I did it, I finished the Whole 30!  And I finished it good.  I did not falter one time during the 30 days.  Not once!  I thought about it, many times, but I held true to my reasoning for starting.  I told myself it wasn’t hard.  I changed my thoughts around what hard really was.  And eating healthy food IS NOT HARD.  People have been asking me a ton of questions, so I’ll answer some here.  Enjoy!

Was it hard? Yes and No.  The first week and a half was hard.  I felt sad a lot, like I was missing out.  It’s hard to explain.  But I guess that’s what a unhealthy relationship does to you, it makes you sad.  But after that I went through a mix of emotions.  I was excited and proud for what I was doing. I was so happy about how I was feeling.  I was annoyed by people and all of their excuses (I mean any excuses would drive me NUTS!). I was empowered by my own will power.  I felt like I had tiger blood running through my veins, like I could do anything!  I think I even told Brian that maybe I was going to try and be a professional basketball player.  He kindly told me that was not possible and reminded me that I cannot jump very high nor can I even dribble a basketball.  The tiger blood running through my veins allowed me to kindly take his comments, move on and begin planning my plan of attack on being an all-start ball player.  I’m still working on it.  So the long answer to this was, no, it really was not that hard after week one.  But remember, I did a TON of work on my mindset and took a positive approach to this entire journey.

Yes, this meme is 100% true.

And then this happened!!  Watch out world!

Did you have a ton of headaches? No.  I had a little bit of a headache in the first few days, but it was not bad.  It did not even require Tylenol.  I drank a ton of water and stayed very hydrated.  I also ate every few hours that first week.

Were you tired? I was freakishly tired the first week and a half.  I took a lot of naps on the weekend.  But I slept like a rock.  I’m not tired now. 

What was the hardest part? Explaining to people what I was doing and why.  And then listening to their excuses for why they couldn’t do it.  Just smile and nod Katie!  And maybe bringing my own food to family get togethers.  That was hard, and a little embarrassing, but who cares!

What was the best part? Knowing that I can do anything I set my mind too.

How do you feel now? Like a MILLION bucks.  I feel fantastic, better than I have felt in years.

So what benefits did you notice?  See yesterday’s blog post.  There’s about 100!

You did the Whole Life Challenge.  Was this better or worse?  How was it different? Which one would you recommend? I did do the Whole Life Challenge with a group of folks awhile back.  It was awful.  Probably the worst experiment I have ever done when it comes to eating.  It wasn’t the program or the group of people, it was where my mindset was.  We kept score everyday.  There was a point system.  There was a leaderboard.  And if you know me, you know that I am one of the most competitive people you will EVER meet. So this set me up for failure from day one.  It wasn’t about devolving new habits for me; it was about winning a competition.  And well, it stunk.  I finished in the top of our group, but I felt horrible, my quality of life had decreased by 2 points (we took a questionnaire at the beginning and end).  I felt like I had wasted 2 months of my life trying to win.  I did not do that challenge for me.  Plain and simple.  But the Whole30 I did for me.  I was not trying to win.  I was trying to learn.  The Whole30 is more restrictive in terms of what I could eat.  There were no cheats allowed.  Well actually, you could cheat, but then you had to start over.  You could have cheats on the Whole Life Challenge.  I had the most AMAZING support with the Whole30, support I did not have with the other challenge.  I had a positive mindset this go-round.  I looked at all the things I was gaining from doing the Whole30.  I only looked at the positives.  It was such a better experience.  So which one would I recommend?  It depends on what you are looking for.  Both are pretty similar.  The Whole Life Challenge has more outside accountability built in.  The Whole30 is a no excuses, no BS, suck it up buttercup, get it done sort of approach.  You need to find out what works best for you!

Will you keep eating this way? Will I live the Whole30 100% from here on out?  No.  Will I keep many of the habits?  Yes.  I’ve learned to look at food in a whole new way.  The food I eat either makes me healthier or not.  It can help me live a longer, better life or it can impact my life in a bad way.  That being said, I believe with all of my being that there is a time and place for treats (whatever treats look like for you).  Those treats should be something that you enjoy, something that you savor and mindfully eat. 

Did you lose any weight or inches? Yes and yes.  The goal of this was not to lose weight, but to gain control of my eating habits, but everyone wants a number to verify that what they did worked (which is dumb, because a number cannot do that, it simply can’t).  But regardless, I lost 8 pounds in 30 days.  I lost 3 inches around my waist, an inch around both my hips and booty.  My thighs lost an inch each.  So ya, I lost weight and inches. 

What is going to be the first thing you eat?  Well, I’m a few hours into my first day off the Whole 30 and I haven’t eaten anything different.  I drank my coffee black.  I had my sausage, egg, sweet potato hash for breakfast. I thought about bringing some Halloween candy to work today, just for a little treat, but I passed on it.  It’s just not that exciting to me right now. 

                **HOLD UP, must make an addition before I post.  I just ate lunch and had a salad.  Ha!  Yep, a salad.  Complete with a little cheese and some honey mustard dressing.  I’m one wild and crazy girl. 

Do you see that?!  Cheese and dressing....BOOM!

                **And I will also tell you that it is treat day at work.  We have treats once a month at work.  Good treats, like homemade goodness.  This month one of the contributors is our chef, which means the goodies are sure to be FANTASTIC!  But I’m not having any.  I just don’t feel like it.  There’s no pull for me to go into the breakroom and have any.  And that feels really GOOD!

I took this picture at 8am.  Since there more cookies have been added, M&M bars and pumpkin cake.  I'm still passing on it.  No thanks!

Did you spend a ton of time food prepping or spend a ton of money on all that healthy food?  No and no.  I spent maybe an hour to two hours prepping on Sundays.  This is not a long time folks.  This meant I spend 0 minutes during the week deciding what I was going to do.  Next, I despise spending money on food.  I can’t explain that, but I do.  I also eat very simple.  I rotated a few of my favorite meals throughout the 30 days and was completely satisfied.  I spent significantly less money this last month on food that I typically do. 

What did you eat?  I ate veggies (spinach, fresh green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots), fruit (mangos, fresh pineapple, and an apple everyday) meat (very high quality bacon from the pig that once lived in my own back yard—one day I ate 10 pieces of bacon for a snack, don’t judge me, sausage-from that very same pig, beef-again, from a locally raised cow, chicken  and some high quality turkey burgers), eggs (that came from….you guessed it, my back yard!), unsweetened coconut, dried apricots (not very good), sweet potatoes, and green olives for a treat.  That’s pretty much it.  But you would be amazed at all the different meals you  can make from the above foods.  I didn’t complicate things, I don’t cook fancy meals and I don’t like trying lots of new things, so I stuck to plain and easy and it worked for me.

I’m thinking about doing it, what should I do to start? You should just start.  Stop with the excuses and just do it.  You’re worth it.  It’s not that hard.  But get the book It Starts with Food and read that too.  And check out the Whole30 website.  It explains everything.  Now just do it. Start. Don't give up.