. Pathetic.
• No cheese: Yea, just cheese.
• Eating meat: Though we're not – by any means – vegetarians, I rarely cook meat. All our meat consumption comes from not-my-kitchen. I don't mind eating it, but it freaks me out to touch raw meat, and the fact that I'll need to prep and cook it almost every day for a month wigs me the eff out.
• Our new busy schedule: Now that Cute Kid is in school and David has his instructor gig at the university, our previously leisurely schedule is definitely now a busy one. It's going to be challenging for us to ditch a quick trip to a downtown restaurant for the "hassle" of a home cooked meal. 

But Here Are Some Things That We Have Going For Us

• We already don't eat a lot of traditional bread: We don't do dinner rolls, or take sandwiches to work/school. I never buy loaves of bread. But we make up for it in couscous, rice, and tortillas.
• No travel planned: We have no travel planned for the month of September, which is good considering how much we eat when we travel. We experience places through food, and not whole food. Sauce-y food.
• We already have a big food budget: We spend a large part of our expendable income on food. Like, a really large part.
• We're already accustomed to eating a lot of veggies, and are food snobs: As the big food budget may indicate, we already buy mostly fresh produce, mostly organic, and most local. And we are complete snobs when it comes to everything else.
• I don't drink coffee, and David does only occasionally: Even though coffee is allowed on Whole30, it seems that taking it black (or with only coconut milk) tends to be the hardest thing for most people going through the program. Luckily I have no caffeine addition to cater to, and David's is practically non-existent. I do drink green and mint teas kind of regularly though, but always drink them neat.
• We're doing it together: I can't imaging going at this alone, and am so excited that David is doing it with me. We'll hold each other accountable the entire time. (But I also know he'll make a great cheating buddy, but we'll try not to go there.)

How We'll Be Tracking How We Feel

We'll be keeping a daily food/feeling journal. We actually started yesterday with tracking the week before we start, and then we'll track the 30 days. I plan to post our meal plans and general field notes here every week.

Whole30 Experiment Part 2: Seeing If It's Really More Expensive

One of the common "issues" with Whole30 is that it's so expensive. Since we're cutting out our three biggest food expenses – booze, restaurants, and cheese (not kidding, we eat a lot of good, snobby cheese) – I wouldn't be surprised if our food expenses came out to be about even with, if not a little less than, our usual spending.

Though, I'm completely aware that we're not the usual Whole30 doers. We already minimize our processed food significantly more than the average American family (and probably most "above average" ones too). No easy boxes of hamburger helper or prepackaged sauces will ever come through my door. I'm not kidding. We're total snobs.

At the end of our Whole30 we'll share a recap of our August (regular eating) vs our September (Whole30 eating) expenses, and see when it is that we actually spend more.

What Happens Now

David and I will be taking the next 5 days to finish out August and our regular eating. We're tracking our food and feelings in our little Moleskines, reading up on all of this (our current arsenal: Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan, It Starts with Food by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig and Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo), and cleaning our our fridge. I have a good ol' wedge of brie that needs to be eaten. We're also having a few "last meals," like ordering in pizza and a trip or two to eat some Mexican food.

I'll be back next week to fill you in on what a regular week for us looks like, then we'll begin this thing. I'm actually really excited.

(Above book links are Amazon affiliate links, so if you buy I'll get a kickback. This doesn't effect how awesome I think they are. Because I really do think they're awesome. Just so ya know.)