I was hoping to wish you a good morning but this post comes a little later because Cait and I met this morning for an awesome blog re-design and branding sesh!  Thanks to the ladies at A Beautiful Mess and their Blog Design Love course, we’re starting to think seriously (though not that seriously) about our long term ideas and some things we want to improve about this little site.  We’re so excited to start rolling out little adjustments and big things over the next few months.  We hope you stick around to check them out.

But getting to this actual post…So my 30 days of refined carbohydrate and bad food abstinence are up.  That’s right.  I didn’t eat a single almond croissant for an entire month.  That’s pretty much the only thing I legitimately gave up because I can assure you that bread and pasta made occasional appearances, though only when I absolute couldn’t resist (have you seen these pancakes?).  Wine too (wine’s just fermented grapes, isn’t it?).  I may have also licked the spoon after this session with Cait’s dulce de leche. So yes, I treated myself. I adapted. I cheated.  But I never felt the need to go overboard.

Attending four to five WODs at Amatak on a weekly basis wasn’t the only easy thing about this month.  The community of 30 odd peeps in it with me definitely made things easier.  The commitment to eating real food also turned out to be one of the simplest goals to achieve.  Getting rid of pasta turned out to be perfectly painless.  I bought a spiralizer to turn my zucchini, carrots and daikon into noodles that were the perfect vector for any sauce. Fresh vegetables are so freaking plentiful in this wonderful green place I live, so a quick run to the local market fixed things.  And food blogs.  There are so many to throw ideas at you.  A few of my favourites are down below.

And 30 days later, I feel many many times healthier.  So I only lost 1kg and 1% of my body fat.  That’s fine. I know there’s a lot of muscle in there now.  Most importantly, I lost that unfortunate spare tire (thanks Mike and Jenny!) and I feel oh so much happier in general.  Those hypoglycemic lows and annoying feelings of post-meal bloat are gone. I feel lighter and less bogged down from the food I eat.  And I’m committed to real food.  Fresh vegetables, good meat. It requires a bit of thought and planning, but I’m absolutely willing.

Eating real food is such an easy way to start living a healthier life compared to other diets.  This article from the New Yorker explains what exactly is up with gluten-free. And a strict paleo diet is pretty much only for our neanderthal brethren…or our kin who decide to live off the grid (not to be mistaken with lumbersexuals).  We should all just eat real instead. And James Hamblin, that doc who writes for The Atlantic and looks like he just turned legal, gives a great intro to it with our beloved Mark Bittman. Enjoy!

My favourite real food recipe blogs and recipes!

Real Food Cambodia

My Heart Beets

Nom Nom Paleo