Day One results:
I always do good in the morning and through lunch, and that was true today also. The ‘cups’ of fruit felt like a lot so that was cool and I only had 1 ‘square’ of the chocolate. I made some chili ground beef in the afternoon that was pretty high in fat, so that really held me over through a typically rough time. I didn’t feel deprived today and in fact felt really full after dinner. It was the first time in, gosh, almost a year that I made a salad to eat with my dinner, it was a really nice change. I also made myself some grilled shrimp, so that was good. I can definitely tell I’m heading into ketosis, I can taste it and feel it in my legs, so that’s good.
Mentally, I was wanting nuts, I really love them. And I should definitely be able to eat them on this diet and because I don’t eat junk, so, I have to deal with that (mentally), I have to decide what I want more. The last time I cut nuts out of my diet (about two months ago), I lost 3 pounds in two days. Dangit I really love nuts and again, I struggle with the fact that others can have them but I don’t seem to do well with them. They’re healthy and yet they seem to make me gain. ugh. And that’s another reason why I’m writing this here, I want the accountability. I typically start the week saying no nuts or honey or dates etc.. then I forget or eat them anyways after a few days (because they’re healthy and other healthy people eat them, I reason). I know I have food issues, I’m a recovering emotional eater. and I know I can eat too much of some foods and just because they’re good for me doesn’t mean I cant abuse them.
So I’m documenting this week to see the areas I need to work on. I don’t ever want any food item to make me feel out of control or that I ‘have to’ have it. Food is meant to provide energy and nutrition. Period. Anything else and something is out of order.
So, that’s it! Day one is history, I did good and feel good about it. One down, six to go! :-)
Day Two Results:
I’m wrapping up day two and I gotta say I’m feeling a little strange right now, I should say, strange- but good. :-) My body definitely feels different, I feel a little shaky but I feel good because I’ve done good and haven’t gotten off course one bit! I was down a pound this morning and that was awesome and I felt less bloated. I think I may be allergic to nuts, I remembered this morning that off and on I’ve thought that for one reason or another and I’m wondering if that may be it. Anyhow, I didn’t think about nuts so much today but I did think about sweets and chocolate. I only ate a half a piece of 70% chocolate today, it was about a 1/2 inch x 1/2 square after dinner and that was enough. Around three o’clock this afternoon I was wanting some and I thought, hmmm.. if I eat it now I may not have it for later when I really want it so I better not. And it ended up that I didn’t need much later after all.
This has been very interesting for me, I know I’m only on day 2 but it’s been good because I coach a lot of people through this detox or ‘cutting’ phase and I realized that it has been many years since I went through it myself. So, it’s been good to experience it again. Oddly enough these past two days have been tougher than when I cut grain and dairy out completely.. I’m not sure why but I think it has a lot to do with the honey and dates, (which are healthy in and of themselves, in moderation) but I think I may have jacked up my already jacked up system by overloading it with so much sugar, to the point that even when I cut way back, I was still on a bit of a sugar high. The key word is- moderation. I really need to get the definition of that word tattooed on me somewhere.. :-)
My workout suffered today, bad.. I hit a wall into my second set and… oh wow!! I just realized I had 3 instead of 2 cups of fruit today! Oh man! Yesterday I ate my first cup of fruit in the afternoon and the second after dinner. I did the same thing today but I ALSO had a cup during my workout! Gosh, I CANNOT believe I did that! Oh well, so much for “doing good.” We’ll see if it effects the scale in the morning. :-)
Anyhow, I’m not quite sure whats going on with my workouts, but this is the second day I had to cut it short. I literally could not do one more rep. I typically tell people not to workout during a detox because they might be pretty weak, but I guess I really didn’t think limiting fruit and cutting out the dates, honey and nuts was going to make that big of difference. I had done it off and on for the last few weeks. But I’m glad to be wrong, getting these “sweets” out of my system may be the key to dropping this stubborn 4-5 pounds that crept back on. Well, I hope so anyway.
I’m craving something right now, but I really don’t know what, I’m not really allowing myself to drift off mentally and think about what I can’t have. Instead, I’m choosing to focus on all the good things in my life and how blessed I am. I know that sounds cliche, but it works for me. Our emotions and even our bodies ‘follow’ what we think about and dwell on and rather than think about what is ‘out of reach’ I want to dwell on my blessings. :-) I think the issue may be that I’m really switching from carb burning to fat burning, and so the cravings have increased. At least now I know what’s going on, and can be happy about it, back in 2007 I had no idea that I was in ketosis and was freaking out, thinking I was dying or something… :)
Life is good, and I know once I endure this tough part and get the sugar out of my system, it will be smooth sailing from there.
Day Three Results:
Well, it’s Wednesday night and I’m at the end of day three! Woot, woot!
Before I get into today there was some things I neglected to mention yesterday, one was that it’s so important to have a variety of good (allowable) foods in the house if you’re trying to cut some not-so-great (for you) foods out of your diet. I was waiting (for two days) on some chicken and broccoli (from my husband, long story) so I was stuck with eating only chili ground beef and shrimp, as my protein sources. Typically, in the past, when my only protein source was steak, I didn’t really have a problem with it, but something about knowing that I can’t have some of the foods that I want that I really need variety with other foods.
Ok, so this morning I was down another pound, wow! That’s a lot for me so quickly, so it’s exciting. I guess that extra cup of fruit yesterday didn’t do any damage. Now last time I cut out nuts I lost two pounds, maybe three.. so this is interesting and I’ll see tomorrow how it goes when I weigh in. But I’m happy about my progress, it gives me strength to keep going.
I’ve thought a lot these last few days about if I can eat like this for… forever. :-) I don’t like to do extreme or crazy diets and I never do them, actually but I do from time to time like to remove things from my diet that I feel I’m beginning to ‘need’ or look forward to, too much. Coming from a history of food issues, I’m very sensitive to any foods (or anything really) that I turn to instead of people, God or working through things. Last night after I wrote about the day, something very stressful came up and I instantly thought about the other square of chocolate that I could eat. In fact I was heading to the kitchen to get it when I stopped myself. Now, technically it was ok to eat it because I had allowed myself two squares per day and I had only eaten one.. but in my book, I was not allowed to eat it because I wasn’t hungry for it and I was turning to sweets to ‘make the situation better’ or to help me get through it.
I didn’t eat it and I’m proud of myself for that, I was very aware of what I was doing and was able to ‘talk myself down’ so to speak. This is how I did it, I took a serious deep breath and said: “This chocolate will not make this situation better, right? Right. This situation is tough but it’s not the end of the world, is it? No. Let’s put it aside for tonight and deal with tomorrow and stay the course.” (Another deep breath) Do I sound like a quack for talking to myself? Eh, probably.. but I’m ok with that, I do it all the time. :-)
In the morning, I was able to take care of it with a clearer head and was very happy to have gotten through it, without turning to food to ‘help me.’ I have been able to do this for a few years now but that doesn’t mean that that (strong) habit to run to food doesn’t kick in, it does all the time, but I’m aware of it and most importantly I want to grow out of it, I want food to be put back in it’s rightful place in my life and that is being used for nutrition and energy and nothing else. Not to bring me happiness, make me feel secure, make me feel like I measure up or anything. It was never supposed to be those things.
Today was a rest day for me (from my workouts) which was good because I was a bit weak still, I start off the mornings great, no cravings, not hungry, etc. The real rough time for me is in the afternoons, about 3-4pm.. that’s when I could eat a candy store! eeks! But I’m trying really hard to eat before I get too hungry so I can stay on target.
I have lost a little bit off my stomach, not quite an inch, but I’m getting there and I’m curious to see if I will gain some tomorrow because I pretty much ate the same amount today and didn’t work out. hmmm :-)
My arms are pretty sore from my workout yesterday.. good ol’ DOMS, gotta love it. :-)
