One Week Down, Two To Go

I'm one third of the way through the cleanse. I don't feel any different, except that I'm hungry a lot of the time! I'm thinking of other ways to nurture myself than with food, and other things to occupy my time than thinking about food or eating it. Reading a lot! Cleaning. Going through piles. Bugging John about his social life. Fixing big pots of soup - oops, that's about food.

I'm beginning to think in terms of how to modify the radical cleanse instead of going back to the old way of eating when the three weeks is up. Kathy Freston's (whose book I'm using as a model) spiritual integrity requires her to 'do no harm', so she is a vegan. The only 'meat' I was eating before the cleanse was seafood, and I may let go of that. Dairy is another story. I love my cheese! And the fake cheeses I've tried just don't cut it - no pun intended. There is a frozen egg substitute, but so far I haven't found it. Egg Beaters contain egg whites, not egg substitute. Gluten, of course, is everywhere, but since I don't seem to have an allergy to it, I don't think I'll worry about it so much. 

The big dilemma will be my sweet tea. I'm not interested in altering the taste of the tea I love so much, by using Stevia or agave nectar. It's real sugar or no tea, and I'll have to see what happens over the next couple of weeks. If I have McAlister's sweet tea then I'll be having caffeine. Can I employ moderation? Often the answer is no, but in this case, it may be possible. Of course in a few weeks, Carnation will begin offering their Peppermint coffee creamer for the holidays, and then I'm doomed! But you'll notice that I timed this cleanse to be finished before the holidays begin. My mama didn't raise no fool!  Happy eating!