Final Whole Foods Challenge Post - What Worked and What Didn't

This has been a hard challenge - even for me. And I have to admit that I failed in many aspects.

For example:
Some things happened out of my control resulting in a lot of away-from-home time. Because of that, we have eaten a lot of takeout. I'm actually embarrassed to admit that, but it's the truth. Eating at restaurants is one thing, but fast food?? And the thing is, when you're undergoing a stressful time, fast food is actually the absolute worst thing for you. I know this. I did not adhere to it.

What could I have done different? PLANNED AHEAD. Knowing full well that there were things that were going to have to be done certain days, I should have planned ahead for a busy week, making up quick-fix packages (aka meal kits) and planning crock-pot meals. But, alas, I am not always that forthright.

Things I did right: Most of the places we went were sit-down restaurants. In those cases I almost always ordered soup, salad, or grilled meat and veggies.

Other things that didn't go as planned:

- The link-up. Because of the lack of participation, I ended up giving up on having a linky. Maybe some day . . .
- Raw milk. I have yet to make it to the dairy to get some. I did switch over to whole milk, however, which I understand is better, even if it's not raw (I also am sure to buy milk that is certified hormone-free!)

So there you have it. I am a failure, so to speak.
How do I feel about that?
Well, honestly not as bad as you might think.
You see, even though things didn't go quite as planned, I realized something important: My food choices have changed dramatically. Once upon a time, my fast food meal would have looked like this:

chicken fried steak sandwich with onion rings and tater tots with a large diet coke.

Now my fast food meal looked like this:
small chili cheese tots.

I know, still not the best choice, but considering what it WOULD have been . . .

My sit down meals would have looked like this:

Bacon cheeseburger with fries OR Chicken friend chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, fried okra and a roll.

This weekend it looked like this:
grilled fish with beans and grilled squash.

So I guess that things aren't quite as terrible as I thought they were.

Well, this challenge is over. Will I do it again? Who knows. What I do know is that even though things didn't go quite as planned (as is life sometimes) I was still able to make better choices than I would have in the past. And that's a good thing.