Whole 30 wrap up!

Well I did it!  I really can't believe that I did but I did!  A Whole 30 challenge with only one cheat.  On the last Friday before it was over Dean and I went out with friends for supper to the Keg.  I had 2 glasses of red wine.  That's it.  I didn't touch sugar or sugar subtitutes, grains, legumes or dairy.  Pretty much stayed away from alcohol too except that one time.  I had a really bad day at work and a couple of glasses of wine was what was needed.

What did I learn from doing this challenge?  I would have to say the most important thing was how good you feel when you feed your body with healthy foods.  I got so used to reading labels and I was so shocked and surprised how many things I eat on a regular basis had so many "extra" ingredients.  The sugar aspect was another eye opener.  I also used to eat a lot of sugarless gum, I know that's not horrible but I've given it up now and I don't miss it anymore.

What foods did I really miss during the 30 days?  Yogurt hands down!  I eat Greek yogurt almost every day for lunch with fruit.  I really missed that.  It was a challenge to think of things to eat for lunch.  Mostly I ate salads with a protein source or leftovers of supper from the night before.  I did have some frozen yogurt the other day and it didn't bother me, but I had a major after lunch slump.  I was very groggy around 2:00.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  Or maybe it was the sugar in the fro-yo.  I'm not going to give up my yogurt.  I may not eat it every day anymore but I will still be having it.

How much weight did I lose?  I lost 6 lbs.  I'm pretty happy with that number even though lots of people that go on this plan lose more.  Could I have lost more?  Yup!  I'm sure of it.  Near the end I got kind of into eating nuts on a regular basis.  Nuts with lots of calories and lots of fat.  Good fat I know, but still you aint gonna lose weight if you eat lots of nuts.  Definately what I would call a "red light" food for me.  I really shouldn't keep them around.  Like Oprah always says "when you know better, you do better"!!  It even states in the book "it starts with food" that if weight loss is one of your goals with Whole 30 you should limit the amount of nuts and fruit you consume.  I didn't do that.  But that's ok.  I'm still a little bit over my WW goal but I can't believe that almost 1 year later I am within 5 lbs of my goal weight.  I call that a success!!  Maintenence is hard.  I really can't believe how hard it is.  You literally have to be on your game at all times.  The pounds creep up every so slowly, it's 1 or 2 at first and you think, ah no problem.  Then it becomes 5 or more.  When I look back on my numbers I see how slow it came off in the end.  Losing the last 10 lbs took forever!  I think it's all about being on a "plan" "diet" "lifestyle" whatever you want to call it for the rest of your life.  Like my sister (who has now been at goal for 2 years) says, it's pretty much a 95% - 5% mix of being on plan.  Having a treat now and then is ok but the rest of them time you gotta watch everything you eat.  Fact of life.  But it's so worth it.  Trust me.

Exercise.  Funny thing is, I hardly did anything these past 2 weeks.  I ran a few times, did Body Pump a few times but that's it.  It's like I can't seem to do everything at once.  Once I do I'm going to be unstoppable!!  Water slacked off at the end too.  Food intake, exercise and drink lots of water.  The magic 3.  Get these all going at once and it works people!  But it starts with food.  I lost weight the first 3 months on Weight Watchers without being able to exercise at ALL.  I had just had my second ankle tendon surgery.  So there ya go.

10 days till Vegas trip!  Getting very excited now.  We are going to Celine Dion, Aces of Comedy with Kevin James and Ray Romano, hopefully a taping of American Idol, a NASCAR race and although we don't have tickets yet we are planning on going to a Cirque du solei show.  And did I mention lots and lots of shopping?  I'm very lucky to have a husband that LOVES to shop.  Can't wait.

Movie with my niece tonight and I'm going to have frozen yogurt and movie popcorn.  Yes I am.  I skipped supper and I ran today!  Go me :-)