Day 5 of the "cleanse"

I put the word cleanse in quotes because I haven't been sure from the beginning of this if that's really the right word for what I'm doing.  In a sense it is a cleanse - I am not eating any of the foods that give me trouble (grains, dairy, sugar), and for the first 3 days I consumed only vegetables, broth and fruit.   Also for those first 5 days I didn't drink any coffee, caffeinated or not.  This morning, I am thoroughly enjoying a cup of home made organic half-decaf coffee - man I missed this!  But by some people's standards this isn't really a cleanse, I just was at a loss for a better word.

Yesterday was a really busy, full day of volunteering from 10-3 and then running a bunch of errands. Breakfast was a poached egg and some applesauce and then I snacked on some cashews and an apple at mid-day.  By 4pm I had stopped at Mod Market for a spinach salad w chicken, which I only ate a few bites of as I was on the run.  Got home and finished my salad with more chicken at home, some beets & spicy pumpkin seeds.  Last night I had a few bites of an apple with almond butter, and that was it for the day.  I went to bed feeling satiated, although my tummy was somewhat unhappy with all that raw spinach - sometimes that's a little problematic for me.   But my take away from yesterday was that I did a great job of managing my blood sugar (by drinking plenty of clean water with tangerine essential oil)  and making good food choices in a very busy day.

The other food that I haven't indulged in for the last 6 days is my beloved bacon.  :-)  God, I love bacon, and was eating it pretty often.  I miss it for sure, but getting that sodium out of my system is a good thing, and it was becoming yet another obsession.

And since I don't feel very good when I eat eggs too often, I skipped them this morning.  I sauteed onion, mushrooms, spinach, added some cooked sweet potato and left over chicken - that along with some strawberries & cherries made a delicious breakfast that will give me the energy to power through this day of house cleaning & dryer repair.  :-)   Later this afternoon I will probably have some riced cauliflower, sauteed with onion and chopped broccoli and add a little ground beef.   Either that or more of the chicken soup I threw together the other night.   I always feel better when I eat only two main meals a day, with a little snack or two in between.  It's easier to get to sleep at night when I haven't eaten for the past 4-5 hours - my cancer modified GI system seems to kick into full gear late at night as it is. :-(

Stepping on the scale this morning was further reinforcement that I'm on the right track, as I was down still another pound (4-5 lbs total lost in the last 6 days).  I'd like to get back down to where I was when I felt at my best, which is another 5-6 pounds.  As long as I keep listening to my body and giving it what IT wants (not what my emotions want) I know that will happen.  Yes it takes discipline to turn down sugar and other yumminess this time of year, but since getting sober I really like not facing the new year with a feeling of having over indulged.  I have big, big plans for 2015 and my intuition is guiding me to prepare for it now, and get ready for a great year.  And I have more than earned it!

Happy Sunday, blessings to all! Thanks for listening. :-)