My Journey Begins

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

~ Lau-tzu

In researching this quote for use here I discovered that this is actually a modified translation of the original quote.  According to my research, the quote would be more accurately translated as, "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."  I have to say that I like the intent of the more literal translation much better.  The focus changes from the step to the action required to reach one's desired destination.  We have to start where we are, and move, in order to get results.

The journey I am beginning might as well be the journey of a million steps for how I feel about it.  Obviously, my attitude must be a good one since I am starting, but I have attempted this journey several times in my 41 years.  Ultimately I did achieve a modicum of success each time.  However, I did fail to maintain the success in each journey taken.  Due to this fact I harbor an inner fear that this journey will be no different.  I pray to God that is not the case.  I pray that this journey finds lasting success for both my hubby and myself, as we are taking the journey together for the second time.

What is the journey?

Weight loss and sustained health.

Today we began together a cleansing fast that I found online after being inspired by the results my girlfriend and her husband have experienced during fasting they have been doing together.  I have tried the fast they are doing before, and I know it's not for me right now.  I need to eat in order to be successful, so no lemonade fast for me this time around.  On this journey our first step, or our beginning action, is the seven-day cleansing fast.  Today is all fruit.  

In preparation I went to the grocery store and stocked up on everything for the first four days of the fast.  I spent about $120 on groceries, and bought a cart full of produce.  I still need to get the meat portion of the fast, but I refuse to purchase meat from the grocery store.  I've not decided how to tackle this part of the fast, but I figure I have a few days to figure it out.  I have not established a relationship with a local farmer yet, so I have no reliable source for clean poultry which is what fast calls for on Day 5 and 6.  Hopefully I can figure something out between now and then.  As a possible alternative I did pick up some tofu for myself, but that will not cut it for the hubby.  I was disappointed to see that virtually all the meat analog products in my local grocery store all contain wheat gluten.  That's another discussion, but it doesn't fit into this fast either.

When I returned from the grocery store I filled the kitchen counter with my spoils and began cleaning and prepping all the food.  For my hubby, I packaged his first day's necessities into containers and put them on a shelf in the refrigerator for him to grab in the morning.  Fortunately, we have two refrigerators, so I removed anything that didn't fit into the fast from our main refrigerator thereby removing any temptation and allowing us to stay focused.  I then put all the prepped fruit into pretty bowls and just set them on the shelves in the refrigerator.  Now it is easy to just open the door and eat.  No work involved.  For day two I cleaned and prepped all the veggies, packaged them, and moved them to the other refrigerator.  Tomorrow I can remove the fruit from the kitchen and replace it with the veggies.  I plan to continue this tactic throughout the week.

I began my day by weighing myself, marking it on the calendar, and drinking a glass of water.  Next, I was able to take the time to do some prayer and reading before Avery greeted the day.  It was a nice way to start things out.  

As my first 'meal' this morning I tried a new smoothie.  It was pretty good.  Here's the recipe, if you're interested:

1 avocado

1 mango

1 orange

1 lemon

I prepared the mango by pitting it and dicing it into the blender.  Then I halved the avocado and just scooped it on top of the mango.  I used a hand juicer and juiced the citrus.  After I juiced the orange I did scoop the pulp into the blender.  Then, I added the juice and blended until smooth. (I think it would be better with a lime instead of the lemon, but I didn't have one on hand.)

The mixture was pretty thick, so I added some water to thin.  It would taste best chilled, but I just drank it up.  The thickness got me to thinking that it would make great popsicles or even vegan ice cream.  Maybe I'll try that in the future.