Day 34 - Rose Colored Glasses

But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Psalm 68: 3

Monday, April 11, 2011

I had my Monday appointment with Dr. Ford this morning, and have now officially crossed over into the second trimester. I have completed the first third of the 100 days.

There is still some leg cramping in the mornings, but my blood sugar is stabilizing. And my appetite has decreased. For the past week or so I've found I'm not nearly so hungry, so my body is adjusting to what it's taking in. I'm decreasing portion sizes now, and the pounds are starting to come off.

As of today, I've lost 11 pounds. In just four more days I will be through the 30-day purification diet, and can start adding foods slowly back into my menus. That is definitely something I'm looking forward to! I should learn more about that at my next appointment on Wednesday.

I can't have dried fruits, even if there are no additives. I found this surprising, until Dr. Ford explained that the sugar content is highly concentrated in dried fruits. And since I have sugar issues, I need to keep away from them.

I sure miss coffee in the mornings! It has nothing to do with the caffeine, I'm fine with decaf. But I love the smell and the taste. One of these days...another thing to happily work toward.

Dr. Ford had a new exercise for me to do, where I wear a pair of red-lensed aviator glasses. The red glass is supposed to help stimulate melatonin production, and slow down the overfiring midbrain. In other words, it's to help with relaxation. I'm still having problems in that area. I can follow directions on what to eat and not eat, what supplements to take and for how long. But ask me to relax? What does that even mean?

I also need to learn how to breathe.

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " Ezekiel 37: 9

Deep breathing techniques are supposed to help me relax. Maybe I'll finally get it, maybe I'll finally be able to relax. But right now I'm trying too hard, stressing out over my unrelaxed state. The harder I try to relax, the tenser I become.

Some things just don't come that easily.

For breakfast, I had leftover sweet and sour pork. I ate lunch out with a friend, and ordered a rib eye steak smothered in grilled red onions, steamed veggies, and a side salad with olives and oil and vinegar dressing. Dinner was my super salad with chicken, bacon, red onions, avocado, peaches, greens and celery.