No Salty Food

Last evening I was headed to a book discussion/dinner that I’m a part of.  It’s held at a restaurant where the food is okay but the last few times has just been too salty for my taste.  I was thinking of where else I could eat and that I’ve not been eating many veggies lately.  I’ve been eating too many processed meats, bread (not from grain I ground myself), and crackers.  I needed some real food!  There’s a restaurant across the street from the one I was headed to that has a very good salad so I thought about going there.  I knew the one place wouldn’t want me bringing in food from somewhere else (restaurants frown on that J), so I would have to eat at the salad place and possibly get to my meeting late.  While all this was going through my head, I found myself moving over into the lane I’d need to be in to go to the salad restaurant.  Okay then!  Salad it is! 

Mmmmmmmm!!!  I’m glad I made that decision!  Those veggies tasted so good and were just what my body needed.  And I couldn’t eat the whole thing!  I ended up having to get a take-out box for about 1/3 of my salad!  How cool is that?!

I was a little late to my meeting, but it was okay. 

I’m very happy with my decision - much happier than I’d be if I had just taken the easier road and eaten the salty food. 

Day 15 - Sunday

Down 0.8 pounds from yesterday, 13.4 from the beginning, and 89.4 from my heaviest weight. 

Today was an uneventful day for this fast. 

I’m counting down the days until I can eat solid food again.  Wednesday night I’ll make some yogurt to start eating Thursday morning so I can replenish good bacteria in my digestive system.  That day I’ll shop for fruit and veggies to make salads with for the next two days.  I’ll cook up some chicken and eggs to put on the salad (yay!). 

I had a dream last night that I was eating mindlessly.  I was popping some kind of cake-ball things in my mouth and then later I was at a restaurant with Brianne and was drinking Coke like it was going out of style.  The glass I was drinking out of was only about 4 ounces but there was another glass that was probably 20 ounces sitting there too.  I remembered putting my straw into it but I think then it became a 4-oz. glass too.  Weird.  I then realized I was drinking Coke and it turned my stomach.  Not that I don’t like Coke, but if anything I would’ve ordered Dr Pepper.  What turned my stomach is that I was drinking anything carbonated at all.  It was doing nothing good for my body.  I should’ve been drinking water. 

I went for a 1-mile walk yesterday and even ran about 100 steps!  It wasn’t anything like the running I used to do and will get back to next week, but it was something. 

Still Day 1

Okay, I had Brianne take a picture this afternoon to document the start of this journey. 

I actually like this picture.  That's an added benefit of the weight loss these last few years.  I don't automatically dislike pictures of myself. 

I had a salad of spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers for lunch with salsa dressing.  The salsa is from Carmelita's and I've said for years that I could eat it with a spoon and forget the chips because it's so good!  It still is, but it seems very salty this time.  Fish tacos I had at Tijuana Flats the other day were very salty too.  I don't like much salt anyway, but these were extra salty.  Now the salsa.  Am I getting more sensitive to salt? 

I also had the salad for supper then went to the store for veggies for the broth starting Tuesday.  I wanted to go to a produce stand and get more unusual veggies, but I was at Wal-Mart with my parents, so that's where I shopped.  I got beets, carrots, green peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and yellow squash.  I'll add the leftover salsa, onion, and whatever appropriate spices I have on hand.  This is a good start.  The next time I need veggies I can try for more unusual ones.  At least this time I got a variety of colors!

Confession:  I made a cup of tea this afternoon and put half & half in it.  There's supposed to be no dairy on this fast.  My thought was to use it up since I have a half-pint.  I could freeze it, but it's a pain to thaw milk.  I have poured food down the drain as a sacrifice or just to remove the temptation, so I have that option.  I did that just tonight with the little bit of eggnog-flavor creamer I use for tea.  Anyway, I won't have dairy again until February 2 or 3, when I'm transitioning out of the fast. 

One more thing:  I saw this as I walked into Wal-Mart tonight:

A new cereal from Kellog's - Krave.  It's little pillows of grain with chocolate inside.  Or I could get the kind where even the pillows of grain are chocolate.  Or I could've chosen caramel Cheerios (dulce de leche).  Ai yai yai!  I don't expect any better from the world, but still...siiiiiiigh.  Really?  I didn't read the box, but my impression is that this is being marketed as a fairly healthful option.  Seems to me it should be marketed as junk.  Maybe I'm overreacting.  The fact that it's called Krave and one of the books that helped me so much on this issue is called Made to Crave did not escape my notice. 

Stepping off my soapbox now. 

Working and then sleeping.  Good night.  :-)

My flesh is a spoiled brat that needs to be told "NO" more often!

Earlier this evening (after 7) I fixed spinach salad for supper.  Spinach leaves, chicken, and hard-boiled egg.  I had two small bowls of it even though today was one of my half-portion days.  Around 8:45 or 9:00 I started getting hungry and wanting more.  I almost got some, rationalizing that it was salad, and very simple salad at that, not my usual salad with about 10 ingredients.  It was GOOD for me, doncha know?  Then I remembered my guideline of waiting 1-1/2 hours after feeling hunger before eating.  This helps me keep my flesh under control and be sure the hunger I'm feeling is really my body calling for fuel.  So I wrote 10:30 on a piece of paper next to where I'm working.  That's when I'll have some more salad.  It's 10:10 now - 20 minutes to go.  I'm not ravenously counting down the minutes, but I do look at the clock occasionally. 

I hope this encourages you that (1) I still battle with my flesh.  I haven't arrived at perfection. (2)  Flesh CAN be brought into submission.  Galatians 5:16 (NLT) - ¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

10:25 - My eyes see the clock and tell my stomach, "Only 5 more minutes!"  My bratty stomach says, "If I can make her feel exhausted (really, a feeling of complete exhaustion came over me), maybe she'll cut it short by a few minutes!"    HA!  But I'm too smart for them now!  I said 10:30 and 10:30 it shall be! 

10:34  - Been working but getting up now to get a small bowl of salad. 

10:50 - I fixed a bowl of salad.  I measured another one in the set and the bowl holds 16 ounces.  I ate about 2/3 of it,then realized that was plenty.  I'm done.  I'm in charge.  Me and the Holy Spirit in me.  Not my flesh.  Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!  This feels good!  : )