Metabolical Challenge 2023

Sometimes, changing things up a bit can pay BIG DIVIDENDS when it comes to your overall health, fitness and very possibly your quality (and duration) of this amazing thing we call life. That’s the idea behind our Metabolical 30 day challenge, beginning March 9th, 2023 and ending April 9, 2023. This will be based on the premise laid out in Dr. Robert Lustig’s book Metabolical (which you should absolutely read) …”Protect the liver. Feed the gut”. What does that mean for our challenge? Quite simply you can eat and/or drink anything you want. Oh, with the exception of processed foods and alcohol.

Drinking, or in this case NOT drinking alcohol is a pretty simple concept to understand. No wine, well, beer etc. Easy to understand, right?!

Eliminating processed foods, seems to be a slightly more difficult concept to grasp for many. Dr. Lustig argues the issue is not really the food we eat, but rather…”What’s been done to the food that we eat”. So, keeping that simple concept in mind will help you in making the right nutritional choices.

Quoting Greg Glassman, “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.” is also a pretty sound strategy.

Let’s look at that a little closer. Should I eat meat (red meat, white meat, chicken, fish) and veggies that I cook at home? Absolutely! Should I eat meat and veggies bagged, frozen and packaged? Probably not. Why? Because I do not know what has been done to that packaged meat and veggies. The same likely holds true for restaurant food. Do your best to stay away from it for 30 days. What about nuts and seeds? Should I eat “dry roasted” nuts? That’s a big NO. Raw nuts? Yes. Dried fruit? No. Fruit Smoothies? Nyet. Pasta? Tortillas?Bread? Protein bars? NO-NO-NO-NO. Unless you are getting milk directly from a cow’s utter, by definition all milk and dairy products you can purchase are in fact processed. Sorry cheese-heads. You have a pretty good idea of what is processed and what is not. If you have questions, feel free to post in the BLOG or to text or email me directly.

PRO TIP: Focus on what you CAN EAT during this challenge. Don’t worry about what you CANNOT EAT.

What Can You expect to happen in 30 days? Good question and there is no one size fits all answer. It’s almost certain that your blood work / blood metrics will improve significantly. Blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, cortisol levels, inflammation, to name a few should all improve. If you are overweight, it’s likely you will shed a few pounds, possibly a lot more. Your quality of sleep will likely improve. Your gut health will definitely be better than when you started. Many of your bodily processes will function better…. all really just a few steps in the right direction though.

What about after 30 days? Are we all going to live the rest of our lives without any processed foods or alcohol? Maybe, although more than likely not. However, it’s very likely that the 30 day experience will open your mind to a few lifestyle changes that you will carry forward, open your mind to looking at other life enhancements and hopefully be a few more building blocks in the foundation of what will hopefully be a long, healthy and happy life.

If you have read this far and are actually considering accepting this 30 day challenge, do yourself a favor and clearly define why you are participating. For most of us, while simple and straightforward, sticking with this challenge (these changes) will by no means be easy. Please create an account and use the BLOG to not only publicize your “WHY”, but also to freely discuss the journey, encourage and be encouraged by and with other group members. Share links to what you may be reading, what you find interesting and/or helpful. Remember as Hillary Clinton said…”it takes a village”…or was that Al Gore? Ha Ha!