Seven: Week One

Day 1 - Today I started re-reading 7, and I also wrote my description of the project. I remember chuckling about being irritated that Jen Hatmaker started off the food experiment chapter complaining that she didn't get her daily coffee... haha...ha... The joke was on me. Though I started reducing my caffeine intake at Christmas, I wasn't as prepared as I hoped I'd be. Maybe it was because I was up late on New Year's Eve playing board games till almost one (three to four hours after my normal bedtime,) but I was miserable most of the day. I had a mild headache and it was cold and rainy all day, so I didn't ever feel great. My meals went okay -- for breakfast I had a spinach and turkey omelet with an apple. For my mid-morning snack, I had some oatmeal; lunch was spinach, deli turkey, apple, and half an avocado all fixed as a naked salad (I miss my homemade vinaigrette.) I had another apple mid-afternoon just trying to get my body a bit of a sugar boost to help with my headache -- it didn't work. Dinner was tasty -- smoked Greenburg turkey, sweet potato, and steamed spinach, while the family had the turkey, sweet potatoes, spinach salad, and stuffing. I drank hot water all day long just trying warm up and to hydrate to make my head quit hurting. Today was not any fun, but I prayed a lot ... often with frustration. It was a victorious day, though! Tomorrow, something will need to change.

Day 2 - This went so much better than the first day. When I woke up, I stayed in bed until I had prayed and read a few devotionals from my Made to Crave book. That helped me a lot! It started my day with the proper focus -- God, not coffee... my new morning mantra. Instead of saying, "My day can start as soon as I get my coffee," I'll start with God... first thing, before my feet hit the floor, I won't even have to wait the brew time. Allen went back to work today, so I kept it very low key with the kids so I wouldn't have much added stress. Instead of thinking about how I'll make it through another 30 days with this diet, I am choosing to focus on one day at a time. I called Ema this afternoon when the headache started. We are both cranky with our limited selections, but we were more cheerful after discussing it. Today was successful. I'm ready for tomorrow.

Day 3 - I woke up craving fruit. Not just any fruit... but anything but apples or avocados. I woke up thinking about sweet oranges, pineapples, grapefruits, grapes, bananas, mango, strawberries... mmmmm. I stayed in bed until I read some devotions. What a surprise that the first scripture was about even better fruits:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ~Galatians 5:22-23a

I definitely needed that one at that moment, and I read it several times today. (Though, by the end of the day, I had run out of gentleness and patience, as I felt like the kids used up all the peace with their lack of self-control.) The day went pretty well food-wise. I didn't get a headache, so I think my body is almost used to no caffeine. I was fairly bored with food today and often hungry, but for no apparent reason since I felt like I was eating enough and drinking plenty of water. This evening, I really wanted something crunchy, so I experimented trying to make some oatmeal-cookie-type crisps. The second round ended up with the edges of the thin cookies crunchy, but I need to work on the recipe a bit more. (I used rolled oats and oat bran, grated apple and its juice, an egg, and sweet potato for some added sweetness.) The "cookies" turned out decent... sort of like a breakfast type cookie without as much sweetness as a regular cookie. It was good, but I still need to figure out how to get crunch, and the apples haven't been what I'm after.

Day 4 - Today went well. I didn't crave much, and when I did, I reminded myself to crave the fruits of the Spirit. I did get some apple juice (100%, so still "approved") and add it to some of my hot cups of water. It was tea-like, then, and a nice change. I picked up three more types of apples, and I think the Pinks are my new favorite this season -- sweet and tangy, but a bit more punch than the honeycrisps have been. Tonight, all of us ate smoked turkey and spinach fritata. The family had fruit salad, and I just had the apple. All the kids ate seconds or thirds and asked for more... I'll have to put it on the menu again. It is nice not having to make different dinners for them and me. Overall, this one was a great day for seven.

Day 5 - Food wise, life is much easier now that I've been starting the day with scripture and devotions. Unfortunately, I woke up with sore shoulders and eventually I ended up with a headache that had me really wanting some caffeine. I settled for some Motrin, but I'm still waiting for some relief. Even though I realized how often I turned to foods for comfort, it is taking this experiment for me to identify even more of the wrong times I do so. Previously, I don't think I realized that when I get headaches, I head for coffee or a Coke. Tonight, the family is eating one of my favorite left-over turkey dishes; turkey Devonshire is an open-faced turkey sandwich on toast with bacon and tomato and a really awesomely delicious homemade cheese sauce over the top. I'll be having my turkey on spinach with some of those zesty apples and avocado.... yes, again. I think I may be sick of turkey by the end of January, but I will have to have one last bite in February with some of that Devonshire sauce.

Day 6 - If I didn't even think about blogging how the day went, it must have gone well... right? I really don't remember much, but our Sunday school class lesson was speaking right to me. We were talking about being too comfortable and how we (like the Old Testament Israelites) tend to forget about God when everything is going well. Sometimes, it is important to make yourself uncomfortable to reconnect with Him. I still miss my coffee, but now my mornings start with prayer and reading... that's how I'm reconnecting with discomfort.

Day 7 - Will went back to school today, the three others played well all day. Not too bad of a way to ease back into routines. Food-wise, the challenges that were mountains are small hills the last few days. A few times I really have wanted a Hershey Kiss, but the hardest times are when I'm cooking for everyone else (I'm used to tasting and adjusting, rather than using a recipe.)  I've come up with a few desperate recipes when I'm wanting something other than my plain-seven. I made something that reminded me of Stouffer's spinach souffle (whipped egg whites, lots of spinach, half an avocado, pinch of salt and pepper) and sort of a crunchy cookie that worked well as a snack through out the day (oats, sweet potato, grated apple, egg). Maybe I'll come up with something else soon. Tomorrow will be my next big challenge since there is always brunch before Bible study, but what an awesome fruit I've learned self-control is!!