What the Whole 30 Challenge is Teaching Me

I feel like during the Whole 30 each blog post begins with "I can't believe I'm already on day ___!" But it's true, I can't believe it! Doing this challenge makes me realize a few different things.

First, how quickly time actually flies by. Jon left for Florida 12 days ago and it seems like it will be forever until I get to go visit him but in reality I will be down there in less than 30 days. As I am sitting here writing this, 30 days seems like a long time but when the day actually comes it will have all gone by so fast. It makes me want to sit back and enjoy each and every day a little bit more.

Second, this challenge has made me become more in tune with my body and what it is saying. My stomach is growling because I'm hungry and that's my body's way of telling me that it needs fuel. Before this challenge I ate because I was supposed to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And I even threw in a few snacks here and there and of course, dessert! Not because I was hungry though. I did it because that's what we think we are supposed to do. Eat three, four, even five times a day.

Another thing that I have noticed these past two weeks is how much better I sleep. I used to wake up a few times during the night and now I sleep like a baby. I also wake up with so much energy that I'm not sure how it lasts all day long.

Lastly, I have learned that you don't need to be a millionaire to complete this challenge successfully and you really don't need a lot of time. Being a college student, I eat on a college student's budget but that doesn't mean I have to eat Ramen noodles and cereal every day (I'm working on a post about this). So many people think that they can't eat healthy because it costs so much. Which it's true that it does cost more but if you're smart about it and want to do it, you can. And time, which I don't have a lot of, shouldn't make or break your challenge. If you have an hour on the weekend to prep a few staples and wake up an extra 10 minutes earlier during the week to throw something in the crockpot you will be prepared and can knock this challenge out of the park! For example, the photo above is from the dinner I had one night earlier this week. The day before I put three chicken breasts in the crockpot and dumped a bunch of hot sauce over them. The next night, I had a complete meal ready for me in under 3 minutes. All I had to do was heat up the chicken and grab some food out of the fridge and I was set.

Now I want to know what the Whole 30 challenge has done for you and your body! Comment below and let me know so we can chat.