Desperate Times . . .

Mostly, these are not desperate times for me. The only part of my life which does feel a bit desperate is my body size -- and the ripple effects. I'm not huge, but my weight has gone up (and sometimes down, but mostly up) over the past few years and the difficulty I'm having getting it to stay down is starting to scare me. So today I started a month-long cleanse. It's not a "poopy cleanse" but more of a balanced meal-replacement, vitamin-supported cleanse. I'm determined to stick with it for the full month and maybe beyond. Today went well, but I do feel bloated, which is apparently to be expected in the first few days as "the toxins are released from the body". I put that in quotes because I'm not sure the program really does what it says it will, but that's what it says it will do.

This weekend showed me how much I need to boost my energy level as well as lose weight. I did everything I committed to on Saturday -- leading a volunteer group for over three hours, working at the beach festival for ten hours, and going to see my son's band -- and by the time I got home, around 1:30 a.m., I was absolutely exhausted and there wasn't a joint or muscle in my body that didn't hurt. I finally went to sleep around 3:00 a.m., and the pets were yelling at my door at 7:00 a.m. Yesterday -- Sunday -- I was useless. I drank loads of water all day and night on Saturday and didn't have any alcohol at all, but I felt hungover. I don't know that this new food program will help with that, but if I can get my weight down my joints will have less trauma when I'm on my feet all day. I'm sure I'll have more stamina too. I know I'm not in my twenties (or thirties or forties) anymore, but sometimes I forget until my body reminds me.

For the next thirty days I have to avoid sugar, gluten, dairy, and alcohol. The latter two won't be much of an issue, but the former two might be. Still, I am committed. I think I already said that. I'll keep you posted.