Lifestyle changes.

I never really did a Whole 30 recap of how our month went.  It's been a while but I'll say this: I'm a believer.  I have never slept better in my life.  My tension headaches (that have plagued me almost daily for years) have practically disappeared.  I feel better than I have in a long, long time.  I stopped fully doing Whole 30 right before my Austin trip.  The best thing about Whole 30 has been the long-lasting lifestyle changes I've made since.

One of my favorite lifestyle changes that I began while doing Whole 30 was smoothies!  I switched my routine to gym in the mornings (best change ever!), so smoothies & boiled eggs are staples.  I make my smoothies the night before.  Whole 30 isn't a huge advocate for smoothies, but I make sure to load up with more veggies than fruit & use no artificial sweeteners or dairy.

I love that I can pretty much throw any combination in and have a decent breakfast.  My favorite smoothie combo so far consists of these ingredients:

 [Pumpkin, mango, spinach, carrots, coconut milk, + cinnamon]

That's literally it.  I only add some extra water to make blending easier.  The fruit adds enough sweetness & the "carby" pumpkin keeps me full even after my am run.  

While I haven't been so good about staying away from dairy cheese and carbs within the past couple of weeks (which I am totally contributing to last weekend's bought of sickness), I try to mostly base all of my meals around primarily fruits & veggies.

I wish I could afford to eat Whole Foods salad bar daily.  My usual from there is a salad topped with egg salad and strawberries & cashews on the side.  I feel the best when the majority of my meals are like this.  I eat a ton of eggs over greens with fruit on the side.  I didn't go crazy over finishing whole 30 (i.e. indulging in every single "bad" item I couldn't eat), but I definitely have let myself get a bit too lenient.  Seriously though, it's a big deal when I choose to order a salad at a restaurant.  Boo ya...lifestyle change.

My am gym routine allows me to go to a yoga class every Wednesday.  It's an easy wake-up class that is never crowded!  I love the teacher & it's the best to start the day with.  It's reminded me of my love for yoga, so I've broke out my yoga DVDs again.  It's tough balancing running, yoga, & strength training, but I feel a million times better.

These days I actually want to work out.  I've finally gotten to that point that I love the way working out makes me feel, makes me look.  While I am still trying to get down to that goal weight (and planning to reward myself greatly when I do), I just enjoy feeling this way.  I broke out Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 to use on days that I can't quite fit in the gym.  I know continued strength training will help my running game, and let's me honest...I want to lose that beer belly that's continually hanging on!

These are lifestyle changes that I hope really stick.  I know that if I keep in mind how different I feel now, I better keep it up!