Fumbling through The Plan

I wanted to give an update about my LoveHate relationship fumbling through the plan. I don't know the best way to journal it for you, but I'm going to try.

Day1: Hated it! Flax Granola was soggy because I did it wrong (don't double the recipe) and put almonds in it which I wasn't to do until day2. Hated no salt! Bird seed diet. And pouted and sulked about it. Lunch and dinner were ok.

Day2: Hated it! BUT lost 1.1lb! So that was a perk! Flax was better because I corrected my error. Still a little chewy not crunchy. Had to go to a restaurant for lunch and packed my own food. MY tip for packing your food is to ask the server for a plate and as quickly as possible, get your special food on their plate. Then it looks like they brought you something special. I don't like sauteed Kale as an entree but celebrated Brown Rice. No salt was bugging me!
Also Day2 was a very high stress day and my emotions seemed toxic. I finally got my journal out and wrote out all the junk, very fast, sparks were flying. It felt so good. Induced a good cry. And I was able to hear God. I'm not sure if it was a symptom of the detox, life, hormones or worse, it just happened to be Day2 of the detox and so I'm reporting. But I muscled through.
It is interesting that if I hadn't been on The Plan I'd likely have taken those toxic feelings right to the bread and butter, chocolate ice cream or cookies, a big plate of pasta, etc. Comfort food does provide a short term comfort and when you choose to deny them, the feelings are not tempered down. You have to deal!

Day3: Still annoyed with it, BUT! Lost 1lb! Starting to feel better about it for sure! Introduced low sodium chick peas to my diet that had consisted mostly of rabbit food and bird seed, I mean-vegetable based whole foods. They tasted amazing! Chicken with dinner. And for all of my belly-aching, I already started adjusting to no salt! Friends! This-is-a-miracle!

Day4: Warming up to The Plan. Lost 1.4lb. Whaaat?! Liking this now. No reactions yet. And 3day detox is over! I do believe the detox to be the hardest part. Now I'm just testing. Hello GOAT CHEESE! Hello DARK CHOCOLATE (1oz). Never has goat cheese tasted so good to me. I had an ounce, which is actually a lot, on a salad with olive oil and herbs as only dressing and was in Heaven! My palate is so clean and neutral now, it's crazy! I was so excited to have dessert!

I FORGOT COFFEE! I am going back over things and realizing that Day4 I was also encouraged to add coffee and I didn't! Yikes! I'll be adding a bullet proof coffee in a few days. I found while on the Clean Program that abstaining from coffee made a positive difference on my cycle. So I actually don't want to add it yet although it's my favorite thing!

Day5: Gained .2lb Since I'm up that would be a reaction. If I only react that mildly then goat cheese to me is worth it! I realize this is not the most informative journaling of The Plan. If you're wondering what I'm eating, it's very similar to what other healthy plans recommend: Lots of fresh greens, lots of vegetables, meat is a very small portion (like half a chicken breast), grains are small and paired specifically with veggies, cheese very small (1oz). I drink half my body weight in ounces of water. Snacks are small and clean, fruit or nuts or something very light. If anyone ate like this all the time, I'm sure they would lose weight too without following The Plan, however, the magic of The Plan is that you are able to test foods with a neutral body chemistry to determine which particular foods cause you inflammation. Inflammation will show a gain on the scale and then you have the knowledge to do whatever you wish with. Here is what I'm NOT doing: eating or drinking anything past 7:30, which for me is the HARDEST PART! I haven't tested coffee yet. I'm not salting my food. I use kelp and dulse instead.

Day6: Lost .2, added Rye Crackers. Normally they taste like particle board but now with almond butter they are one of my favorite things. I ate great all day. We went to dinner that night with friends and I ate mostly to plan from the menu, had 2 glasses of wine, and a vegan popcycle. AND! all of this after 7:30 and not enough water. Loved every minute of it!

Day7: The same. No gain! No loss! So I know that if I don't want to gain weight, I have 1 glass of wine, not 2. I eat earlier. I bet the vegan pop was fine. And I'm not disappointed that I stayed the same.

So fast forward now. I'm starting to love The Plan. It's making a lot of sense. I've learned after checking in with my plan seasoned friend Sheley, that I can test the things I like, skip the suggestions that don't interest me and learn on my own. I followed the meal plans to the letter the first 5 days. I find that was stressful and I know that I could have used my own common sense and still learned and lost.

I'm continuing to lose tenths of a pound each day. I'm learning to enjoy the large portions of greens. I think I can do this for a long time. I don't feel like a slave to the scale. I don't want to react and gain, but it's going to happen, and it's merely information.

I hate that I can't eat or drink after 7:30 but I love how I'm feeling, looking and eating! And I forgot to mention that I haven't worked out once on The Plan, since walking my lazy dog doesn't really count.