I’ve been thinking about how I was going to conclude this 30 day challenge. I’ve been writing all month about the progress, how I was feeling, what I ate, what I missed and what I’d do after this is over. This Whole30 has changed the way I think about food. I see results with my clothes. I feel results in my body and the scale showed the results in a number, I lost 10lbs. 10LBS in one month. 
That’s 2 bags of sugar. I hesitated getting on that scale this morning, I was nervous and antsy and didn’t sleep like I could have. What if I didn’t lose what I wanted? My goal was 10lbs or more. I did it. I still have another 10 to go, but WOW.. the feeling of accomplishment is uplifting and has brought me a new outlook on my ability to complete something.
In the last 10 years or so.. I’ve prided myself on being a FINISHER.. I might not be the 1st in place or even 3rd, but when I set my mind to do something, I finish. Goals are so important on EVERY level, if you don’t have goals, what do you have to look forward to? Whether it be career goals, vacation, physical and mental challenges, if you don’t have something to look forward to, how can you strive to be anything? That’s just my opinion of course and you can take it or leave it. I was talking to my son Derek the other day about this. He’s taken after me when it comes to setting goals and achieving them, he sets something up in his mind and goes after it. This being mother’s day weekend, I’d like to say that I’ve had something to do with his way of thinking, that I’ve made a positive impact on his whole outlook on achieving goals.
Now, this challenge was just that, a Challenge, people set goals for themselves every single day and they achieve them, I agree that it was HARD, probably one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done, but it’s not extraordinary. You hear people say that fighting cancer is hard, giving birth is hard (I know this as I had natural child birth 3 times without any form of pain meds), becoming clean and sober from Drugs and Alcohol is HARD… eating the right foods really isn’t that hard when you put it into perspective like that.
- This is what my life used to be like. I would eat what I thought was healthy food and endulge on the weekends, sometimes Monday’s with soup and Chinese Food. My weekends would be Thursday-Monday, realistically “eating well” on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’d drink a glass of wine each night, or a small glass of whiskey to put me to sleep. I would wake up in the mornings dehydrated and with a headache.
- This is how I found the Whole30. I have talked to a few people who have done the Whole 30, they said that it’s one of the most challenging adventures they’ve taken. They said they felt amazing during and afterwards, that it taught them how to live. On my way back from vacation last month, we had a 12 hour drive home. I bought the book “It starts with food” and read 80% of the book on the way home, it was then that I decided I would start on Wednesday. I did.
- During my Whole30 experience… I shared my experiences day after day by blogging. This was a challenge in itself. I LOVE to write, but my creative juices usually come in the form of a full shot glass of whiskey. I learned throughout this past month that I do pretty darn good without it and don’t need it to relax me or get me through a rough day. The writing calms me and lets me express myself, whether it be 1 reader or 4 readers. or 20. I’ve received such a great response from people who I didn’t know where reading, people who decided to start this challenge for themselves, quietly, but they’re doing it. That makes me feel humbled and thankful that I even encouraged one person enough to get out of their comfort zone like I have. I sleep better, my skin looks healthy, I have a whole ton of energy and I don’t need an alarm clock to wake up anymore.
- Now that I’ve finished my Whole30… I’ve decided to go mostly Paleo. There are so many resources out there, Pinterest is my lifesaver, I can find any recipe, all kinds success stories and tons of words of encouragement on this wonderful site. I’m looking forward to introducing certain foods back in like champagne, soy, smoked salmon, some natural sugars. I am officially a black coffee drinker so my bad habit of dried creamer is completely out. If I can help someone else along in this process, give me a call.. I’ll provide you with everything you need to get you started.
