Day 2

I woke up early, thanks to my dog, Molly. I don't know if it's because of that or because of the lack of caffeine, but I had a mild headache this morning. It probably wasn't helped by watching morning talk shows. I used to like watching the Today show in high school when I was getting ready for school in the morning. Now I have no idea why. The segments are too short and are complete fluff - and the same fluff day after day.

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: Gluten-free buckwheat waffle with Earth Balance vegan butter and a banana. The waffle included sugar as an ingredient, but I figured that was negligible, and I didn't put any syrup on it, so that counts for something.

Lunch: Leftover Oaxacan food from yesterday and some melon from the farmer's market.

Snack: Carrots and hummus - one of my favorite foods! Especially Trader Joe's organic hummus and baby carrots. So delicious and satisfying. Also had some tortilla chips and guacamole.

Dinner: Went out for sushi. Edamame, miso soup, 1/2 avocado & cucumber roll, and 1/2 shiitake mushroom roll. Technically, sushi rice has sugar in it and soy sauce is typically fermented with wheat, but it seemed like the best option for dining out.

So, I wasn't perfect today, but I feel good about what I ate. I also stopped by Whole Foods and stocked up on even more food that I can eat, so I feel well prepared. Maybe too prepared - there's like no space in the kitchen in my apartment since all three of us cook, but I squeezed it in. I also have to make sure I don't waste any of the produce I bought - I feel awful every time I throw away produce that's gone bad.

When I was putting away and organizing the new additions to my apartment kitchen, I did finish the last couple gluten-free chocolate chip cookies in the bag. I justified this by thinking that a) I was making room for the good stuff, and b) it's better to get rid of them now, at the start of the cleanse. I need to be careful that I don't continue to justify these excursions, and if I eat something on the "do not eat" list, it is deliberate.

So far, I've been focusing on getting into the food part of the cleanse. The next step is to delve more into meditating and focusing on myself and what I'd like to get out of this cleanse, which I'm still figuring out. Half of me feels like it wants safe stability, consistency and connections to home, while the other half wants new and exciting adventures and change. Not that life has to be one or the other, but I am looking for some clarity as to what my life is now and what path I want to take. One step at a time...