Weekend Update: Big Party and Countdown - 9 more days...

This is the first really GREAT weather we've had here over the weekend and it was an outdoors/short-shorts-and-tank-top kind of week-end. I have secretly been planning a surprise 40th birthday party for my husband for the last few weeks so the weather could not have been better for an outdoor gathering. My mother-in-law had a stroke of genius and had a taco truck come to cater the shebang. This was great for everyone - except me. For me, it was a day of overwhelming temptation in my own home. Tortilla chips are my kryptonite and they were everywhere. There was gooey, chocolate cake. And Pecan Pie. And cider. Vodka. Top shelf tequilla.

I admit, I at a LOT of nuts, a LOT of fruits and drank about a gallon of water in an effort to grab ANYTHING that wasn't a direct temptation. I also finished off the last 1/4 c. of sunflower seed butter. As the crowd was lining up at the taco truck, I was in the kitchen making myself a taco salad with tuna, avocados and cherry tomatoes, and topped with a dressing of fresh salsa and homemade mayo. It was darn tasty, and the taco truck food is fortunately not a huge trigger for me, but the party atmosphere brings out my inner crave-demon.

All day, I was faced with "Am I going to put that in my mouth" and I managed to work my way through my healthy thought process every single time, as much of a bummer as it was sometimes to have to turn down chocolate fudge cake. But I know myself, and I knew the effort of saying no to that one bite is infinitely easier than saying no to the second, third and fourth bites that would inevitably come, if I had opened the floodgates to temptation. So, I compromised with lots of fresh fruit. I'm not sure if it was the jovial party atmosphere or the crave-demon in me looking for a sugar rush, but the fruit was sooo flavourful and I really dialed into how sweet and juicy and tangy each strawberry, grape and orange slice was. I only wish I'd made some kind of coconut fruit dip. 

At the end of the night, after a wonderful day with friends and family, I did finally, consciously decide to 'cheat' and I tried a lime diet coke. Many of you (my husband included) pointed out that for most people, that would be the healthy choice they made over drinking a straight up coke (or even vodka-coke), but for me, the 'chemical shit storm' (to coin a phrase from the book Skinny Bitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin) was a departure from the clean, fresh food I've been eating the last 20 days. Do I feel like I 'failed' my Whole30? Not really. But in the end, I don't think it was worth the 'cheat'. I like the bubbles, but the chemically sweetness found in diet sodas doesn't do it for me anymore. I'd rather have sparkling water with a few slices of fruit in it.

This is the last full week of Whole30 eating and I'm a total convert. I still have some emotional eating issues to work through, but the change in my moods, my energy level and my body are enough to keep me eating as close to Whole30 from now on. I do have in mind some kind of celebratory supper once we are done, and I will slowly add in some things that I've missed, like yogurt, to see how I do with them. But for today, I'm sticking with my healthy lunch, healthy snack and a breakfast of egg whites and fruit smoothie. And coffee. Always with coffee.