Day 9

This morning I opened up to Day 9 in the Kathy Freston book, and the opening line was an acknowledgement that at this point in the Cleanse, a participant may begin to feel like there's no end in sight - and all of this might just appear to be a big waste of time. But she goes on to explain that the frustration you feel from not having that bag of french fries at lunch, or that big piece of cake after dinner, is really about habit. You feel something, and you react to it in a way that makes you feel good. And the point of doing this for 21 days is to break out of a bad habit.

I'm really starting to look toward the light at the end of the tunnel. There are two amazing things that have developed from the Cleanse so far. One is that in a short period of time, I've been able to kick caffeine and hopefully for good. I haven't craved a diet coke since the headaches passed and I'm really happy about that. The second is that I've discovered that making dinner from scratch isn't that much of a hassle. I can make a full-course meal at the end of a busy day. And Chuck and I both really love sitting at the table together to eat. It feels like we're building a family. It feels like I'm preparing to be Mom.

I can't wait to be able to eat gluten again. Yummy, yummy, yummy. That's what I miss the most. And I'm daydreaming of all the meals I'll make post-Cleanse. Mmmm . . .