I was hoping it would last forever, but hunger came to call for the first time on this, the 16th day of my personal 30 day challenge. It could be due to my rapid weight loss from yesterday to this morning, 1 2/3 pounds! I had been languishing at a plateau for days, then, whoosh!  Today I felt so much lighter! Food diligence and the easy-does-it interval training seems to be paying off.

The hunger hit me just before dinnertime. Just like the old days, I started looking for something to stave off that feeling ’til I could have my meal. I found kale crackers and almond-flour black pepper crackers. I only munched down about 8 of the small thin almond crackers but had a full serving of the kale crackers. The next morning I woke up in the early hours with a bloated stomach. I should have known.  Kale crackers, as you might guess, are barely kale at all, mostly corn. The packaging was enticing, promising a gluten-free experience with chia, flax, and black sesame seed small rounds.  Non-GMO, of course. I didn’t think I was doing a bad thing.  But corn is not my friend, and it isn’t for many people. Now I have a bloated belly again, and I was sad that I took a detour off my plan of no flour, even almond flour.  Some of us are just too sensitive, and bloat, likely inflammation, is the result.

It is also possible that my beet-celery-carrot juice caused a sugar spike. That’s a lot of sugar in a concentrated form, even though I tried to dilute it with water as I drank. I didn’t (thankfully) have a sugar rush, but it might have caused my first experience of hunger. I have been told that eating whole foods, and no juices of any kind, is the best way to go for my metabolism, and for many of us who have sensitivities and are not at our goal weight. But there it was, the dreaded bloat, likely brought on by the crackers and the spike.  Lesson learned. Crackers don’t work for me, and either does the healthiest of juices. Stick with the whole food for someone who has been borderline insulin resistant.

BREAKFAST:

Leaf Tea:  raspberry leaf, nettles, and dandelion leaf.

LUNCH:

2 oz. kale- last night’s salad, which had been prepared with some kind of oil, (hope it wasn’t canola). 1 oz. olives. 4 oz. hummus- my homemade. This could also be a problem;  I have to weigh my hummus because I love it and would always overeat. I might have to consider this a trigger food. Also had fresh juice:  beet, carrot, celery

DINNER:

16 kale crackers, 8 almond crackers, ground turkey patty with garlic sauce, spinach and romaine salad with sesame seeds and Thai-Coconut dressing.

After looking over what I ate today, I know there is a significant calorie deficit. So far these lower amounts have been satisfying, but my greatest overweight has passed. I might be experiencing the start of greater hunger, and my body’s request for more calories.  It will slow down my weight loss, but this is just as much about healthy eating. So be it. Let’s see what happens as I mind my portions a little better – which in some cases might mean an increase – and not fudge with crackers of any sort, even if they are no- sugar and gluten-free!