My Daniel Detox

 Weight: 194.6 lb Lots of more serious thoughts today. Things like, "it's relatively easy when you have a set meal plan that tells you exactly what and how much to eat." But the real test is to maintain when there isn't a real menu plan.  Man, I've never eaten so much garlic, fresh green leafy herbs, cinnamon...what else. All kinds of things. Eating healthy things definitely got easier over time, today was WAY easier than the first couple days. I'm quite sure my taste buds have changed some too. (Josh thought supper was gross but I didn't think it was too bad.) I really like real sea salt that you grind (it tastes better). I did have my first 1/2 cup of coffee in 9 days!! Yum! Physical: Lots of energy today.  Emotional: Really glad this 10 days is almost over. It's been good and I've been really happy with how it's turned out in every way. Breakfast: Spinach, blueberry flax seed smoothie Snack: cinnamon almonds Lunch: Sundried Turkey burgers on...

 Wow. This was almost a doozie. This was one of my Sundays to work and I knew it would be really busy with covid. I packed my food and off I went. I have started subbing some of the prior things on the menu with others as I haven't really had time to do any more food prep. So I walked into work....to 3 boxes of Krispie Kream donuts! AAAAHHHHH! I quickly sped past those. I had made up my mind that if someone had made coffee I would allow myself 1/2 a mug (my mug is giant). NO ONE ever made coffee! So that one stayed on track! Then I hear that one of the docs was ordering pizza for lunch! I yelled out loud on that one! BUT I DID IT! I ate the stuff I brought only and drank all my water like a good girl! Physical: I noticed some heartburn in the night but i think it's probably from what I ate for supper.  Emotional: what a day! I made it though Menu:  Breakfast: Blueberry super protein smoothie Snack: Baked quinoa breakfast (swapped breakfast and snack so my smoothie was sti...

 One full week! Proud of myself for sticking with it. I'm trying to figure out how I did it. I think the pre planning had a lot to do with it. I've heard a couple people say, "man, you have more will power than me!" but really I don't. That was one of the main reasons I started this, to practice and build up my self control. So every day that passed gave me a bit more self confidence that I did, indeed, have some self control deep down inside of me. I was at a place where I could not NOT eat the treat in the breakroom or the candy from the candy isle even. But right now, I can. That's taken practice and I'm sure a lot more practice to continue.  Speaking of continuing, my mind is working on concrete plans on what the next 10 days and after will look like. Ideally, I need to loose 40-50 lbs total. My current 10 day detox plan has shown me some great weight loss. But the real test comes in the maintaining and learning to eat more balanced ALL the time. SO, s...

 What a day! There were some definite mile stones and some low points too. I had to go grocery shopping over lunch time. Normally, I'd just take myself somewhere I like. Today I took my kale salad with me in the car. It was a good salad but not quite the same! 😆 And I stopped by a new local shopping store that doubles as at coffee/ice cream shop (appropriately named Doubled Dipped). They just opened the coolest locally made boutique too. AND I RESISTED COFFEE AND ICE CREAM!! Talk about a mile stone! That took a lot of gumption. Thinking about tomorrow isn't very easy though. It's my first Sabbath AND we have Pathfinder potluck and Pathfinders in the afternoon. So all my food will be taken with me....and no potluck for me. I LOVE potlucks! And the deserts.....uuuummmmmmm. But I already have most of my food made and will carry on. I really did think about ending this detox at 7 days instead of 10.....but I'd probably be mad at myself later so it's only 4 more days!  ...

 HALF WAY THERE! Feeling proud...is that ok? 😄 Contemplating plans for the future of eating... Weight: 198.4 lb    7 lbs down!!! I wondering about integrating some of this into my everyday diet but making it more manageable with a family. What if I did breakfast most days using the same types of foods I have been but with more fruit. Lunch I normally am by myself anyway and can eat some of the same things too. But then dinner with the family would just be normal stuff that everyone will eat while trying to sneak in more veggies. Of course, coffee will be back every day. I drink it black now so no calories. I am going to try getting some flavored decaf (flavored coffee makes it WAY more tolerable when black!) to see how that sits with me. One of the things I will have to keep an eye on is heartburn.  Physical: Haven't had any heartburn since starting the 10 days. I quit taking my heartburn pill on day 3. I'm really happy about this but wondering if it's my coffee tha...

 As much as I've planned and calculated, the unexpected couldn't be helped. Josh's mom showed up this afternoon and everyone wanted to go out to eat. Ugh...not on the menu. But not wanting to be a wet blanket, I put my little grey cells to work and came up with a plan. Supper was not on the planned menu and they did add cheese to my salad EVEN when I asked for ONLY VEGGIES AND TURKEY. Oh well. I still did pretty well! But I had to leave the table when they all ordered ice cream. I said, "love you all, but I can't sit through this one and resist temptation".  Physical: More energy today. Oakley and I went on a 2.5 miles walk this afternoon. TMI but poop seems firm for all the water I'm drinking. I know I'm eating lots of roughage but hmmm... Emotional: Today was a good day until the supper fiasco, which all in all wasn't bad. Felt proud of my ability to resist when I would normally just jump in with both feet and dessert! Feeling like food isn't...

  I woke up with no headache!!!! Best part of the day!  Physical: No headache! Thinking more clearly...not sure of any other changes so far. I'll have to check my original scale in the morning but I've lost at least 2 lbs!  Emotions: Feeling better today. More positive over all with less coffee cravings. It's easier to resist temptations as the sugar and caffeine cravings aren't so strong. Work was really busy so that helped with keeping my mind occupied. It is a serious mind battle as I knew it would be! I'll catch myself wanting to eat something only to stop and think, "hmph, my stomach isn't hungry at all....just my head."  I've also been considering how I want to proceed after this 10 day fast as I don't want to go straight back into where I was. Still ruminating on that....more to come. Menu: Breakfast: quinoa with unsweetened almond milk and cinnamon (this was hard to get down, just being honest, it'd be ok with some sweetener....mayb...

 Yikes, well today had some good points and some not so good points. Good things: there was cake on the counter at work....I did not eat any. Bad things: the entire office smelled like coffee....I wanted some...BADLY.  Physical feelings: definitely not full of energy today. Still have a nasty headache...bad enough to make me think of going back to coffee.... Thoughts: Sang some scripture songs to myself today when I got discouraged. They were a good distraction. The headache is really wearing on me. Enough to make me think about just putting my morning coffee back into the game. But I'm determined to give it some more time. Technically it's only day 2 without caffeine. I was a little concerned with the amount, or lack there of, of my lunch for today, so I threw in some extra raw veggies.  Here's todays menu: Breakfast: 2-egg omelet with veggies and avocado Snack: 1/2 C. blueberries and 25 cinnamon roasted almonds Lunch: 3 turkey roll ups with 1/3 C artichoke hummus (turke...

  Food and I have always had a tumultuous relationship. Food ruled and I just did what I was told. Which is odd because I would say I grew up in a pretty healthy home. Never the less, food was the boss in my life. I don't remember it being such a big deal when I was a child other than I've NEVER been able to turn down desserts. But when I hit 20 and started dealing with depression and depression meds and living in another country (my year in Norway) the weight really added up. I love cheese and bread and nearly every dessert I've ever seen. When depressed, I would eat; when bored, I would eat; when stressed, I would eat.  Fast forward, at our wedding I weighed about 198. I always swore to myself I would not weigh more than 200 lbs. In 2006 my mom paid for me to do LA Weightloss because Josh and I were going to Guam for Christmas. I was in xray school at the time and honestly, I have NO IDEA how I managed to stick to the program! Some of it was because it had cost money and ...

Day 1 pm:  Physical feelings: head ache all day which doesn't surprise me with my usual caffeine intake GONE. I did walk for about 3/4 of a mile but it was a lot colder out than it looked. But it was movement. Thoughts: Definitely had several times today of wondering what the heck I'm doing and why did I want to do this anyway?!?! Missing my coffee. It did seem like I spent ALL DAY working in the kitchen to either fix my food, prep for my next days food or clean up. I had lots of conscious moments where I thought to myself, "normally I would reach out and take a bite of that", or "I would have finished that kids grilled cheese yesterday". If I spent too long thinking about the "long range plan", I would definitely get REALLY overwhelmed. One of my goals is to do ONE DAY AT A TIME. And I did it! Day one complete!! I drank 8 - 8oz glasses of water (which is lots harder for me to do at home. I drink really good at work!) I stuck to the menu for today!...

Day 1 morning: Audrey and I are home by ourselves this morning as the boys are on a Pathfinder campout. I feel like I spent a lot of time studying, planning and preparing for this and yet it has snuck up on me! I want to try and document this 10 day process for several reasons. I want to be able to go back and look at any changes that occur in a concrete fashion. I will need to remember what this was like. I REALLY don't WANT to share this journey with anyone! But it is necessary and I'll talk about that a bit later. My goal is to write several times a day about physical feelings, mental/emotional thoughts and some spiritual thoughts. Stats: weight 205.2 lb (the most I've ever weighed not pregnant) Physical feelings: I have a slight headache already which I know if from lack of caffeine. Thoughts: Woke up feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole 10 days. I'm making a choice to only thing about today and the prep I have to do for the next few days.  What I've eaten: a ...