Wake Up: 7:00am I got 8 hours of sleep last night. It wasn't the best night and I definitely could have used more sleep, but I woke up feeling restored and spunky.

Breakfast: 8:20am

Last night I made Egg Muffins with sweet potato, spinach, sausage, and tomatoes. I forgot the nutmeg. They are so good though. They really pack a punch. I also had a little salad with 1/2 an avocado, tomatoes and cucumber and drizzled some Apple Avocado Oil Vinaigrette on the top. It was really good!

Lunch: 11:33am

Troy and I went to lunch together today at one of my favorite places called Zooks. They have an amazing garden, which is pretty much winterized right now, but it's still a great place to sit in the sun. It's very peaceful and we enjoyed tea for me, Coffee for him, and lunch. I had a salad with olive oil and balsamic, Troy had a panini. There was no protein in my meal but it was a great "starter" to lunch. Just fresh garden veggies and nothing that would distract from health.

They have a sweet kitty at Zooks that crawled up in my lap and gave me a ton of cat-love. That made me feel special, she walked right by Troy, the cat lover of the family.

Lunch #2: 1:10pm

Of course after getting home from lunch I knew I needed to complete my lunch. I sautéed up some organic ground beef with diced apple, nutmeg, and cinnamon, all cooked in ghee. I cut up a mango and had that along the side. My two lunches held me over great until dinner.

Dinner: 7:30pm

I have been so excited to try the Balancing Paleo Turkey Stuffing Loaf ever since Michelle posted it. I got the stuff today while Troy and Annie were at her reading tutor and whipped it up. I must say, oh my lanta. I love it! At first Troy was like "Why is there no salt in this" and I was like "there's lots" and then started to realize that Troy and I's palates are diverging because my Whole30 is setting in. I'm tasting the different elements of food so much more than he is right now. Everything tastes more vibrant to me.

I served the loaf along side a bowl of roasted veggies. I roasted together: mushrooms, brussels sprouts, fennel, shallots. And I drizzled on the top: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lots of chopped fresh tarragon, and expensive sea salt. They were to die for! We had my BFFs daughter over for dinner and we even got her to try mushrooms and brussels sprouts. It's fun getting kids to try new things. Oh, and look at my plate compared to Troys, I tell ya, I AM EATING A LOT!!!!

Half Way:

So this is the half way point in Whole30. I must say, I've gotten more so far than I ever hoped for. My headaches from food are gone. I'm only getting headaches when I'm really stressed now, or when my neck muscles are so sore they are pulling on my head. They aren't a daily occurrence any more. I don't snack at night. Not at all. The days of eating from 8-11pm are totally gone, poof, just like that. I was talking to Ron today about it and I was saying that it's nice to not even want to snack at night. I thought I would just get good at avoiding the temptation, when in fact it's more that the temptation is gone. That's really nice. Also a huge perk is that I am really happy. I have happy responses to hard conversations. I am more patient, I am more present. I still feel a bit spacey sometimes, but I'm happy and spacey, so I'm okay with it!

I've had some interesting comments from some people around me that I thought I would share.

Today Ron said that in my pictures from the race and the days leading up that I am glowing. I have better color and skin tone. I would agree. He also called me a dog with a shiny new coat. I will take this as a compliment. hahaha!

Yesterday Jim said I looked skinny in a photo I put on FB. I'm not here to lose weight at all, but I think that reducing inflammation is a super awesome thing and can be contributing to that here.

Troy, this is the best. Before I left for Arizona he said that he had never seen me look and act this healthy in our entire marriage. 11 years...dang! That's quite the observation.

It's kinda crazy what you can do in just 15 days of not eating food that causes emotional, hormonal, gut, or inflammatory damage. The body truly does want healthy foods, at least mine seems to. I don't know what the next 15 days will bring. We all have Thanksgiving coming soon, which I'm actually not stressed about, I'm excited to see family and the food is just a small part of that. Plus, it's just one day. I did 6 days without a kitchen or microwave and kept it Whole30, I know I can handle one meal that is based around Turkey!