Days 20 to 25 - A Blur of Days

I have no idea where these last days went!  We should have installed a revolving door on our garage, instead of the new knob I'll tell you about later.  My mom was in the hospital for a total of 3.5 days  during which time we tried our best to bring healthy meals and fresh fruit smoothies with greens mixed in.  Whole food is so important for optimal health and a speedy recovery.  
I took a picture of the staples in my mom's knee but I'm pretty sure you don't want to see it!  Once a patient with a knee replacement is discharged the real work begins.  There are meals to be delivered, exercises to be done, appointments to get to, cleaning, well you get the idea.  Even though our house has been a busy place with all the normal household stuff, full time work, kids in school and activities, visits and meals to mom; we have managed to stick with the cleanse and even squeeze in two hours of skiing on the weekend.  I must confess that we both "cheated" and had some coffee this week but we have maintained everything else.  
One thing I've learned about myself through doing these cleanses is I'm an all or nothing sort of person.  By this I mean, it's way easier for me to say I'm not eating sugar than it is for me to cut down and just eat half a brownie.  You'd think this would be something I'd know about myself before turning 30 but I didn't know it until taking on the challenge of my first cleanse.  
As the last 3 days of this 28 day cleanse are here I'm already thinking about all the things I will maintain and things I will splurge on.  I am pretty sure I will continue to eliminate wheat, or at least drastically reduce it.  I am also going continue with my reduced coffee consumption and switch to black coffee from the cream I usually take with mine.  I am not going to buy processed snacks and "treats" for the kids anymore.  We will make our own snacks or do without.  I'll share more plans later

Yesterday I started on my Quick Books challenge!  You know, it is just so much easier to ask for or accept help when you need it than to muddle through things on your own. A friend was reading this blog and she offered to help get me started with my books.  Several years ago I would have declined the offer and just plugged away on my own but this time I couldn't email her back fast enough!  There was an ice storm the morning of our first meeting but there was no way I was going to postpone this agony any longer, that's what snow tires, 4 wheel drive and driving 20 mph are for!  I learned a few things from my friend so I'll be inputting information over the next couple a days until our next appointment where I'll learn my next step.  Baby steps. 

So back to the  door knob.  For 10 years we've had this doorknob that sticks, it's no trouble for us but the kids can't open it.  Every time we use that entrance the girls have to wait for us which means there is a cluster of us going in the door at the same time.  Dennis switched it out of the lever type!  (My brilliant idea, his implementation)  Dennis has totally gained energy and motivation from this cleanse.  Sometimes it can take 10 years for you to realize that something isn't working quite right and then make the effort to make the necessary changes.   If you've been thinking about changing your lifestyle and want to find you way to optimal health maybe now is the time to take those baby steps?

---

Roast beef, brown rice, fried spinach, garlic

Eggs on toast - bread recipe from Wheat Belly substituted almond milk for dairy

Seriously? 5 lbs of nutella for $40! No I didn't buy it but I couldn't resist the photo op. Hemp seeds in my other arm. (The coat is faux)