finished my first W30!

[Cori Fraser]

so yesterday at lunch marked the finish of my first whole30. yippie!! {and yes, yesterday lunch, as I knew a month ago that easter dinner was not going to be a compliant meal}.

things I learned:

1. I can cook! although I had some bombs in the kitchen {picture blended dates and balsamic vinegar all over my kitchen}, I got into a good groove and made some pretty kick-ass meals.

2. my body loves me when I eat real food. I had some pooing issues through this w30 {I know, TMI}, but gone was the constant bloating, stomach pain and general discomfort that had become my normal.

3. it's going to take longer than 30 days to break 40 years of bad habits. in my world, food solves all problems. I eat when I'm bored, stressed, happy, sad, angry, celebrating...you name it. I still tend towards that frame of mind, but I'm beginning to deal with it.

4. I am NOT a quitter. it's been my mindset for years: "you can't lose weight because you're a quitter" or "you have no willpower" or "why start? you'll just give up anyways". these messages come from all sorts of places, but I've embraced them over the years. I can confidently say today: I am NOT a quitter. I did not cheat. I did no give up. I did not eat a tiny piece of sugar or pre-packaged foods. I did not touch cheese. I did this . the whole 30 days of it. and I feel great.

5. my scale and I still have issues. I did cheat on this whole30 and it was with my scale. we had a daily date pre-w30. I stepped on the scale 5 times in the 30 days. a HUGE improvement, but still not perfect. good to know I have something I still need to work on!!!

6. this is a journey. I lost 10 lbs in 30 days {YES!}, but I have a long way to go. this is just the beginning to a new me {inside and out}.

7. it's not all about the scale. okay, in my head it still is. I know that is the dragon I need to slay. that said, it was great to hear from friends about how great I looked, that I seemed less grumpy {that came from co-workers!!}, and that I can fit jeans that I was bulging out of a month ago. it was also really nice to walk into a store and buy a skirt that was a SMALL. like shut the front door! {it was stretchy and tad tight around the hips, but it'll fit perfectly soon...}

8. I don't care what the people around me think of this crazy-assed way of eating! I've always been a bit crazy. that said, three people have asked me for the name of the book!!

9. I can take a week off {staying mainly compliant, but I'm going to have some wine with my hubs this week for our 10th wedding anniversary} and then just keep going.

10. I love how I sleep when I'm eating right. the dreams I have are WILD and I wake up amused at my brain almost every morning!

11. apparently I am capable of dealing with stress WITHOUT booze and food. March was a crazy, crazy month {think hockey playoffs for kid #2, soccer practices and tryouts 3x/week with kid #1, report cards and a hubs that transitioned from night shift to day shift} and I dealt with my stress without ever drinking directly from the whiskey bottle. yes, I ate MANY meals on the road, transporting kids here, there and everywhere and yes, I ate more lara bars than I wanted to {due to sheer emergency!}, but it was still do-able. this #11 was a huge thing for me.

so what now?

I have a long way to go. this was just the beginning. so I am going to start a W60 on April 7 and I am going to start training to walk a half marathon in July.

{I also posted this on my highly entertaining, horribly under-read blog!! see link below!!}

[Samphire]

Fab learning!

I know what you mean about feeling like being a quitter. A friend said to me this week that she really hopes I stick with this because I've given up on so many things. It kind of annoyed me. I gave them up because they were not right for me and I only found that out by trying them (raw vegan anyone?). I'm just relieved I have found something that works for me and is easy to do.

Oh and happy anniversary and enjoy your wine!