I wanted to share with you how things have been going since I finished up the Whole30 Challenge on May 14, 2013.
It was one of the most life changing experiences I've ever been through, in a good way! Becoming aware of how food deeply affects your body has been completely eye opening for me. If you want to read about my experiences through the cleanse you can check them out.
I thought I'd share how things have been going for the last 2 months.
I'm still cooking, even though
I'm really not much of one. I really like to bake, and that does NOT help my sugar addiction. (More on that later) It's become more and more necessary to cook, because the reality of it is, that's the only way to eat "clean". It seems the longer I go, the more processed foods seem to creep in. Which I'm not thrilled about, but it is my decision. No one is twisting my arm.
I mean I'm not filling my plate with fried chicken and mashed potatoes loaded with sour cream and butter. That would probably make me sick anyway. But, I've had some pizza, a hamburger, fries. (I could blame my daughter... most of that was with her, :P but nope I made those choices all by myself!)
There are good days and better days! I feel like the changes I've made are life changes. I feel pretty good where I am right now. Even if I have gained about 3 lbs. back. I seem to be stable there. I figured I would, but I am sooo thankful that it was only a few!!!
Transparency. Not easy, but I feel necessary.
Sugar....Ugh! I don't really want to talk about sugar.
Sugar....Ugh! I don't really want to talk about sugar.
That ingredient continues to be my downfall.
My addiction to sugar is real.
I honestly had no problem during the 30 days. It was an awesome mindset, I have not experienced since. I continue to struggle, I may always struggle. But little by little, I pray the struggle will be less and less.
We have eaten out a bit, but not as much as we did before. I have found that my stomach can't handle some things. Processed foods, fried foods, not good. Sometimes, I eat them, knowing I'll pay for it. Ugh! But you know, at the same time it's kinda cool, that my body is rejecting the things that aren't good for me!
The one thing, I've tried to have twice, Mountain Dew. I've gotten sick to my stomach on both occasions. I mean I'm okay with that, but I used to LOVE Diet Mountain Dew. So... oh well. I love iced tea, so that's my new favorite now!
Some of the food, I've been cooking is so interesting, good, and guilt free! Hubs has been encouraging and so has my daughter, but she is also a skinny little college student that loves to eat whatever her heart desires. :P
Come September, I'm going to start another Whole30 Cleanse. My daughter will be back at school and it will be a bit easier. I want to continue doing this every so often to bring me back to clean healthy eating. I believe that every time I do that, I will become stronger and stronger.
I've also started running.... well, let's call it more like jogging. It might not even be classified as that fast, but it's faster than walking. I used to tell myself that if I got down to XYZ weight, I would try it. Well, I'm there so I'm doing it. There's this app called C25K(Couch 2 5K). I'm going to try to get up to where I can run a 5k. I'm on week 5 out of 8. I am going to do this thing!!
You know what's funny? I when I started this, I felt it was so radical, that my friends would think I was a bit off, crazy even! But they were so encouraging!! I was even more surprised that several of my friends, started a Whole 30 cleanse too! Then some of their friends! It's so awesome! So many of them are feeling so much better! It has really encouraged me!
This is a journey. I don't believe I'll ever be the same. I will continue to eat healthy. There will be good days and better days. I look forward to trying new recipes and I'll definitely be sharing those here. I'm thinking that when I do the Whole 30 Cleanse in September, I'll do a menu of what I eat. That might help any of you that have contemplated starting your own cleanse.
This is a journey. I don't believe I'll ever be the same. I will continue to eat healthy. There will be good days and better days. I look forward to trying new recipes and I'll definitely be sharing those here. I'm thinking that when I do the Whole 30 Cleanse in September, I'll do a menu of what I eat. That might help any of you that have contemplated starting your own cleanse.
Blessings!
