If one of your New Year's resolutions has been to clean up your diet, we celebrate your decision. Here's some good news. We're half-way through the month, which means that if you've been doing Whole30 or similar diet plan, you only have a couple more weeks to go and the first 30 days will be in the books. 💪 Some even better news is that your body is beginning to acknowledge the change in routine. Sometimes there are some symptoms that come with cleaning up the diet. These symptoms can resemble the flu because your body is ridding itself of toxins and junk that has built up. This can be uncomfortable, but fight through it because if you can make these changes permanent, the short and long-term dividends will become obvious. You may have cravings to overcome. This is normal as many of these ultra-processed food ingredients may be addictive.

 

The United States is the world leader in the consumption of processed foods. It's estimated that 73% of the food on grocery store shelves is ultra-processed.  Processed food calories make up approximately 60% of the average American's diet. This includes foods and drinks containing vegetable oils, refined sugars and sweeteners, refined flours, preservatives, dyes, flavorings, and other additives. This is not an achievement we should be proud of, but something we should keep in mind when planning our shopping lists. Is it any wonder the rates of obesity, diabetes, cancers, and heart disease are so high. Harvard Public Health estimates that 678,000 people die every year from chronic food related illness. You may not think this applies to you, but unless you're extremely disciplined, chances are you're eating more processed foods than you think. 

 

Often times, if we're not paying attention, the junk food choices can add up and we don't even realize it. Consider tracking what you consume for 30 days. Use a diet app to help keep track of macros. The results might be surprising. The great thing about a diet like Whole30 or Keto is that it forces us to keep track of what we're eating. It eliminates the junk and allows the body to begin to heal. It encourages us to eat more whole foods that has nature's seal of approval. These are all worthy goals for the new year. We wish you all the best in your endeavors. This week we've put all of our Whole30 Approved items on sale to help with the grocery shopping.