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.

Cheat?

Alright y'all, I might have known someone who went out last night for her cousin's birthday. She may have explained to her cousin's boyfriend that she was drinking only water for a month. He could have bought her a Jell-O shot and explained to her that she would be eating the alcohol. Loophole? I think so! Er - rather, she might have thought so.

And she took blatant advantage of this opportunity to bend the rules. The end.

I want

coffee.

Liquid

...with the exception of good ol' HtwoO.

I've got a friend named Daniel who once went thirty days without bread and cookies and all of that. Then he went thirty without meat. then he just went back to normal. He said it was an "exercise in self-discipline," and that was that. No other reason. Swell fella, that Daniel.

So I was sitting my bathroom exfoliating my feet (something that people don't do often enough) and feeling thirsty. Sometimes i get REALLY thirsty - just ask my husband; he suffers from the same affliction. Anyway, exfoliating, feeling thirsty, blah blah, and I realized that we didn't have anything to drink except (please restrain your gag reflexes) water. Now, don't get me wrong, I like to eat well - I cook most of my meals from scratch and I use all organic ingredients. No bleached flour, no simple carbs, lots of fresh veggies and as much grass-fed meat as I can get my little grubbies on. I don't drink soda except on the rarest of occasions. I have water a couple of times a day, maybe as I'm running out the door or pouring some for my dog and realizing how thirsty I am. Let me tell you something, though - I love me some milk and juice. I always have both with my coffee for breakfast. If I had to choose between eating or drinking for the rest of my life, I would choose drinking, hands down, no questions. Not to mention I love beer.

I decided as I was scraping off the last of my dead skin from my feet and feeling ever more parched that I could do it - thirty days, nothing but water to drink. Sounds easy enough, and healthier, too. I came into our office where Daniel and my husband Levi were sitting playing Half-Life (a favorite Sunday night pastime) and shared my huge life-altering, bodacious plan. Daniel jumped right on board. Not Levi, though, he's far too thirsty for this task.

But your blog is called Thirty-ONE Days Without you say? Well, after toiling over the blog name, everything involving 'thirty days' was taken, so we upped the challenge for the sake of trendy technology.

Starting tomorrow when I wake up, I can't have coffee. Or juice. Or Milk. No Crystal Lite, iced tea, or flavored water. No milkshakes or beers on Friday nights. Only water - with citrus sqeezed into it if we so desire. Rules may need to be updated and I might get into a few battles with my tastebuds, but I can do this - right? Right.

Ready, aim, drink.