Whole30 - Days 30 and Beyond - Crossing the Finish Line

And the finish line!!! For me this was a literal and figurative finish line. I planned my Whole30 to end the night before my first half marathoner. Obviously, I didn't want to risk a stomach ache before my race so this carried through until I literally crossed the finish line. For me, it was really helpful to have an event as my ending date. It gave me a very real idea of how close I was to the finish.

But... let's see how we got there.

Day 30

Day 30 got off to an early start... like very early... like before 4 am early. For those who don't know, the half marathon was organized by Lululemon. One of the highlights of the event, is an exclusive store for the race. Limited edition race gear is released and for Lulu fanatics, this is a main reason to go. I'm not a crazy Lululemon fan (but that's changing day by day) but I've been getting into better shape and wanted to celebrate my half by picking up a few souveniers. I would have gone to the store a little later but my friends are crazy Lulu fanatics so we woke up early enough to make a rooster cry and headed out to wait in line. 

In the end though, it was fun to wait in line and shop with my friends. I picked up some fun things as well! I'll get into all of that in another post though. 

After all of that shopping though, I was hangry. My friend and I walked around forever before we found anything that I could work with. Finally, I found a place with eggs benedict. They had a few options for them - classic and one with tomatoes. While there was gluten free bread, I knew it probably wasn't compliant so I asked if I could use tomatoes instead of toast. The guy has absolultely no issues with my substitutions. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it came with a side of veggies as well. 

Note: I'm sure the hollandaise wasn't 100% compliant but it's not too far off and at this point, I think it's more reasonable to make a tiny exception rather than have trouble finding anything substantial to eat. 

For dinner, my friend coordinating the trip did an AMAZING job finding a place that would work with everyone's different eating restrictions (we also had a vegan and a carb lover). I was happy to have a few options that would give me the meat and carbs I needed pre-race and in the end, the menu had even more available than what was posted online. I ended up having this super balanced steak, potato, and asparagus meal.

But most of all... I FINISHED!!!! Finishing any big goal is awesome - as awesome as a ninja cat with a golden gun riding a fire breathing unicorn into a rainbow. It's funny, I actually almost missed the significance of finishing Whole30 since I was on a trip and getting mentally prepared for my race. I had a little moment of personal celebration though and then it was time for sleep.

Day 31

Since I was going into a half, I wanted to be careful about sticking with my normal Whole30 pre-race rituals so I didn't feel sick on the course. This is a pretty careful line since race day is always a little more anxious than a normal run and lots of things can contribute to throwing you off.

For pre-race, I'd been having fruit squeezes (Basically and organic apple sauce with other fruits mixed in. My favorite is apple, mango, & kale.) and some turkey. I was a little anxious so I didn't have a lot of my pre-race food but on such a long run, it was good to get something in.

And then I ran a half marathon! I ended up having cramps at some points and had to walk. I think that will all the craziness with traveling, I just didn't hydrate enough the day before. I made sure to stop at every water stop after that though and it helped a ton. As much as I would have wanted to run the whole thing, it was best to listen to my body. It's not going to be my last half and it gives me more to strive for.

And then there was post-race brunch! The race actually provided food which was awesome. Obviously this was not Whole30 and honestly, that was ok. I ran a half marathon, I burned 1300 calories, and my body needed sustenance. It was nice to have something to put into it right away and I started feeling better after getting some food and warmth back into my body.

And then it was treat time!! I obviously didn't want to fall off the wagon the first day off of Whole30 but I was on vacation and wanted at least one special Canadian treat... POUTINE!!! It was amazing and definitely a great reward for everything I'd done that day.

Of course, I didn't quite stop there... There was also the exclusive Lululemon beer that I had to try after the run. It was really good too!

...and then of course wine. Don't worry - I actually had a Whole30 dinner (kale slaw and deli meats) but I had a few drinks to celebrate as well. I thought I did great though - I was able to try the drinks I was curious about but didn't get drunk or overdo it. If the big takeaway here is just learning to enjoy alcohol responsibly and for the taste and enjoyment rather than getting wasted, then that's huge and this whole thing is a win.

And Beyond!

But after Day 31, there are many more days. I let myself have a few treats on Day 31, mostly because of the race, but I didn't want to let myself think that it was now ok to just binge. I really want to stick with an 80% Whole30 lifestyle and that picks up again immediately.

So I wanted Day 32 to be on track again and start experimenting with life after Whole30. The first stop was breakfast. I was able to get some potatoes, bacon, and eggs with no problem. I just asked them to hold the toast and it was so easy. 

It actually feels really nice to not feel restricted by a challenge but want to keep going with it and eating healthy. When I was reading through the menu, many of the exceptions just didn't even sound great. I'd rather keep doing what I'm doing and feel awesome than get back into the bad habits that had me feeling down in the first place.

For dinner, aside from the wine, I still stuck to something Whole30 - a salad with crab, shrimp, avocado, and tomatoes. It didn't need cheese or anything else that wasn't compliant. I even nursed my glass of wine. I was mostly just thirsty and wanted to down a lot of water. After one small glass, I stopped up the bottle to save the rest for another night.

Actually, the next night was a little rough for me. We had a crazy day at work and my whole team had to be on all night. Dan's family was in town so I was trying to barbecue dinner while working. After work was finally done, I decided to just finish the bottle of wine - a bad, old habit.

I'm sure you could guess what happened... I felt terrible. I didn't like the foggy feeling in my head or not being fully in control of myself. It was a bad slip but also an important one. It was good for me to realize that I don't need more than a glass of wine a lot and that drinking more doesn't make me feel better. It's ok to enjoy wine, but there's really no pointing in continuing to drink it once you've passed the point of enjoyment.

Summary

I also took my before and after pictures. It's so easy to see that I definitely had a lot of bloat before. My tummy is flatter now, and my facial features are more prominent. I'm generally in a better mood with more energy (although a lot of recent stress has been working against that). My legs (where I carry my weight more) lost A LOT of size. The shorts in both aren't the exact same but they are the same size/cut/brand and you can see how much looser they are around my thighs. For weight, I went from 136 to 131 so not huge but something. I chalked it up to muscle gain from all my working out.

But there was still something curious about that... my change seemed more drastic than 5 pounds and running usually is a weight loser not a weight gainer like lifting is. I hadn't been doing as much strength training because I was a little over expended with work, running, and family issues.

And then I saw something interesting... many of the women who ran the half marathon were saying they were up 5 pounds the day(s) after the race and wanted to know if anyone else had experienced that. So, a few days later, I decided to weigh again.. this time the scale said 127. The next day... 126. All in all, I came out about 9 pounds down which is way more in line with the results I was seeing. 

I also took another picture:

I guess after the shock to your body of running a half marathon, you retain water and nutrients for a few days. Seeing my total transformation though is such a great motivator to keep this going. Dan and I weren't hungry and we weren't bored. We loved the food we were eating and were both really happy with the developments we saw in 30 days. Now, we aren't planning on being as strict - a little cheese or treat every now and then isn't terrible, but I want to do at least enough to maintain where I am. I don't feel like I need to lose anymore weight but I want to keep feeding my body well and letting it decide where it feels more healthy. 

I'm going to do one more wrap up post with my all encompassing feelings about Whole30 so be sure to tune in for that as well!!