1 week in...

Well, I have made it one week into this new lifestyle!

Guess what?  I am surprised and happy to report that I have lost 9 pounds!  Now, this isn't atypical for me, because based on past experiences when my system is shocked and I drastically change my eating habits, I quickly lose 10 or so pounds in the first 2 weeks.  Then it tapers off to about 1-2 lbs per week.  So...I guess I'm on par...  But happy about it nonetheless!

I felt very weak on day 3 of the juice cleanse - partly because i was extremely busy that day and had hardly any time to make myself a juice, but also because I endured a massive root canal, and that was draining in itself.  So, by the evening of day 4 of my pre-cleanse (juice cleanse was days 2,3,4) I was ready to collapse.  Then I began my distilled water fast, which was supposed to be a 10 hour fast, but turned into a 20 hour fast because I was awaiting dosing instructions from my case manager.  I was hoping to hear from him when I woke up, but nothing...then I had to go to work and so I wasn't able to get online until 1:15pm -- and I'd been fasting since 5:30pm the night before.  Needless to say I was a little shaky and blood sugar was low -- I needed food!  I was happy to see that I had dosing instructions when I came home from work, so I administered my first dose of the BX energy catalyst and then had to wait 30 minutes more before I could eat anything.

When I was finally able to eat -- and I was back to SOLID foods -- I could hardly eat because my tooth and jaw were so sore from the root canal the day before!  :(  It took me almost 40 minutes to eat an english muffin (Ezekiel sprouted grain!) with cashew butter and a small banana, with a small glass of almond milk.  But, it felt good to get some food in me, and thankfully my tooth/jaw have improved every day since, making eating a bit easier on me.

This weekend I plan to gather a larger variety of foods, and hopefully do some meal prep for myself.  It's not easy #1, trying to figure out what I CAN eat & #2, preparing food for the rest of the family, and then for myself.  So, if I do some prep ahead of time, I will be much happier!

One more month of tax season and then life will get easier.  I don't like working every day -- it leaves me very little time to take care of what needs to be done at home, and then when I am home and have a few minutes, all I want to do is collapse on my bed!  I don't think Brad has a clue how draining this is for me.  But I don't want to complain because I know it's hard on him too.

Just for my records here is what a typical day is like for me:

5:45am - Wake-up (I move very slowly in the morning so it usually takes me about 20-30 minutes to get going)
6:15am - make sure kids are up and getting ready for school; help with breakfasts, make Aleks's lunch, help him get his backpack ready, etc...
7:15/7:30 - scriptures and prayers
7:45am - get kids to school
8:00am - administer the BX, record vitals (Blood pressure, temperature, PH, weight, O2, etc), record previous day's symptoms, read and respond to any messages on BX website
8:30am - get in the shower to get ready for work
8:50am - grab something to eat
9:00am - 1:00pm -- WORK
1:15pm - eat lunch
1:30pm - pick up Aleks from school
2:15pm - pick up Drew from school
2:30 - help with homework, take to piano lessons or sports practices or cub scouts, etc
5:30/6:30 - make dinner
7:30pm - start getting Aleks and Drew ready for bed & tucked in
8:30-9pm - make sure Jakob and Josh are getting ready for bed, say good-night
9pm - Brad is usually home around this time
9:30/10pm - collapse into bed.  try to catch up on a TV show, fall asleep.

** This of course doesn't include all the many errands I have to run - to the grocery store, post office, doctors appointments, etc.

** also, somewhere in all this I have to fit in tidying up the house and keeping up with laundry.

JUST SHOOT ME NOW!  just kidding.  It's a busy life, but a happy life.  I am not all doom and gloom, I am aware of how blessed we are, and am constantly trying to maintain a grateful heart.  I know that gratitude can help me get through these tough times.

xoxo, Shari