Week 6 Review: Hooray, Sugar Fast! Boo, More Sleep!

Ahhh. I feel so much better this weekend than I did last weekend. This is definitely something I need to note for future months. It seems there’s some disequilibrium in the initial 1-2 weeks, but then things settle down a bit.

I am absolutely loving the sugar-and-alcohol fast. Seriously. I do crave wine and gin and tonics and gluten-free vegan carrot cake, but I feel so much better, it’s worth missing out on those yummy things. I have more energy, and it’s such a treat not to worry about paying for an indulgence with a sleepless night of feeling crappy.

My feeling better may also have to do with the dietary change of eating more veggies. The adjustment period appears to be over, and now I’m just really liking all the vegetables. It’s much easier than I thought it would be to clean and chop veggies. I mostly just add a salad to a meal I’m already eating, or I’ll steam some green beans or munch on some carrot sticks. The other day I got fancy and made ants on a log. They were surprisingly tasty. I was only momentarily disappointed that my daughter didn’t like them. Inspired by my success with eating more vegetables, I’ve also taken a cue from the “nutritarian” diet (this link is, oddly enough, to a page written by a math professor at the University of Oklahoma; it’s the most concise explanation I’ve found) and have tried to eat 1 cup of beans, an ounce of nuts/seeds, and 1 pound (ish) of fruit each day. My diet is decidedly healthier than it was before September.

My sleep habits…not so much. I think I’ve gotten to bed before midnight twice so far this month. And one of those was 11:40. Maybe I’m just not committed to the idea. I really am curious to see what things change as a result of getting more sleep, so I’m not ready to give it up just yet. I’m going to try it out this week with a bedtime routine. It works for my kids, maybe it will work for me.

The daily walk has gone OK. Many days I accidentally take the walk, like when I wear the baby while I walk around and around the block to get him to nap while my daughter’s at gymnastics. Other days I just forget about it. I’m not really sweating it, though. I’m willing to let the walk become a habit if it works out and to let it go if it doesn’t.

In general, I’m not finding self care all that exciting. It’s just kind of basic Mom Maintenance, and I’d already started doing a lot to maintain myself before this month. I still love going to the gym and having the babysitter 6 hours a week has become almost a necessity for maintaining my sanity. But none of these things is really all that exciting, and it all takes extra work.

If I can find room for it in the budget, I’d really like to buy myself a massage. That’s the kind of self care I can really get excited about.