Round 3 - FIGHT!

I don't know if this makes me a certified devotee, but I am legitimately excited for my third round of Whole30.  I love how it makes me feel, how my bloat goes away, and, honestly, I love the challenge of it.  Because no matter how 'good' I am at it, it's still a challenge to navigate through your average, everyday life and consistently make good choices.  There are distractions and temptations everywhere, and people with hearts of gold who mean well can destroy your progress in the most loving way possible.

Which is why I bring up my most important and powerful tool in successfully completing a round of Whole 30: the ability to say "no thank you."

Because in the long run, it's easy to say no to yourself while you're shopping, or driving past them Arches, or even pawing through your fridge.  It's much harder when the office darling makes an amaaaazing crumb cake and offers you a slice.  And you have to look that doll baby in the face and say, "Oh, no thank you." OR, conversely, you take the slice, eat it, enjoy it for 5 minutes, then feel guilty about it for the REST OF YOUR LIFE!  Or the next few days, when you decide if you're going to restart or just scrap the whole thing.

I know, it's hard.  And yes, they might be hurt for that brief moment in time.  But ultimately you have to make the best decisions for yourself.  And that means perfecting the art of saying no, and often the art of quickly and concisely explaining what Whole 30 is.  Maybe I should just make up little pamphlets.

Oh no, I am a devotee...

But seriously, it's 30 days.  30 days of saying "yes" to you and "no" to things that would derail your progress.  30 days in your WHOLE life where you take a pass on the crumb cake and hunker down with your breakfast casserole instead.  30 days where you patiently explain to your friends what you're doing and why you're doing it.  30 days.

Let's do this thing.