Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Back to Normal

And just like that our vacation and road trip are over, we are back at home, Christmas decor is down, and the holiday cookies and pies are gone.  Whew! It has been a whirlwind, but one of the most amazing trips ever.  I have had so much fun spending time with my wonderful little family and I was really sad to see Alex leave for work this morning.  On a bright note, Eleanor gave me the best sleep I've had in 8 weeks!  Probably longer since I wasn't sleeping well during pregnancy either.

So with a new year upon us, and life back to normal, I decided to jump start things with a little cleanse.  This isn't necessarily to lose any weight, although I do still have a few pregnancy pounds lingering.  I really just want to feel refreshed.  If I try to remember back to when I felt my greatest, it would have to be when I did this cleanse once before in 2008, before the blog existed.  This cleanse actually started my journey to veganism.
The Quantum Wellness Cleanse from Kathy Freston is very simple and requires no pills or supplements.  It is all about the food.  While simple, it is not easy.  It requires a ton of will power to remove certain food "groups" from your diet.  Here it is:

No Caffeine
No Alcohol
No Sugar (what?!)
No Gluten
No Animal Products

This plan will work really well for me right now because so many of these items I have already been trying to cut out to give Eleanor the very best diet possible through breastfeeding.  I am certain that gluten has been having a negative effect on both of us, and even the little bit of caffeine in decaf coffee hasn't been too settling either.  Additionally, for the sake of both of our health, I do not need to end each day with a glass of red wine.  And lastly, we have already been avoiding all animal products for the most part.

The cleanse lasts three weeks.  In theory bad habits can be broken if they are absent for 21 days, so the goal is by the end of this cleanse to no longer need caffeine, sugar, etc.  As I mentioned before, this won't be easy.  Sugar and decaf coffees are completely my downfall.

So far we are one day in, and already I feel better about myself and the choices I am making to fuel my body as well as Eleanor's.  However, I want to clarify one exception I am making to the rule this round: the only animal product I will be consuming is eggs.  They are organic eggs and I am in love with them.  Never before in my whole life have I enjoyed eating eggs, but now I love them.  Right now they are one of my only sources of protein as I try to eliminate foods that can potentially cause gas (ah-hem beans).  Otherwise, there will be animal products (dairy and meat). 

While I would love to make it 21 days on this cleanse, I am looking ahead at my calendar and realizing we will be traveling from the 16th through the 21st, the whole last week.  So my goal is to strictly stick to the cleanse for these first 16 days.  My hope is that by the time I reach January 16th, I won't be as likely to grab an extra dessert or roll and will be able to maintain healthy eating without all the rules.  We will be staying with family and while others are providing food for us I cannot be as picky of an eater.  It's just not fair to our hosts. 



While I am setting goals for the next 16 days, I thought I would drop one more out there.  I am going to participate in The Chic Life's Eat in Month Challenge.  Of course it is hardly a challenge when my diet is already so limited.  But my budget needs a real makeover this month and I am certain this will help.  Together with no more decaf coffees from Starbucks, I may actually have money leftover at the end of the month...or money to buy a new pair of skinny jeans to reward myself for all this healthy eating!

**Note, I am a breastfeeding mother, and while I intend to restrict certain foods that I am eating, I am not planning to restrict my calories at all.  I will eat when I'm hungry and as much as I'd like as long as they are healthy, whole foods that fit into the categories listed above.  I am not an expert and do not recommend you begin any diet without first seeking medical advice. 

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