Day 4 review

Because the issue with morning hunger has been so significant for me, I've forgotten to mention that although I'm drinking 100 ounces of water a day, that I'm always feeling dehydrated.  It's not just a sense of thirst.  My mouth is actually dry.

I'm so glad I'm rereading sections of the book each day.  Today I read that if you are constantly feeling dehydrated that you should add fresh lemon juice to your water.  I just happened to have a lemon in the kitchen at work and \put it in my next glass of water after lunch.  I seriously wondered if it would be OK just to suck on a lemon wedge for the time being, but managed to restrain myself.  I know that sounds silly, but this feeling isn't great and is probably contributing to my morning hunger issues.

If you are wondering why lemon does this, Lyn-Genet says that it makes water more alkaline and the Vitamin C increases hydration levels.  Awesome!

I got to add goat cheese to my lunch today and it was just fantastic!  So delicious and satisfying.  I polished that salad off super fast.  Oops.  I really should have taken my time!

After lunch my left arm was hurting.  This was the same pain that I suffered from earlier in the year that I had been convinced was induced by food.  It's really a long story, but the short version is that while I likely was responding to food (probably in the form of inflammation) the issue that brought it to the forefront and produced the pain was in my neck.  I've been going to the chiropractor for a month and have improved greatly.  The pain coming back after lunch was unsettling at best.

By the time my afternoon snack came around I was totally craving hummus.  The recipe from The Plan doesn't use tahini and I really thought it was going to suck.  It was actually REALLY good!  I might have wiped the inside of the container with my finger and licked the inside of the bowl....maybe.

Now that I've finished the cleanse stage and am into the testing stage, I was thrilled to have a few restrictions lifted.  Starting on day 4 I could have coffee, chocolate, and red wine.  I skipped the coffee and after 3 days caffeine free I didn't feel I needed it.  I bought a fancy chocolate bar and had just one small piece.  It was a fantastic indulgence.

I was a bit scared to try the red wine.  I haven't had it in about 10 years because the tannins have induced migraines.  But the book insists it's good for me and it's possible with my body in a healing state that I may be able to tolerate it now.  I started with just a little in the glass, then poured a bit more.  By the end of the night, I had about a glass over the course of two hours.  The best part is that I did it with no migraine symptoms! Awesome!

Drum roll, please.....

Hmmm...not as awesome as I'd hoped.  Maybe it was the goat cheese?  The wine?

It's honestly hard to tell.  There is already a pattern though. The first day I had a huge loss, then a modest one on the second.  I repeated the pattern on days 3 and 4.  Maybe that's just the way it is and it wasn't the goat cheese?

I wish there was some way to know.  I especially wish that I had someone to ask about it!!  There is a Facebook page, but it doesn't appear to be set up for questions like this.

I'll take it easy with the goat cheese and wine for now.  If you have any experience with this, leave a comment to let me know!

B