Day 12

Well it's true, once the 'seal' is broken it's easier and easier to open it again...

Once again I didn't stick to the program today, and this is how it happened. I realised this morning that right now the deep cleansing week is not what I need. At the moment it's a step too far beyond what I'm mentally ready for. What suits me really well is the other weeks when we have more substantial and varied recipes and a more 'normal' pattern of eating - more solid foods, fewer liquid meals. So I decided that for the reast of this week I'm going to eat in that way - more substantial raw meals. Next week is like that anyway so that should be no problem to stick to.

The problem was that I didn't actually plan what I would eat, so I came unstuck. We had a few friends over for dinner tonight, and I made a homemade pizza, salad, and bread, someone brought a spinach pie, and someone else brought a lemon meringue pie. I decided that I'd just eat (and enjoy!) the salad. I did have two big servings of salad, and loved them, but was still hungry and ended up also having a slice of the pie and two slices of the pizza! I ate a few bites of the lemon meringue pie as well.

I am really worried that I won't lose any more weight, and of all the things to worry about, what a silly and vain thing to focus on!

Looking at the situation positively I can see that I ate a lot less than I otherwise might have, especially of the dessert, which was lovely but overwhelmingly sweet for my re-adjusted taste buds. That's been one great effect of raw foods so far - my sweet sweet tooth has been re-calibrated and I am free of my attraction to sweets! Yeeha! I've also learned a lot. About the importance of being prepared - if I'd had a more satisfying raw meal planned I wouldn't have eaten cooked foods tonight. Even a fruit smoothie would have done the trick. And that it could be quite easy to eat raw food at gatherings without being noticed - not a single person commented when all I ate initially was salad. Awesome!

One reason that I feel that the deep cleanse week doesn't suit me right now is that I'm really on a roll with exercise and I feel that I need it in my life. Easing back on the intensity for the deep cleanse week just doesn;t feel right to me - I want to be out and moving as much as possible.

Then again, deep cleansing should allow me to detox so that I have more energy for execise in the following weeks!

In the 28-day program following this 21-day one I'm keen to complete the deep cleanse week properly. That time I'll be more prepared for it mentally - this time I didn't read ahead so it caught me by surprise!

Exercise-wise I really enjoyed going for a run today. It wasn't far - only a couple of kilometres - but my son was with me, riding his bike, and my baby girl was in the pram, and I do love to exercise as a family.

For today's journal entry we are advised to contemplate 'My favourite soul-renewing things to do'. For me these include rock climbing, windsurfing, sailing, swimming in the ocean, waking in the morning with my kids snuggled against me, hiking, reading magazines and great books.