Juice-ly 28th - FLASHBACK: Games of Hunger.

Juicevember 20th (281.6 lbs.) - Green Day. I'm gradually phasing out my morning orange juice concoction in favor of all green juice, all the time. I'm trying to be intentional about eating a vegetable-based diet, so as much as I'll miss that morning kick, it has to be done. Today was the first day of the experiment, and it has gone well so far.

Parents of small kids will know the distinct smell of microwaved chicken nuggets. I could honestly eat about 25 of those things in one sitting, so you can imagine that having that smell waft through our house pretty much every lunch time triggers undeniable cravings, as it did today. Not that I was ever even in a position to try to steal even the smallest piece of one, but if I was, it's easy to consider how far I've come and how much I would lose if I gave in now. 

I've also been wondering about what happens on December 1st. God has taught me so much about the value of delayed gratification so far this month that I'm wondering just how long I will wait before eating that first piece of solid food, and just how much I'll allow myself to eat before returning to the juice. Could Juicevember morph into Juicecember? I wonder.

Thanksgiving next week, however, looms like the island of the Sirens in the Odyssey. I've just now started to lash myself to the mast.

Juicevember 21st (281.6 lbs.) - Under Repair. Today has been...difficult. Woke up early but I didn't get a chance to get my morning juice before having to leave for a car appointment. Spent two hours at Midas getting new tires, and I had to endure Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan's TV show, in which they made all kinds of Thanksgiving food, including mashed potatoes (one of my absolute favorite foods in the known universe).

Even Peg and Cat on PBS seemed to be against me. They were making gooey pizza for teenagers (and describing the process in painstaking detail). They might have gotten the "problem solved," but my problem increased exponentially. 

Finally, the temptation moved from two dimensions to three when [my wife] made dinner (for her and the girls). She took [my daughters] out to get stuff for Operation Christmas Child while the entire house filled with the intoxicating smell of her ground turkey meatloaf and steamed broccoli. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to look up vegan meatloaf recipes online. Found a few really good ones, but that will have to wait at least ten more days.

Thanks to [a good friend] and his magic jumper cables, though, I brought a dead car back to life, which I've never actually done before. So that's something. If I'm shooting to gain control over my impulses with this month, I'd have to say that today my impulses won. I didn't actually eat, but I didn't actually get much else done because I was thinking so much about eating. Yet another layer of the onion, I guess. In the final analysis, though, I shouldn't expect to be completely rid of habits I have formed over thirty-plus years in just thirty-plus days.
And on it goes. ‪#‎juiceon