I have a confession…
Eleven days down, three days to go and I’m ready for it to be over! For whatever reason today I felt overwhelmed, tense, and tired of this cleanse. I wanted comfort foods, homemade chocolate chip cookies, and a hot cup of coffee! I stayed true to the cleanse until I met my family out for dinner. My confession…I ate sweet potato french fries and loved every single strip of fried, crispy sweetness! I gave myself a break and it was a relief. I have been 200% committed, pressuring myself to fully finish this cleanse and lost a little balance because of that.
All day my son wanted to plant a vegetable garden. I mean how cute is that?! We’ve been talking a lot about healthy food and where it comes from. On our way to the local nursery, I was thinking about why I feel so tempted to eat foods that aren't good for my body? It dawned on me that I have become more present and conscious of my choices in this cleanse. I’ve also become aware that it is hard to be vigilant about healthy food choices when life’s daily challenges arise. When you’re hungry and don’t know what’s in the fridge or what to eat, you just grab whatever and scarf it down, i.e., chips, fast food, cereal, donuts, you know…the middle of the grocery aisle foods. Whatever you can get your hands on to fill that empty hole in your belly. Just because it’s easy, doesn’t make it right.
This cleanse has given me a new awareness about shopping mindfully, being an ingredient detective, and planning my meals. I have enough healthy food in the fridge to get us through the week. I feel so blessed to be given such a luxury so many people in the world do not have. I am washed over with a profound sense of gratitude.
The theme for day eleven is all about love and being naked. Love was not how I was feeling today…and I’m a lovely dovey type of person. I love being naked so that part was easy. Aside from having the day off and spending today with my sweet son, it was a challenging day. I’m grateful for this learning experience and happy for it to be over. That is raw and real.
My meals: AM, I made a ‘super green smoothie’ with 1/2 lemon juice, 5 cucumber slices, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup parsley, coconut water, and ice. Thumbs down from my son. I added orange juice to his and he said it wasn’t good but it was better. It separated quickly so I chugged it down. It was super green and tasted super healthy. I had the left over brown rice with a little maple syrup and cinnamon. Lunch was the picture above. It was so pretty I had to Instagram it. Follow me on @tessconradyoga. Dinner well…I cheated and I don’t feel terrible about it. Along with my tasty sweet potato fries I ate a gluten free (which I had to take back because it was on a buttery ciabatta), no cheese, sprout filled, portobello mushroom sandwich.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. There are plenty of people willing to do that for you. Love yourself and be proud of everything that you do. Even mistakes mean you’re trying.” - unknown