Yup. That's me right now. Two weeks in and I'm feeling EXACTLY the same as I was before I started the programme.
That's right - despte the wagonloads of veggies entering into my diet, I feel like I've taken 4 steps backwards this week. I know I'm not the only one - the forums and FB pages are aflutter with some participants not enjoying their weekly menues and deciding to go 'off programme' a bit. And some people are trying to find sugar-free replacements for sweet stuff despite the admonition of NO sweeteners (fruit infused, stevia, chemical sweeteners, etc) for the next three weeks.
Last week I felt 'cleaner' and 'lighter' and like I was making progress. I'm not particularly jazzed about this week's menu although I will make some of it for sure. Part of the problem is that I made an online grocery order yesterday and thought it was coming this morning. It turns out that it was scheduled for TOMORROW morning, so I got up early for nothing and have had to scramble a bit for meals for the first couple of days this week, as I'm missing the majority of the food.
Ah well. I have sausages defrosting and plenty of veggies that'll work for tonight and still be perfectly acceptable for programme fare for the moment (thanks to my meaty overshop last weekend!).
But what's really got me the most frustrated is that I'm wondering if I'm gluten sensitive. Lots of rice and veggie bread this week and I've not been at all regular (ahem) and Wed-Fri I was feeling more bloated than usual. My calves felt like they were going to pop! During Week 1 I was actually feeling GOOD and this week I have stopped, despite not going off programme once (except for dinner last night - on programme except no veggies), and it means I'm 98.5% following the programme. A bit of sugar in a couple of the ingredients isn't concerning to me as it's so little and so infrequent over the week it's hardly worth a mention.
That in itself is a huge success, I have to admit. And two weeks is generally about my limit for any changes, so I think this is part of the process as we head into Week 3 tomorrow -that's it's a permanent change, not just short-term or temporary. I'm not enjoying the cooking and prepping, although I am glad to have the food ready for during the week when I need it so it's a real challenge to get motivated most days.
My other cousin (my cousin's sister) and her two boys were here for a couple of days last week and it was really good to see them. They're lovely kids - funny, smart, fun, and I particularly like that they like what they like and are fully supported in it. My mother was terrifically unsupportive & critical of most things that we wanted to do, thought about doing, were doing, enjoyed doing, tried to enjoy doing, etc. so I'm always impressed when parents just let their kids be and support them in whatever they enjoy. The boys are creative and artistic and love drama, acting, media, etc. and went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while they were here. They love musicals.
The food in the house, though, was atrocious. I felt torn - half of me was enraged at the shit they were eating, the other half just wanted to attack and down a box of Cocoa Pops. I resisted doing anything about either, you'll be pleased to know, but if nothing else, this programme is showing me how much the food industry manipulates us into eating what it churns out in factories and into believing that added vitamins are healthy in sugar-laden cereals and low-fat crap. If nothing else, it is absolutely encouraging me to choose my food better.
Week 3 has some repeats from week 2, breakfast-wise, but has some broccoli detox soup in it that looks quite good, but feeling unmotivated mostly because a) I get home after 6pm most days and it takes me ages to organise my meals and, b) I'm not sure what my cousin's going to be eating again this week. She starts working from home this week, so unsure what that will do for her food wise. Again, I only shopped for me and am already almost over my monthly food budget. Good thing I get paid on the 29th! I'm going to have to boost the food budget for March again at this rate.
This week's successes:
1) No caving into cravings! I've had cheese mid-afternoon when the cravings strike and that has worked beautifully
2) Having enough to eat every day - and sometimes feeling full through dinner from lunch!
3) Encouraging & encouragement in the forums & FB pages
4) Still drinking tea without sugar but down to only about 2 cups a day because of it!
5) Sticking with the programme - I'm saying 98.5% because of the small amounts of sugar in a couple of the ingredients I've used.
Needs work:
1) drinking water (needs to increase a lot)!
2) playing with food that may contain gluten and seeing if I can repalce them with non-gluten items to see if that helps me feel better
3) Bloating remedy
Onwards to Week 3!
4 comments:
I think you are doing awesome -- All that organization is a lot of work.
And I find that whenever I go through elimination periods, will feel great at the beginning but when the detox really starts and old gunky layers (some easier than others) get brought up, circulate in the system and cleared out, there will be cycles where I feel worse.
Eventually it will get all/mostly cleared and those poor feeling cycles won't last as long, even on "cheat" days/occasions. On the other hand, I notice my energy dip and sometimes headache right away after eating things that aren't real food anymore.
Keep up the great work!!!
HI MW! - Thank you! Yes, intellectually I know I'm doing well - there are many who have 'cheated' so far and I'm surprised I haven't yet - it's the motivation to keep going that's hard when you feel you've stagnated. Still, as you say, there are good days and bad days with things like this and it's all part of the process. It's also interesting that I'm considering sensitivity to gluten (or possibly wheat) because of this, which is not a bad thing, just something to be aware of and I suppose that's part of the process too.
It'll be interesting to see how this week pans out! xx
That's good feedback from MW's comment above! Even though you're not feeling as good as you did the first week it could just be the awful toxins leaving your body. I don't enjoy all the prep work either of making special meals though have been trying recently to try one new healthy meal each week. Plus I'm still juicing but not as regularly. I've got to do something though as a couple pairs of jeans are a tight squeeze. I really really want to get outside more for walking/hiking etc so I'm hoping that the worst of winter is over. I was housebound for a few days a week ago due to our major snowstorm but it's been warming up a bit since about Thursday. Good luck with your meals for the coming week - it does make life easier the more you can prepare in advance. Are you spending more on groceries being on this eating plan?
Hi Jane - I hope it's the toxins leaving! I'd hate to think I'm...blocked...because things have stopped working as they're supposed to with all these veggies being eaten. I start halving my iron supplements today and I hope that will help too.
I need to start moving. All I do all say is sit, then go home and sit. The only activity I get is getting up to get tea during the day. :(
And yes, I've about doubled my usual weekly spend on groceries for this programme, which I find a bit ridiculous, but I suppose if I can make some stuff ahead of time (loaves, etc) then hopefully things will start to balance out a bit more in the next half. I hope so because I'm already well over £200 for the month already and have one more week to buy for before I get paid on the 29th...xx
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