So...it's been right at 2 weeks since I last wrote. It has been 29 days of my quest to end the New Year stronger and better. I have had some victories and some defeats. My biggest challenge has been going to bed at 10:00, my greatest accomplishment has been spending time with God everyday for the past 29 days. Eating well and working out has been mostly progress with some struggles over the holidays.

As I go into December this week, I'm rebooting. I am determined to meet my goal of going to bed. I know it is not impossible since I am the one in control of this. I have no valid reasons. I am simply a slave to myself and bad habits. Lastly, I gotta get my pee back clear this week, lol. If I can consistently do those two things and maintain the others, I can end the year better spiritually and physically.  Wish me luck!

Yay me! I did it. This time last week I was wondering why in the world I had committed to torturing myself for an entire week.  Well I made it to the finish line and it feels good. Although it wasn’t my intention to lose weight I lost 6 lbs. I can only assume it was 6 lbs. of waste that my body apparently didn’t’ need.  At any rate I was excited to eat whatever I wanted to eat this morning, the crazy thing is I didn’t have anything really exciting. For breakfast I had two small homemade poppy seed muffins and a cup of coffee. I usually have one cup of coffee a day. Basically I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar, today however I had 1 scoop of sugar (raw)instead of 3 and a smaller amount of cream.

I was full when I left for work but hungry within an hour of being at work. I then had a apple and clementine.  For lunch I had my husband’s left over Thai. I had squirreled away some kettle chips last week that I couldn’t eat, several bags. I ate one bag, and oddly enough it didn’t taste that good. I then looked at the ingredients and saw some of the chemicals and ended up taking the other 3 bags to the breakroom for others to devour. For dinner I had baked chicken, kale, macaroni and salad. The crazy thing is that the chicken also tasted funny, the kale tasted like kale, the macaroni was good but the best part of the meal was actually the salad, the salad with fresh everything, cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, broccoli, carrots, apples, almonds and olives. What has happened to my pallet?

I have no idea what this means and will play it by ear all week but it is possible that I may never eat the same way again, it is quite possible my body will reject the things that are not good for me. At any rate what I know is this, I’m pretty confident in what I will eat going forward and what I won’t return back to. I most likely won’t ever eat fast food again. Processed foods will be limited, I am certainly more mindful of carbs and the many things that turn into sugar. I will most likely choose brown over white anytime I have a choice, when it comes to things like sugar and rice. I am more mindful of the chemicals in foods so life is about to become very interesting. I continued to drink a lot of water today. My normal sweet tea was too sweet and I had to add water to it.
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The last thing I will say is this, I love food, and I love all things that are flavorful and filling. I love trying new foods and will try anything once. I did not enjoy this detox and found it to be quite boring, most likely because I felt confined, limited. With the constraints gone I’m excited about my future options and making them as nutritious as possible. Stay tuned…

Well it has been a long week but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This time tomorrow I will have eaten the breakfast and lunch of my choice, praise the Lord. This has be a mental and spiritual challenge more than anything else. I have never eaten so many fruits and vegetables or made so many salads in my life. I have also had more water than ever before.

This detox involved taking a total of 18 supplements a day, for all the major organs which was difficult in and of itself. I know my organs are cleaned out based on my bathroom experiences.

​Special thanks to HealthStyle Wellness for assisting me in this endeavor.  I definitely feel better and don't plan to go back to some of the foods I have eaten in the past that were of no benefit to my overall health and actually do harm.  

As for as my life style change, I have yet to make it to bed by 10:00, however I haven't gone to bed as early as I have this consistently in my life. So I'm keeping hope alive. I strongly believe that as long as I'm alive I can change and with that in mind I will proceed toward a victorious week. I'm encouraged with having spent time with God everyday which is the most important. Last week I only worked out 3 out of my 5 day commitment. I'm hoping without the distraction of worrying about what to eat I'll be able to focus more on my initial goals. Will keep ya posted, until next time... 

So this has been one of the most challenging things I have done since training for a marathon. This detox has been extremely hard. I had no idea it would be this hard. Luckily I'm almost halfway there, only 4 more days left. I will say it is pretty cool to have your pee be the same color as the toilet water, I literally could not tell I had gone to the bathroom because my urine was the same clear color as the toilet water.  In fact I haven't had 100% clear pee since prepping for a colonoscopy!  I am tired of not being able to eat what I want and how I want. I just keep telling myself this is good for you in every sense of the word. 

I realize a lot of this, probably 90% is in my mind. The reason I say this is because the food I'm eating taste good and I'm getting full, it's just not what I want to be eating. I will keep going and can't wait to post I did it, I completed the detox! 

Now as for my other regiment that has not gone well. I have only gone to bed before 11:00 1 out of 3 nights. Tuesday it was 10:20 but the other two nights were horrible. I also worked Monday and Tuesday night after a full day's work so tonight I'm extremely tired and will definitely make my curfew.  The two days I went to bed later, I got up 30 minutes. The good old domino affect. 

Stay tuned...

So after a productive, challenging, successful weak last week, I'm keeping on keeping on. Truth be told I never made it to bed last week at 10:00, the closes I came was 10:10 and the latest was 10:30. HOWEVER, I'm going to go for it again this week with determination. When I say "its hard to break habits you have practicing your whole life," I mean it. Lord help me! 

At any rate this week I'm adding a detox to the mix. I have actually had the detox since August but I have been waiting for the "perfect" time to do it. Well the perfect time is now. I had my last birthday celebration on Friday. I would have started today but we are tailgating on today and I do not want to torture myself. That being said, beginning on Monday, my regiment of eating for the next 7 days will be the following:

Mornings fruit and veggies only
Lunch  fruit, veggies, nuts, and fish
Evening veggies, grain, and fish

In addition:

• Each day drink 1/2 to a gallon of water
• No meat, dairy, carbs from wheat, rye, oats, or Barley. 
• No refined sugars

Each day I will also be taking various herbal supplements that are specifically associated with various organs. I'll take different pills at different times for different reasons. 

Wish me luck, will keep all posted!

It's Friday and I made it! Woo-Hoo! It has been a great week, a successful week. I got up everyday at 5:30. I have worked out 4x this week and will do so again tomorrow, reaching my goal. I spent time with God everyday before work. I haven't had any red meat. I've watched 5 hours of TV. My biggest consistent struggle has been going to bed at 10:00. The closes I came was 10:10 which is pretty darn close.

I am so looking forward to this becoming the norm and not something I have to work too hard to do. I am realistic however, I have been who and how I am for 44 years. This means this new pattern could potentially take another 44 to truly become a lifestyle...let's hope not! Have a great weekend everyone!

Well I'm three days in and so far so good. Don't get me wrong it has been a daily challenge, in fact I still haven't gone to bed at 10:00 but I have made it by 10:20 each night and will make it by 10:00 tonight. It was extremely hard to get up when the alarm went off this morning but I finally did without going back to sleep. After not working out on Sunday or Monday I realized I was going to have to work out everyday for the remainder of the week to make my 5 day challenge. At any rate moving forward not backward is progress. Onward we go!

They say it takes 30 days to form a habit. It may be safe to assume it takes another 30 to maintain the habit for a life time of change. Over the next 60 days I plan to give 100 % to creating a life style change. I have spent 44 years developing a pattern of going to bed late and getting up late. Anyone who has this pattern in their life understands the negative domino effect. If I can create a different pattern, the positive consequences will be infinite!

That being said, beginning TODAY, I will make every effort to end the year with this monkey off my back. I will share the victories and struggles as I go, ultimately finishing strong!

And so it begins...

1. Go to bed at 10:00 (as long as I’m home, mon-thur.)
2. Get up at 5:30 as long as I’m home. (mon-fri.)
3. Read devotional before leaving the house.
4. Pray in the morning and at night.
5. Do 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week.
6. No red meat.
7. Limit distractions, 7 hours of TV a week and no FB if 2-4 aren’t met.