To Freedom.

Some days, my alarm goes off in the morning, I scream "No, God, WHY?!" into my pillow like a 12 year old having a temper tantrum, and then I walk to the shower with my eyes still closed.  

Other days, I throw the covers back, leap joyously from the bed, and serve up the best Tyra Banks strut and hair flip. 

And by 'some days' I mean always, and 'other days' I mean today. 

Today is the only day I've ever done that. 

But I did it for good reason! 

Today is Day 31 of the Whole30 Challenge! 

I'm done! I did it!

Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I am free at last!

Now I would be a huge hypocrite if I wasn't completely honest here.  So in the spirit of full disclosure, I cheated 2 days shy of the 30 day mark.  

Sue me.

It was Valentine's Day. It was 75 and sunny outside. I needed wanted a frozen drink with my crawfish, so you know what? I got a frozen drink with my crawfish! (and then about 5 more beers, and a pizza that would later destroy me, but that's neither here nor there...)

So I 'broke the rules' on day 28 of 30. BUT since I spent the night throwing up all of my regret and shame, I'm going to say that my body gave me it's own version of a 'mulligan' and that little slip up didn't count.

Because this is my story, and I can do what I want. 

So what did I learn these past 30 days? 

• There are things that taste as good as skinny feels.
• Cheese is in everything and that's the way God intended it. 
• I have alcoholics as friends...kidding...kind of.
• You can loose weight in 30 days if you don't eat like a garbage disposal.
• If you don't eat pizza like foods for 28 days and then decide to go balls to the wall and eat 4 slices with garlic butter YOUR BODY WILL BETRAY YOU. 

Take that last little nugget of advice as a PSA.

Overall I do genuinely feel better.  

My clothes fit better, I have more energy, and I lost about 13 pounds.

Was I in this purely for the weight loss? 

Of course I was, why else would I subject myself to this?

But in all seriousness, no matter how daunting 30 days sounds, no matter how hard it may seem to meal plan for that many meals, and no matter how many 'fun' things you think you may miss out on, it is totally worth it and I completely recommend this challenge as a reset, not only for your body, but also for your mind. 

So where do I go from here? 

I'm going to slow down the 100% all natural train and switch over to a little 80/20 action.

80% of the time (aka Monday-Friday) I plan on eating like I have these past 30 days.

The other 20% I plan on being more lenient while trying my best to not turn into the Cookie Monster during meals.

It's all about balance.