Still Going

Week 2 of my October commitment, and things and things are going good! My weight is still teetering between 159 and 160. I completed my 3 strength workouts and 2 yoga workouts last week. I has decided that my weekends would be my choice of activities or rest days. I decided to do some freestyle dance on Saturday. By Saturday evening, the symptoms of a cold were coming on and I felt pretty lousy on Sunday so I rested. Food and fasting have been going perfectly! One thing I didn't account for until Friday, was that we go out a few times on the weekend. No big deal as far as food goes, I can always opt for salad or a protein without a bun. Then I realized that I almost always drink either a Diet Coke or Diet 7Up when we eat out. Up until that point, I had not had anything with sweeteners in them since I started this challenge Oct 1. I originally set the challenge to be that I was only allowed to have sugar-free sweeteners with a meal, but once I jumped in cold turkey without using them, I found it easier to skip them altogether than to taste that sometimes and then miss the sweetness all the rest of the time. Friday night I had Diet 7Up with dinner (a burger without the bun and a side salad) and Saturday I had a Diet Coke with my lunch (Jimmy John's unwhich). I was really wanting more soda after that Diet Coke on Saturday, and it was harder to appreciate plain water after drinking that soda. I also became very aware of not chewing gum, as we were going grocery shopping after lunch and I wondered if my breath smelled bad. I'm so used to chewing gum in public! I survived all that, and a family dinner that was made with pasta with buttery croissants on the side. I made myself a heaping portion without pasta, but with extra cheese and bacon, and was plenty satisfied! While the soda did make water a little less desirable, it did feel like a treat, thus taking the focus off the meal needing to be a treat, so that was an interesting trade-off. I may opt to continue to drink a couple sodas with my weekends meals out or I may try to change to water or unsweetened tea just to challenge myself. It will be a situational thing. I guess I am interested in seeing if I can get over my desire for sweet drinks. I am tolerating water and coffee without sweeteners but I would still rather have them, and gum is something I do miss. I have had some unsweetened herbal tea the past day or two as the sore throat and chalky temperatures make it so inviting. I have been having a "tonic" of sorts in the mornings, of hot water with apple cider vinegar and salt and today I added a little cinnamon and ginger to it. Even without the additional spices, I like ACV and people who don't eat many carbs needed electrolytes because our bodies don't retain water like those who eat carbs. I typically have my cup of cold, black coffee after the ACV and lately I have been noticing that I can almost just do without the coffee. The warm drink feels good and the coffee tastes bitter to me. So, I might consider making it an occasional treat or switch out my drink seasonally. I can drink coffee black if it's cold, but I don't really enjoy it unless I have heavy whipping cream or sweetener. I can eliminate either one but I really don't love it when I eliminate both. I did my strength workout yesterday and yoga today, despite being under the weather, and I didn't regret it one bit! I know the more I commit to doing the workouts, the less resistant my thoughts will become to the idea of working out. I am slowly adapting to starting and ending work 30 minutes later in order to exercise, so that's a huge help! I am doing a 24 hour fast tonight, I stopped eating at noon and will go until noon tomorrow before I eat again. Honestly, I am not usually that hungry at dinnertime and I typically don't eat after 5 P.M. so tonight will be easy. I know I'll be hungry tomorrow morning, but hot tea works wonders to make you feel full. I have done a 24 hour fast multiple times and had no problems completing it. Mind over matter. It teaches me not to panic when my stomach growls. While my gut is resting, my cells are busy renewing themselves and getting rid of toxins! So, its going great so far! I am excited to see how I feel at the end of the month!