Why I Removed Grains & Dairy from My Diet and How You Can Too: A New Year's Cleanse

Ugh, I can picture it now- feeling bloated after most meals (even when they were “healthy”), looking like a teenager again with adult acne (why!?) and waking up with a sort of brain- fogginess (I need coffee stat!). Surely it’s because I over-ate, or maybe because I am not using the right $100 cleanser or perhaps I just didn’t get enough sleep… all valid reasons but not the root cause of the constant discomfort I was feeling. 

With a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, a certification in nutrition and an aptitude for reading all things food, I knew some of these symptoms likely weren’t occurring independently of one another. Nor were they going to be solved by addressing the symptoms themselves- I had to dig a little deeper and change some serious eating habits to get at them at the source. 

Finally after years of feeling not quite right and spending way too much on skin care/ make up I booked an appointment with a naturopath. Now, I went in to this appointment with an open mind and eager to learn exactly what these things meant, I was ready to hear it all, do what I was told and pay the price to hear what I had been prophesying for a while.

GRAINS can cause inflammation (sorry gut!)
Traditional DAIRY products contain a protein similar to gluten (indigestion anyone?!) 
ALCOHOL helps no one (well except that guy at the bar..)  

Foods in these categories I was eating on the regular: 

GRAINS like quinoa, rice, oats, sourdough bread, cookies…
Traditional DAIRY like cheese, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt… 
ALCOHOL especially beer, hard alcohol and ciders…

SO WHAT THE HECK WAS I GOING TO EAT?! 

Like the caring (optimistic) doctor he was, my naturopath told me not to focus on what I couldn’t have, but more on what I could: 

ROOT VEGETABLES like beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, etc 
Soaked BEANS & LENTILS like chickpeas, black beans, white beans, split peas, red lentils, brown lentils, etc 
GRASS FED BEEF from local farmers and independant organic grocery stores
FREE RANGE/ ORGANIC EGGS & CHICKEN from local farmers and independant organic grocery stores (I have even found great options at Superstore!) 
GOAT DAIRY PRODUCTS like goat cheese, goat milk or goat yogurt 
ALMOND/ CASHEW/ COCONUT MILK like my fave: Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk by Silk 
WATER and bubbly water when I want something to sip on at a social event 
HONEY/ DATES/ MAPLE SYRUP when I really want something a little sweet 

Okay, maybe I can do this. Six weeks, 1 vacation and countless “relapses” later, I am feeling WAY, WAY, WAAAY better. No photo can do justice to how I feel without painful bloating and how my jeans fit a lot more comfortably. How I wake up with a new sense of clarity I didn’t think was possible unless it was past 9am. And how my skin actually looks… younger. 

I have to admit it was NOT EASY to change my diet and truly change my habits, but I can say that even 4 weeks of staying disciplined CAN and WILL make a difference. 

So if you’re like me and have been waiting to try something to help combat bloat (especially post holidays) and can leave you, your skin and your brain feeling clearer and refreshed, then I invite you to partake in the CrushCamp 30-Day Cleanse with me, and your fellow Campers.

Your challenge:

From January 15- Feb 15th commit to: 

NO GRAINS 
NO DAIRY 
NO ALCOHOL 

And look forward to:

NO BLOAT 
NO BREAKOUTS
NO BRAIN FOG 

And just one more thing - this doesn’t have to be permanent! If your body feels fine and in fact energized when eating grains, awesome! If your skin is on point and dairy doesn’t affect you like me, unreal! And by the way, I still had a glass of wine on New Years and so can you! This challenge is meant to be just that, challenging. It is meant to be a time to get to know your body better and take away some of the foods that generally cause inflammation for most people. So for just for 30 days - I challenge you to get curious, try something new, and see how your body responds. Knowledge is power! 

Ready to go? Click here to register for the Iron Wolf Challenge, then check out this link for my meal plans, grocery list, fridge clean-out, and other resources to help you crush this challenge! Have questions? Feel free to to send me an email at rachel@crushcamp.com and I’ll help you out!