Silent Killer

 Words alone are enough to drive anyone over the edge. The lack of actions really sends someone into a spiraling series of questions. Just as though they were jumping over the edge. That's the way I feel about it, though. Not having someone follow their word, complete or see through what they said they will do hurts. This attributed to me being the guarded person I am today. What it does do is fire me up to keep my word and see everything through. 

My lovely cousin reached out a week ago asking me to try only eating organic seeded fruits and juice for 3 days. Unfortunately, I said yes without realizing that I did not like a lot of fruit and was going out of town. On top of that, I had just pre-ordered some wings that would await me at my destination. So I delayed the start of this insane challenge. Now I call it insane because I am already slowly transitioning to becoming a vegetarian. So I had already removed beef and pork from my diet. Oh, and I also limited the amount of dairy I consume. 

This is all thanks to my many different intolerances. I have a gluten intolerance which has transformed my bread-loving life, as well as being lactose intolerant. My students even centered my gifts around this heart-breaking fact. The number of gluten-free brownies I received had me set for a month. I love them all very dearly. Off focus, but I am getting back to the point here. I had already started making significant changes to my diet that would benefit me and my ailments. For MS patients, they suggest that you go on a paleo or Mediterranean diet. Those are all great, but even Wahl's protocol still had foods I could not continue eating. So here I am, adjusting my diet in a way that helps me fight longer. 

Now those three days were challenging and accessible at the same time. On day one, I woke up at 6:20am and walked with my partner. There was a nice slight breeze that made the 1.23-mile walk enjoyable. Afterward, I showered and went straight to bed. Reminder, I am also crawling my way into running. When I finally felt rested, I decided to see what my first meal would be. I had grapes and water. Again I need to figure out what fruit to eat. By lunch, I had gone to the store to grab more fruit and even stopped to get a fresh smoothie. I had more grapes and some strawberries with some dried fruit for dinner. I felt hungry! I texted my cousin and vented about how hungry I was. She then reminded me I could eat as much fruit as I wanted. I was limiting myself to three meals! 

Day 2 was game time. I woke up for my morning walk and showered after. I completed 1.33 miles in less time than the day before. A lot more inclines, though. When it came time to eat, I finished my grapes and drank plenty of water. I went to the farmers market with my girls for lunch, and we got a lot more fruit than I could. Eat. After some research, we saw more fruits out there than we knew. I was set for dinner. I ate way more than grapes. Zucchini is a fruit! I ate half my weight in zucchini. I went to bed full and happy.

The final day has arrived, and I substituted my walk for lawn care since that takes all of my energy, especially with this heat. I crave sushi because I regularly visited Publix for their $5 sushi on Wednesday. I miss sushi so much, but not enough to give up on a challenge. I did a water challenge for a year. I know I can survive 3 days. I have consumed an apple, dehydrated fruit, watermelon, and much water. The cravings for other foods are overwhelming, but I focus on the goal. I hit a dream that I wasn't even attempting. I lost a solid 3 lbs doing this! Tonight I am going to finish strong with watermelon and an orange. Zucchini will be my dessert, but I look forward to eating a grain tomorrow.

I am grateful for a challenge and will always be up for one, but this one has been tough and beneficial. Keep going strong and keep taking those small steps. I tried a kombucha I liked in all of this, so there are some wins under challenging situations. I was able to keep my head up during stressful situations when I usually would be ready to hurt someone. This has opened my eyes to the fact that I cannot let food be my silent killer. I am on a new path. Will you accept this 3-day fruit challenge?