Whole30 Week 3 recap

I can hardly believe it's day 22 already! I had a bit of a mental struggle late last week wondering if this whole thing was worth the effort. That seems to coincide with Friday and my previous habit of using a glass of wine or beer to numb the stress of the week. When I really stop and think about the last 3 weeks I have nothing but positive things to say about Whole30.

I am so thankful that Dustin came along on this journey with me. We had scheduled a date night for Friday and took the kids to my parents. We really had to think about what we would do for our date since we normally eat not so good food and drink alcohol. We ended up having the most wonderful night. We cooked a meal together at home, drank kombucha for a treat and went out to see a movie. The Revenant is REALLY good by the way. We came home and went to sleep and got a really good nights rest. We woke up feeling refreshed and enjoyed more quiet time before picking up the kids at my parents.

The weather in MN finally warmed up enough that I could get back outside to run. I am noticing that I feel really off after runs during Whole30 than I did before. I am thinking I need more calories before and after to even out blood sugar changes so I will experiment with that. I tend to have zero appetite after running so never want food. I may have to force it for a period of time to see if it helps.

Another interesting outcome of this challenge is the impact is having on our children. They are very curious about what we're doing, why we're doing it, and most importantly what we can't have. They can't fathom a world without cereal, waffles, sugar in general, etc. I have noticed that the less junk we eat the less junk they eat. Even though we're still giving them carbs and processed food we are not eating out nearly as much if at all. I have much more awareness of just how much sugar is in everything and I am less likely to even buy the junky food for them in the first place. I would love to start transitioning their diet to more of the Whole30 style over time but this will be difficult.

Non-scale victories for Week 3:
- finally got to the point where I only eat 3 meals and no snacks.
- no in between meal grazing - this is huge for me as I tend to much throughout the evening all the way to bedtime.
- trying new foods - I had a date for the first time in my life and loved the natural sweetness.
- Fruit is my new candy - I cannot get over how sweet a Honey Crisp apple tastes now that my taste buds don't get sugar any other way.
- Workouts are getting easier - I definitely have more energy to do my workouts than I did in the first 2 weeks. As I mentioned above running is feeling different but I can troubleshoot that by adding more Whole30 carbs.
- My clothes fit better
- We continue to enjoy cooking new recipes. I made homemade breakfast sausages for Dustin and I this week and I'm hoping the kids will like them too.
- Food prep weekends are here to stay! The more I can get done Saturday and Sunday the better our whole week goes.

I am excited to end the Whole30 and start the reintroduction phase to see if my suspicions about dairy and grains are real. I am also excited to eat this way most of the time as it seems to really complement my need for rules and boundaries. If you give me an inch I will make an unhealthy snack out of it!