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Year Four, Day 170: That Empty Belly Feeling

I woke up feeling light and clear-headed.  I fasted for 20.5 hours. 

I broke my fast with a grainfree tabouli salad  (no bulgar), heavy on minced, fresh garlic and freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I added a scoop of slow cooked lentils, fresh spinach with blue cheese dressing, a handful of walnuts and a few cherries.



I am feeling the need to decrease the animal products in  my eating.  When I tried the keto diet, I appreciated how satiated I was with all the fat.  It quelled my fear of scarcity, kept my belly happy and full.

But I ended up feeling too heavy and bloated after awhile. I know I ate too much meat.  There was that fear of being hungry.

Interestingly, I am conquering that fear.  I am beginning to welcome the empty belly feeling.  And the hunger pangs that accompanying are not perceived as pain anymore. Just inevitable.

I am still hovering at an 8 pound weight loss - up a pound, down a pound, depending on my food intake. I think indulging in more vegetarian meals will make the scale budge. I am tinkering with moderation. Not labeling myself a vegetarian, or vegan or even adhering to a keto or paleo diet.

I aim to eat wholesome, sensible meals and then stop eating at 2:30 every day.

I had some challenges the last month. The music center where I teach was on break most of June, then 4th of July happened on my teaching day. And then several private students are taking time off  Plus, with my obligation to watch my granddaughter weekdays, I am not teaching as much.

So budget is quite tight! And it pretty much went into the deep dark abyss for a month.  I was barely scraping by. And I will admit here that I was eating fast food on the road. I can easily eat for $3 a day with my many fast food apps.

But that is not how I want to live! 

After this mornings first meal, I am looking forward to making most of my own food again and staying away from the golden arches!

Thankfully August is a busy month. I will begin my new church pianist job. And I am thrilled that they are allowing me to teach one day a week!  The church is in Vancouver, where I live with my daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law. 

Things are coming together!

My life is like a jig saw puzzle. I am under no illusions though. We all die eventually. And there is no perfect life. Just when I think I have it all together, a piece of the puzzle will disappear!

But having a plan is important to me.  I think that is why I'm breathing so well today!

Also, I am afraid to put this in writing, lest I jinx myself, but my bronchial cough that plagued me for so long has not reared it's ugly head in many months!

So I will just keep doing what I am doing.  Daily exercise.  Controlled eating.  Controlled fasting.  Lots of water. Lots of prayer.  And focusing on music.

On that note, I wish you a happy Sunday!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Love,

Zita


And here is today's hooping video: Day 113!  No Qi Gong today, I recorded it, but accidentally deleted it and had to redo!





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