Turning No into Yes
No cheese, no booze, no Taco Bell, no pizza, donuts, nachos, ice cream. No way.
Couple things you should know about the Free Family… 1. We love to go out to eat at different restaurants. 2. We love to try different cocktails/beers/wines/you get the point. 3. We love food that isn’t quite the best for you (especially her because she is PICKY).
Well, picky until now. We had to thoroughly research this diet before committing. But when it came down to it, the reasons for doing it were way better than the reasons not to.
& here is why
First: These are easy, delicious recipes that anyone can follow. For those of you who are new here, you should know that she does not know anything about cooking. Seriously. He still says things in the kitchen, & she just looks at him with big eyeballs. Deer in headlights kind of deal.
Second: It’s ONLY 30 days. 30 days that we thought we couldn’t wait to be over, but we have already made repeats of these recipes & want to continue this healthy lifestyle (of course with an occasionally cheat day here or there).
Third: This is PERFECT for before the Holiday Season. An excellent way to lose some extra weight.
Truth
We have to honest with you & inform you that yes, yes we did cheat. But only twice & with only a few beers.
But here’s the thing, because we were eating out less, not drinking (as much), & staying focused on our goals, we actually saved money, felt amazing, & had a pretty high success overall.
We never felt bloated, or overstuffed, or hungover. There were two days in the beginning (day 4-5) when it felt as if we hit a wall. But after that, our energy levels were up. In fact, we both started new roles in new companies & still had enough energy to keep going.
FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN HAVE
That, right there, is the trick. Focus on what you CAN have. If you start to focus on all of the foods you can’t have, it’s not going to work. You’re going to be tempted, you’re going to say just this one little bite, but then that one little bite makes it so much worse. & sooner than later, you realize you’ve gone from one small bite of pepperoni pizza to an entire slice, an entire pizza, an entire order of three more pizzas being delivered in 35-45 minutes.
You have to stay strong. & focus on the items you can have. Instead of eating our usual snacks & having a beer while watching a movie at night (or just re-runs of Friends or The Office), we changed our snacks to cherries & apples (sometimes with Almond Butter) & sparkling water.
& how much did we lose? Well, first we really did this to feel good & to detox our bodies. But second, the inches & weight loss were a great bonus along the way. Even though he only measured his waist & chest, together we lost a total of 9.75 inches & a total of 27.8 pounds.
& of course, we always give credit to our inspirations. Most of our recipes came from Skinny Taste. But then we found Savory Lotus sooo we definitely plan on continuing with this healthier lifestyle & trying many of the whole 30 recipes found on Savory Lotus’ website.
If you missed our first couple weeks of our Whole 30 Challenge, you can find them from the links below, along with our favorite Whole 30 Recipes.
I love Whole 30! It’s probably going to be awhile until I can do another since I’m pregnant with cravings and then I’ll be nursing and need more carbs! I have a friend that does it almost all the time except for weekend beer cheats 😜
oh girl, you are definitely going to need the carbs! Our plan is to continue eating healthy and try to save drinks for special occasions (as we open beers…).
Wow, it sounds tough (especially the no cheese or booze part), but absolutely worth the challenge. Congratulations on persevering!
Thank you! It was… but we just had to stay focused. Plus it helped that we were doing it together!
I have recently learnt about whole30 and it seems like a great way to boost your overall health and lifestyle. Good for you!
Thank you! It really was! We felt so good.
I love the tip you give to focus on what you can have instead of what you can’t. I think this is a huge reason people are not successful with lifestyle changes, they get way to caught up in what they feel they are missing out on instead of what they are gaining.
We couldn’t agree more with what you just said!
Yes!!! I love this. My husband and I are strict keto. It was not until I started focusing on what we could have that it became a lifestyle and not a diet.
So awesome for you and your husband! That is great!