I'm taking the plunge.

Today is the fifteenth day of my water fast, and I must say that it is getting easier every day; so easy, in fact, that I'm going to add to my challenge.

I have spoken to several people about what my next step would be in this quest to better myself - maybe giving up sweets, maybe starches, maybe something else. I was going to wait for Daniel to be my accountability, but I think I'm going to have to do this one on my own to prove to myself that I can indeed do it by myself.

I have the tendency to turn to sweet foods when I'm emotionally charged. Unfortunately, I grew up in a house where we both dealt with problems and celebrated by eating. and eating. and eating. My husband and I are slowly changing this trend by eating a little from each 'food group' at each meal in moderation and using lots of whole ingredients in smart ways.

I work in a place where there is constantly 'fake' food everywhere - processed, packaged, and boxed - kid food. Needless to say, this isn't so good for the ol' gut. So, drumroll please, I'm totally giving up crappy foods for thirty-one days as of midnight tonight. Whew, that took some courage to type.

What does this mean? Well, here are a couple of lists:

NO

Prepackaged foods

Baked goods, including all breads

White rice

Potatoes and root vegetables

Fried foods

Flour

Pasta

Sugar

Desserts

Foods labeled "low-carb;" this seems like a cop-out

Chips

etc.

YES

Beans

Nuts

Non-root veggies, especially crisp and green ones

Barley

Quinoa

Amaranth

High-fiber cereals

Brown Rice

Oatmeal

Fruits

Legumes

Meat

etc.

I think the root of all of this is to eat as humans were designed to eat. When we were first hanging out on our planet, there were no Oreos, Doritos, or cakes. I really believe that we were meant to eat lots of stuff straight from the earth, just as it comes with little manipulation. I'm not quite ready to do a raw diet (in fact, I don't think I ever will be), but I can get close. Of course, this goes on top of my water fast.

Sigh.