Intense Diet Change

I have decided that enough is enough. I am going 100% all the way in and focusing on my diet. Over the course of two and a half years I have been working towards a healthier life: changing habits, eating better, being more active, etc. Recently, I have felt stuck in a rut and I want out. Something needs to change, and my diet is where it starts. My lifestyle journey has been a roller coaster and I have learned a lot along the way. Simply, I am striving to be better than I was yesterday and that is exactly what I am going to do. Keep reading to see what exactly about my diet I am changing, and how I am kicking this off!

I was inspired by the great Papa Swolio, a youtuber known as Swolenormous. If you are interested in health and fitness that is straight forward and factual, I highly suggest checking out his channel: Swolenormous. Now let us get into it!

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For the next four weeks I am changing my diet. I am cutting out specific foods to learn which foods do and do not work for me.

First, I have a few bullet points that I want to make.

1. How I am eating is for me and my body.

I have discussed this time and time again, and it is an important point. Every body is unique and different, and how I am eating for me may not, and probably does not, work for you. Make the effort to learn what does work for your body.

2. This may seem extreme to some; however, I want to ensure that I am still eating enough food for my body.

3. I want to use my experience to emphasize on the importance of a good diet, and that diet is very personal for every individual.

You cannot outrun a bad diet. Calorie consumption and the quality of the food consumed play an important role in health and fitness.

4. Here, I am referring to diet as the foods that one consumes every day. Those foods is what makes up one’s diet.

I am not talking about a fad or a short-term solution. My diet is the food I eat every day to sustain my health for a healthy lifestyle.

5. I am tracking what I am eating as well as making notes on my thoughts and feelings every day for the initial four weeks.

There will be a follow up post explaining my experience during this time.

6. Even though I am tracking more in depth for the next four weeks, my diet change does not end there.

Living a healthy lifestyle is just that, a healthy lifestyle. It takes time and practice for the rest of my life. I will apply what I learn and make the necessary changes as needed for my health and how my body physically feels.

7. I do believe that slowly weaning myself off processed foods over the past few years has allowed me to be able to get to this point.

It really comes down to habit changes. If you want to change your lifestyle, you need to change your habits.

My Goal

My goal is to adjust my diet in a way that is focused on how my body physically feels. Essentially, I am, cutting out specific foods from my body to observe what happens. Yes, I am cutting out foods, but I am not cutting out macros (i.e., carbs, fats, proteins). My focus is to eat healthful fruits, vegetables, proteins, and fats while removing processed and inflammatory foods from my diet.

What Am I Cutting Out?

Currently, I have, what I consider, a healthy diet. I eat lots of fruits, vegetables, protein etc., however, there is always room for improvement.

My thoughts are this: “If I stopped consuming these foods, how would I feel? Would my body feel better? Would my stomach and digestive system feel better?”. Well, I want to find out. I do not want to eat foods that are designed to be addictive and cause overeating. I do not want to eat foods that cause an inflammatory response within my body. I want to eat foods that are healthful and nourish my body to support my overall health.

My personal list of foods that I do not want to eat consists of a combination of foods that are nutritious and that lack nutritional value. Some of these foods I already know cause my body discomfort. I wanted to add them to the list as a reminder that foods, even those that provide nutritious benefits to the body, may not work for every individual. I do not experience allergies towards foods, however intolerances and allergies do exist for several individuals.

The Execution

I want to set myself up for the most success possible. I am changing habits, and that is difficult to change. Everything is written down in my journal to reference for grocery shopping and this journey overall as I continue to change for the better.

Within my journal I have created two lists, one for “no” foods and one for “yes” foods. From here, I created recipe ideas for myself based off the yes list. I will share the recipe ideas with you guys in a future post. Lastly, it is go-time! From here I went through my fridge and pantry and removed the foods that I will no longer be consuming for this experimentation. The phrase, “out of sight, out of mind” is very true. And just like that, I am ready to tackle this change head on!

The Lists

Here are the lists of foods I will continue to consume and will not continue to consume. My Yes List contains foods that I already enjoy eating on a daily basis.

My No List

My Yes List

Final Thoughts

Not only will I save money, I am also going to be saving calories! Most fruits and veggies contain more volume per calorie (especially compared to processed foods). Simply, the volume of food that I eat will increase while focusing on eating enough calories during this transition.

I am excited to finally take complete charge of my diet! I am especially interested in how I am going to feel over the next few weeks, as well as how my body will change in response to my new diet.

Finally, this is a learning experience. I am looking forward to the journey ahead.

Related: Hello World!