Hey!  I’m over what I consider Hump Day.  Seems for me when I have dieted in the past my hardest day was usually day three. This is NOT a diet, but I am “freeing myself”…read:  giving up…certain frankenfoods like sugar and flour and dairy.  Well, I did get a little hungry this afternoon during my Hungry Hour (3:00-4:00) but I was able to stave it off drinking water while I prepared dinner.

BREAKFAST:  3 oz. chicken breast with garlic sauce. I am happy to say that I am not hungry.  Breakfast is the least-hungry time for me, and I usually wait to have my breakfast late morning, so I can have lunch around 2:00 pm and that helps me through Hungry Hour with dinner between 6:00-6:30.  This really works well for me, increases my fasting window to help with autophagy. A quick explanation of this:  autophagy is the process that clears out cellular debris, sort of a recycing process that is important for the cell structure to form new mitochondria and other cell parts.  Otherwise we are operating on old, less-functional cell parts.  This happens mostly when we are sleeping, and is enhanced when we have increased the window of time when we are NOT eating.  I generally do not eat between 6:45 pm and 10.00 am to increase my ability to produce the autophagy process.

LUNCH:  Another vanilla protein shake, to which I added 8 oz. almond milk, loose green tea, moringa (a superfood mentioned in Chris Beat Cancer’s anti-cancer diet), cinnamon, nutmeg, with turmeric and piperine added. I am surprised that this smoothie is carrying me through without hunger ’til dinnertime. Maybe a little twinge of hunger, but I took care of that with some lemon water.

DINNER:  1/2 piece of whitefish (appx. 2.5 oz.). Large salad with spinach, yellow sweet peppers, radish, red cabbage, cucumber, and my favorite apple cider vinegar based dressing (See My Favorite Salad Dressing recipe blog).  Don’t underestimate the size of that salad. It’s quite huge.  My salad bowls, even my old pasta bowls won’t house it.  I get a lot of healthy raw food for very few calories.  As long as I love my salad dressing (which is no sugar, low on the oil) I think I’m having a treat! This keeps me full until bedtime. And, by the way, 3-4 hours no eating before bed helps you sleep better and your body function properly.

BEVERAGES:  Water only (usually 2 quarts) with only lemon or lime slices added. No Stevia to reduce my need for sweet flavor.