Let's just come clean and confess it now...


Okay so this week is the fifth week of my new diet.  I want to keep you all on the "up and up" and come clean with any challenges, crutches, constant battles with and anything else I may have left out in between.


So as of the week of May 14th I have had only a few downfalls.  Let's come clean with them!


Week 1: no food flaws, 2 ibuprofen first day due to a headache
Week 2: no food flaws, nothing ill to speak up, great week!
Week 3: no food flaws, nothing again to speak up that wasn't kosher
Week 4: 2 Tylenol, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip ice cream cone
Week 5: ginger-ale, plain pasta, chocolate chip cookie, slice of pizza (I had food poisoning/24-hour extended into 72-hour bug/virus)


Overall we can conclude that chocolate chip cookies, especially the ones at my job are my downfall.  They pretty much encompass all that is ill in my diet, namely SUGAR.  There is something that entrances me when I see them, smell them and eat them.  So delicious.  Second downfall as you can see if ice cream.  I think there may have been another Swirls and Scoops run that I reported earlier but not sure which week that fell into but either way it's out there and swirling around in my gut I am sure.  


As a look of hindsight, which we all know if 20/20 I feel like this isn't so bad.  From going to a full throttle pretty crappy, hand in the candy jar, fruity pebbles for breakfast and the occasional run to dunkin's, I don't think I am doing so bad.  


Granted I have lost about 5 solid pounds, which I hope to regain in muscle but I know that cutting back on junk food and day dreaming about sugary snacks has helped me be more clear, more present, and more aware of the choices that I think I want, and then what I really am satisfied with in the end.  There are so many vegetables that sometimes when they aren't your focus of the meal, you forget they exist.  Like when was the last time you had brussel sprouts, corn, okra, snap peas, you name it, vegetables are great.  


At the end of week 5 I am proud to say that I have not gone overboard, not binged on crazy drive-thrus and have stayed as true as I could and avoided most temptations.  


It's better to let people know that I have these weakness' and that it isn't so easy to go all paleo, all vegetarian, all veggies, no gluten, no sugar, no yeast all the time.  It is challenging.  But there is hope!

Let's just say.....I had an affair with a cookie or two!

In this picture you will see what is left from the cookie that I swiped from a friend's fridge over Memorial Day weekend.  So that's right ladies and gents at the end of Memorial Day weekend I closed off that Monday with a chocolate chip cookie.  


Originally I put it in my bag because I felt a low blood sugar coming on, I grabbed it in case.  "in case...or so I say."  After a long day's shift I am rummaging through my purse and oops look what I stumble upon, I knew I grabbed that for some reason other than low blood sugar.  So I enjoyed my treat on the ride home.  I didn't even pace myself.  But to tell the truth it wasn't as great as I had imagined.  It wasn't so amazing, and gooey and delicious as I had remembered.  Then came disappointment, the "uh why did you do that?  It wasn't even worth it."  The voices subsided and it was like it never happened.  A little rumble in the tummy a few hours later, did I regret eating that cookie.  Lesson learned!  Right?  Right.  


Well lesson learned until that next day when I had a day off with the best friend and little did she have set on her agenda one of our favorite pit stops but non other than "Swirls and Scoops."  I too had to admit I was ready for an ice cream and well I had already eaten the cookie why not just throw out the whole week?  I opted for the Oreo cookie, again with the cookies, I know.  I ordered a small and if you have ever been to Swirls and Scoops you know that a small resembles close to a large and in charge.  I tossed the top scoop and slowly enjoyed my dreamy cone.  This time it only took an hour or less for my stomach to warm me that for once and all "learn my lesson and stay away from the dairy!" Got it!  


So since then, well a week ago now, I have been doing, feeling and cooking great!  Since the cookie affair I have not regretted it just wished I had not beat myself up about it.  This week marks the fourth week of eating as "paleo, raw, healthier, gluten/dairy and yeast free" as possible.  Overall I feel really great.  I have not had a headache since the first two days of the change in my diet, and I have been sleeping much better.  I found myself in the candy isle yesterday at CVS and couldn't be bothered by all the junk food and goodies that lined the shelves.  


I would say that these past few weeks have been a lot easier than I could imagine.  


In the weeks following my graduation I have been doing a bit of professional preparing for things.  My DTR, dietetic technician license, my RD handout binders for future clients, my application to become a yoga instructor, my spinning instructor certification etc.  Not meaning to toot my own horn but I have been checking off the list of productivity with every turn I make.  I am proud to be so ambitious.  One of the tasks that I had on my to-do lists was to investigate and watch a few "foodie" movies.  I ordered "Fresh," "Fat, Sick & nearly Dead" and "Simply Raw."  Let me tell you I was so influenced just like back in the days of "Food Matters" soon followed by "Food Inc." to eat healthier, cleaner and more organic.  Fat, Sick and nearly Dead was a bombshell for juicers.  I am trying to convince my mother to join me in a fast for 7-10 days, but she assures me that I'll have to chain the cabinets to keep her from not eating any food and strictly juicing every meal.  I'll keep you posted on that and let you know how it goes if I decide to go on without her.  Please take my advice and watch these flicks they really are pretty great.  


So as you know it's been over a week since my last post and well I have to had something in these last few weeks that has put me over the edge with excitement that I found that I can eat.  Well yup, you guessed it.  I have!  It's better than ever and it really fits the home-run criteria for sure without a doubt.  


The newest product I am "reviewing" is So Delicious Coconut Milk Mini's.  I choose Coconut Almond, but I also invested in the plain chocolate.  So what's so great about these you ask...well let me tell you.  The sweetener is agave syrup only, no cane nothing.  They are Dairy-free, gluten-free, yeast-free and have added medium chain fatty acids.  Which that last part may mean nothing to you but go with it.  The chocolate coating even has beet sugar in it!  Overall I am in love with the product and this week at Wegmans they were on sale.  

So Delicious Mini's: 1 super happy carrot!

Alright that's all for now ladies and gents. This weekend I may be exploring a land of food trucks in South Boston, if there are any home-run's there I will be sure to report. If not then I may be lounging at the beach and in that case I'll let you know what I pack!  

See you on the other side of the dinner table.  Asparagus, Garlic cloves and bit of olive oil make for a delicious send off!  Thanks!