and that means my Whole30 challenge is over! I’ve been waiting for this day for, well, 30 days! I actually thought I would be more excited…all month long I’ve been dreaming about this chocolate cake recipe that I found here on one of my favorite cooking blogs. I even kept a window open in my browser with this recipe, as if for some strange reason I may not be able to find it again. (I think I just enjoyed looking at it every day!)
So, today is the day, April 1st, the day that I can eat anything I want. I should be more excited, but to tell you the truth, I have actually enjoyed my Whole30 journey. I’m not craving a huge plate of nachos, a large stack of cinnamon raisin french toast, or even that chocolate cake. Kind of strange, actually. I am the girl that has a never-ending sweet tooth! As a matter of fact, I feel really good. I have more energy than I have had in a long time (I am still up all night with my 6mo old, but feel good!). Not to mention that I lost 12 pounds…the last 12 pounds of pregnancy weight. Not once during the 30 days did I feel hungry or sad that I wasn’t able to eat what I wanted. I ate the approved foods and just had to get a little creative. The meals were fun, extremely delicious, and satisfying! I will try to post many of my meal ideas and recipes in the coming weeks. I wish I would have taken more pictures of what we ate, but I’m sure we will be doing this challenge again in the future.
I found that the Whole30 really changed our way of thinking about health and diet. I’m not going to say we were perfect, because we did have a few minor slip-ups…very minor. Overall, we’ve always been “clean eaters” most of the time, but this is more of a detox from sugar and grains and sticking to real, whole foods and eating the way our ancestors did. You know, before all the processed food, preservatives, refrigerators, and microwaves. You eat food when it’s fresh, the way we were meant to eat.
So, yes, I will be baking that decadent chocolate cake today. Mostly because I love to bake and have really missed doing that this past month. I will eat a piece, and probably think it’s too sweet…ha!! But, I’m going to enjoy it, because for some reason I feel like I have earned it. However, my family and I have really felt so good this past month that I foresee us incorporating this way of eating into our daily lives. Sure, we will have splurges (because that’s fun!), but this is more of a lifestyle change. It is so much easier than I thought it would be.
If you are interested in trying it out and need some help/suggestions, let me know! I would love to help anyone on this journey. Stay tuned for more Whole30 recipes…