Day 11…Plant Based Living…Lethargic and Hungry…why is that?

Today is day 11, and I have slept like a corpse for the last 10 nights.  I have been pain free, swelling has drastically reduced, and my blood pressure is pretty fine.  Overall, my disposition has been good, I’m in a great mood most all day, every day over the last 10 days has brought more and more joy to my life.  I actually look forward to getting up and moving along.  My weight is coming down quite rapidly.  I was a bit worried at first but when I consulted my doctor, she said that since I had a good amount of weight to lose, that it would come off fast, and then plateau and taper off when I reached my body’s ideal weight.  I have to say, I am enjoying the fact that clothing I spent a lot of money for is again fitting me better than it has in months.  I may actually have black pants in my wardrobe choices again.  HA!

This morning, I had almond milk with puffed rice cereal and a sliced banana.  This was a challenge for me as I had not, to this point, had almond milk in its true form.  I had previously added it to recipes, but it was always to incorporate something else, it was never just almond milk.  I have been buying the unsweetened vanilla almond milk in the carton, not the refrigerator section, and I have been happy with it thus far.  Again, I had not consumed it prior to this meal, as a standalone option.  I poured the cereal, I cut the banana, I poured the almond milk, and I commenced eating my breakfast.  I didn’t die.  It wasn’t awful.  It was almost like drinking skim milk, only it actually had a slight almond/vanilla flavor.  Hey!  It was actually quite good.  I think the key is that it was cold, that I had previously only consumed skim milk, so the texture wasn’t bad, but the flavor was actually pleasant.  I was surprised.  I would incorporate this breakfast option in my “on the run” category and would definitely return to have this again some day soon after the 22 days are over.

The lunch option today was the Kale, Apple, Raisin and Creamy Curry Dressing Salad.  I love all of these ingredients, so I was looking forward to lunch today.  The salad was ample enough that I had to pay special attention to my stomach because long before the food ran out I found myself 80% full.  The book that I am following along with says to pay attention to your body, once you reach 80% capacity, stop eating.  I listened and I am glad that I did.  I was full fairly quickly but ate almost all of the salad.  I would make this dish again but would pay closer attention to the dressing as I feel it lacked something…it was very thick…I feel that it should have had more liquid.  I will check this out again in the future and make note.

Kale, Apple, Raisin Salad

My afternoon snack was trail mix.  I have all of the ingredients but I didn’t make any.  So, instead, I went to Trader Joe’s and bought some.  I also skipped the snack today.  I wasn’t hungry and was still full from lunch.

At dinner time, I don’t know what happened between lunch and dinner.  I feel that I was full.  I feel that I was satisfied.  I feel that I was more than correct in foregoing the snack as I wasn’t hungry.  I ensured that I drank the appropriate amount of water today and I don’t know why, but something happened between work and home; between lunch and dinner…I became famished.  To the point of being edgy (so unlike the attitude I had cultivated over the last several days) and I was trying to prepare my husband’s meal (cauliflower, sautéed ham, onion, with tomato paste and chick peas) and also prepare my meal of Sweet Potato Lime Burgers and steamed basil green beans with olive oil.  I was taking inventory of my feelings and my body while trying to assemble and cook two meals at once.  I noticed that I was edgy, hungry, (I supposed Hangry is a good new word to use here) and tired.  Very, very tired.  I have been taking B-12 every day, but I haven’t yet explored and secured a good vegan multivitamin.  I am toying with taking juice plus, but haven’t found anyone to speak with about the product.  Maybe I had some sort of a deficiency.  I don’t know, all I know is that I wanted to eat and sleep…in that order, precisely.

Dinner was a sweet potato lime burger with steamed basil green beans.  I sat down to eat and was so completely consumed by the smell of the sweet potato, the taste of the small bite of red pepper flakes and the tasty overall feeling of the burger that I ate quite deliberately and slowly, taking in all of the flavors and scents and I enjoyed my dinner.

Sweet Potato Lime Burgers

After taking a photograph and washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, and making my lunch for day 12, I realized that I am ½ way through my 22 days…that went quickly!  I’m amazed at how well I feel, how well I sleep, and how well I am thinking these days.  I went to bed at 8:30, I was woken once by the dog to go outside, I returned to my slumber and slept until 6:05a.m.  Life is good.