So for 21 days, you've suffered through some challenge posts.

For all the complexity of the nutrition info out there, it really is summed up best by Michael Pollan:

"Eat (real) food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

It's simple to say, and hard to practice.

I've been slacking on the plants part, and even with this challenge, eating plants that aren't starchy or have gluten is difficult. If you can do the above for 3 months straight, then I'd say you can start to worry about other things like measuring and supplementation.

In other words, I'd boil it down to:

1. good food quality (and water)

2. then think about food quantity

3. lastly think about hydration, supplementation and blood testing to refine the above

My main goal was to:

1. avoid added sugar and sweeteners

2. avoid gluten

3. record my food for 21 days

(4. avoid alcohol, although that's pretty much covered by the sugar goal)

Note: I was not trying to stick to a particular macro ratio

The first picture is my "progress". Admittedly, there's not a drastic difference. The day 15 picture shows the biggest difference and came before I had to travel for work for 5 days and made some questionable choices while eating out.

So what did I learn?

1. Any noticeable change is going to take time. I generally eat this way, going up and down with how strict I am. So to see progress, you're going to have to stick to it -- you're trying to change habits that have built up over years. 21 days is less than 6% of just one year. Patience is key.

2. For the first week, even though I avoided sugar, I was eating a lot of fruit and dried fruit. A sweetener is a sweetener no matter if it's "paleo" or not. Don't be surprised if you're not seeing much progress if you're eating larabars and paleo "donuts" during a challenge.

3. Even on the best week, the amount of fiber I ate was way low. I need to eat more leafy vegetables. A lot more.

4. I really don't see a need to count calories. If you don't eat a lot of dense carbs, it is soooo difficult to over-eat on quality foods. You will be cooking meals and eating celery all damn day.

5. Keep it simple.

6. Limit the decisions you have to make. On day 21 I wanted to quit early. But it was more effort to buy some junk to eat than it was to make a decent meal.

7. Make a goal for what you want your body to be able to do rather than what you want it to look like. I'd love to be able to overhead squat my body weight 10 times, run a 5 minute mile and do 10 muscle-ups. I for sure won't be able to get there if I look like a slob.

8. Have fun with it. Challenge some friends. Host an iron chef meal prep day. Buy a random vegetable you don't know the name of.

9. Surround yourself with supportive people.

10. Figure out what you're living for. If you want to be around for your kids or your career impact, the path to more years to attain that goal isn't lined with donuts and cigarettes. It's probably lined with vegetables (and the occasional slab of bacon).