I thought this day would never come. At least that how it has felt the last few days. I knew day 30 would show up right after Day 29 but I never anticipated that the last 4 days would be the hardest. The irony is that when I think about what I will do differently tomorrow I can't think of a single thing. I don't drink alcohol during the week so no reintroduction of beer or wine. I don't have any dairy in the house so that's out. I wasn't much of a bread, pasta, rice person before this so I'll probably stick with my spaghetti squash and zoodles, and cauliflower rice. I think what I'm most looking forward to is being out from under the 100% perfection expectation of the Whole30. That is the one thing that has kept me on track for this program as I am the worlds best rule follower. I also told enough people what I was doing and roped in 4 of my closest family members to join me that I could not fail.
At this point everything feels like a comfortable habit. I've broken my addiction to diet soda, I've proven I can go without a bedtime snack, I've determined that food tastes really good without being slathered in hot sauce and salsa. I don't spend from Friday afternoon to Sunday night gorging on off plan foods "because I can" or "because I earned it."
I also noticed that our kids benefited indirectly from us doing a Whole30. We didn't force them to eat all of our food and we certainly supplemented their diet with carbs and sugar. But we also didn't bring in as many treats and we didn't eat out in a restaurant once. It was too overwhelming for me to even think about so we ate at home.
The most important take away for me from this month is that I had 30 days of ZERO GUILT. I ate to feed my body healthy food and that was the end of it. No treats, no cheat days, no ice cream sundaes, no beer, no late night snacks, nada. And it feels amazing.
My husband looks and feels amazing. He is excited to modify the program to allow us to continue with this style of eating almost all the time while allowing us to get back on the social scene without being those people at every event. We plan to incorporate Whole30 appetizers and meals into gatherings we host and when we have to bring something somewhere.
Tomorrow is the big results reveal. At the beginning of the month Dustin and I took each other's weight and measurements and sealed them in an envelope. I am going to wake him up before I go to work so we can celebrate our success. Even if the scale didn't move much for me I am so happy with the results I've seen away from the scale. I am also comforted by the idea that the Whole30 is here for me whenever I need it in the future. I already want to do another round this summer when fruit and grilling season is in full swing.
