12 days down, a lot more to go...

So, here's my first update on my journey through the Hallelujah Diet...

I've lost 7 pounds!!!  I started this diet for health reasons, but I am SO excited about the weight loss!  When I step on the scale in the morning and see another pound or two have been shed, it makes me think I could keep doing this diet for longer than a month or two.  I am now 145 pounds, and I have not been in the 140s since the beginning of my pregnancy with Carter, one year ago.  I am excited to get down to the 130s since I have not been down there since right after Keira, and that was only for a few weeks or a couple of months before I gained a few and rested right around 144 for awhile.  My ideal weight is probably somewhere around 120, but I'd be happy with 130 if I could get there.  We shall see!

As far as the rest of me goes...  I have not felt any back pains since I started the diet, so my gall bladder is apparently functioning well on the living food I'm giving my body.  No pains in my abdomen either, which I had started to experience a few of before starting the diet.  My headaches have decreased and possibly gone away completely.  I experienced a couple of brief ones earlier in the diet (after the 2 or 3 days of detox with a constant headache), but only at night after I'd loaded up on carrot juice and BarleyMax throughout the day.  I do still notice some "twinges" in my right kidney area and possibly the gall bladder area, but no real pain.  I am hoping those twinges mean something good is happening in those areas.

Now here's the part labeled TMI (I'm putting a warning on it, just in case you really don't want to know these details about me...).

The other effects I have felt as a result of this diet are as follows:  diarrhea, gas, and a few spots that look like big zits or ingrown hairs.  Fun, huh?  I haven't had the diarrhea in a few days, although I experience pretty urgent bowel movements in the mornings for some reason.  I'm not sure if my body is just continuing to get rid of toxins each morning and this will subside over time, or maybe this is just the way my body is supposed to function when healthy.  The gas is embarassing, even (and especially) around my husband.  It's gross, and I can't help it!  I hope this is a temporary detoxification process, because I really don't want to live with that the rest of my life.  Occasionally, fine.  Regularly, throughout each and every day?  No.  (My face is getting red even as I type.  I'm beginning to re-examine if I want to document every detail of this process...)  As far as the zit-like things go...they're big and red, and they hurt like a big whitehead coming up from under the surface.  I popped one the other day (I know, gross!), and it had a similar reaction to a whitehead - puss came out, and then blood.  I have one very low on my belly, one on my left thigh, and one on my right upper arm that looks more like a bug bite.  Not sure if these are related, but they all popped up around the same time, since I started the diet.

Okay, now that I'm thoroughly embarassed, we can all forget I ever shared that information!!!

The diet has definitely gotten easier to handle on a daily basis, and I'm comfortable with each meal and what I can (or cannot) prepare for myself.  I have gotten pretty good at working it into my daily schedule, but I have to be honest.  I'm getting tired of it all.  It takes so much time out of my day, and I didn't have much to begin with!  I feel like I am constantly peeling and bagging 5 lb. bags of carrots, juicing carrots, washing and chopping vegetables and greens, making salads and trying to enjoy them, and washing parts of appliances, including the juicer, the food processor and the blender!  It's exhausting!  All of that is in addition to making sure the kids are fed, changing diapers, breaking up fights, putting kids in time-outs, filling sippy cups with water, juice or milk, making sure two of the three kids get their naps, nursing a newborn, doing laundry, going to the grocery store for MORE produce, and trying to keep the house picked up.  It's INSANE, and I feel crazy some days.

So, I have to keep reminding myself that this is good for me, and I may go in to the doctor in a month and find out my problems with gallstones and kidney stones are GONE!  I am hoping and praying that the outcome is that awesome, but regardless, I have faith that I am eating things that will only benefit me and my family.  At the very least, I'll be in better health, and I will have lost some weight!  (Woohoo!!!)

Another thing I am eternally grateful for is my husband who has agreed to do this diet with me.  I couldn't have committed to this diet without his support.  If he was ordering pizzas and eating chocolate cake, I would not have had the willpower to keep going for the entire month.  I am so blessed to have a partner to do this with me.  Thank you, Baby!!!  I also get to do it with my mother-in-law, which is fun.  Having multiple people holding each other accountable makes it a whole lot easier to ignore the temptations of every fast food joint on the way home from preschool or church.  I have no choice.  I can't cheat, or I let down the people who believe in me the most!

So, I'll keep it up, and I'll keep this blog updated with the latest.  Hopefully I'll have a great story to share when it's all said and done!  Thanks for reading, and there will be more to come soon!