Becky Crenshaw

“I am learning that feasting can only exist healthfully – physically, spiritually, and emotionally – in a life that also includes fasting.”  Shauna Niequist, Bread and Wine

Being a recovering food obsess-ee, I must be very careful this time of year.

After a month and a half of complete indulgence in all things sugar and spice and egg nog on ice, I tend to swing the pendulum in the extreme opposite direction.  Almost every year on the drive home from Christmas with Brent’s family, I begin researching New Year’s detox plans and the latest trends in wellness.

This year is no different.

However, my ears perked up well before Thanksgiving for a health trend called The Whole 30.  Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe not, but it has been in the news and gaining great reviews for a couple of years.

I have resisted Paleo like the plague.  Seriously.  I will buck a system that causes me to store my popcorn bowl.

Nope. Not gonna.

Popcorn and Jesus keep my marriage together.  Brent and I will pop a bowl and watch Downton Abbey, a war movie, scroll Facebook, discuss our day or simply sit in silence, allowing that tender corn to unite us.  Call me sappy, but I have an affection for popcorn that goes beyond Orville.

But over and over, for months now, The Whole 30 has come to my attention.  A nutritional reset that eliminates several dietary items, many of which are common health aggravations.

Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) sometimes have a negative impact on health without us realizing it.

As you know I struggled a few months with my health.  And I saw that my energy levels were inconsistent, as well as I had aches and pains that couldn’t be explained by exercise or injury.  The more I googled and researched The Whole 30 the more I seemed to fit the bill.  Could it be foods that are affecting me?  I don’t know.  But there is one way to find out….

Eliminate them.

I am going to say right now, I am not committing to Paleo.   Unless I get clearance from The Lord and I feel like a million bucks, I will keep my popcorn bowl handy come February.  I mean, our Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life and we love a God who poured bread from heaven.  Bread can not be that bad.  But for some people, I know that removing it from daily intake is a very healthy and necessary move.

So…. after a month of feasting… I will move into a month of fasting.  Not necessarily in a spiritual sense, but fasting as a means to apply ample boundaries to my diet in order for my body to catch its breath.

Why do I tell you all of this?  Well, why wouldn’t I?  We are friends, right?  We drink coffee. We pray. And we swap stories and recipes.

And I am betting that we might cry together too, come day 18 when I realize that I haven’t had one kernel of corn or crouton for 432 hours.

Feel free to research The Whole 30 if you are intrigued.  I’d love to have some friends join me.  I begin on January 5th.  And no, my family is not playing my little game.  I want to give this a whirl by myself, but I am sure that the effects will trickle down a little, as I don’t plan on making two dinners or shopping for two palates.  I will just add a Sister Schubert to their plate at night.

I go into this with guns a blazin’.  I am extremely determined and very confident that The Lord is in this with me.  I don’t jump at things like this.  Especially a plan so restrictive.  But I have found that when you have felt bad, you’ll do just about anything to feel better.  Amen? So with God’s Word in one hand and some watercress in the other…  January 5th I’m a comin’!

And not that you care, but for my own accountability’s sake, I plan to give a weekly report on my Whole 30 adventure.  If nothing else, it will be entertaining to see how heavily one must rely on Jesus to detox from sugar.

If  you are interested, leave a comment below.  And here is my Pinterest board that I am building a little at a time.  Feel free to visit me there, as well!

Have you done The Whole 30 before?  I’d love to hear your thoughts below!