Well actually I DID the Whole 30 and that is quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself.  There is NO way I could have made it through the last thirty days without my main supporter, encourager, and teammate.  I am beyond thankful that Allan decided to do this with me.  He was a rockstart throughout this entire process...seriously!

When I started this torture cleanse I thought I would breeze through it since I could eat as much meat, fruits, and veggies as I wanted and it was ONLY 30 days.  I thought I would blog everyday and tell about how wonderful I felt and how skinny I was getting and how glow-y my skin was and how deeply I slept...then day 2 happened and reality set in and it only went downhill from their for me emotionally for the next week or so.  It was around day 5 that I thought my world had ended and all I wanted to do was lay in a ball on my bed and cry.  Why was I doing this to myself?!?  I kept vacillating between not wanting to finish and realizing what an emotional hold food had on me and that needed to end.  When things weren't going just right the first thing I wanted to do was eat some form of junk food.  That is not healthy y'all!

So on I marched sometimes with a decent attitude and sometimes with a less than decent attitude (have I mentioned that Allan was phenomenal at pulling me through this thing).  Around week three it stopped being miserably hard and it became fine, especially when I was just at home.  There were challenges when it came to being social because food is a huge part of social gatherings, but I figured it out.  The hardest part was when we had company for a week that REALLY love food and we had to figure out how to get them to their favorite restaurants that do not really have Whole 30 approved meals.  We did end up having one cheat meal while they were here and had a little bit of pasta and champagne.  It was amazing to see how much smaller our stomachs were, we just were not able to eat as much as much as we used to...and that is a good thing.

This last week I have finally began to notice some changes in my body and the way my clothes fit.  That was encouraging.  I weighed yesterday and my estimate is that I lost around 8-10 pounds.  I wouldn't mind losing about 5 more...we will see how that goes.  I never had that "I feel amazing" moment and I was feeling a little discouraged by that then I talked to another lady who had made it through the Whole 30 and had a similar experience.  It was her opinion, and I agree, that because we didn't go into it with excessive weight to lose or any allergies/intolerances (i.e. gluten, dairy, etc.) there weren't huge changes to be felt.

I am finishing out today with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  I would say I am really glad that I did it and really glad that it is over.  I would recommend this cleanse to people, but I would say that you better go into it with support around you and mentally prepared that you will have some really low days in the beginning.  You HAVE to have a plan for meals and be on top of you grocery shopping.  When you are caught in a pinch and there isn't a good choice available you will probably slip up.  It is so easy to fall back on old habits.  I am not sure I would recommend this if it is your first cleanse...it was my first cleanse and I think that made it a little harder because I had no idea what to expect.  Overall it was a good experience for me because it was so hard.  I am not really known for putting myself in positions that challenge me and this definitely did and I feel great that I persevered.

So what does my future eating plan look like??  That is the big question in my head today.  My goal is to continue to steer clear of soda.  I quickly become dependent/addicted to soda and so I will try and stay off of it as long as possible.  I will not keep junk food in the house for the most part.  If we want sweets we will have to make them with real ingredients and not buy so much processed crap.  I will continue to drink smoothies most days and have veggies with all my meals.  I will continue to drink a few more glasses of water a day.  I will occasionally eat an ice cream cone and have a glass of champagne.  I will be thoughtful about what I put in my body but not obsess over it.  I will enjoy life a little more than have the last thirty days- ha!!

I guess that about covers it.  

One more time just in case you forgot...I LOVE my husband and would NOT have made it through this without him graciously pushing me on cooking a lot of meals when I would have rather sat and pouted.  He is more than I could have ever dreamed of asking for in a husband.

8 Years

Today is our 8 year anniversary. Time is a strange thing. I feel like our wedding day just happened, such vivid memories. I also feel like so much life has happened since that day as well, and it has.

I am beyond blessed that Allan chose to ask me to marry him and I am so happy that I said yes. Honestly what really thrills my soul is that we chose to commit, to make a covenant before God, to stay married until we are parted by death. I have the confidence that no matter our circumstances, good or bad (and we have experienced both), we are in this for the long haul.

Allan is even more the man of dreams today than he was the day we got married. He is honest, faithful, a provider, humble, steadfast, helpful, creative (at times), the greatest daddy ever, supportive, a lovable dork 😉, constantly putting family first, responsible, and loves unconditionally. This list could go on and on. I often feel undeserving of the gift God gave me in my husband.

Thank you for choosing me Sweet Man. It has been a wonderful 8 years creating a family and home together. I look forward to finding our "normal" which seems to constantly be changing over the next many years. I live you forever and always!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Try Again

This is what life is like 90% of the time. Usually someone is screaming with joy, anger, or sadness, someone is distracted and enjoying their own little world, someone is on their best behavior, and the rest of us are trying to hold it all together.

Allan asked for a simple, sweet gift this year for Christmas- a book of memories over the last ten years we have been sharing life. I quickly realized that with each addition to our family my mind and memory got more fuzzy. I was so thankful for the beginning years of this blog that helped me piece together our amazing, crazy, fun, stressful life. Then Aubrey was born and I couldn't wrap my mind around one more thing on the to-do list (i.e. blogging) and the rest is history. This last year is a blur. It has been full of good, bad, and neutral moments and I hardly remember any of them. It is for this very reason I hope to start consistently blogging again. I won't call it a resolution for the New Year because I rarely stick to those. I am not sure what I will call this new plan...I will just hope to stick with it.

So there you (whomever *you* may be) have it. I will capture some memory from our life daily so my family can look back one day and know that we are mostly normal and totally blessed.