Today is the halfway mark of my 21 day Ultimate Reset. I feel better overall but these last few days my energy has been low, I went to sleep at 9pm last night which is early for me. I don’t know if the low energy is because my body is working hard to detox or if it’s because I’m getting a lot fewer calories than usual (it takes a lot of calories to keep this train going…and gaining).  Food wise this week is focused on whole grains, fruits and vegetables. That’s right, no meat.  I am eating a lot of new things, things like baked Tempeh. What is Tempeh? Tempeh is a fermented soy protein, it is less processed and therefore more nutritious than Tofu, it looks like hundreds of soy beans pressed together…because that’s what it is. Unlike Tofu, it has flavor, it is a little sweet and it is the consistency of undercooked pieces of carrot (a little firm and chewy).  I’m sure it is better for me than meat but I would still prefer any kind of lean meat over Tempeh (sorry PETA).

Eating so differently than I normally do is teaching me several things. First I’m learning how often I just want to eat, just to eat. At times I find myself thinking about what I could eat and then remembering I don’t need to be snacking and thinking, “Hmm, I’m actually not hungry”. Another thing I’m learning is to engage in conscious eating, that is thinking about what I’m eating, how it tastes and focusing on chewing it up well (something my great-grandfather tried to teach me long ago). Have you ever sat down with a snack to watch a movie only to look down less than half way through to see that your snack has somehow vanished?   That’s unconscious eating. I’m great at it! I’m also learning that the more water I drink the less hungry I feel. I know your parents probably told you that when you were growing up, turns out it true. I’m averaging 1-2 gallons of water a day (and 1 restroom break an hour).

I have lost 17 pounds so far (that’s more than my son weighs!). Apart from a few meals I haven’t felt like I was starving. Also, I feel lighter.  It’s amazing what drop a little weight does! I get out of bed in the morning and my back isn’t stiff. I am looking forward to seeing what else will change as I focus on being healthy. Stay tuned, in my next post I’ll talk about my exercise experience.