I was SICK AS A DOG this week. Something I either ate or didn’t eat had my stomach MESSED UP!! I’ve been taking vitamins (new to my routine) as well as melatonin for better sleep and chewing a lot of sugarless gum to eliminate the narly breath that can come with eating a high protein / lower carb diet.

As strange as it sounds – I believe it may be the gum! I’ve eliminated not only sugar from my diet but also all artificial sweetners. All was going fine until I started chewing tons of gum. I’ve heard that the sugar alcohols in sugarless gum can cause stomach irritation – so I am eliminating that first.

Goals this week are to 1) Get in the gym at least 3 days this week; 2) Get 12 glasses of water in each day and 3) Get in bed before midnight!

I’d love to hear how you are doing with your diet journey, what new recipes you’ve tried lately and what you are doing to stay healthy. Comment below!

The scale continues to be my friend! Going into week 5, I am 18 pounds down and settling into new ways of eating.

Perhaps — the biggest win of the week is discovering an Air Fryer!! CHANGED MY LIFE!! I am a huge fan of chicken wings. And, thankfully wings are guilty pleasure that I don’t need to feel guilty about…and now even more so!

Crazy busy week this week with both travel and work…but somehow I’m managing to keep the eating in check. Until next week!

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is MLK Day – so I thought it fitting to start off this post with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. As I look at the many things that matter to me, there are a few I want to focus on in 2019. First, is good health – for me and for my family. In the past couple of years, my dad has had some close calls and it called into sharp relief how important health really is. So I am speaking out about how we nourish our bodies and our souls. No more taking it for granted! I am also not mad that the hard work is paying off and I am a full 14 pounds lighter than when I started.

I am having fun getting reacquainted with healthy cooking and having fun trying to recreate some of the recipes from my travels. Which brings me to another focus area for 2019. Given today’s political climate, it is more important than ever that we celebrate the many cultures that make up the very fabric of this great nation and beyond. I am overwhelmed at how fortunate we are to live amongst friends who come to this country from every corner of the world. We can not afford to be silent about the tremendous impact people from all backgrounds have had on our country. We must celebrate and support each other. kickass Culture Food will connect through food, fitness and health.

I’ll end the way I began with a quote from King.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

Let’s communicate!

This post could have stopped at the picture and the title! That said — I am amped to jump-start healthy eating and engaging in other cultures in the process. My personal weight loss goal for 2019 is to lose 90 to 95 pounds before we ring in the new year of 2020. So, what’s the plan exactly? The plan is to adhere to a diet that I’ve pieced together from a number of well-known weight loss philosophies. Like Atkins, I am drastically lowering my carb intake and upping the protein. From the Whole30 my goal is to rid my body of inflammation by ditching the dairy, soy, legumes. However, no nuts are allowed on the Whole 30 — and for me…that’s a no can do. I love macadamia nuts — which are also high in good fats…so they stay. For those familiar with the Mediterranean diet, this is very similar — besides the fruit — which goes because of the high sugar content. I am looking forward, however, to potentially reintroduce melons and berries in the summertime in moderation.

Each Monday, I’ll be uploading a blog post describing my journey thus far. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment below. This is meant to be a community of people who are on a journey toward optimal weight, better health and vitality. This is the place to lift each other up, share stories, trade recipes and celebrate who we are in every moment along the way.

I imagine that like me…lots of us have been here before. Ready to start anew…and PISSED that there is even a necessity to start anew. A number of years ago – I was in this very spot. I buckled down much like I am doing now and I lost 100 pounds. I kept it off for over 5 years. Then, things changed…new career path, lots of traveling, lots of eating out without working out, and a move back home. The move home — was probably the hardest. I very quickly fell back into old patterns of doing things — including a diet that was sugar laden, fried and by all accounts a fantastically yummy but weight E X P L O D I N G way of eating. I remember saying to myself I would NEVER be fat again. and I remember the day that it was undeniable that I had broken that promise to myself. !@#((U@!!

So today we start again. Ready to kickass? Let’s do this!!

The time is now… We are here… approaching January 2019… Another year gone by, another opportunity to start out and finish right!  You are likely reading this because you are joining me for the Soul30 Journey!

The Soul30 Journey is a total body, mind and spirit reset.    For 30 days, you will love yourself enough to give your body a break from all the inflammatory causing foods and eat only those foods that do the body good.

After successfully completing my first Whole30 Reset created by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, I struggled to successfully complete a second, third and fourth Whole30.  This time, I am determined to succeed and know one of the best ways to succeed is to be PREPARED.    Here are five tips to getting prepared:

1. Know your “Why!” Write it down.  Remind yourself daily WHY you love yourself and deserve to be healthy.
2. Anticipate and Plan for pitfalls! Visualize weekly trips to the grocery store and cooking every other day with a big prep day on Sundays. What will your social life look like the next 30 days?  Is it time to find some new friends at the local health club or walk path? Rehearse telling your friends at the office that you’ll have to take a pass on the team Happy Hour after work, which leads me to the next tip.
3. Don’t put yourself in situations that could be harmful like… Happy Hours! Find something else to do! Get excited about going home to cook and light your favorite smelling candle.
4. Know the Whole30 Rules ( you can find them on our website (link))
5. Clean House! Time to go through the cabinets and refrigerator and get ride of all the non-compliant foods.