20 days in

This blog post has no meat to it, its just a quick little update on our family.

I told you already that for the last 18 months, I have tried to adhere to the diet but would struggle every few weeks due to emotional baggage and years of bad stress habits.  I also told you that up until this point, Paul wasn't on the diet.  Many evenings, he cooked his own dinner because there just wasn't enough food for him.  He had his food, and we had ours.  Except when I would grocery shop and splurge and binge.

Well, it has been three weeks and we are doing awesome, all five of us going strong and sticking to it.

This is where I want to be real, I am so tired of people who change their eating habits and when they tell their story, it goes something like this, "I was so tired of trying every diet, but then I woke up one morning and juiced for 20 days and I feel awesome!  Life has never been the same since."  OK I get that, but they make it sound so stupid easy.  I hate that.

The last 20 days our bodies have been detoxing and its not always easy.  Most night Paul and I go to bed hungry.  We look at each other and say, "I want something to eat, but there is nothing to eat in the house. Do you want chips? I do, but I shouldn't have any."  Some days we eat them, some we don't.  Trying to break out of our habit of eating at night.  It's hard to be hungry.  When I am hungry I eat, kind of like how I just got done eating granola cause I was hungry!  It's hard to make that choice and stick to it.  Instead we will go to bed or we will work on one of our projects to keep busy and our mind off food.  It doesn't really work but we try.

The first two weeks I was craving sugar like there was no tomorrow.  Seriously, your body has to readjust to not having it, so it has to go through withdrawals.  To get through my withdrawals I would eat our fudge.  I would take small bites of it all throughout the day, or I would drink small glasses of OJ.  It's hard craving sweets.  Craving them so bad you can't think about anything else.  But every day you get through it, the next one is a little easier.  I can honestly say I don't really crave it anymore, but I want it out of habit.  Bad habits of rewarding myself with food, or I'm bored so I eat sweets habit.  Name the bad food habit and I have it.  But those are different issues to work through.

Paul has been very satisfied with three fried eggs and juice in the morning.  I drink a smoothie and a handful of almonds.  Paul has a hearty salad for lunch with our dairy free dressing and I have veggies and hummus, or  soup or guacamole with chips.  We have also had success with dinners that can serve everyone.  So far, no major disappointments or frustration with our restrictions from Paul, me or the kids.

The cravings are getting less.  The energy is getting higher, and we all just feel good.  Paul has lost almost 10 pounds which he is really happy with.  I am just happy to not be obsessing over my next fix.  Now I am not naive in my thinking.  I know I have months ahead of me to make sure I overcome all my hurdles.  But every time I go grocery shopping and I don't binge, I claim my victory and smile to myself.  Every time I conquer that, I change my deep rooted habits.  I have started taking my own creamer in my travel mug if I am going to a coffee shop to stick to my no soy rule.  Or I order tea.  It's been working.

One of the best parts is being honest with you.  I saw a tootsie roll in my purse, one of my absolute favorite candy, and I thought to myself, if I eat that, I have to tell you.  I'm not loosing to the tootsie roll.  That will not be the thing that breaks me.

So, thank you for walking this road with us.  Our little family is enjoying the deep benefits of healthy eating.  Our focus, our energy, our kindness towards each other is just a nice overall benefit to our lifestyle.