Whole30 -- Day 30

It felt so weird to type in that title. Whole30 -- Day 30. That means that after today, I am technically done with this challenge.

And, I did it.

(Well, unless I face-plant into a pint of Ben & Jerry's after I publish this, that is.)

I will post a more comprehensive wrap-up of the challenge tomorrow morning, but I wanted to stick with the format I've been using for the past 30 days for this post.

Before I get to that, though, I have to share two funny social media things:

First, last night I was scrolling through photos on Instagram, and let's be real: most of the people I follow post loads of pics of food. That's why I follow them. So, I got to one picture, and I was like, "Hmm, that looks good!" Yeah. It was my picture. Awesome.

Second, this morning, I got an email from Twitter to the handle I have set up (but don't use) for this blog: "Do you know Emily Bollinger?" Why yes, yes I do.

Clearly I am easily entertained.

Okay, now here's the (boring) rundown of today!

My alarm went off at 6:10 a.m., but I definitely hit snooze a few times: I think the effects of not sleeping at all Sunday night finally hit me today.

I. was. wiped.

But, the day went well overall. First, I got to school and had two super awesome things waiting for me. First, one of my besties sent me a very colorful, very bold, very large-font email:

I don't know if you can read the subject, but it cracked me up,
which is why I left it on there, even though it made the
screenshot off-center: "dirty thirty."

Second, my mom posted on my Facebook page, then my sister-in-law commented on it, and then another friend "liked" it:

Have I told you how much I like need validation? (That's a whole separate "let's-do-therapy" post.)

But now, back to the rest of my day:

My former principal's daughter came to observe my class today, which was really cool. I absolutely adore my former principal and consider her my "mom" in Des Moines, and I love her daughter as well (they have pretty much the exact same relationship my mom and I do), so it was nice hanging out with her -- even though it was during school -- for a bit today.

After school, we had our first informational meeting for See-Us Run Des Moines, the running group that I have been a part of for the last three years. I'm super excited to get started this year and am trying to coerce as many of my students as possible to run a marathon. :)

When the kiddos left, I hung around with Cindy, the founder of the group, and chatted. I absolutely adore her and wish we hung out more. She started Whole30 yesterday, so we had a bunch to talk about.

Then, I headed straight to Dahl's. I only had a few cans of La Croix left, and I didn't want to run out.

I think I need to join La Croix Anonymous.

"My name is Emily, and I have a problem."

When I got home, I Facetimed my sister-in-law and nephew. Brody, at three-months-old, was more interested in Sports Center than his favorite aunt. Typical guy, I guess. Whatever, Brods.

I'm probably going to crash fairly early tonight, as I am, like I already mentioned, zonked, and I haven't even taken my knock-you-out antihistamine yet.

But, I hope you all stop by bright and early tomorrow morning for my official End of Whole30 post. I, for one, cannot wait to see if I lost any weight. Frankly, though, I am a-okay even if I lost zero pounds: just feeling this good makes me consider it a whoppin' success.

We shall see!

Breakfast:

Today's breakfast was yet another serving of Paleo Oatmeal, topped with a scoop of almond butter. If you haven't made this yet, you need to get on it! It is so easy, so fast, and so ridiculously amazing.

I ate it at school in a stupid plastic container (yes, I need to switch to glass). Don't let the pretty green background fool you: breakfast was sitting on my beautiful Whole30 binder.

Lunch:

Lunch was a leftover Jalapeno Chicken Burger, roasted asparagus, and a big ol' glob of guacamole. I was a bit nervous eating this today, and I'm pretty burned out on chicken, let alone leftover chicken. But, it was really, really good, and I pretty much inhaled it -- and then also ate an apple.

I am not sure it was enough food, however. Perhaps I needed another chicken burger for more protein? While it filled me up for about three hours, I was pretty hungry when I got home, so I may or may not have eaten a spoonful of almond butter and a small handful of macadamia nuts.

I know Whole30 doesn't so much advocate for snacking, but I was quite hungry, and it wasn't yet dinner time.

Dinner:

Tonight I had some leftover Korean Short Ribs. They were pretty much just as good as last night! I also ate a huge, heaping pile of spicy green beans (i.e. green beans sauteed in olive oil and crushed red pepper).

And, now I'm stuffed.

Physically: Aside from being pretty darn tired (not Whole30-related) and therefore a bit headache-y and mildly cranky, I am feeling good. My tummy is a-okay, and my skin isn't (currently) revolting. What more could a girl want?

Emotionally: Even though I was crashed last night (courtesy of hydroxyzine), I had another extremely vivid dream. In last night's dream, I was at a mall, and the Pretzel Time (that used to be a thing, right?) pretzels smelled sooooooooo good. So, I ordered one to save for tomorrow. (Yes, even in my dream I knew that my Whole30 ended today.) When I got in the car, though, I ate three bites of it before being like, "Ahhhh! I accidentally ate it! Now I have to start allllll overrrrrr!"

It doesn't sound super dramatic just typing it out, but y'all, it was crazy up in that dream.

Cravings: The only thing I really wanted today was a piece of gum or a mint, and that was only because the Jalapeno Chicken Burger had tons of onions, which in turn gave me dragon breath. Instead, I chugged some La Croix (addicted, remember?) and ate more of my apple, but I'm not sure either of those things helped. Oh well.

Like I said before, friends, please stop back tomorrow for a for-real wrap-up of this amazing adventure. Sleep well, and g'night! :)