Whole30 Day 29: Started from the fetal position, now we here.

If you will remember this little journey of mine began after a self-induced Shake Shack coma involving the rapid consumption of two cheeseburgers, crinkle fries and a peanut butter milkshake. This meal was the exclamation point on a holiday paragraph filled with phrases like…

“No I think I’ll pass on the gym, that twelfth cookie really did me in.”

“Mimosas are great because they are acceptable morning drinking. Let’s have seven.”

“It’s vacation so I’ll have seconds of literally everything for ten days straight regardless of any physiological indication that I am actual in need of calories. Come to think of it, I haven’t been hungry in days”

It is really incredible how intimidated I was staring down the path of the thirty days ahead of me. Looking back, I should have been way more intimidated on December 20th as I willingly and enthusiastically removed the wheels from my wagon and became a one-woman-holiday-food-garbage-disposal.

The end of that journey ended in the fetal position. The end of this one has me very much upright and in a pretty incredible place.

Does anyone else have the experience that as soon as you decide to cut your hair because you are so completely over it, you have approximately seven flawless hair days right before your appointment? I feel a little like that now. This weekend I was dying to be done, and today I feel like I am just getting started.

But the point is not to stay in the Whole30 bubble forever. The point is to find our Freaking Food Freedom and get to live this version of our life in a sustainable way…so end it must.

So in honor of my last official post, my top ten NSV’s from this experience.

• The first day I realized that I had been a grown woman walking around with a food induced swollen face. I just kept thinking, why didn’t someone tell me my face was full of water caused by french fries?!
• Identifying food induced Kill All The Things versus warranted rage and acting accordingly. Most important examples of this is not committing murder or punching strangers.
• The outrageously deep sleep. Like a third grader who played four hours straight of Red Rover followed by two hours of dodgeball nodding off into their spaghetti kind of sleep. God, it is just so freaking good.
• My religious experience with fruit rivaling my previous religious experiences with red velvet cupcakes. Have you ever tasted a Honey Crisp Apple? Like really tasted it? I am literally salivating as I type this.
• That feeling when you feel good in clothes that are not of the elastic variety and people confirm observation with unsolicited compliments.
• Realizing that cravings are not actually non-negotiable demands from your brain but rather options that you can choose to give into or…in a completely unexpected lesson…choose to ignore. The girl in the Shake Shack coma would simply have not believed you.
• The Mary Poppins level chores and household organization that occur when fueled by Tiger Blood. I keep expecting to float away on my umbrella.
• Seeing your family change their lives because you volun-told them they were doing Whole30 too.
• Breaking out of your food rut with new recipes that started as necessity but now are in permanent rotation. Hello Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, you delicious, spicy little nuggets, you.
• Realizing the insane power of doing something with a community, both the in person variety and the virtual types. Shout out to my Territory Whole30’ers and my Fam Jam Whole30 Group Text.

And as I wrap up this victory lap of a post, I want to also say that I’ve never been more proud to work for a company that has a mission squarely based in the life changing power of food.

Nutrition has changed my life more than one time (hence the career choice), and I thought I had learned almost everything it had to teach. Turns out I was wrong and I have my Territory crew and the Whole30 community to thank for an incredible, life changing thirty days.

Tomorrow Jen and I plan to celebrate, so look for that post here. If you haven’t read Jen’s AMAZING outline of her reintroduction plan and path to Food Freedom you absolutely need to check it out.