Back to Basics 30-Day Food Challenge

If man made it, don't eat it.
That is going to be my mantra for the next 28 days, but who's counting?

I love food.
I love cooking food.
I love eating food.
I love smelling food.
I love photographing food.
I love trying new food.
But, I don't like how I have physically felt or looked for going on three years now.
I refuse to have pills pumped into my body to fix things that diet can easily correct, I hope. I say "I hope" because I've tried other ideas in the past and to no avail. I do believe, though, that natural healing is the way to go and I preached it to my father during his cancer recurrences over and over. Now that I have had some continuing nagging health ailments and "other-than-good" test results lately, I have decided now is the time to make a change while I still can - before it gets worse and I don't have a choice. I will be 45 this year and, honestly, most days I feel like I'm 85.  I can't be a hypocrite anymore. I need to "talk the talk" and "walk the walk".

So on April 1, I decided to start my 100% 30-day plant based-eating challenge. Since this is a technically a food and wine blog, I thought I might as well blog about my trek through these next 30 days - the good, the bad and, I have a feeling, a lot of ugly.

In 2016, I sold my single family, four bedroom home with a decent-sized fenced in backyard, located five minutes from work. I also gave up my nearly six figure supervisory job which had immediate potential for promotion. I gave all of this up to move to the beach - a dream that I never thought would come true. Well, not only to move to the beach but to move to the beach with the man who holds my heart and with whom I'll spend the rest of my days.

After six months without a job, I was gracious enough to be hired by the County in which I live as an administrative assistant at a salary which is a 65% less than what I made previously in NoVA (the same salary when I started in local government 21 years ago) and I have to commute 50 miles a day round trip.

But I live at the beach... with the man I love. I'm not complaining. I couldn't be happier.

While I gave up a lot, I also gained much more than I could have ever imagined. Peace of mind. Reduced stress. The ability to see the ocean (and sometimes hear it if the wind is right) from my house which is a four block walk away. A calmer, laid back way of life (aside from 4 months out of the year). Being surrounded by genuine, nice human beings (for the most part).

I often referred to my move here and this new chapter in my life as going "back to basics".

In that same regard, I feel as if the 30 day plant-based challenge I have placed upon myself is following along that same path.

I'm going back to basics with my food habits and consumption.

What is my plan?
For 30 days, I will:

• not consume meat but consume fish/seafood in moderation;
• not consume dairy and eggs;
• not consume highly refined foods - such as sugars, flours and oil;
• not consume alcohol;
• center my eating around whole, natural foods based on fruits, vegetables, legumes, tubers (potatoes) and whole grains;
• not focus on eating for single nutrients but on the whole package;
• not eat processed foods;
• drink half my body weight in ounces of water daily;
• remain strong and focused on why I decided to take this challenge;
• remind myself that my lifelong relationship with cheese is an addiction and not an enduring love affair;
• focus on the good that is occurring within my body;
• think positive;
• not take personally what those who don't understand this way of life say to me;
• not fall off the wagon (It's only 30 days for crying out loud!); and
• quickly try to smack down the cravings I know I will inevitably have for a greasy steak and cheese sub, pork carnitas, or pizza.

By the end of this challenge, I hope to:

• gain a better understanding of food and the role it plays in my life;
• begin reducing my waist size and weight back to where it was three years ago;
• be able to fit into a ton of my awesome clothes that are just hanging in my closet wondering why they are stuck on hangers;
• lower my cholesterol and A1c;
• have more energy;
• reduce inflammation and pressure build up in my body;
• be able to look at myself in the mirror again without disgust;
• have a new appreciation for food;
• realize that food's purpose is fuel for the body; not a source of pleasure; and
• not regret the last 30 days of my life.

With that said, let the fun begin!