And so we begin Marc Sisson's Primal BluePrint 21-Day Total Body Transformation challenge... won't you join me?

The look on my husband's face was the same one Kate Winslet had when she let go of Leonardo Dicaprio's hand at the end of Titanic. Something important was being lost. In the case of my husband, it was the brown sugar. He had a sort of this-can't-really-be-happening expression. "Farewell my sweet companion" and down to the bottom of the Primal Atlantic you go along with the oatmeal, the crackers, the bread and other tragic food stuffs. Oh, the humanity!

Taking the First Step: "Out with the Old"

Our first step in the The Primal BluePrint 21-Day Total Body Transformation requires a purging of the pantry. Out with the old SAD (Standard American Diet) foods and in with new healthy "primal foods" replacements. It is not that my husband did not understand this, but breaking up can be hard to do, even in a terrible relationship.

We decided together that the SAD stuff will go to the left of the pantry and the healthy stuff to the right. My husband's goodbyes were long. Mine were not as much. The Primal Diet is close to the way I've been eating after weight loss surgery. 

Goodbye energy drinks.

Goodbye powdered drink mixes.

Goodbye powdered juice mixes.

Goodbye ketchup, mayo, and honey mustard.

Goodbye pretzels, donuts, and granola.

And beyond the pantry was goodbye ice cream and fast food.

Goodbye burgers and hot dogs.

Goodbye French fries and onion rings.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. The left side of the pantry looked like rush hour; the right side was spacious. Meh... I've eaten virtually no fast food or processed food since my gastric bypass surgery in 2003. And I've been using grain-free recipes for several years.

There are other action steps in The 21-Day Total Body Transformation that will come easily for my husband. And they will be really, really challenging for me. But that's a story for another sharepost.

But Why?

Having said our farewells, the focus moved to why it was that this food purge was taking place. We immediately eliminated the possibility that author and fitness expert Marc Sisson, someone whom neither one of us had ever met in person, was deliberately trying to be mean. Instead, we agreed that someone who neither one of us had ever met in person was trying to show us something potentially useful. I say potentially because the game is early and the outcome still a mystery... although there is a logic behind the suggestions.

The powdered drink mixes bog us down with carbohydrates and chemicals and do not fill us with nutrients.

Condiments and cooking items are sugar-laden.

Fast foods are self-explanatory -- they essentially are deadly weapons cushioned in a bun. The deep fried foods offered at many of these places are the gateway to cancer and heart disease.

Grains and sugars provide the excess insulin that promotes weight gain.