Day 1......

My dear friend at the beach is always such a blessing and source of encouragement for me. When we first met, we were home schooling our high school girls and we became fast friends as dispositions and personalities meshed together with ease. We shared events from marriage and parenting to God and blessings. She taught me to have a greater appreciation for timeless and passionate character cinema such as Inherit the Wind and Mr Smith Goes To Washington and even how to love the sweet innocence of Shall We Dance in Japanese and hold my sides in laughter at the perfection of The Reduced Shakespeare Company performing the Complete Works Of Shakespeare in under 2 hours.

Now she is once again influencing me. She just doesn't know it yet.
I have watched her over the last couple of years go through something of an amazing transformation. It began with her saying to herself, "I think I should eat a salad every day to help me be more healthy." After a bit of time it became 2 salads a day. Then other choices came along like using a juicer, growing sprouts and.........cutting back on coffee. (yikes!) None of these choices we made because of a diet or fad but simply a conviction to take better care of herself. The result has been amazing. She feels better and is in tune with how her body talks to her. Her blood pressure and cholesterol are down and she can now share clothes with her daughters now that she doesn't have starches storing up in her body.

I have always been intrigued. I have taken home the books she has offered and found them a good and inspiring read. But to walk out those changes has always seemed quite a daunting task. My excuse bag fills over flowing with lack of time to prepare, my family would never eat that way, the torture of preparing two meals (and theirs would be so tempting), what about nutritional deficiencies, the cost, time...time..........and more time.

I had something of a revelation yesterday and decided it doesn't have to be this daunting huge life time forever change that I embark on. I don't have to make it a here to eternity thing and wait for the first slip up to punish myself with scolding failure.
I chose to make things attainable for myself and try for one week to eat raw foods. I know I won't magically lose the 60 pounds that is following me around but I just might feel a bit different. Seven days should give me a taste for feeling a bit better and a little more detoxified.

Today is Day 1. My plan is simple with no complications and can be re-evaluated at any time in the future. For now, I can eat what I want, whenever I want and as much of it as I want as long as it is a raw food, dairy product or whole grain cereal. Actually the cereal and dairy I am sparing with but the raw foods ......well my refrigerator is full of every whim I can imagine. I have made it through 17 waking hours of making smart choices. I put a list in the kitchen of all my food choices so that in a flash of weakness I won't construe something like scalloped potatoes as a good food choice.

Oh and I have to confess just so it is all out here in the open....coffee is not on my okay list but I don't plan to abstain from it at this point. I think if I drank it as my only form of liquid then it would have to go but one cup a day isn't horrible.

Seven days.........one down and six to go.
I can do this.