The End of Week One!

or
"Congratulations to Me!"

It is the end of week one, and while I am not quite bursting with energy thirty pounds lighter...I am feeling pretty good. It is definitely worth noting that I also am not exhausted, shaky, and ready to quit. I want to break it down fairly simply, so I'll just make some lists!

Number of times I've eaten cheese this week: 3
Pizza (terrible), a sandwich, and a burrito tonight. Not perfect, but considering my goal is only one bit of cheese a day, I'm actually really proud of myself.

Number of times I've had pop to drink this week: 0
Yep, you read that right. I am awesome. That is all.

Number of additional times I've been tempted to cheat: 2
and it was cheese both times. Once at the bar, which I blogged about, and once tonight at a certain chain fast-food tex-mex place; I did order a burrito with cheese but it could have been so much worse.

Pros of Being Popless:
I'm not thirsty as often. My food tastes better for some inexplicable reason. Most importantly, peace of mind. While I'm not going to see a ton of effects after week one, I definitely feel better now then when I began. Additionally, I know I'll feel even better in a couple of weeks.

Cons of Being Popless:
Only that moment of panic in the convenience store when you realize everything else is more expensive. But eventually you just get over it, buy less, and learn to refill your bottles with water.

Pros of The Great Cheese Cutback:
Pride in myself. I honestly didn't know if I could do this. Now I am 99% sure that I can.
More creativity in my food selection, esp. with herbs.
Price of food; people complain going organic is expensive, but without buying seven different kinds of cheese I am almost positive I paid less for groceries this go-round.
Again, peace of mind.
My body seemes to be working more like it's supposed too. I'd specify, but it might get icky.
Less caffeine gives me more of a kick. Which also means I'm taking in less, which is good.

Cons of the Great Cheese Cutback:
Figuring out what to order in a lot of restaurants is really tricky. It's a little easier with one cheese a day, but still a challenge.
Being hungry more often. I know it's probably better for me, but It's kind of annoying.
Having to cook so much, all the time. I love cooking, but it's really time-consuming to do this all the time.

Surprise!
I don't even miss soda. I really wish I'd made that decision sooner.
Less food fills me up even though I'm hungry more often.
The energy boost was almost immediate. Like I said, it wasn't immediately overflowing, I don't hop out of bed. But considering my erratic sleep schedule, it's amazing that I have an energy boost at all.

Reasons I'm Less Than Proud of Myself:
I still need to work on cutting back on cheese.
I am taking in way too much refined sugar, and healthy fat. I know that healthy fat is...well, healthy, but I think too much still ends up stored as fat, and that I'm not okay with.
Too. Much. Caffeine.
Probably too much beer. Again, in moderation it is shown to have a lot of positive effects, but I think there is roomfor improvement.

Reasons I AM Proud of Myself:
I don't even miss pop.
I've added a substantial amount of new, healthy food and herbs to my diet (ginger root, miso, almond milk, extra veggies, blood oranges, etc) and am fairly reliant on them as food sources.
I've gotten even better at cooking!
I am still avoiding things I already avoided; fried food, etc.
I've found weaned myself off of the typical vegetarien soy-dependency decently. I know soy in moderation is healthy, but I was not eating it in moderation and it can have a negative effect on your thyroid.
I've upped my water intake like, a million percent.
I've adapted to the changes my body is going through decently (the need for snacks, remember to take extra vitamins, etc).

So, I guess that about covers it! Let me know what type of posts you'd like to see next week. Peace and love.