Saturday, January 17, 2009

Concluding Week 1

Well, I haven't been around both because this week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but also because part of my detox week was a media detox, meaning that I was supposed to limit my various media intake, including the lovely 'net.

I didn't follow ANY aspect of the detox week 100%, but I don't feel bad. For once, I'm giving myself permission to do something without having to do it 100%. Whew. That feels nice! Who knew that you could actually cut yourself some slack! So, let's do a recap, shall we?

Diet: Low fat, vegan. Steamed veggies, little seasonings, brown rice, etc. I effectively eliminated coffee from my diet and replaced it with an equal amount of green tea (1 traveler's mug). That was not an issue in the slightest, surprisingly enough. I do miss coffee....the taste and the ritual.....but I think I am going to try to keep my coffee drinking limited to the weekends, when I can savor my cup. During the week, I think green tea is a smarter choice that I can easily live with.

Breakfast was oatmeal with fruit and a bit of cinnamon, and this was bland, but doable. Kept me full, too. And oatmeal is supposed to help you lose weight, it's heart healthy, and keeps ya regular, so really, there are no problems there!

Lunch was supposed to be steamed veggies, a whole grain, and a legume. Equal parts of each. Well, I started the week eating a delish black bean stew with tons of veggies. It was low-fat and high flavor, thanks to the beauty of those ugly little chipotle peppers, so that got me my legumes and veggies. Now, I broke the rules because I think it was more highly spiced than it was supposed to be, but whatever. It wasn't a double cheeseburger, right? I added brown rice to complete the trifecta. When the stew was gone, I switched over to that Chickpea-Broccoli casserole I had made, and while I was able to eat it, last night I threw away most of it. This stuff was just WAY too "health-food" for me. It was chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, onions, veggie broth, and bread crumbs, baked together. Yeah. That doesn't sound like the best casserole ever, does it? I mean, it WAS good, in its own way, but after a while I began to shudder when I thought of it. Oh well. I tried.

Dinner was more veggies and whole grain. I did this, but instead of steaming my veggies, I had baked sweet potatoes, or sauteed kale, or saurkraut. I also had some steamed broccoli. So, my veggies were a tad more flavorful than I think they were supposed to be, but I kept with the program, and that's important. Steamed veggies may have made me go AWOL. Also, I made some prepared cous-cous that had seasonings. Whole grain? Yes. Plain? Not so much.

Snacks: I snacked on fruit, raw veggies, and nuts (cashews, almonds, and macadamia nuts. It doesn't get better than that). I probably went overboard on the nuts, but that's what I do! I'm nutty! Hee hee!

My thoughts on the diet: I feel great! I feel level headed and I didn't get so angry with my classes as I normally do. Now, I did make two classes do silent book work, but that was more because they need to learn how to act than me flying off the handle. However, I struggled with wanting junk food and thinking that this diet is boring. It really isn't, and every time I ate I thought my food tasted great, but my brain kept wanting tortilla chips, or chocolate, or whatever other junk food might pop into my head. This may just be a habit. However, it's a life-long habit, and it's STRONG. I'm hoping that this week has helped to weaken that habit somewhat.

Media detox: Well, this wasn't that hard. Partially because I was busy at school, and then P got sick and I got a UTI (ugh! Is there a connection?), so I was often quite tired and ready to go to bed by 7:30 (which we did on a few nights). I did listen to the radio somewhat, but it was public radio, so there are few ads and I am only able to listen during times when the main programming is music, so I felt like it wasn't a huge conflict. P watched movies, and so I saw them, too, but again, I'm not sure that is the media that is meant. I think that media meant news, ads, etc. Obviously, all media is stimulating and part of the goal was to reduce stimulation, but movies are definitely better than tv shows that are laden with fast-paced, loud, bright commercials. Talk about OVER-stimulation! Not watching the news in the morning helped me move a bit faster and feel less stressed. That was surprising, although it makes sense that I would move more slowly as I watched the news.

My thoughts: I'm going to continue limiting my screen time of all sorts during the work week, as I need a lot of sleep to be fresh and clear headed. This was painless for me.

Exercise: Ok, here's where I ought to hide! I didn't exercise one lick this week. Like I said earlier, P got sick this week. In fact, he's still sick! And he doesn't get sick often, so when he does, he does so in dramatic fashion. In addition, I got a UTI (which had been a-brewin', but I chose to ignore the tell-tale signs of slight discomfort while urinating and waited till I felt like I needed to pee WHILE peeing. Sigh). Further, I had various after school duties AND P had a dentist appointment this week (and he has a cavitiy, boo!). With all of that, I just couldn't find the time to squeeze it in. This is a weak spot for me. I like to exercise, but I can't find the time. I really need to start doing small things in 5 minute increments. I'm just not quite there yet. Oh, and my iPod broke, so now I have no music or podcasts to listen to while I exercise! Boo-hoo!

Next week of the Body and Soul Challenge focuses on diet. Adding more fruits and veggies (I currently have about 12 grapefruits thanks to a co-worker!), whole grains, herbs and spices. Yum! I can't wait!

2 comments:

  1. I wish I had the will power to do this with you! But I do not, I think I shat my will power out last week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I find things like a strict diet much easier to follow during the week, when I am away from home. I'm nervous to see what will happen over the summer, when I'm home all the time. I think I need to start developing coping strategies NOW.

    ReplyDelete