I have been asked this a dozen times in the past few days, and I decided it might be good to explain why Sherry and I are doing our fourth Whole30. It’s not because we need to lose weight; we are at or near where we want to be with our weight. It has more to do with being a new year reset of our appetites, of getting our bodies back to eating healthier foods, and getting away from sugar. Even though we ate Paleo-friendly treats during the holidays, the fact remains that we ate a lot of treats, and these had sugar in them (even if the sugar is in the form of honey, fruits, or maple syrup). Oh, and let’s not even talk about the alcohol. So. Much. Alcohol. All of this led to over-eating, some cravings between meals, and generally unhealthy eating patterns.

This all ends on our Whole30 where we re-dedicate ourselves to eating healthy. This is not punishment, nor is it an act of desperation. This is something we are doing that we see as a positive: a reset.

Fortunately, as we’ve done three Whole30’s in the past, we know what to expect and we have many Whole30-compliant recipes that are some of our normal favorites, so we won’t be suffering in that regard. I know that the first couple of days will be a little tough, but not too bad, since we are mostly weaned off sugar. I also know that my portion sizes will seem smaller because, well, they will be. In the end, it’s all for a good reason: staying healthy.

My lowest ever weight was 160 lbs last July. My weight has slowly crept back up to hover between 165-170 lbs normally, and I was okay with that. Tuesday morning, it was 176.3 lbs. That’s a full 6 lbs higher than I like, and I’m hoping to get back into the 160’s by the end of the month. So, while it’s not about losing weight, I know that my larger portions and increased sugar and alcohol intake has led my weight to creep up into numbers I’m just not comfortable with.

I also haven’t been running. After my 5k in December, we went to New York City to visit my daughter for 5 days, and on the last day there, I tweaked my ankle. That kept me from running for another week, and then over the Christmas-New Year break, it was too darned cold to run, so I didn’t. Now, it’s still ridiculously cold outside, but I really need to get back to it; I have a physical fitness test coming in April for the National Guard I need to be prepared for. That means I’m also finally re-starting my push up regimen, having laid off push ups since an elbow injury in August.

So, lots of resets, lots of new starts, and lots of reasons to do Whole30 again.