Whole 30 Day 25-28 & The Final Weekend!

The last and final weekend of Whole 30 is upon me! It has been a struggle with the last two weeks for sure, but I feel coming out on the other side has further proven why I should have done this a long time ago. I cannot say enough that no amount of money can replace good health. I have never felt better, even when I was thinner and eating poorly. When you eat and you feel good, there is no better feeling. I have often asked why good food is so expensive and processed food so cheap. I can see why so many companies want you to enjoy their tasty products and not eat things like apples and spinach. However, I find it harder to go back mentally to wanting those foods, especially after re-reading the ingredients on the labels. When a majority of the items on the ingredient list is chemicals, it is time to rethink your habits. And, thankfully I think I have started early enough to not have done any real long-term damage. *If you would like to read Why I started, go here. For Day 1, go here. For Days 2-4, go here. For Days 5-7, go here. For Days 8-10, go here. Days 11-12, go here. For Days 13-14, go here. For Days 15-17, go here! For Days 18-19, go here. For Days 20-21, go here. For Days 22-24, go here.

Day 25 Thursday!! Happy Star Wars Day!! Okay in all seriousness, this is the 5 days left mark. I am at the home stretch here!! With less than a week to go, it feels like so much more time has gone by. While not all habits can be broken so easily (i still struggle with nail biting), some can be done with just a little push in the right direction. Sometimes you need to give yourself a little tough love.

Meal 73- Breakfast. Since it was a cold and super rainy day here, I kept my breakfast light, something i regretted doing. I had a cup of matcha green tea and a LaraBar. All the health benefits of Matcha Green tea are amazing and I dare say we all should have at least one cup a day. However, it is not filing enough with just a bar to hold you until lunch. I had another LaraBar before lunch, so note to self, a bigger breakfast is a necessity.

Meal 74- Lunch. Since I have so many poms left, i opted for a large bowl for work and my mixed nuts. I had another LaraBar- these truly save me when I am super busy and they are filling. I really did not have enough time to make a substantial lunch but I knew we were going to dinner, so I wanted to keep my volume down of how much I eat.

Meal 75- Dinner. Before going to the late movie, we decided it would be best to eat. Since I cannot have anything at the movie during whole 30 except for maybe a bottle of water, we opted to just eat prior to the movie. We found this great local place and I am really glad we stumbled across it. While most of the menu items are off-limits, I was able to get a really great meal and awesome service. I had their steak and green beans. It was the perfect meal and really filling. I was good all the way through to breakfast the next day. While I could have only had half the steak, since i went light on breakfast and lunch, I enjoyed the full 10oz steak. Normally I stick to portion sizes, but I decided against that since I did not eat meat all day.

Day 26 Friday! TGIF! I had planned on having this day off just in case some family event came up or I wanted to get any last minute holiday shopping done. Since all that is completed, this day was just a day for me. It ended up being a great start to my last Whole30 weekend and was just the right amount of relaxing time I needed prior to the hectic holiday events that will be unfolding come next weekend.

Meal 76- Breakfast. Easy peasy day. I woke up early so instead of going back to bed and attempting to sleep, when I know I would not. So, instead I got up, made myself a cup of hot tea and caught up on my book. A great start to the day.

Meal 77- Lunch. I met up with a girlfriend of mine and I told her about my choice to go on Whole30 post-birthday. Since she had not seen me since before starting, she kept telling me how she doesn't think she could ever do it, but knew I looked happier and healthier than before. I was flattered when she said I looked slimmer. While that is a perk if it happens to you, I dare say being happy and healthy are far better compliments to losing weight, and those are the ones I value most. I just wanted a light salad at this point. I was enjoying my day off and I really didn't want to overly indulge. I had a light salad of lettuce, romaine, tomatoes. I topped it with EVOO and red wine vinegar, and a dash of salt and pepper. It was really filling and it hit the spot.

Meal 78- Dinner. Since we were out and about on the town I figured we would stop in and grab a bite to eat while we are out. While being on Whole30 I have tried to avoid eating out. However, some times you just cannot not eat out. So, we stopped by another local spot in hopes that I could find something on their menu besides salad.

Day 27 Saturday!! I love Saturday's. I always enjoy filling it with fun things to do. I got up super early this morning- and even though it was super cold out (First Day of Winter is Tuesday), I decided it would be a great time to go exploring and walking. I wanted to get out and be active all day. And, that is exactly what I ended up doing.

Meal 79- Breakfast. I knew I was going to be active and out and about. While coffee and tea are great, they do not provide me with enough energy. I opted for a La Croix since I needed to hydrate and a LaraBar. I think I may have to try my hand at making my own LaraBars since i have the ingredients I need. It was a great breakfast but I was glad to take a second bar, as I needed it through my morning jog.

Meal 80- Lunch. Keeping up with being busy out and about, I opted to go the park. I had brought a spare La Croix but by lunch I was not feeling so hungry for just a big meal. My lunches have been smaller lately, probably for my running around my appetite is not the forefront of my mind. I opted for a great mixed fruit salad mix and it was perfect. I really loved how refreshing it was and I have not had pineapple much on Whole 30 after reading how high of sugar content it has. But, it was a nice treat with my other fruit.

Meal 81- Dinner. Less than 10 Whole30 meals to go. I was starved by dinner and craving burgers. I wanted a juicy burger. Since i was not nearly close enough to home to make it back to cook myself anything, much less a burger, I opted for Five Guys. I have read from other Whole30 ladies who have gone to Five Guys that you can eat there. Since I have ordered here prior to Whole30 for gluten reasons, I knew I could get a lettuce-wrapped burger. So i got a bacon hamburger with tomatoes, grilled onion, grilled mushrooms and mustard on the side. It was heavenly. After about two bites like a sandwich, I had to grab a fork and knife but it was absolute heaven. I had been craving a good burger and it definitely satisfied that hunger. I realized I really love a good salty food like burgers. I did not miss the cheese and I have found a great new combo for ordering at Five Guys I am going to keep. Double meat instead of cheese? Okay by me!

Day 28 Sunday! Sunday is made for a good book and good friends. I lavish my sunday's since typically I have to go back to work. Since I had taken time off from work friday, I choose to grab Monday and Tuesday as well. No better way to wrap up Whole30 than some time away to reflect upon my journey. Back to Sunday. I really love my time off to enjoy the day. Most of the time Sunday is my "ME TIME". It is the only time I have the house to myself and I really get to do whatever I want. So, that is exactly what I did.

Meal 82- Breakfast. Being that it is the holiday season, I have quite a few friends in town visiting their families and I wanted to catch up with some of them as well. Since one of my best girlfriends is in town and unable to really get much time away from family for friends, I naturally asked what little time she has and she said this morning. It was perfect. We met up at Starbucks for laughs and catching up. I ordered a chai tea (the only drinks on the menu Whole30 approved) with coconut milk (and yes I asked if they did have it- and even read the label of it! Bonus!!). It was not too bad considering it is the first chai tea I have had without an ounce of sugar. I added nutmeg and cinnamon to make the flavors pop. Since Starbucks literally has zero Whole30 approved foods, I opted to wait and come home to my LaraBar. It was the perfect breakfast and on top of it, I was still able to enjoy the company of one of my best girlfiends. Win-Win in my book.

Meal 83- Lunch. I had prepped what little bit of refridgerated foods I could grab for a quick lunch to put it all together. I added romaine hearts, asparagus, tomatoes and avocado in a bowl on top of some leftover chicken breasts I had frozen. And, I had found a sweet potato hiding in the back of the pantry I quickly heated up as well. I really loved it and the avocado as dressing was top notch!

Meal 84- Dinner. I was still feeling up for a lot of avocado but had ran out. And, since I did not want to cook, I ran over to Chipotle for a bowl. I had salad, carnitas, tomato salsa and guacamole. A cup of water and I was done. I am always full over this. However, this time their tomato salsa was overly hot so that was a spicy meal!

Wrapping up the final weekend, I am thankful to have the weekend over. My biggest struggles are while I am out and about and unable to control how my food is made/processed. So, with two days remaining, I am happy to be winding down. Overall, I still feel really good. No stomach issues at all (which is a blessing all its own) and I feel really good. I was so into one of my new novels that I completely lost track of time and read until the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully, with my Monday off, I can sleep in.