Today, my wife Lauren and I kick off a health and lifestyle plan based on the Arbonne 30 Days to Healthy Living Detox. We’ll be eliminating dairy, gluten, caffeine, alcohol, and pretty much everything else that makes life worth living. I kid! I kid! But I’m excited to make some changes and work to get my body feeling better. I have long had issues with dairy. Who knows if it is lactose intolerance or whatever, but any rich dairy that I eat (Frozen Custard is especially prevalent here in Wisconsin) immediately sends me to the porcelain throne of gastronomic regret. On the other hand, I’ve never noticed gluten being a trigger for me, but I’m looking forward to finding out if my health can improve by eliminating it.
I don’t have a lot of health issues. I mostly just suffer from inadequate exercise and a generally unhealthy diet, caused by a very common case of lack of impulse control. Despite the Arbonne plan stating that weight loss is not the goal but instead a positive byproduct of healthy changes, I am setting a goal to lose weight. It’s very easy to avoid the reality of my weight gain. When I think of myself, I still picture the skinny, lanky kid that I was 25 years ago. I get easily startled by photos taken of me in recent years in which my old angular features have transformed into rounded ones. I’ve grown at least one extra chin. When clothes shopping, I still have to remind myself that I’m not going to even come close to fitting into those 30 waist jeans. I can’t count the number of times I have arrived home with a large sized shirt, only to be stunned that I have to pry it off my body after worrying that it was going to be too big.
The weight gain has affected my running, as well. I love to run, but it has been increasingly difficult to keep it up because of exhaustion. Additionally, I have suffered for the last two years from plantar fasciitis, which I know has been exacerbated by carrying extra weight. So, my goal is to lose 45 pounds by the end of the summer. I’m hoping to get it kick started in May with this Clean Living Plan. I’ll use this space to keep regular updates, just to let everyone know how it is going and to keep myself honest.
Lauren has been an independent consultant for Arbonne for several years. You can visit her site here. Check it out. They have a lot of great stuff!
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