Days 6 - 11

So  I missed a few days writing.  I think that's because this detox has become more a way of life, less a struggle that I needed to vent about.  I understand more what this is all about.  I have changed several things, on my own, thus coming up with a combination of suggested meal ideas and my own tastes.  In many cases, I still eat the same things essentially, but just in different ways.  For instance, I love eggs in the morning.  I used to eat them cooked in butter and milk, and loaded with cheese.  I now eat a 3 egg omelet, that is cooked in coconut oil, sans the cheese and milk, with mushrooms and peppers.  So I get more taste, really, than I got out of it before, and much less fat.  I feel energized afterward, not sluggish. 

I have not bought or eaten a loaf of white bread since probably high school, and therefore thought I had "eliminated" white bread from my diet.  So why had I not noticed a difference?  Well, because white bread is disguised everywhere (well not really disguised, just cleverly overlooked by me) - french bread with spaghetti, breadsticks with that pizza order, eating out at Jimmy Johns (this hurts, as I love JJ - when I go there again, it will include a WW order), and for that matter all eating out.  It's SO easy to make excuses, as we all know well!  And what's with Amercans eating two carbs with one meal?  Why are we even adding bread to a meal that already contains pasta?  It's so much more satisfying (and less sluggish) to eat a whole grain carb with your meal, or skip it altogether and have salad.  I keep it real with the salads, because they can get old if you don't.  Every week I buy different toppings for them (veggies, spices, fruit, nuts) and I never use dressing. 

I have cut out almost all dairy, with the exception of cream in my coffee.  I think the first time I used butter in two weeks was last night when I made cornbread to go with my veggie chile.  And hold on.....actually, I didn't even use butter!  I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"  (this always makes me think of a Yooper non-butter they sell there called "Is It Butter?", which always prompted my brother Kevin and I to demand, "I don't know, IS IT?!" and fall over laughing).  The lower peninsula version has no trans or even sat. fat, no sugar, no nuthin'.  (I think that's a recent change but not sure)  My point here is that butter can sneak in, in many forms, as I'm sure my faithful reader Kirsten, (a fellow blogger about food) can relate.  When you're baking, it's tempting to say, "Well...........the recipe CALLS for butter, and they made the recipe, so they must know what they are talking about, so I guess I'd better just use butter....."  Same for flour.  I always have substituted WW flour, but now I am using gluten-free flour, such as in my corbread last night.  (btw cornbread is an ok carb for me because cornmeal contains no gluten)  But I could have eaten that entire cornbread it was so good, and I had to limit my serving size.  I drank water instead :)

In summary, I would like to clear up a myth about my green tea - it IS caffeine free.  That's it.
K, I'm off.