Day 28

Day 28... Looks like we made it... Our naturopath is proud of us, and I'm thinking we learned something from the experience... I'm feeling good, am thinking clearly (for me, anyway), and learned to adapt to new rules. But I'm definitely ready to go back to real food... Some of it, anyway. As I look back to the photos of the foods I was craving, I'm noticing that some of those foods don't look as good as they did... We'll see what adjustments take place.

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Thanks to those of you who followed my "cleanse blog".. This is the farewell, and my final words to you are these:

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BON APPETIT!!

Day 27

Last night, after we went to see Wally Lamb, I told Joan how nice it would be if we could stop somewhere for pie and coffee..... Little ordinary things like that are out the window for the moment.... But, hey, we're on Day 27... You can put up with anything for a day and a half...

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So I went home and had a bowl of berries instead.

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Next week, pumpkin pie.....

Day 26

A week from today is Thanksgiving -- and everything will be on the table, you might say. Turkey is already on our "allowable" meats list, but we will wait now til we can have it with all the trimmings. Plus, when I roast a turkey, I start out by coating the whole bird with mayonnaise and then cooking it in a roasting bag. Mayonnaise is a no-no on this diet. And it makes the turkey so moist, even the breast, I don't want to cook without it.
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We're getting close.

Day 25

Did you ever see the movie Supersize Me, the documentary of the guy who lived on only McDonald's food for 30 days and developed all kinds of health problems? Or have you read the book Fast Food Nation? If you have, then you're probably no fan of McDonald's, that evil corporate empire. But I myself admit that once or twice a year I find it hard to pass a McDonald's without stopping in.. I do, inexplicably, get cravings for McDonald's food.

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These past 25 days, it has been extremely difficult to drive past a McDonald's.

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By the way, we only have to drink our powder stuff seven more times.

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Tomorrow we see the naturopath.

Day 24

"Grease is the word, is the word, is the word..."

Plans for after Day 28: Sunday morning (Day 29), we're having a big bacon and eggs breakfast. Monday lunch (Day 30), my co-workers Theresa and Mary are taking me to Jersey Mike's for a cheesesteak.

In between that initial burst of grease, I might try to stick with some of the new eating habits. Thursday we have an appointment with the naturopath. I'm sure he'll be emphasizing some of the things we should resist re-introducing into our diets. We'll see.

Day 23

Another visual reminder of "no dairy products" for us!...
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On the positive side, I must say we had the best meal of the last three weeks last night: Copper River salmon (broiled), broccoli, sliced tomatoes, and apple sauce... Copper River salmon is one of Jerry's specialties, and this was delicious, even though we had to forego the usual sauce that goes with it.

Day 22

Breyer's is my favorite ice cream brand, and my favorite flavors are vanilla and peach... (My brother-in-law John got me started on Breyer's peach many years ago)... I also admit a weakness for Ben & Jerry's cherry garcia.

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We are allowed zero ice cream of any kind now, of course... What makes it hard is that every time I open the freezer door I see containers of ice cream just waiting for Day 29.

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My treat today: red grapes.

Day 21

"Prime rib -- all you can eat".... Sometimes we go to Legends, a restaurant near us, on Saturday nights for the prime rib special... Wonder if I'll still want to do that when this is over... I'm finding that my appetite has diminished. "All I can eat" might not be all that much.

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Last night Joan came over, stopped over at Punch Pizza and brought her pizza back here while I ate my rice pasta. I asked her how the pizza was. She said she'll tell me in a couple weeks. I take that to mean that it wasn't awful. :-(

Day 20

"Vodka martini -- shaken not stirred"..... yeah, the new James Bond movie comes out today...

and it's not difficult for me to go 28 days without alcohol, I do it often. But there is something about knowing that I can't have a drink that makes me want to head to the bar. Or at least open a bottle of red wine at home.

So our drinking consists entirely of herbal tea, fruit juice (except orange), and water...

Day 19

It helps that there are no Dunkin Donuts here! One less temptation!

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Also no Tastykakes here! And no Wawa stores!

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But it's Day 19, and we will count our little blessings.. Tonight, we can have chicken for dinner.

Day 18

How's this for a change of pace?... Army C-rations...!

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Yesterday was Veterans Day, and I was remembering how delicious C-rations could be when I was out on maneuvers in the German winter (1968-69). Even though of course it was basically crap, it's amazing how good crap can taste when you're desperate for food.

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I wonder if they still make C-rations. Last month, when the financial collapse was taking place, I was thinking that it might not be a bad idea to keep a couple months worth of food on hand. C-rations came to mind.

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My breakfast this morning: 2 slices of millet bread with cashew-butter and jelly, and a bowl of blueberries.

Day 17

We aren't allowed to have milk for these 28 days or anything dairy. We can't even have soy milk, which, believe me, I don't feel bad about... But we are allowed to have rice milk -- I never even knew there was such a thing -- and I didn't have the nerve to try it until this morning of Day 17. I had it with rice krispie-type cereal and fruit -- in other words, as long as I kept the bowl full of other stuff, I wouldn't even taste the rice milk. So I still don't know if it's tolerable.

Day 16

I think this has all been more of an ordeal for Jerry than it has been for me, primarily because I work just a block and a half from the office and can go home and put together a pitiful lunch for myself... Jerry, on the other hand, is a real estate agent and on the go all day long.. It's hard to plan snacks or a lunch that can keep him from getting ravenous during the work day... He's used to grabbing a hot dog at SuperAmerica if he gets desperate enough... Surprisingly enough, I think that's one of the things he is missing the most -- SuperAmerica hot dogs!

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My lunch today: cashew-butter and blueberry jelly on a slice of millet bread and a bowl of fruit: pineapple, strawberries, and blackberries.

Day 15

We stopped at the food co-op last night, and I found an "acceptable" bread better than the rice bread.. Millet bread.. I can handle it...

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Then we went to a play with Joan, and it was hard not to go out for dinner first.... Or at least grab a slice of pizza somewhere! I have anxiety about getting hungry and not being home... The choices out there in the world are so limited!

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(Click on the photo above for an enlarged version, see if it makes your mouth water!)...

Day 14

"Man cannot live by bread alone"??... But I've found it hard it live without bread these last few days... White wheat bread is out of the question on this diet, of course, but this past week even other kinds of bread were verboten. Starting today we can go back to rice bread, but, let me tell you, rice bread has a texture that is kinda disgusting... I think I'm going to toast the heck out of it until it takes a different unrecognizable form, then maybe it will be okay.

And in a couple weeks I can have a peanut butter sandwich on my favorite cottage bread (For now, peanut butter is a no-no also). It's the small pleasures in life that matter the most.

Day 13

"No fish for you!!!"

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We screwed up! We read the schedule wrong. We thought we could start fish and chicken again on Day 14, but, no, we mis-read, it's not until Day 19. There are some things we can start again on Day 14, but none of it gets my heart palpitating... ARGHHHH!

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i'm so sick of rice!

Day 12

Last night, I was feeling SO spacey.... And then Jerry got home, it was time for another dull meal, and I was kinda crabby with him. You know that I'm never crabby ("You've never seen me in a bad mood...").... So I think maybe something necessary is missing from my diet that helps me maintain my charming personality...

A Pepsi, maybe??

Day 11

Ah! In three days we are allowed to have chicken (and fish!) again !

Today, rice and beans. Twice!

Day 10

No champagne for us tonight (We can't even have red wine).... But am hoping we will be celebrating a victory anyway -- maybe with a cup of herbal tea. :-)

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We ended up going out last night for Tony's birthday after all, to Cafe Lurcat, over there by Loring Park. Our entries consisted entirely of "side items" -- all vegetables. Roasted beets, roasted cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, and squash. It was all quite wonderful, actually!

Day 9

Today is our friend Tony's birthday, and his wife Diane called and asked if we'd like to go out for dinner tonight with them to celebrate... How hard it was to say that no, we can't, we're on this stupid diet! We'll have to make it up to Tony after the 28 days are up.

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Joan told me this blog is concentrating too much on what we can't have instead of what we are actually eating. So here is what I had to eat yesterday:

-- Three times a day we drink this powder stuff mixed in cranberry juice. It has a bunch of vitamins, protein, all that, and also makes us less hungry.

-- Two cups of herbal tea, one in the morning one in the afternoon.

-- For breakfast, fruit -- Banana, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes.

-- For lunch -- Leftover brown-rice pasta with organic tomato sauce.

-- For dinner -- Yams and a green salad with tomatoes.

-- Snacks in between meals -- Nuts, raisins, bananas.

How's that?

Day 8

Joan is coming over, Jerry and Tom are here, we'll spend a Sunday afternoon watching the Vikings game on TV... But how to do it without snacks?.. no potato chips, pretzels, Cheese Nips...?

grapes, I guess... As long as they are organic and not from Chile...

go, Vikes!

Day 7

When we started this, my naturopath told us that Days 7 - 13 are the days that we will hate him most. Day 7 is sort of a milestone because today (until the 13th day) we even have to give up chicken and fish and some other stuff.. plus increase that powder stuff we have to drink.

so we are totally vegetarian for a week... Mmmm, don't those meatballs look good?

but so far it's doable... and we don't hate him yet.