August 11, 2011
I found it at the bottom of my purse. I thought I had dealt with that two days ago. But there it was, at the bottom of my purse. I quickly covered it with my wallet until I could deal with it. But I couldn’t forget about it forever. I had to face it.
I put it in the freezer. It’s safe in there. But I know it’s in there. Taunting me. I thought I had eaten it all two days ago. That’s why I had to delay the start of my cleanse. Because I chose to eat it instead of putting it in my freezer. I thought I had polished it all off. But I was mistaken.
Now I have some of it sitting in my freezer. And it will just have to wait until after my cleanse is finished. But I know it’s there. The funny thing about temptation for me is, I always remember that the tempting tidbit is there. I can’t simply put it away in a cupboard or, in this case, the freezer. I remember exactly what it is and where I put it. I could never hide anything on myself. My memory is just too good!
Other than finding the remnants of my dark chocolate bar sent to me from my long distance friend [see yesterday’s blog titled “Staving off temptation”], the second day of my cleanse went well. I was busy so didn’t have time to think about food that much!
One very good aspect of my cleanse is that I am very picky about what I eat for my lunch-time meal. It’s the only meal of the day and I want it to be filling, tasty, and easy. So I don’t choose just anything to eat. I carefully consider what I want to savour. The food has to fit within the confines of my cleanse, and within the demands of my taste buds. I’m not sure which is more difficult to please.
Eating out during my cleanse is very difficult. And the restaurant that I choose has to meet almost unrealistic expectations. Every dish is examined closely, special needs requested, long-winded discussions with the server expected. Then when I’m finished, I ask myself if the meal was worth the cost. Often, the answer is “no.” I often realize, after I have eaten and spent the money, that I would have been happier if I had simply gone home. Or, possibly picked up something at the organic store.
Although, even shopping at the organic store doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be able to get what I want and need. My cleanse isn’t necessarily about eating organic. It’s more about eating very specific vegetables, fruit, and protein sources. Just because a salad is organic doesn’t mean I can eat it.
Just because something is gluten free doesn’t mean I can eat it either. I would love to enjoy a gluten free pizza. But that will have to wait until after the cleanse as I’m not allowed tomatoes. I could substitute goat cheese for the cheese. That’s okay. And I can pick the specific vegetables that I want on my pizza: onions, celery, mushrooms. But I can’t have the tomato sauce. And I can’t figure out what to put on pizza that would be a good substitute for tomato sauce.
My sister was telling me about a gluten free restaurant in her city. And they used almond butter instead of the tomato sauce. Not the kind that you put on bread. This was a different tasting paste and went well on the pizza. According to my sister, it was delicious!
I’m quite sure the restaurant that I was at today would not have an almond butter substitute for their tomato sauce. The fact that they offered gluten free pizza was quite a surprise. I’m sure that’s as far as they are able to go in meeting special dietary needs.
In the end, it’s just easier for me to buy the ingredients myself and make my own meals. I know I would be much happier and it would not be so difficult to meet the requirements of my cleanse. And, I’m sure servers across the city would sigh with relief knowing they didn’t have to cheerfully administer to my every seemingly unreasonable request.
Ms. Martha Urquhart 