I am halfway done with my first Whole 30 food challenge. The way this has worked for me is I plan my food weekly and I track my food daily. Weekly planning ranges from actually writing it down on a chart or a loose idea in my mind. I track daily using My Fitness Pal, for over a year and it's the backbone of my fitness transformation. My thoughts on The Whole 30 so far:

I feel healthier.
I'm skeptical about eating so much meat and eggs.
I worry a lot about relying too much on fruit and almond butter.
Within my support trio none of us abide the same 'version' of the plan.
I feel like I've lost weight and my physique has shifted (I also exercise and have not actually weighed myself - we're supposed to wait until Day 30!)
I have cooked more than I ever have in my entire life (honestly, the aspect I'm most proud of)!
The beginning was REALLY hard.

The Whole 30 timeline is an invaluable resource. Having that as a guideline proves that nothing I'm experience is abnormal or something that needs to take me down (or cause me to go off plan).

The first 11 days I experienced the headaches, exhaustion, and irritability. My body went through a major shift. I am a person who can resort to eating total crap junk food on the regular. Even when I was eating healthy - structured eating helped me lose 55lbs over the last year - that food routine was full of carbs, dairy and permitted sugars. Read: just enough dopamine-inducing food drugs to get by. I have not attempted eating Paleo since it was called Atkins in the late 90s (wink). Inevitably, when I started, I was really grouchy and bitchy to my boyfriend who said I looked 'zapped' (drained) and grey or gaunt due to a rapid initial drop. Basically, I could tell my body was going through something. But I wanted to see what was on the other side.

Sugar and carbs are drugs and can have the same numbed-out impact of any wake and bake.

I kept on - acclimating myself to this structure has had surprising positives. Don't tell anyone but I LOVE COOKING. I have cooked more in the last two weeks than I have in my whole life. I cook large batches of blueberry hash or ground beef with red onion, tomato, and balsamic. I'm also more aware of my sleep hygiene, I see how my body fuels and restores itself. I'm more focused on goals and clear in my pursuits, personally -- The initial fog has truly fallen away to reveal a new, healthy aptitude.

The nice part about turning the corner after the detox/ sugar hangover is that I barely remember how or why it was so difficult. I casually plan my meals for the week. I cook in bulk to be prepared for work days. I have go-tos when I don't have time to cook. I am even focusing on how I'd like to refine my last 2 weeks to be more disciplined and get as much out of this as possible.

Once you hit the midway point The Whole 30 (or even just eating clean) is a healthy instance of, "if it feels good, do it."

I have struggled with food my whole life. Only in the last 2 years have I turned toward whole living, in many ways. I utilize support to help me through my struggles. I learn new and holistic ways to care for my body. I feel my feelings and inhabit my skin. I reach out to people who know more about topics I want to learn about. And I take action. The opposite of fear is action and all actions result in progress. So, while I'm glad this is only 30 days (or 20, or 3, or whatever you're ready to do in this moment) the amount of progress it speaks to is infinite.

I'd love to hear your Whole 30 hooray or horror stories below! Take care.

x/Amy