Yeah. I bet Thomas Jefferson never spent most of his life in a culture that eats crap as a practice and then decided to wean himself off said crap, if only for a few weeks and then tried to live a normal life. The modern day version of that quote should be: “Do you want to know who you are? Eliminate eggs, dairy, gluten, processed food and crap from your diet. You’ll figure out who you are real quick.” It worked for  me.

Interestingly enough, as I put the nails in the coffin of week 2 and meander my way into week 3, I can honestly say, I had no idea eating was such a doozy. Week one was cool. I was sick for the first part of it, so there really wasn’t much to it. I was playing with my new toys mostly. Week 2 is where one’s mettle meets the road, quite frankly. Even if you eat fairly well, there is a bit of withdrawal that happens, particularly if you eat processed foods at all. I’ve been eating eggs, cheese, cream, butter, gluten products as well as baking with loads of all of that plus white sugar. Not eating it for a few weeks is one thing. I think where it all gets weird is when you start eating stuff that is purposefully cleaning all the junk out that your body has become accustomed to having around.

It’s like your body becomes a battle ground. You get moody. You start to have these ghost like cravings for stuff you could have cared less about before. Of course, you’re in week 2 already, so you’re serious about making this clean work and so you don’t cave in and eat whatever it is. So then your mind starts playing tricks on you. You start discouraging yourself to quit or give up or whatever. You get clippy at people. You find yourself screaming at the wall one night because you’re positive your life sucks. Yes. That’s the sugar, dairy, egg, gluten, processed food and crap drug leaving the building.  Just like a crack head, determined to get clean, you stay true to your goal. You want french fries, so you make baked sweet potato wedges with sea salt and olive oil. You want ketchup to go with your fries, so you dip said fries in raw apple cider vinegar. It doesn’t sound at all like the same thing, and it’s not. It’s actually better.

Getting through week 2 has been a great metaphor for finding one’s way through life’s challenges. You want to be as awesome as is possible for you? You challenge yourself. You set goals and stick through them, even when it gets really weird. You don’t let your ego get the best of you. And certainly, you don’t let haters or nay sayers even know what you’re up to.

I’m thinking, once you get through week 2, depending, of course, where your diet started from, you’re pretty much through the thickest part of woods. If you can move past your cravings and actually have health-ful alternatives as top of mind solutions. You actually enjoy the things you’re eating far more than the things you WERE eating. And throughout the course of the week it, doesn’t feel like some diet your on. It feels like a part of your life already–week 3 will be a breeze.

I allowed this process to be a building one. I did what I could the first week. I eliminated everything I was supposed to and did as well as I could with drinking water and creating meals and the juices part of it. Week 1 for me was no frills. Except for that awesome soup I made. OMG.

I welcomed week 2 with some confidence. Now I’m making fresh coconut milk and almond milk and I can whip up my smoothie of choice in the morning in a few minutes. By now, I’ve added my supplements, I’m drinking water and tea. My refrigerator is an awesome site of fresh, healthful food. I buy almonds, beans, spices, sweet potatoes and young coconuts in “bulk” (bc I use the everyday, duh). I look up vegan recipes all the time for all sorts of things as alternatives for things I really liked before. For example, Aubrei wanted tacos. Mommy can’t have tacos, so mommy thought of organic chicken lettuce wraps. It was awesome, healthy, full of fresh veggies and a recipe added to my arsenal I wouldn’t have even thought to prepare before.

It’s amazing what happens when you become open to the possibilities of your life. Sure, there are things that don’t always happen the way YOU think they should. But certainly, sometimes YOU don’t know what’s really possible because YOU limit yourself and don’t even know it.

I’m giggling a little because gradually I’m letting people (who don’t even know I write a blog) know that my diet is changing a bit. I’m generally thought of as a healthful person, but I have to be honest. Folk thought my light was blinding bright before. This energy that’s swirling through me and around me now is just like walking with a light saber. Understandably, sometimes people ask me what I’m doing differently and I tell them. Funny how before I can finish saying I’ve given up sugar, processed foods, eggs, dairy and gluten for a few weeks–folks are already like–“Oh I could never do that.” Oh you could never do what? Stop eating shit? Not eat cheese or drink milk for 3 weeks? Sure you could. Would it be easy if you have that attitude? I suspect it would be exactly like living in hell walking around wearing gasoline drawers. Could you get through it? Absolutely.

Considering that I almost met my doppelganger this week, I understand why people say they could never do it–we don’t give ourselves a chance–AND the lot of us don’t really care that much. Believe, I almost gave up myself, but thought better of it. I wanted to find out who I truly was, so I stuck with it. I have no doubt that my week 3 will go just as well, if not better. I’m in the swing of things already. I’ve already found my groove and I’m dancing to this fresh food lifestyle a bit. I’m even considering adding a week or two and even a lifetime to this. But we’ll see how goes once next Monday makes it’s way here. We’ll chat soon okay?

The moral of this story? Do you know? Cause I don’t. Thank you for reading this though. Peace and abundant we made it to week 3 blessings! woo-hoo! Love, -e-