PROGRESS - CHERRY GARCIA - 24 DAYS TO GO!

Well, this week I watched my coffee pot, humidifier and waffle maker go out the door.  

I’m selling most of my belongings as I prepare for my year of living Ayurvedic-Yogic lifestyle, guided by KP Khalsa, in the Bahamas.  It felt strange and exciting at the same time.

I’m not sure why I want to clear out most of my belongings, but I have a very strong urge to do so.  I’m going with what feels right, and each step toward fewer belongings feels great and freeing somehow.

I donated another 6 garden sized bags and a couple of big boxes of books and ‘stuff’.  Plus I tossed out 6 huge bags of paper, magazines and folders.  

Reading Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up helped me part with things more easily, especially the books.  I can’t recall who told me about the Tidying Up book, but somehow it appeared on my radar, and I read it.  

I love books and found those very difficult to let go - and yet now that they are gone - not having them is ok.  Marie’s  thoughts on parting with books were a big help.

Pretty Good Progress, right?

Well, there is also the interesting setback I had last week, that resulted in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.  

As I’ve been gradually incorporating Ayurveda food and lifestyle changes, my sugar cravings have lessened considerably.  I still have occasional lapses of staying up late and overeating in the evening.  So, definitely not all smooth sailing in making these changes.

Even before Ayurveda, I didn’t eat dairy, and ice cream has been off my food list for some time.  I  generally don’t crave it either.  So, this Ben and Jerry’s binge was unusual for me.  

I’ve learned enough about digestion and my Ayurveda constitution to know that eating that whole pint of Cherry Garcia that evening would make me miserable all night and even the next morning.

Yet, I did it anyway.  The sugar addiction lurking inside me was rearing its ugly head.  It was reminding me that I’ve had lots and lots of sugar throughout my lifetime. 

Did you know that on average, Americans eat 1/2 pound of sugar EVERY DAY?  

And it’s not in the form of table sugar or even candy, but we are eating it throughout the day, in nearly every processed food from cereal to chips to ketchup to bread and even meats, like ham and smoked turkey. 

Ayurveda and a different approach to eating and lifestyle are still in transition and new for me.  So, setbacks are going to happen.  The fun part for me to see was that instead of that binge leading to another binge, as it would have pre Ayurveda, it didn’t.

And I must be more balanced than I was, because I did not have my typically unbalanced Pitta reaction, fretting for days and beating myself up about the setback and over-analyzing why or what caused the binge.  I would have also had to use great willpower in the past to stop the binging that would have gone on for at least a few days if not a week.

I spent time at my son and daughter in law’s home over the weekend, and there was a homemade cake that everyone was raving about, and that I am sure was quite delicious.  Yet, it wasn’t hard to not have any. I wasn’t holding myself back. I had no urge for it at all.

Even the fabulous Easter brunch pastries were not ‘calling to me’ as they would have in the past.  I chose an apple cobbler that likely had sugar in it, and it was tasty but I was satisfied with the mini portion.  In prior years, I would have had a plate full of mini sweets.

My body seems to have happily returned to eating more balancing foods, and it doesn’t matter what triggered the sugar binge.  

It happened.  It’s over.  And today is a new day:)  For me, that easy going reaction is also great progress.

So even in our setbacks, there can be progress.

I hope that you will want to follow the journey.  I am so excited for the adventure to begin!
As I prepare for this journey, I am very grateful for the support of KP Khalsa, Sivananda Yoga Retreat and Banyan Botanicals.


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