Here's a link to my FIRST Whole30.
This was Day 30 of my first round. I felt soooooooooo good!
I completed my second round right before my birthday. Yes, I actually decided to celebrate my birthday early and start a Whole30. I felt just as great the second time around as I did the first.
First off, for those who aren't sure what Whole30 is, go to this LINK. In a nutshell, a Whole30 is an eating program where you eliminate many foods that could potentially be a problem for 30 days. Then you systematically add those foods back into your diet in a controlled way like a science project to see if you have any problems. It's a complete and total reset for your body.
My reasons for doing Whole30 have always been to get my food addictions and cravings under control. There are a lot of nice side benefits such as weight loss, glowing skin, energy, clear head, motivation, improved mood, and so much more.
My summer was a little weird. I had some medical stuff going on for the first few weeks of June. Then I taught summer school for six weeks. Then we went on a short vacation. I knew I wanted to get back to healthy habits after the vacation. And that's literally what I did. We got home on Thursday night, and I started Whole30 the next day.
Why am I calling this round a Whole45? Because I plan to keep up with the plan for 45 days. Why? It has to do with getting back into an exercise routine along with healthy eating.
Last November, my friend Laura asked me to join a Boot Camp gym with her. It was a groupon and the price was good. I didn't really want to do it, but I agreed, and loved it. I loved it so much that I signed up for a year!
With the medical stuff going on back in June I wasn't able to work out for several weeks this summer. I finally started going back to boot camp this past week. Man, am I sore, but man do I feel good!
One morning while I was working out, I was thinking about how I started boot camp with a six week groupon membership. I remember feeling stronger after three weeks and noticing the improvements after six weeks. I told myself to give it six weeks back at boot camp. It's a mental game I'm playing with myself. Just six weeks. Six weeks is 42 days and I add the three days of Whole30 that I did prior to exercise and that takes me to a nice round 45.
I thought pretty hard about my exercise goals. (Eating goals were taken care of through Whole30, but I'll have to refine that for life after Whole30.) Anyhow, after a bit of contemplation I came up with boot camp at least three times a week and running at least three times a week. I want to build back up to a half marathon or maybe even a full marathon! Bucket list.
Okay, now that you have all that background...how am I doing? Well, I haven't cheated. And I won't.
But man, the past few days have been a struggle. It's back to school time. There's just a lot going on with putting together classrooms, trying to figure out where we are going to put 32 seventh graders, and ordering enough supplies for everyone. I feel like I'm having internal meltdowns.
I was working in my classroom this morning and I just had that urge to eat all the things that contained sugar. I'm not about to mess up my Whole30, but man the stress just hit me and all I wanted to do was drown the anxiety in sugar. It's my biggest weakness. I thought to myself, what else can I do besides eat? Exercise. I can exercise. (And write a blog post!)
Even though it was a little inconvenient and out of the way, I drove home, made myself a salad bigger than my head, and changed into my gym clothes. Then I came back to school to work. I'll hit the gym before going home. Let's see how that approach to stress and anxiety work for me!
The salad I made after leaving school and taking a short mental break.
Here are some other photos from this round.
One habit I hung onto from the very first round was drinking black coffee! So strange even to me since I didn't even drink coffee until about two years ago!
It's easier to snap a quick picture after finishing a run to remember my distance. Not far, but I'm literally starting from zero.
These types of salads are an absolute staple for me. Salads bigger than my head. I pretty much put anything in there but the kitchen sink.
New to me spice from Trader Joe's. I really like it!
Giant salad #2.
Mango salsa and chicken. Pretty tasty.
Another gym run.
This stuff let's me feel like I am drinking a soda, even though this is NOT my idea of a tasty soda! Don't get me wrong, I like how these taste with a meal, but it's not satsifying my craving for sugar. It does fill the need for carbonation.
Anyhow, I just felt the need to document the stress of the day and write out how I was feeling in regards to needing junk to calm myself down. I resisted. I fed myself tons of healthy food. I took a mental break. I did some blogging. I'll be going to the gym in a bit. I think those are all really strong, positive steps towards change.
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