Day 2

Today was not so bad. I was really prepared for the worst. I did not wake up hungry and I haven't had any terrible hunger pains all day. I was a bit hungry tonight after dinner, but it was not too bad. Nothing a glass of water didn't fix.

I have had a few weird things today. I don't know if it is really related to the detox or not, but I will report them anyway. I have had a sort of coating on the roof of my mouth that will not go away. Even right after brushing it still feels yucky.

I had a small headache all afternoon. Nothing that I would normally take Tylenol for but it was there.

I have felt sluggish today. Like my arms and especially my legs just didn't have any energy. Climbing the stairs felt like a major accomplishment today. I didn't feel tired today, just like I did something strenuous.

For breakfast I had the BEST drink. It was 2 pears (2 was too many- next time I will use 1 1/2) a lemon and a small piece of ginger root. It could also be made with apple in place of the pear. This was so good! I will be making this even when I am not on a diet/detox!

For dinner I had 1/2 carton of cherry tomatoes- all I could find that were ripe, a few handfuls of grapes for sweetness and 1/2 green pepper. It was not bad, but very thick. The green pepper seemed to stay at the top even after I stirred it. The grape juice sank to the bottom, so the last half was much better than the first. Sort of like dinner and dessert all in one glass.

The hardest thing today was making dinner. (Oh, my husband quit. Did I say that already? He lasted about 12 hours.) I made home made spaghetti sauce. It was hard to make without tasting it. It would not have been a big deal, but I knew it would make me hungry. Also, when I was helping Isaac (who is 2 now) with his food it was very hard not to lick my fingers. Also, the cookies were teasing me today. "Just one butterscotch chip!" they kept calling from the counter.

I have to say, I have been impressed with my willpower so far! Tomorrow, though, is Mops. We are having a spring swap so it won't be a regular meeting with a ton of food, but I know there will still be something good. If I can get through tomorrow morning, I will be set. This is going to take a lot of prayer.

So, um, I lost 4 pounds? I know it is just water weight at this point, but I like that number on the scale. Also, I was expecting to be SO hungry when I woke up this morning, but I'm not! I feel pretty good. Normally when I wake up in the morning I could eat my own arm I am so hungry so this is a pleasant surprise! I will report more later!

Day 1

Today was the first day of my juice diet. My cleanse.

For breakfast I had a grapefruit, an orange and 2 small apples. Not bad! Sweet and filling enough. I was hungry by dinner time but not intolerably. Then at dinner I had 4 carrots, 1/4 cucumber, 1 stalk of celery, 1 and 1/2 apple and 1/2 lemon. All I can say is yuck! It was just too thick. I ended up leaving some in the glass. Next time I think I will only use 2 or 3 carrots and a whole lemon. The cucumber gave it a nice flavor, it was just the thickness of the juice that I didn't like. Oh, and a few glasses of water.

The day went fine. I was pretty tired around 2:00, but I don't know if that is really anything different. I kept busy to keep my mind off wanting to eat. That was the biggest struggle today. I had to remember not to just pop something into my mouth as I went about my day. Just a bite of a cookie or just one slice of cheese. I never realized how much I would eat during the day. This has really made me notice how bad my eating habits are.

The biggest question, I think, would be how bad is the hunger. Right now I am hungry but I really feel that it is more of wanting food than needing it. My stomach isn't growling or hurting, but at night when the kids are in bed is my time to sit on the couch and veg. Eat whatever I want and not have to share it with them.

One thing I have been surprised to notice is how thirsty I have been. I have really noticed that a lot more than feeling hungry. My body is in a constant state of dehydration and I really want to change my habits in this area. I need a LOT more water on a daily basis and I hope to start some good habits. I did stay away from coffee today. I am not a person that can not live without it so I might as well do this right.

I think tomorrow is going to be worse than today, but once I am over that it will all get better. I have decided to weigh myself daily first thing in the morning. I am not going to post my weight, but I am going to post my weight loss. I will most likely post once in the morning to report any weight loss. The isn't a great chance of having any to report so early, but I am sure I will be loosing plenty of water weight in these first few days.

Now I am going to sleep (after I fold a few loads of laundry and watch Lie to me) and forget about food for a while.

Today begins a new season in my life. A new first. My first diet. In the past I have tried to watch what I eat to loose weight and tried to exercise. I had different results each time. The easiest way for me to loose a lot of weight in a small amount of time is to have a nursing baby. Then, the weight just melts off but after that it starts to creep back on and before I know it I have 15 pounds or more to loose, none of my pants fit and I feel lousy.

Today I am starting day 1 of my juice fasting diet. I am excited to see what happens. This is a total detox diet and who knows the amount of junk I am carrying around. I decided to chronicle my experience here. So, after a long absence from blog-land, I am going in a slightly different direction. I am sure I will still pop on and make a comment about my kids or my knitting.

My husband is also trying this with me. Hopefully he will be a built in support system. I also have a friend that is doing a variation of this diet. I decided on this particular diet first because I have witnessed the results and they were amazing. After doing my own research I found there are many health benefits to a fasting diet. I also am hoping to jump start my weight loss. My husband decided to try it just because I am doing it.

The plan is to try this for about 12-14 days. If we are feeling like we can take it, we may add another 5 to 7 days. The health benefits during this last week are the greatest. We will drink a glass of juice in place of every meal. No solids are allowed. Drink plenty of water in between. Coffee is allowed, but only black or with non-dairy creamer. Dairy and all proteins are off limits. Of course no sugar and absolutely no chemicals- nothing processed or enriched. Only fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

I am excited about this. There is of course a very spiritual aspect of fasting, even a juice fast. I am excited what the Lord will show me during this time.

There are so many areas of my life that I need to get into order and this is a good way to get that started. I am armed with my juicer, my Bible and a kitchen full of fruits and vegetables and I am ready to start my journey!

I spent most of the night before last on the floor of the bathroom with the stomach flu. Which means that I spent the day yesterday on the couch or in bed. My kids ate fruit, shredded cheese out of the bag and cookies from my cookie exchange.

The floor of the living room is still covered in cheese and really needs mopped after the milk tag they played at lunch. Oh, that is where you take a drink of milk and then spit it at each other.

This morning I actually managed to get Lillian to school on time and Isaac dressed- yesterday Lillian stayed home and in her pajamas all day and Isaac only had on a diaper and a button up shirt on with only one button fastened.

I am going to try to take a shower today and maybe do some laundry. The stomach pains have passed, but I am still so light headed. I just think I need to take it easy and have another lounge day. Just. no. energy.

Which means that I have to miss the last day of our ladies Bible study and the pot luck tonight with my knitting group. My husband rented Wal-E (or whatever) last night to keep the kids entertained this afternoon, God bless him! He even filled up the tank of my van last night when he took the kids to McDonald's and stayed there for 2 hours, cuddled up in the back of the van with blankets and watched a movie.

So, if anyone has some spare time and energy- I could put it to good use! Just send it my way!

We finally decorated our Christmas tree yesterday. We will be going this week to get the kids ornament, which is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. My husband did this growing up and I just love the idea of going through all the ornaments and remembering. I know so many of the stories behind his ornaments but there are still some that I don't know. It is like a new gift when he remembers the story behind them.

I can't find the tree skirt, though.

And that basically concluded our Christmas decorating. We have two nutcrackers and a snow globe. Oh, and a nativity scene, of course. I don't really have any place to set it up so it may live in the kitchen this year. I would like to decorate our small banister this year and hang the stockings on it. If I don't get to all this soon, it is going to be too late.

My husband bought lights for the outside of the house, but they are still in the van.

So basically, we are a bunch of scrooges around here. We never even finished the paper chain to count down the remaining days until Christmas.

But last night, after the tree was decorated and we were all sitting at the table with hot(ish) chocolate I asked Lillian to tell her little brother what Christmas is. She said without even stopping to think that it is Jesus' birthday. She went on with a few more details, none of which included Santa or presents or food. Just the love of Jesus.

Seven Random Things

I was tagged a few weeks ago by Veronica over at Toddled Dredge for the seven random things meme and so here I go...

1. I am not good at random. I try to be. When I try to make something look random, after I step back and take a look, it looks like a checkerboard pattern

2. I really like to read. I just finished the Twilight saga, which I really enjoyed. Any good recommendations on what to read next?

3. I am on the Women's Ministry team at my church. We are the Lady Bugs.

4. When I was 4 I was playing on a tractor and fell of the step and broke my arm. I only fell about 2 feet. I told my mom that I fell off the porch and was a guilty mess until I finally told her the truth after my cast was off 6 weeks later.

5. I LOVE Chick-fil-a. I don't think i could live anywhere that there wasn't one close by.

6. I don't really like the cold. I think it should only be allowed to snow at Christmas time. The rest of winter it should be at least 50 degrees.

7. I don't like heat either. I get sick when I get too hot. It should never be above 90 degrees.

I am going to tag Becky, Amy, and On Dragonfly Wings.