My Weekend Reset

4 days later, and I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER!!!
It was not a complete “fasting” period,
But a definite resting period. 
For my mind.
My spirit.
My gut. 
It was somewhat of a challenge the first day or so to not think about food. 
The years of life have conditioned me to think, think, always think about food - 
- what am I going to cook for lunch or supper? When do I need to start it? Do I need to lay something out for it? 
- and the slightest twinkle in my tummy, meant it was time to think about what to eat. Would it be a snack, or a meal? 
- always scrolling thru recipes, trying to find nutritious and interesting ones. Ones that I actually had the ingredients for, or could afford to buy. 
- on and on an on. Some reason to always think about food. 
I have done the complete water fasting for up to 3 days before, but this time, I wasn’t trying to do that. 
I needed my gut to reset, and I needed to break the habit of “what am I going to eat next”. 
Each morning, I drank about 24-30 oz of water when I got up.
- then I enjoyed my coffee. Yes, I use creamer in my coffee. No, it’s not sugar free. 
After 2-4 cups of coffee, I either cleaned the apartment, or did some exercises. 
- stretching exercises, upper and lower body. Walk in place, cause the weather wasn’t pleasant to go outside. 
Then, sometime between noon - 2 p.m. I sat down on the futon, with the heating pad on my back for comfort more than for pain relief, and a neck pillow, covered up with my blankie that I made from Rick’s old t-shirts, feet on a foot stool ... and I spent 1-3 hours just being still and quiet. I napped once or twice. Once I simply sat there with my eyes closed. I put a movie in once that I have seen like a gazillion times, and let it play quietly while I rested. 
Get up, take my vitamins with either a small glass ( 6 oz ) of juice, sweet tea, or milk. 
By this time, 4 p.m. or so, I was hungry! Lol 
But not wanting anything heavy in my gut thru the evening, I decided on a cup of potato soup. 
- I took about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of 2% milk, heated it in the microwave, then added enough instant potatoes to make it thicker, almost like a gravy. Added 1 slice of Velveeta cheese (a bit of protein), and enjoyed. 
- I had some grape tomatoes that I didn’t want to lose, so I allowed myself 4-6 of those each day.
- and I ate 2 small dill pickles (the baby one) on 2 different days. 
- on Saturday, I added a few real bacon bits to my potato soup. 
Yesterday, I did not want potato soup, so I had a small can of cream of chicken soup for lunch. 
By the evening time, I was feeling much better, and very empty. 
So, I took 2 of the Gorton fish fillets (1 serving) and cooked them - 
- and cooked some fresh spinach in a skillet with a little butter. I actually left the spinach longer than I intended, and all the liquid had cooked out. It was just turning a little brown and crunchy around the edges when I got back to it. I had put 3 pepperconi peppers in the skillet too. 
OMW!!! I don’t think spinach has ever tasted SOOOO Good!!! 
And for the first time in a while, I enjoyed not only the cooking but the eating! 
I didn’t think a lot about the food before fixing it, nor did I over eat. 
It was, to say the least, very refreshing. 
I also found out that by doing this, water tasted better, rest was deeper,  & I slept better than I’ve slept in a very long time. 
Oh, and I lost 5 pounds!!! 
I feel strongly that my mind has gotten back on track, with a clearer focus, to what I need to be doing. 
And spiritually? Oh my! 
I have enjoyed reading my Bible and devotionals, the words seem to fairly jump off the pages! 
So, to say that I needed this would be the understatement so far of 2021! LOL
It has been such an incredible experience and reset that I am going to do this at least once a month! 
It is so well worth it! 
One thing I have decided thru this - 
The scales are only a guide. Like the white lines on the road when we are driving. 
I had gotten pretty hung up on the numbers, being frustrated with not seeing a great difference no matter what I was or not doing - especially when going back over my journal entries for the last year! 
But in this, yes, I lost 5 pounds, but only 5 pounds - yet I feel so much better!!!
Do I really care what the scales say, if I feel better?
If I feel more like doing my housework, or spending time with my grandkids, or going for a walk, or just doing exercises - what difference does the number mean? 
Little by little ... even in our thinking!