Pardon Me, This Way is a Very Nice Way

Dear Diary,

Wow, this has been one long week. I've been on spring break, but it certainly hasn't been the sun-drenched, sand-filled break the brochures promise. No, this has been a week filled with reading textbooks and writing papers, and catching up long-overdue paperwork. I'm happy to report that I now feel like the end is in sight.

Just before lights out every night, I read a few more pages in my copy of Crazy Sexy Diet. I have to say, I'm developing a real love/hate relationship with this book. I love the author's voice, I love all the wonderful information she crams into each chapter. What I hate is that I can't ignore it. The things I'm learning are going to require some real changes and as hard as it's going to be to put into practice, I just can't ignore it.

Pardon me, this is a very nice way.  It's pleasant down that way, too. 
Of course, some people do go both ways.

So I've been thinking all week about all this new information, about miscombining and protein sources, about animal products and factory farming, about wheat and gluten, about eating raw, eating vegan/vegetarian and eating right for your blood type .... I told my husband last night, I feel like I'm lost in a dietary wasteland. Maybe not a wasteland, maybe a better analogy is the image of the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, pointing first this way and then that. Yeah, it's more like that.

There's a lot of information out there and I'm just not sure I can get my thoughts around all of it. I've finally come to the conclusion that while there are plenty of things I'm still figuring out, there are also things I already know and can do - even if I'm still trying to figure out all the rest. Here are a few of the things I know:

Hydrate: I need to drink 8 glasses of water every day without fail. I know this because the first place it shows up when I don't, is my sleep. I can't sleep when I'm dehydrated. 

Wheat: Here's something I need to face. I'm one of those people who needs to avoid wheat. I don't like it, but it's true and I just need to accept that about myself. Period.

Vitamins: I may not be in this place forever, but for the time being, I need to take them. Every day. Without them I feel crappy, I don't sleep. I'm a mess. Seems like a no-brainer. 

Juice: Gratefully, this is a habit I still love. 

Walking: Last on my list, but this may be the most important one for keeping me sane and for fueling the desire to follow through on the other four. I can make time to walk every day. Once upon a time, I walked four miles every day, but Once upon a time doesn't count. I did it then and I can do it now. There's just not any good reason not to.   

So, there you have it. It's not the sum total of my thoughts from this week, but it's a start - and that's really what I need. In our first month of this adventure, juicing became a habit. It was one small thing we agreed to do, and despite all the other things I'm ... still striving to figure out, juicing remains a constant. I'm now planning a month of drinking water, taking vitamins, kicking the wheat out of my diet, continuing my love affair with juicing, and taking daily walks. I may only catch up with you here once a week, but for the next month, I'd like to try and post my daily progress on The Constant In-Between. It's sure to be a real snoozer and more about accountability, so please don't expect any real page-turner. I suspect I'll need some encouragement, so if you have a thought to check in and leave some for me in the comment box, I'd love that.

That's it for me for now. I've still got papers to write and water to drink and a Scarecrow's directions to follow.

Love,
deborah

Dear John ... I Mean, Stress

Good morning, Diary!

Wow, I missed you last week. The end of my week had me a little overloaded. Friday morning, I had an interpreting assignment; Friday afternoon, a teaching assignment; Friday night, a trivia night (in which we took first place!) and followed that up on Saturday morning with another interpreting assignment. Yikes. I would have done well to leave at least one of those things out as my work on Saturday morning was not my best. It's not a bad thing to be reminded that I must take care of myself  - which is sort of what this adventure is all about, right?

Speaking of adventures, I received my copy of Crazy Sexy Diet on Friday. (Thank you, Becky!)  HOLY COW! I just don't even know where to begin. Way back when Maggie first mentioned it, I was a little skeptical over the title. (Yeah, big surprise there, right?) I didn't think I wanted a diet book. But a crazy sexy diet? Well, that might be a book of a different cover. And it is! There's just something about Kris Carr and her honest, forthright way of writing. There's nothing stressful or overwhelming about the idea of eating healthy in the way that Kris lays it out. Love this book and I'll undoubtedly write more as I make my way through it.

Back to trivia night. What a blast and we rocked it! We all had such a great time and the food this year was better than ever. Every year, we each bring a dish or two and have a feast that begins before the questions and lasts until we just can't eat any more, but this year, we had some rocking food! Two of our teammates are vegetarians while two are observing Lent, so there were five of us who contributed food that was fair game. We had savory corn muffins with quinoa and goat cheese, two big trays of fresh vegetables, a bowl of Natalia's raw peanut sauce, and an absolutely divine savory cheesecake with pesto and red peppers. Top that off with almond tortilla chips and whole grain crackers and we had a feast. Yes, there was some miscombining, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the delicious contributions and came home without that junk-food-induced headache, which has historically been a part of trivia night.

I'm beginning to realize something and here's what I'm thinking. Wading in to this new way of eating seems to be working a little better for me than diving in head first did. I don't know the reason, maybe it's not important to know the reason, only to acknowledge the reality. I'm still juicing every single morning and it has become an easy part of my life. I can't even imagine going back to beginning my day without it. And the processed food? I don't even shop for it any more. Not having it in the kitchen is a big part of not eating it, but really, the more important part is that there are so many other delicious recipes to try that I don't even miss it. I'm eating more real food and I just don't crave the 'junk' anymore. 

Free Printables from Green Submarine

I had originally hoped that being 'on the juice' and eating raw would immediately allow me to eliminate the vitamins. Last year, I began taking Standard Process vitamins as a part of a three-month cleanse and have continued taking them ever since. They're bloody expensive and I loved the idea that I could lose the expense and still feel great without them. It turns out that even with the juicing and eating more and more raw fruits and veggies, I just feel like crap without the supplements - sooooo, I'm back on them and I'm feeling pretty good. Not trying too hard to understand it at this point, because for me, that's a little too much like deciding if it's good or bad. I'm just accepting the reality that, for whatever reason, my body still needs those extra essentials, so I'm just going with it. 

Despite my jam-packed life on Friday and Saturday, I really caught a break on Sunday. We had no assigned coursework last week - no additional reading to speak of, no papers to write, no written text to interpret - yesterday was just completely blissful. Mark and I went out for breakfast and talked about how long our respective to-do lists have gotten. In the ease of our conversation, we talked about how to get some of those items knocked off that list, then we came home and actually got a couple of things done! We also had time to just hang out together. We had a fabulous dinner, cleaned up the kitchen and had a great night's sleep. 

Amazing what the absence of stress can allow us to create in our lives.

Okay, that's all for me for now. Talk soon.

Love,

d