I learned quickly that the homemade hummus doesn’t stay fresh nearly as long as store bought because there’s no preservatives. I cut the recipe in half to make a smaller batch that could be eaten within 3 to 5 days and I’m still enjoying my morning smoothie and the occasional London Fog.

Last Wednesday, I had a phenomenal visit with Dr. Jason and I needed that because the visit in March wasn’t good. In February, I let myself slip into less than stellar eating habits and he knew as soon as he saw me that my body wasn’t happy. I left his office that day with a renewed sense of commitment and I had 8 weeks until my next visit to make the shifts necessary to get back on track.

During last weeks visit, he performed a Bioenergetic assessment and all of my vital organs are functioning and communicating at a 10 out of 10, except the small and large intestines. They are functioning at an 8 out of 10, so he handed me a bottle of herbs he called, ‘scrubbers’, and grinned while saying, “This is going to be interesting because they scrub years of buildup from the walls of your intestines.” I’m a little scared. 😂

I’ve been seeing Dr. J since last October and I knew that this would be a year-long commitment, but what I’ve discovered is eating right becomes a lifetime journey and similar to life itself, the path isn’t straight. The one thing I’ve learned about staying on the straight and narrow path is to not let myself get hungry. To eat a bowl of grapes instead of a bag of chips, so the key is to not run out of healthy options.

Making a commitment to optimum health comes with a lot of little sacrifices. Not buying chips was just about as sad as the day I stopped buying cheese, but once you get a taste for how amazing the body will work in your favor, it’s not worth eating something to lose that feeling. I had to press pause on meeting friends for brunch and I don’t pop into a Starbucks on the way home anymore. It’s not worth losing the gains.

A year ago, I bought a cookbook by one of my favorite bloggers, Kathryne Taylor of Cookie + Kate and I recall looking through the book of recipes feeling discouraged. They were so healthy and made using whole food ingredients that I didn’t have on hand, but buying that book planted a seed. I knew that’s how I wanted to eat one day, so I tried one recipe and then another, so 6 months later the book that looked daunting is the only book I cook from. My pantry and fridge reflect whole foods.

Sitting here today, my mind is clear and focused. Memory recall is fast/sharp and some days I remember more than I necessarily want to! I have consistent energy all day long and I’m still drinking 100 oz. of water per day, but I’ve dropped 10 pounds. In other words…I can slip into jeans purchased years ago and that feels amazing.

My next visit with Dr. Jason is 10 weeks away and he empathized it’s the longest stretch of time between visits, but I see it as an opportunity to work on my physical strength. I can worry about slipping back into my old eating habits, or keep moving forward and I choose forward. Successful habits begin in the mind with yes or no answers, so to have a healthy body we need to first prepare the mind.