Day 20-21

I have no business being up at 12:30am, so let me share just a few thoughts as this challenge draws to a close...

1.  I a so glad I didn't pledge to blog daily about this.

2.  Lots of tooting.  I mean, let's get real.

3.  I didn't miss cheese as much as I thought I would.

4.  I really miss sugar.

5.  Surprisingly, I feel more alert withOUT the caffiene now.  I found it harder to stay up later and just went to bed earlier (this was more the forst 10 days, though).

6.  By day 19, I'd lost 6 pounds.  The inches aren't showing as much--- the place where it's most significant is my thighs--- 3/4" of an inch.

7.  Wish I could tell you my cholestorol-- I am sure it's dropped!

8.  I was disappointed my skin didn't get better.  To be fair, I have a lot of stress, BUT, still... no caffiene, no sugar, no dairy... no improvement?  I DO need to be more vigilant about water.

9.  I think I can go back to this for a week at a time anytime I want to "reset".  But After about 12 days, my mood shifted, no idea why.  The first week was by far the easiest.  I think because I planned it so well.  (Which took a LOT of time.)

10.  I ate 4 things outside of the challenge (notice I refuse to use the word "cheated"-- I hate when people say that on a  diet, it just sounds so sad to me).  Day 13 I ate exactly one bite of birthday cake... and it didnt taste good (taste buds changed?).  Day 17 I had some NERDS.  A friend found them for me (my fav Halloween candy) and I tried to resist... I lasted 12 hours anyway... that's something.  Day 18 I shared a Mediterranean Pizza with another friend on the challenge!  But it was worth it--and not even very cheesy, it was mainly baked in.  Worth.  Every.  Bite.  Day 19 I ate a heavenly slice of birthday cake.  My husband and I had been taking about it all week and decided we'd eat a slice.  All in all, not bad in 20 days.

So, tomorrow is the last day!  I feel excitd about, because I do feel I can add things back in in moderation.  Will I slowly add too much back?  Maybe.  But I'm not scared of vegan anymore.  I can flip back to this for a day, a week--anytime.  I'll probably keep some stuff-- no cow's milk, vegan butter, keep cheese off tacos and burritos (barely miss it), but tofutti cream cheese, yick...  I was hoping for more.

I also think we saved a good bit of money, so we'll probably lean more vegan than we did 21 days ago-- we're excited about it.  Our kids did ask for cheese after several days (we didn't mention the challenge to them, just did it) so they ate cheese here and there.  They also didn't give up sugar except in the house.

I also realized I use way too much oil AND that I miss making stir-fry AND that I really like brown rice.

So--- I'll blog once more tomorrow as we wrap things up.

Can't wait to hear your stories.