so today is day 29 (of 30) of my whole 30 paleo adventure. it's definitely been one of the most rewarding, life changing, and eye-opening experiences i have ever been a part of. 

part of the whole 30 program, if you want to pay fifteen dollars for the month, which i did, is getting daily emails from the creators of the whole 30 that motivate you, provide you with detailed information about a variety of things, and also advise you to reflect on your time doing this project. as one of the last days of the eating very strict paleo, i really have been thinking about my journey and how i have progressed, and maybe been set back, this month. 

i got home, back to houston, 2 days ago, and feel like i've been a non-stop whirlwind of energy. i organized our pantry and cleaned out our refrigerator, dumping all the wheat flours and refined sugars, all the sauces and marinades that contain soy, added sugar, and all the other weird shit that we unknowingly ingest. i basically just refuse to think that i'll ever eat that stuff again unless it's a special occasion--it's just the way my brain has been retrained as an outcome of this month eating so clean. 

the short list of things i will never, ever buy again because i can make them better:

1. MAYONNAISE

2. milk of any kind, except coconut

3. energy bars

4. tomato (pasta) sauce

5. pasta

i'm sure that as the years go by, this list will grow

for me, the whole 30 has not just been about changing the way i eat. i have increased, and changed, the way i work out, i have basically stopped watching tv, allowing myself to do other, less mind-melting, activities. those are not the most important transformations that have come around this month.

i feel powerful, confident, and enthusiastic about everything i do.

i dont second guess what i'm eating or feeling. i don't worry about what people think when i tell them i don't eat any sort of grain or unnatural sugar. i don't even care what my friends think of me when i say i probably will only eat ice cream from a carton a handful of times a year, for the rest of my life. i don't feel self-concious about what people may think of me. i don't even care that i'm telling all of you this, maybe you're strangers, maybe you're my mom, i never would have been this publicly open about anything before.

i would venture to say that i've always had a very strong and self-assured personality since a very young age. i've been driven my whole life in academics and in extracurricular activities, but i've never, ever, felt the empowerment that i do today. whether that comes from this new transformation of how i eat, or maybe it's the fact that i just finished my first year of college and am growing up a little more, who knows. all i know is that i love it, it's made me feel so great, and i fully plan on continuing eating paleo for the rest of my life. 

i urge everyone to find something that changes their life like this whole 30 program has changed mine. maybe it's changing your diet for a month's time, maybe it's reading a self-help book, maybe it's going out and doing something that you just never thought you could. find whatever that something is, and rejoice in the freedom that it will unlock inside of you.