21 Day Challenge - You're On!- Here is Day 1
You may or may not have seen that our esteemed colleague, FranCallado (https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/francallado), has issued a 21-Day Challenge - see here: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/francallado/blog/i-challenge...
Let's do this thing!
21 Day Challenge - You're On! - Here is Day 1
D-Day with a difference
Friday 18 January I decided that it's time to make a major change, do something radical to help me feel better health wise, free me from the exhaustion and lethargy I've been wrestling.
Saturday morning it began - DETOX! No coffee, no dairy, no processed food. Being a coffieholic, just this one thing is a BIG challenge for me. Not only do I love and adore coffee (I mean serious adoration, can't start the day without it, lunch ain't finished without it either!), I have a thing for coffee heated up in milk before adding the water. You add the coffee to cold milk and gradually heat it up, yum, it's just so delicious! The aroma, the frothy milk, the skin on the top (yes, I am one of the few weirdos who loves the skin, before we knew better as kids our grandmother had us competing for it, on milk and custard!). Ah yes, coffee, my friend and ally!
Saturday ...
Saturday started well, breakfast was delicious fruit and nuts - refreshing and cool, perfect for a hot summers day. Not to be defeated by the obvious, preparation was in place with a choice substitute - Green Tea with Mint, oh yes, not just any Green Tea but a special flavoured one!
I had my first vision board workshop set for the afternoon - no problem! I will do my chores, write a blog, maybe enjoy some down time and then amble over to my client's home. Ah, no, distraction had other plans for me. Instead, I wandered around my townhouse listlessly moving things from place to place rather than cleaning. Enough of that! Lap top all charged up, I urged myself to do something constructive for my website. Oh dear, the result was me sat aimlessly staring at the screen!
Before I knew it, 1pm announced it's arrival. Quickly, I gathered all the necessaries and headed out the door. En route I bought a selection of raw nuts, sliced watermelon and "cheated" with healthy beetroot and sweet potato crisps, to wash this all down, the selection was cranberry juice - excellent for cleansing the system too! Arrival at Lynne's place was, as always, a big occasion! Lots of hugs and kisses in the greeting process. Loud laughter (not so much my own, my head was starting to throb!), and gaiety! Oh, I love this woman so!
The fragrance of wine (and I mean fragrance, it smelled so delicious!) emanating from Lynne's glass. No, I am detoxing, I stood firm! Lynne continued with her wine and participating in devouring the healthy food selection I brought with. It really did look this good!
But Man, My Head...
As the afternoon progressed, my headache did too, nevertheless we laughed and had a great time. I was able to relay the messaging behind why Vision Board Workshops have become a part of my life, my calling. Lynne loved it! She was inspired and as a woman of many, many words, her vision board was consisted primarily of words - I have never seen this before, it fascinated me!
Before we knew it, the time was 7pm (you can imagine the state of my head by then!) the winds picked up and a storm was brewing. Oh, yay for me! We have completed the workshop, beautiful Vision Boards were created, lots of laughter (yes, in spite of my aching skull!) and memories were made. But you've heard of "saved by the bell"? Yes, I was saved by the storm! I have a lot of love in my heart for Lynne, but truly the pain in my head had started to control my every thought, the impending storm saw me beat a hasty retreat home!
Home Sweet Home ...
Arriving home my three feline fur babies greeted me with the usual adoration in their eyes and unusually ear-piercing meows for food. Only then did I realize, I hadn't bought their special soft food - and no way was I going out in the storm with this now seriously throbbing brain of mine! After some tender persuasion (at least I hope it was tender!), my fur babies ate the crunchies whilst I made a weaving pathway to my bed! No, food was the last thing on my mind and as for coffee, why, oh why do I feel so dreadful without you? I thought we were friends! What do you do to me when I savour you so?!
Saturday night was low-key outside of my Whatsapp ding, ding, dinging with news of my homeland - none too pleasing news at that! I managed to get some intermittent sleep, read the concerning messages, eventually handed it all over to my Heavenly Father and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep!
Sunday Morning ...
The sunlight greeted me cheerfully, my head felt numb - no pain, this is good, NO, IT'S GREAT! Sunday is one of my happiest days of the week, I get to lift "my boys" to church and spend time with them there! Leaping out of bed, I realize, that numb skull, nope, it ain't so numb - a rather ominous throb is vaguely making itself known.
Casting it out of my mind, I dress, grab a bottle of water (mistake number one - no substitute) forsake the morning meal (mistake number two - no dinner the night before) and head off to collect my gorgeous young guys!
The drive to church is unusually quiet, I ask how everyone is and they are all "fine". Perhaps it's my blessing I think to myself, the boys are quiet and my head, whilst the dull throb is threatening, is stabilizing in the silence of the car.
Worship was awesome as usual, we prayed fervently for the country of my birth and the message was powerful and pertinent. Half way through however, I notice my vision starting to blur. Closing one eye to focus on the pastor, I notice, my left eye is OK, it is just the right one giving me grief. No problem, I can do this. I sip gratefully from my water bottle.
Then end of the experience arrives and I proceed to the coffee area to meet with my boys. Usually one of the older boys has the tag and collects the younger guys from the children's church. Coffee is flagrantly fragrant everywhere I turn, fortunately for me, my head and now threatening double vision, help me along the way! Long story short - because I am already at 1100+ words - today is the day that confusion reigns among st my youngsters and eventually I visit children's church myself to find out what is happening. At that point, half of the kids are waiting at the car and the other half are looking for me. Suffice to say, I was very very quiet and we drove (very carefully) home right away.
This Sunday was to become a Comedy of Errors ... to be continued ...
Blessed Am I To Detox
The benefits of detox are evident, just not in the first day or two. I have a double blessing because I have a topic to blog about for the next couple of days and get - eventually - to enjoy the benefits of clean eating and blog about it as I go.
Until tomorrow ... Day 1 of 21 done and dusted!
Blessings
Recent Comments
51
Good luck with the detox Louise!
I’m not sure there’s anything that would convince me to give up my morning coffee, followed by steel cut oats and blueberries. It’s been my ritual for years.
KyleAnn
Thank you KyleAnn
After this i don't know what would persuade me to drink it again, haha! It's been rough but the benefits are already showing :-)
Blessings
Louise
Always an enjoyable read Louise.
Happy to see your vision board business is moving well.
I hope your detox gets easier with time, actually I believe it will. I've been for 3 years without sugars nor cereal, the sugar detox is painful, but it took me little longer than a week.
Coffee is my only current addiction, I drink plain expresso though... but I've felt headaches on days when I didn't drink coffee and had the feeling it could be related.
Another thing I'd like to share with you is, both gluten and sugar and inflamatories. I used to suffer from migraines and never again.
Lastly, thank you very much for sharing the challenge, I hope a lot of people will benefit from it.
Thank you Fran.
Yes, the vision board business is on it's way now, will post pics of the boards as I go too.
Yeah, what we do to our bodies with "normal" consumption. I need to record this to make sure I remember!
It's a pleasure, I needed the challenge to get me going in the community again.
Looking forward to your upcoming blogs too.
Blessings
Louise
Ahhhh!! The skin on custard - one of lives treasures, yummy!
Agghhh!! The detox headache. I remember that one from some years ago when trying the Atkins diet I think it was. Never again. We now drink decaf tea and coffee - me a teaaholic!
Haha! Another "weirdo" lol! My daughter says I am completely weird and NOONE likes the skin! I will have to show her your reply. It is the best for sure!
Yeah, the headache is no fun, I am too scared to even look at decaf anything! It's early days still, will see how I go.
Yes Debbie cannot be in the same room when I eat it, she says it appals her!!!!! What are they like?
Keep going!!.... I'm entranced! 😲
What happened next??
Oh... Congratulations on the detox!! Yea You!! 💖
Shaunna
Haha! See you tomorrow Shaunna :-)
Thank you for the visit and the laugh.
Yeah, detox does deserve an award, it's tough! Whew!
Blessings
Louise
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Good for you Louise! Detoxing is a good thing. It takes me a few days at least to get over the coffee. It’s the worst. Coffee is still in my life (even through detox’s) and always will be. That’s the plan anyway. Started drinking it at 17 and still drinking it in my 50s. It’s not only the ingesting the coffee but the whole ritual around it that brings comfort. (In fact doing that morning ritual as Im reading your blog). Of course you can create a ritual around your tea as well. And as you get over that whole coffee addiction thing, you feel like you are doing something great for yourself. Keep it up and I wish you all the best. As always, love your post.
Dina:)
Thank you Dina :-) I really am fortunate to be detoxing and found this 21 Day Challenge - I need to blog about this so I remember it well, haha! Will help with the temptations, we know they're just around the corner!
Blessings
Louise
Yes, logging what you eat is so helpful when you go through something like this and blogging about it to your audience creates that accountability piece that is so beneficial as you continue on in your journey.
All the best,
Dina:)