Week 3 of UltraMetabolism Detox, or Why Is Everyone Tempting Me With Free Pastries?

In the last 24 hours, on three separate occasions, I have walked away from free buffets of bread, donuts, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, carrot cake and a host of other bakery items. And bacon. All because of my UltraMetabolism detox. It's a good thing that Phase I is only one more week — Jocelyn is becoming a very bitter girl.

I think if I walk away from this detox having learned anything, it will have been to be more conscious about food and my eating habits. Right now especially, depriving myself of so many of my favorite things, I find myself really thinking about what I'm putting in my mouth and how it tastes (sometimes good, sometimes bad). In the future I think that even when I eat something that I shouldn't, I will do it with a conscious knowledge and appreciation for the experience. Hopefully that's a good thing, right?

In the meantime, a few things that I've learned so far about healthy eating and my reactions to it:

Things that I hope I never have to go without again:

• some kind of sweetener (if not sugar, then at least agave nectar or honey)
• butter
• bread
• eggs

Things I hope I never have to eat again:

• Unsweetened soy milk
• Quinoa as a substitute for oatmeal at breakfast

Things, despite expectations, I actually like:

• Plain soy yogurt — although a little runny, it tastes good and works in smoothies
• Gluten-free bread —well, kind-of like
• Quinoa as a substitute for rice at dinner — you can even cook it in your rice cooker, too!
• Kale — my new favorite all-purpose veggie: it adds an interesting texture to my smoothies, and I'm completely addicted to kale chips — who knew? 

Oh yea, although I don't know what it is, I'm pretty sure that one of the things I've given up (gluten, dairy, sugar, eggs, caffeine, peanuts) is responsible for a lot of my sinus congestion. I've gone 2 1/2 weeks without my nasal spray with no issues, which has been unheard of for me for the last six or seven years. I'm anxious to start reintroducing these things (for many reasons!) to see what I might have to give up. With my luck, it'll be gluten or sugar.

All in all, a pretty enlightening experiment so far.