Ultimate Reset: Days 4 – 7

Ugh.

So we’re all sick. We have been since Tuesday and it’s been generally miserable. It honestly feels like The Cold That Would Never End, at least as far as my daughter is concerned. So there hasn’t been much sleep around here, and what sleep we’ve had hasn’t been that hot.

So I’ve not the wrap up that I’d hoped for. I barely have a functioning sinus system, so being able to write here has not been ideal.

But. I’ve stuck with the reset program. So help me God, I have. The only exception I’ve made is a Shakeology (with water) every afternoon because I was hungry and wanted it and I was sick and there was no way I was going to be sick and hungry.

Some highlights, because I’m still sick and I want to nap:

  • I’ve taken a couple of stabs at the nori rolls – the first two attempts were awful, but yesterday’s lunch was much better.
  • I haven’t disliked any of the meals, though I admit that since learning you can sub out meals (as long as it’s a lunch for a lunch, dinner for a dinner and so on) I’ve opted out on a few salads. I like my salads how I like them and how they’re served up on this plan depress me. Probably because there is no Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar on them.
  • Favorite recipes include: miso soup; stir-fry veggies; black bean tacos; lentil-lime salad. I’m making the zucchini-cashew soup right now and I’ve got high hopes.
  • Least favorite: salmon. And, strangely enough, the kale. I think I’m OD’ing on steamed kale at the moment.
  • The amount of snacking I normally do is staggering. And it’s clear that’s all emotional trigger. Good or bad or bored, I’m grabbing food. It had been the biggest challenge to not grab whatever is quick and available. So I may eat solid and clean meals, but Jesus do I snack on a lot of dark chocolate kisses, Goldfish, cheese, Fiber One brownies, pita chips, etc. If there is anything, ANYTHING, I am going to work hard to continue on is to just knock off the snacking. And I don’t mean “a snack because I’m hungry” but just the ridiculous noshing that adds no benefit to my life.
  • I think I’m sleeping better, but I can’t be sure since I’m been sick. I didn’t sleep Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, even with NyQuil, and Thursday was the closest I got but I had to wake up in the middle of the night to pee owing to all of the water I’m drinking.
  • This coming week, Phase 2, I’m repeating meals like crazy. I won’t say that there was a waste this week, but there was no reason for me to have the ingredients for a different meal for nearly every meal. We can’t afford that and my life doesn’t allow for that much cooking. I’m using this time to rest and cut myself some slack, too, so being slaved to the kitchen at every spare moment has not made me happy. Since repeating meals is allowed, I picked a handful, bought enough to double things up, and that’s what I’m doing this week.
  • I absolutely positively feel better and lighter. Again, being sick all week might throw all of this a bit, but I’m not bloated or heavy. It’s a much more pleasant existence.
  • I don’t really have any cravings. None. All of the strong pull I have to something food-related is directly tied to my emotions and my need to be fed. This is what helped me connect the snacking. It’s not that I’m not hungry – I typically am – it’s just that I want to be fed and I want to be fed now and it’s because I’m tired/angry/happy/anxious/bored that I don’t want to take the time to wait and just eat whatever healthy meal I’m cooking and need it all to be quenched IMMEDIATELY. This is why I’m revisiting some Geneen Roth.

So that’s it for now. I’m praying this week is better – calmer, with more sleeping – and I can get in an extra yoga class. I miss working out.