*But not from Whole30. I’d lost seven pounds by about Feb. 3rd (two days before I started Whole30), and then by Feb. 7th, I’d lost two more. The other seven were all thanks to eating Game On-style last month. AND I was taking weekends totally off. AND I spent 5 days eating whatever the heck I wanted to with my family! My point is, I’ve either plateaued or this is just what happens when you eat a lot of extra fat, but Game On, for me, is a GREAT diet for losing weight. I have never lost weight so quickly in my life, including the first time I did Game On in 2015 when I was following the full program. And as I’ve mentioned, I was only using the dietary requirements this time, I wasn’t working out at all, I was just sticking to four meals instead of five (which I prefer; Whole30 asks you to eat three meals a day but that’s not my way, baby. I like four mini meals.)

But. But.

I was still bloated most of that time. My energy was great, but having dairy every day…yeah. Yeah. Dairy is definitely the culprit. And that’s what Whole30 has helped me figure out, even just 12 days in.

Oh, and before any of you who’ve Whole30’d before jump me and say “HEY IT’S AGAINST THE RULES TO WEIGH YOURSELF DURING THE 30 DAYS”, zip it. I don’t care. I know about the whole non-scale victories schtick. Like I’ve said, I’m not doing this diet to lose weight, so I’m not affected by the whole psychology of avoiding the scale to appreciate everything else happening to my body. I’m down to my WEDDING WEIGHT, PEOPLE! Just 6 weeks into 2018! I’m down to 2015 weight! I’m wearing pants I haven’t worn in almost 3 years! And they’re not making my tummy feel like I’m trying to pass a basketball through a sausage factory! I’ll weigh myself if I want to.

Anyway, I’ve felt pretty good for the past two days! No fatigue, and food isn’t grossing me out, phew.

Except this sad lunch from Day 10. This was the most unprepared day on the program for me so far where I thought I’d just take 2 hardboiled eggs and a pack of spinach and the end of the herb mayo and hahahaha it tried to be a deconstructed salad I guess?

It was…not great.

But you know what WAS great? My Valentine’s Day meal! Alright, this one definitely stretched the boundaries of what’s “allowed” on Whole30, but it was TECHNICALLY compliant, if not spiritually so, and as a fellow Whole30 friend recently espoused, “F#%* the spirit!”

Couldn’t have a box of chocolates, so my baby made us 50 (!!!) bacon-wrapped dates instead. YEP. Love that man of mine. <3

They may look like 50 cockroaches on a paper towel, but that’s your problem. Not mine.

To be clear, each piece of bacon was split across 3 dates, and in reality we only ended up eating about 25 total at the time. Dates are Whole30 candy. The rest have been little snackies.

Here’s another questionable pic! This is what happens to homemade buffalo sauce in the fridge. That top layer of coconut oil and ghee is solid, by the way. Yikes.

But! All is well, just let it melt on the countertop for a while, give it a stir and spoon it out over…

Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash!!! SO, SO good, especially with that drizzle of homemade ranch.

Alright one more food pic and then I’m off to enjoy my Friday. Here’s my lunch for the past 2 days, chili over a bed of spinach with Red Roasted Carrots and sweet potato curls. Could not be more colorful or delicious. I’m really getting to the point where carrots are literally started to taste like candy to me, so maybe I’m losing my mind OR my body is finally adjusting to (temporary) life without added sugars.

Beautiful.

Alright! I’m about to take on THREE days off while trying to stay compliant…whiiiich I’ve been dreading, despite feeling really healthy and solid about the diet during the back half of the week. WISH ME LUCK!