This Is My Food Freedom

Today I am on day 17 of my third round of Whole 30. This third round is flying by but I am realizing so many things as I go along through this round that I wanted to share with all of you. If you remember from my last post about Whole 30, it is more than a diet, it is a lifestyle. For 30 days there is no:

• Dairy or Dairy Products
• Legumes (beans, peanuts, etc.)
• Grains (no bread, no recreating bread or baked good products with W30 approved materials, no oats, no granola...)
• Sugar or any kind (no honey, no agave, no stevia, no fake sugar...)
• Alcohol

Recently Melissa (W30 founder/cofounder/fitness nut/Major B-word/knows her stuff) changed up some of the W30 rules. They added to the list of no-no's chips of any kind and W30 approved ingredient protein and meal bars. As annoying as it is to have some new rules, I actually completely understand the reason. I cracked out a few too many times on my plantain chips (Def'n: "Cracked Out" - eating an entire bag of chips because they are salty and crunchy and delicious and you aren't actually thinking about why you are eating them... but you are probably eating them because you think you need them but you really don't). And then with the protein, fruit, and meal bars (RxBars, Larabars, etc.) other people tend to eat them like a candy bar or a treat rather than using them as fuel. While I never struggled with this, I can see how that can happen and am happy to give them up for 30 days (unless its an emergency which Melissa said is allowed so you don't break). 

As I go through round three now, I have really stepped up my meal prep game. I am spending a good 3 or so hours each Sunday prepping veggies and some sort of protein to have throughout the week. I have somehow found a good balance of not prepping too much since I will be cooking some during the week and will have leftovers from that. So far I haven't had to throw too much food away which is amazing in an of itself. I've been trying out some new recipes and experimenting with new foods. I started eating beets and added a Gut Shot (probiotic drink) to my morning breakfasts.

I have also branched out and am more comfortable eating out if necessary. I went to a girl's night dinner at BJ's and called ahead to ask about the ingredients in one of their menu items. It was just a salad, but I wanted to know if their Herb chicken was made from their own seasoning or a premixed rub. After being on hold for nearly 20 mins, they connected me with the kitchen and they informed me that sugar was not added to their seasoning. And while I thanked them for that, I asked if they make their own seasoning or if it is packaged as many pre-packaged seasonings have sugar as one of their ingredients. She was surprised to hear this and quickly went to go check the label. Sure enough the seasoning that they use includes sugar. She had no idea. I thanked her and when I went to dinner I asked for the chicken without the seasoning just with simple salt and pepper. One thing about eating out on Whole30 is you just have to know that you are going to be that annoying person with the extra special order. You also have to really trust the people who are making your food because you have no control over that really. And finally, be prepared. Do your research. Maybe bring your own dressing from home. And tip them really well because they had to listen to you order a Cobb Salad with no blue cheese, no jack cheese, no cheddar cheese, no dressing, no bacon, and chicken with no herb seasoning just salt and pepper...

Being over halfway done with round 3 of Whole 30 I am confident that I can't, won't, and don't want to go back to my pre-whole30 habits. Do I miss donuts? Yeah. Of course. But I picked up two dozen for my students today and was only a little sad that I couldn't eat one (the sadness passed very quickly... don't worry). Is it hard to go out to eat sometimes? Yeah, but it just takes a little research and extra kindness towards your server (which they probably need anyway). Is it hard when you are constantly being invited to parties, or goodies are brought to work, or it's someones birthday or... fill in the blank? Yes. There will always be something. But that's what Food Freedom is. It's not saying you can never have these treats and fancy things. It's choosing if that thing is really worth what it's going to do to your body internally, externally, physically, mentally, emotionally (yes... what you eat effects your emotions too... it's crazy!). Sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes you just want it. And that's ok. This is Food Freedom.

I put my jean shorts on the other day for the first time since last summer and they are significantly looser than they were last year (I had to squeeze into them and really suck it in to get them to fit right away). This time I put them on with ease and found that they were way too loose in certain areas and that it might be time for some new shorts. I'm lifting more than I ever have in my life (and at a lower weight). I'm feeling confident and happy and content with things in life. My face is clearer and I sleep better than I ever have before.

It's hard.

But it's worth it.

I am Whole 30. 

Adventure Is Out There

Holy Moly! April flew by! It seriously was such a busy month, it has taken me a full week into May to even recover fully.

The best part of April by far was my trip to Arizona. It was my second week of Spring Break and the plan was to camp at the Grand Canyon with my mom, sister, and my mom's friends for a few days and spend a few days in Phoenix with my sister. I flew out early Saturday morning and spent the day with my sister and my parents (who drove out to Arizona that morning). The following day was Easter and we went to my sister's church. Service was good and they did baptisms after service which always makes me cry (I didn't even know them and I was crying... yes... I'm that person... Happy tears of course...). Later that afternoon we had some friends over to my sisters house and we did a Mexican, Easter dinner complete with an adult easter egg hunt that my parents did for all of the adults.

Monday morning, my dad left to head back home but my mom, sister, and I headed out for Flagstaff to meet up with my mom's friends Rosa and Ray. When we got to Flagstaff, we planned out our meals for the week with Rosa while Ray was busy packing the truck and their trailer. We went grocery shopping for the week and then came home to fix dinner. While we were fixing dinner, Rosa and Ray got some tragic news from their family which meant that they needed to leave for California the next morning. They offered to drive us to the Grand Canyon if we wanted the next morning if we still wanted to go, or offered to let us stay at their house for the week if we wanted to change our plans. We opted for staying at the house since we only had really our sleeping gear for camping and nothing to really cook with or store our food in.

The next morning we helped unload the truck and the trailer before Rosa and Ray headed out. The

three of us decided to do some things locally in Flagstaff so we started by going to the Lava Tubes. These Tubes are underground caves in Flagstaff that are about 3/4s of a mile long. You have to drive about 7 miles on an all dirt road in order to get there, but we eventually made it out there. In order to get into the cave, you have to climb down into a hole in the ground. As soon as you enter, the temperature drops about 30 degrees (it's was really nice outside... maybe like mid-60s, but in the cave it was about 30 degrees) and we were faced with a wall of ice. We tried figuring out a way around it and found some rocks to climb down, but realized that part of the rocks were covered with ice as well. We needed to go down a good 6 feet on just ice in order to move further into the cave and we decided that maybe that wasn't the best idea... I mean... we could get down and just like slide on our butts, but how do our little 5'2" bodies get back out again? So we climbed back out and decided to try to hike/walk over to the end of the tube thinking that maybe there was an opening on that end and we could climb in that way... We followed what we assumed was the trail, but quickly turned into just open forest. We wandered aimlessly for about 45 mins before deciding that maybe there wasn't an opening at the end and we should probably head back and eat some lunch. As we wandered back we definitely did not follow the way we came and ended up off course by maybe a 1/4 of a mile. We eventually made it back to our car and ate out lunch before heading out for our next adventure.

After driving the 7 miles back out on the all dirt road, we headed out to Walnut Canyon in Flagstaff. Once we got to Walnut Canyon, we hiked down and looped around this island in the middle of the canyon. Along the canyon walls you could see the ruins of homes built by Native Americans  who lived there years ago. It was a beautiful canyon and it was neat to see the different home dwellings along the sides of the canyon.


On Wednesday morning, we got up early and headed North to Page, Arizona. It was a 2 hour drive so when we got there we stoped for some coffee. Our goal was to see Upper Antelope Canyon but in order to go see it, we had to get on a tour. The tour companies just operate off of reservations, but we stopped by one to see if there were any cancelations or openings. We were able to get on the very
next tour and rode with our tour guide out to the canyon. Upper Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon so we had to go in with our tour guide. Before we entered the canyon, our tour guide helped us adjust the photo settings on our iPhones in order to best capture the canyon from within. As we walked through the canyon she kept giving us tips and tricks to help with our phones and told us where to take pictures and even took some pictures for us. This canyon was seriously incredible. The color of the rocks, the different formations. Honestly it was really spectacular.

After our tour through Upper Antelope Canyon, we ate some lunch and the headed over to Horseshoe Bend which is a part of the Colorado River. It was a short hike in to the rim but when we got there,

the view literally took your breath away (or many that was just me because I was reminded how I don't like heights and couldn't get too close to the edge without my knees shaking. We hiked around the corner to get away from the crowds and just sat in awe of it all for a bit before heading out for some Sonic Slushes.

Thursday we slept in a little then headed to Sedona for a 6 mile hike. This hike took us along a river/creek bed in the middle of a canyon in Sedona. There were about 13 creek crossings (one way)
but overall the hike was pretty mild. We ate lunch then found some trees to hammock in for a bit before heading out of the canyon. We then drove into downtown Sedona and stopped in at a coffee shop that overlooked some of the red rocks of Sedonna.

Friday we cleaned the house and then headed back to Phoenix where we laid low for awhile before my mom and I flew back home.

Overall, the trip went above and beyond my expectations. While I was anticipating going to the Grand Canyon and camping for the week, God clearly had other plans which far surpassed my expectations. Isn't that crazy how that happens sometimes? We think we have things planned or we try to make our own plans and then God says, nope... I have something better for you. He reminded me of that this trip and I am so beyond thankful for that.