Oh my gosh! This is the homestretch — the last five days of Whole 30!
If you’ve been following along with my Whole30 progress recaps, Brian and I were considering doing a second round and stretching this into a Whole60. But that idea has flown out the window because we booked a last minute road trip and are heading to Oregon for a week in just two days! This is the longest we have stayed home in nearly seven years, so we can’t wait to social distance with a different view (and a hot tub on the beach)!
These last five days of Whole30 were hard.
I feel amazing and my guts and digestive track are back on track, but honestly, I am sort of over it. I really like this program as a reset and refocusing of our diets when we get off track but the focus on everything you can’t eat isn’t the way I want to approach food for the long haul. I’m working on making permanent, sustainable changes and while Whole30 was the perfect kick-start, and in the past it has been the catalyst to a significant upgrade in our eating habits, it’s not meant to be a long-term solution. It is meant to be a reset that helps you better understand you body’s relationship with food.
Here’s my last recap for this round of Whole30:
Whole30 Day 26
Even though it was Friday, I had five Zoom meetings today and they’re exhausting. I miss real meetings, which sounds crazy to say because I’ve never been a meeting fan, but I’d get in the car and go meet someone in person now if I could! Work is piling up a bit too because we decided to take a road trip at the last minute and now I’m going to be out of the office unexpectedly for seven business days.
- EXERCISE: With a super busy workday ahead of me, I powered through the Barre Blend Cardio Blend workout early!
- FASTING: I got a little sidetracked this morning and didn’t eat my first meal until nearly 12:30 pm! I stayed within my eight hour window though and stopped eating by 7:00 pm.
- FOOD: Eating healthy can be so delicious! I started my day with Roasted Sweet Potato Avocado Toast, enjoyed a Vegan Shakeology mid-day, and gorged on roasted broccoli and cauliflower with chicken burgers at dinner, of course, topped with Tessemae’s compliant BBQ Sauce and Everything Bagel Ranch.
Whole30 Day 27
Nothing beats the weekend! We spent today working on the backyard, pruning plants, refining planters, adding more garden art, and prepping the spot where we’re adding a new patio. I spent the rest of the day floating in the pool and reading a good book!
- EXERCISE: I woke up early and squeezed in two workouts: Focus T25 Beta: Rip’t Circuit and Barre Blend Week 5: Core Blend.
- FASTING: My intermittent fasting continues to go well. Stuck to my 16/8 goal and had meals at 11:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 6:00 pm.
- FOOD: I meal prepped egg muffins with broccoli and asparagus again for quick and easy breakfasts — they’re so good! My mid-day meal was a Chocolate Vegan Shakeology with lots of added spinach. Dinner was chicken fajitas and air-fried potato wedges.
Whole30 Day 28
Today Brian and I had two AMAZING things to celebrate — first, today was the 22nd anniversary of our first date, and second, we got to see our friends! Two of our friends hosted a backyard, morning concert and it was everything we needed.
The event was invite-only and kept very small, it was a seated concert with assigned seats, face masks were required, and you had to bring your own food and drinks. I was impressed when I arrived. Each household attending (i.e. Brian and I) were assigned seats grouped together and socially distanced — yes, there was tape on the ground marking out spots. The seats were also far enough away from the stage that the musicians could feel comfortable performing. I felt so good to see and catch up with friends after being isolated for so long!
- EXERCISE: Rest day! Thank goodness! Resting a little more this week and working in some extra stretching to loosen up some sore muscles.
- FASTING: Again, stuck to my 16/8 goal for intermittent fasting — this is getting easier to stick to, but honestly, I’m not noticing that big of an impact.
- FOOD: Egg muffins loaded with vegetables, fresh fruit, an Epic Bar, and Vegan Cafe Latte Shakeology carried me throughout the day, along with my standard of drinking half of my body weight in water. For dinner, we used up the rest of the roasted broccoli and cauliflower we had earlier in the week and paired it with compliant chicken sausage.
Whole30 Day 29
Monday’s can be a beast in terms of meetings and workload and today it was even worse because Brian and I are trying to prep for our road trip to Oregon between meetings and deadlines! The stress of today paired with some frustration over a lack of results didn’t have me in the best of moods — Sorry family!
- EXERCISE: Rest day number two with stretching only! I almost never take two rest days… but here we are.
- FASTING: Stuck to my 16/8 goal and had meals at 11:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 6:00 pm. But a friend of mine posted on social today that she started intermittent fasting and has dropped nearly 20 pounds in the past month. I’m not even seeing those kind of results with my healthy eating and exercise and honestly, it has me a bit frustrated.
- FOOD: My first meal was cold grilled chicken with Tessemae’s BBQ Sauce, apple slices and almond butter, beet chips, and a slice of dried pineapple. Mid-day, I paired a Vegan Cafe Latte Shakeology with a Chocolate Sea Salt RxBar (they’re cheaper on Amazon than in the store). For dinner, we used up the rest of the chicken and veggies from earlier in the week and had fajitas and potatoes again.
Whole30 Day 30
Today was the last day of Whole30! We did it — we made it through to the end! We both feel great and are ready to hit the road in just two days for a Bourn Family Road Trip and a change of scenery! Today I ran the last few errands needed, packed all of the dry food, and started getting all of the peripheral stuff organized and packed and it kept me busy from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed.
- EXERCISE: Today was another double! Focus T25 Beta: Dynamic Core and Barre Blend Week 5: Lean Legs Blend — Every time I do these workouts, I am blown away with how much I sweat. You might look at Barre Blend, and think it’s not for serious fitness pros, but everyone I talk to who has tried this program swears it’s way more challenging than it looks!
- FASTING: Day 30 of our Whole30, exercise, and intermittent fasting experiment and I’m over it. Not Whole30 and exercise but intermittent fasting. I’m not sure if I have to do it for a longer period of time for it to work or what?! All I know is that I drink at least double my weight in water each day, I cut out everything required by Whole30, and I stuck to the 16/8 fasting schedule and I haven’t had much weight loss.
- FOOD: After kicking off the day with a Vegan Shakeology with added cauliflower rice, I made a delicious spinach salad for lunch and topped it with strawberries, blueberries, avocado, turkey, and my favorite Everything Bagel Seasoning from Amazon. Dinner again included roasted potatoes — this may be a habit I need to break but this time we paired it with green beans and compliant chicken sausage.
I Almost Quit Last Week
You’re not supposed to weigh yourself during Whole30 — it’s against the rules because the program isn’t supposed to be about weight loss. But I did anyway (because Brian did and saw that he lost significant weight) and was totally bummed out, frustrated, and dejected. Yes, I’ve gotten rid of those pesky pandemic pounds… but overall, I haven’t lost much weight.
I weigh the same as I did in March before the stay-at-home orders went into effect!
My last month included:
- Whole30 with one exception to include Vegan Shakeology
- Drinking at least double my weight in water each day
- Regular home workouts with various Beachbody On Demand programs, like T25, 21 Day Fix, 10Rounds, and Barre Blend
- Intermittent fasting: 16 hours fasting (7:00 pm to 11:00 am) and an 8 hour window for my meals (11:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 6:00 pm)
Even with all of that, the scale barely moved.
I felt frustrated over my massive lack of progress and wondered why the heck am I even working so hard. Those sad and frustrated feelings stuck with me for days and I almost quit.
Today I reached a huge milestone: I finished Whole30 and hit SIX MONTHS of regular exercise and healthy eating.
This is the longest I’ve stuck with any type of fitness and healthy eating routine in nearly 14 years and I even though I am irritated at the lack of movement on the scale, I feel fantastic. Throughout the past six months, I’ve had to constantly remind myself that the scale is misleading and a fairly terrible signal of success, and I’m sure that’s not going to change.
While my scale shows little progress, my non-scale victories (NSVs) tell a different story:
- All of my clothes are loose! I wore a shirt out the other day and ran into someone I know who very nicely told me it was time to retire the clothes that are now baggy-saggy because they’re not doing me any favors.
- I had to retire some of my favorite pants because they’re too big — Even my underwear (sorry TMI) are getting too big!
- My body looks physically different. Everything from my legs and butt to my stomach and arms are getting smaller and my face is even looking thinner.
- I am much stronger. I can do exercises without modifications that I could barely get through even with modifications when I first started. I could barely hold a plank 6 months ago and now I can do plank walks and pike ups!
Thank goodness I got past my jaded, money-grubbing view of Beachbody and dove all-in with the amazing, supportive community I’m now part of, because they help motivate me every day! I even took my 6-month progress pictures, which made me really, really, really uncomfortable. But here’s the thing: When I compared them side-by-side with my “before” pictures, I was SHOCKED at the progress made because I didn’t see it before.
It’s easy to get frustrated with a lack of movement on the scale… and those feelings of “why even bother” are so incredibly strong! That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the non-scale victories and celebrate them along the way! They are often the things that show your real progress.
You also need to give yourself grace if you’re “getting back into it” after a long period of little effort/movement like I am! I must regularly remind myself that after not working out for more than three weeks at a time (maybe twice a year) for almost 14 years, the results aren’t going to come overnight. I got started with basically ZERO muscle whatsoever and over the past six months, I’ve been building muscle and strength like crazy and I’m really proud of that.
In It For The Long Haul
I’m committed to long-term, sustainable changes with my diet and exercise that will help me and my family live our best lives. I’m also having fun, which is helping me stick with it! As a non-pushy Beachbody coach, I’ve welcomed friends into my workout world for accountability and motivation and it’s made a huge difference — it’s so much easier to keep going when you’re not forging ahead alone and you know others have your back and are there to support you.
If you want to join me and reclaim your health, get in touch and let’s talk! I’d love to support you too.
The Entire Month Of Whole30 Recaps
Catch all of my modified (including Shakeology) Whole30 recaps — five days at a time:
