It's been almost a full week since I finished the cleanse by adding back my "typical" foods slowly. I still feel really good, and I've (so far) made some significant changes to my eating habits. Like?
Gluten-less -
I added gluten back in at the tail end of the cleanse by having a cupcake made by one dear friend to celebrate my other dear friend's birthday. Complete with icing. And a glass of wine (not at the same time). Go big or go home, right? Well, the cupcake made me a bit wonky, and I experienced quite the crash from my sugar "high". Not to be defeated, I had home-made challa for Shabbat dinner the following night, as well as made-from-scratch apple pie (have I mentioned how much I love my husband? He made both). I was feeling pretty good, didn't have the spike and fall I'd experienced the night before, and went to bed thinking my diet was almost 100% back to normal. But...I woke up with a stuffy nose. No other cold/flu symptoms, just a stuffy nose. A quick text conversation with Mishra confirmed my fear - the stuffy nose was likely a reaction to the gluten.
I've been playing around with this all week and seem to find that bread is the most significant trigger. I tried some goldfish crackers and only had mild stuffiness that didn't last (whereas bread leaves me sniffling for a good 4 - 6 hours). I will continue to eat bread at Shabbat dinner, and the occasional cupcake/cake/pie when there's a special occasion, but beyond that I'm currently avoiding gluten. So, not gluten-free but gluten-less. :-)
Caffeine
Ah, coffee. I've been drinking coffee since those late-night trips to iHop and other cafes started back when I was in high school. It wasn't something I drank at home until moving in with Bill back in 1992 (ouch - old!), since coffee is his main source of fuel. Well, I guess I didn't start drinking it daily until after we had Forest in June of 93 since I avoided caffeine during my pregnancy. In fact, pregnancy was the only time I *have* cut coffee out for any extended period of time. Until now. I'm 6 days past the end of my cleanse and I still haven't had a sip. I don't intend for this to be a life-long farewell, but I just don't *need* it now! I am still working my crazy, 16 hour days full of activity. I'm still only getting maybe 6 hours of sleep a night. But I don't need it! I am enjoying the freedom this gives me, and, I'll admit, I'm a little afraid of what the caffeine might do to me (see cupcake experience above), so I'll have to time out my reintroduction very carefully. I'm imagining breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, or a date night at Cafe SelMarie. These seem like good coffee moments.
The Rest
My skin is apparently glowing, my eyes are sparkling (though that might be the switch to contacts), and I feel really good. I'm still seeking out more veggies, and am making good food choices for protein and carbs in general. My weight is slowly moving down (I'm not weighing myself daily anymore, but my last check put me at 177), and I won't check my body fat % until the end of the month (last check was at 34.4). I really enjoyed the experience and would recommend it (even with the shakes). It really gave me perspective on what I eat vs what my body needs.
Oh, and I still haven't had processed stuff, AND we bought hormone-free meat for the family for the first time. Pretty cool!
Thanks for reading! I hope to continue blogging on a weekly (daily was just too much!) basis, and would love to know what you'd like to read about. Other health "fads" you'd like me to test out? Topics of interest? Throw a comment on here, and follow if you'd like. :-)
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