You may remember that on November 4th, I committed to going grain free for 30 days. Many of you have inquired about how it’s gong, so I figured I’d provide a quick update today.

It’s going…well…normal. I feel strong now, and I felt strong before. My energy level is stable, and I’m rarely hungry. I haven’t been sleeping enough, but that’s likely due to a high intake of black coffee rather than my recent experiment. Net-net, I’m pleased with my approach. I have zero cravings for the few grains I’ve cut out.  A large part of my success has to do with how I’ve replaced them.

Many people read “grain free” and commit to the challenge but without the right mindset. Just take a look at the sheer amount of heavily marketed junk foods with labels boldly proclaiming their lack of gluten and sugar. Remember, whenever a package advertises what it lacks (whether gluten, sugar, fat or anything else), it’s not mentioning what was added in. Fat free products are heavily injected with additional sugars to make them taste good. Grain free products may contain tons of chemicals, sodium and cheap fats. The removal of any substance inherently means more processing and moving farther away from real, whole foods. Going this route because you don’t want to “deprive yourself” is unquestionably worse than leaving the grains in your diet. From 100daysofrealfood.com:

Processed foods are an illusion, often appearing to be healthy (with claims like low fat, low carb, vitamin fortified, no trans fat, contains omega-3s, etc.) when these foods are in fact the very thing making a lot of Americans unhealthy, sick, and fat.

Instead, I used this challenge as motivation to remove one of the few processed foods I was still including in my daily meals. I’m essentially eating no refined sugar now, in addition to no grains. Instead, I’m getting those calories from extra fruit and veggies like persimmons, berries, apples and cabbage. I’m also devouring an extra yam daily. I’m generally proud of my routine.

Were my two daily slices of Ezekial bread killing me? Of course not. However, I’m always on the lookout for areas in which I can optimize my intake. I do love the challenge of setting a nutritional goal and getting after it. I committed to thirty days. Specifying that time period was important. From runnersworld.com:

Goals should be thought of as specific or detailed. When thinking of specific nutritional goals for training consider the what, who, when, where, which and why of the goal being set. Narrowing down the specifics of a nutritional goal makes it more likely to promote a positive result.

I still have another couple weeks left on my challenge, but so far, I have not struggled with my transition. As I look into my nutritional crystal ball, I see years of whole foods and very few wheat derived, packaged foods. I also see occasional indulgences and flexibility. I like an ice cold beer (grains) and a burger (also grains, bun) with blue cheese crumbles. I may discover at some point that I can’t say no to a particularly flavorful and healthy barley based dish. I’ll be nimble at that time.

I say it often. No rules, no judgement.

Kap