Food confessions and a foundational challenge

That happened yesterday. 

I also pilfered some Cheez Its from the kid I babysit. Don’t worry, he reaaaally didn’t need them. The day before that, I had 3 Ghirardelli chocolates (the small square individually wrapped kind) and a huge apple crisp donut from good ole Dunkin’.  Today I indulged in a ginormous slice of mac and cheese pizza from Ian’s ( a great pizzeria in Chicago. I’ve also been consuming large amounts of vegan unhealthies (my new word). The list includes , but is not limited to, fries, potato chips, a yummy chocolate chip cookie dough vegan shake I had today (right before my mac and cheese pizza), and straight sugar. Yup. Right from the SUCANAT bag. And that is just a small glimpse into the disaster that my food world sometimes becomes. I know…I’m supposed to be vegan—and not just any vegan but one who eats mainly whole unprocessed foods. Unfortunately, lately, I’ve been stuck in a "wannabe" phase.

There are many reasons for this, the least of which being that I miss non-vegan food and/ or refined foods. When I’m in a good health groove I really don’t miss these foods. When I fall off however, it’s hard to get back on the right track. I’ll start my days with a large green smoothie or green juice, but will end up pooping out a subway cookie that night. Jussst kidding….I typically don’t poop at night. Haha, anyway, the reasons are usually because of bad planning, unexpected temptation, convenience, and the urge to comfort myself with old familiar foods. I really want to stress that whenever I break my optimal diet it’s not because I’ve gotten tired of it or because I miss eating the way I used to and want to eat that way again. It is usually because at the time it is just easier to resort to old habits.

 I started the year pretty well in regards to food, and for about a month I did pretty great job with eating solely plant-based, whole foods. But after those first weeks of 2012 I fell from grace (I don’t remember exactly when or why). Since then I’ve eaten vast amounts of both healthy and unhealthy foods telling myself at the start of each week that “this week” would really be the week that I started and continued eating only what I knew I should.  This has yet to be true.

A fall in diet quality usually occurs with a fall in the quality of other areas in my life—typically self-care (I mean the sleep and exercise type of self-care, not so much the grooming—although, I have been skimping on the showers…) and in my relationship with Jesus. So I’m putting my foot down, pressing the reset button and rebuilding a healthy life foundation. How? Through the 6 week challenge that I made up and decided I was really going to do today lol. From March 11 to April 21 I will eat a solely plant based, unprocessed food diet, exercise for 30 min a day, get 8 hours of sleep each night, and have an hour of quiet time each morning. I think it is a simple enough plan to commit to follow. In addition to the benefits of being well-rested and physically and spiritually nourished I think making myself do this will really help instill some discipline in my life—which I really need.  

And since I put it on my blog I’m really going to follow through with itJ. And someone out there should do this with me. We could be best friends.

Yesterday's smoothie- 1.5 cups of swiss chard, 1 large leaf of mustard greens, 1/2 of an avocado, 1 banana, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 pitted date, 1 tbs chia seeds, 1/4 tsp kelp granules, 1 tsp flax oil, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1/4 cup soy milk, water.