things I have learned

Hi everyone!  First I would like to thank you all for the support you have shown me over the last 11 days.  I am almost at the halfway point of this experiment...I am both surprised and pleased that I have made it this far.  I did weigh myself the other day...something I said I wasn't going to do...but I couldn't resist.  I am down 5 pounds.  It may not seem like much, but I am pleasantly surprised.  It typically takes me a LONG time to jump start myself, I did a 10 day cleanse once and lost nothing.  The fact that I have lost weight is very telling to me.  Maybe I am wrong, but I attribute most of it to the lack of dairy in my body.

I have had little nibbles of things that weren't on my approved list, and I absolutely refuse to beat myself up for it.  I am human, and I actually think that these nibbles have helped me to stick to my plan overall.

As of right now I have a very clear mind as to how I was eating before this started...and I have insight to the times that I am triggered to eat poorly.  I feel like I am almost my own nutritionist, telling myself how to behave when these triggers arise.

Here is how I plan to overcome:

Trigger                                                                       Solution
driving around town                                                   ~pack snacks in my lunch cooler (nuts, fruit, veggies, etc)
after Sam gets off the bus                                           ~by this time of day, I am exhausted and have been                          
                                                                                    grabbing anything that is convenient.  I can take the
                                                                                    time to cut up an apple and snack with her.
when I am working a closing shift                                ~pack fruit for my sweet cravings, or buy it.
midnight snack                                                            ~no more...just drink water!!

So as you can probably tell, my issues aren't during meal time.  I am having no problem avoiding unhealthy foods, and meat/dairy.


When I was working the other night, I was helping a lady in traditional (Publix deli terminology for working the slicers), who was buying lunch meat and cheese for her kids.  She and her husband watched the documentary "Forks Over Knives" in January, and right then and there became vegan.  They are non-GMO vegans and have been very dedicated.  (I know it's ironic while selling her the very things that we are avoiding in our own diets.....)  I really need to watch this, so that's on my to-do list for this week.  Anyway, I am so impressed with her dedication and it was really inspiring to talk to someone like that.  Other than buying Boar's Head, which is very high-quality product, she is very strict in purchasing hormone-free raw meats for her kids.

I've also had a lot of questions from my co-workers and conversations with my friends.  I am really pleased to see the interest that they have in my experiment.  I *hope* that I can at the very least, inspire some thought in people.

I am going to work on some recipes for this upcoming week, and I hope they will be good enough to share with you.  Hope you all have a great weekend!