Simple Pleasures

I'm still juicing (today is day 56) and helping my Omaha clients get organized before I move to Santa Fe in May.  I'm planning to end my juice fast on February 28th, which will make 65 days.  I've lost 52lbs so far and only 11lbs away from my first goal.  Starting March 1st I'll transition back into solid food with a little fruit and salad each day.  Ultimately, I'll be back to eating a balanced breakfast and lunch, and juice during the evenings to help keep the evening munchies at bay.   

Juicing has become a "gateway drug" for me and is leading me down a path to permanent change in my eating habits.  Not just to lose weight, but to heal my body after a lifetime of overeating and filling my body with processed food.  I am nervous about having more choices once I'm done with my juice fast and accept that I will fall off the organic wagon, but I know juicing will always be my ticket for that ride.

I've also set a date for move for the weekend of May 16th and plan to have another garage sale the week before to sell the rest of my furniture anything that won't fit in my car.  Until then, I am helping my Mom manage the remodel of her new apartment, fostering my son's cat Bella and enjoying each day with my friends and clients here in Omaha.

Some of my simple pleasures today are getting these lovely flowers from a lovely friend & juicing new combinations of fruit & vegetables.  I'm still astonished by the pleasure I get from shopping for vegetables for my daily juices & really enjoyed this combo of cherry tomatoes, carrots and orange pepper this afternoon.   I also spent some time with my 21 year old son tonight looking at the artwork I saved from his elementary days.  It such a pleasure to hear him laugh at the poems he wrote for me when he was a little boy.  Now it's time for my other simple pleasure, bedtime.

Simple Abundance

The first day of 2014 will find me ringing in my 7th day of my juice reboot.  During the last week I've had more energy than I could have imagined and constantly surprised by the lack of physical hunger.  The most welcome surprise though has been the quieting of the mental chatter in my head about food.  My initial goal was to help my body detox and start a new relationship with food.  So a good house cleaning was in order and the peace and quiet of the last week has been a gentle segue into a new and simpler way of eating.  

I'm not sure how long I'll keep going with it, but I've notice that the mild case of eczema that I've had for a few years is almost gone and my skin in general feels softer - even my feet feel softer!  I've also lost a total of 17 pounds since last Monday (10 days ago - I lost about 6 pounds during those 3 days that I had the flu).  I did get out and walk a couple days during this week, but we got hit with a cold snap and I haven't been back out walking since last Friday.  I have been more active though and gotten quite a bit of cleaning done around the house and even made it through a 3 hour organizing session with a client yesterday without taking any ibuprofen.  

While I'm excited and encouraged by this initial weight loss, I have a long way to go and this reboot is just the beginning.  I have no desire or intention to go back to my old eating habits.  My ultimate goal is to juice about 1 liter of green veggies and fruit everyday and eat 1-2 small meals with minimally processed, whole foods - limiting my meat consumption to 2-3 times per week.  For now, I'm letting my body be my guide and feel that it will tell me when it's ready to break my fast and move forward into a healthier & simple way of eating.

One of my books that making the trip.

During this time I've also been thinking about my WORD for 2014.  This is something my friend Erin Garcia, a Life Coach in Phoenix, does to help her & her clients focus on moving forward in a positive manner throughout the year.  I never really came up with one last year, but think now that my word for 2013 was RADICAL.  It makes since then that my word for 2014 would be SIMPLICITY.  I've already started by simplifying my possessions and now I'm simplifying my food.  However, I also need to do some revamping of my finances (a.k.a. need to make more money) and was thinking that the Universe might get the wrong idea & prolong this "paycheck-2-paycheck" paradigm that I've manifested for myself.  So, I decided to focus on "SIMPLE ABUNDANCE" in the coming year so all of my bases are covered.  I also believe that the more I continue to simplify my life the more abundant it will become and I look forward to all of the delightful surprises & wonderful adventures that are making there way to me.  I hope the coming year is Simple and Abundant for you and yours as well.