Day 34 -- only three days left and a bit of a rant

Three days from now I will start the reintroduction phase of the cleanse. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I can't believe I have gone more than 30 days without caffeine. It hasn't been the easiest thing, especially considering most of my favorite dishes have some sort of pepper spice (cayenne, paprika, etc.) in them but I am managing.I am looking forward to the reintroduction phase to see if I learn anything new about how my body reacts to certain things.

Now on to the rant portion -- I recently read a blog by another blogger. In it, she was discussing how magazine touted the miracle diets and such. Now that she is following a primal lifestyle, she was so happy that she was not on the look for the next diet to help her achieve her goals.  All of that, I do agree with her points. I too am happy and healthier with my new lifestyle. I am very happy about that.

The point that I did not like about her blog was that she said something like diets don't always fail, people fail. This is where I take exception. I got so tired of people saying to me that "if you are working the program, it will work." I was following the directions given to me by so many diets -- Weight Watchers, calorie counting, carb counting, etc. BUT nothing worked. I felt like a failure and had so many blows to my ego as I went through this part of my life. Why didn't it work for me? What was I doing wrong?

The truth is that I WAS NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG. (I needed to put that in all CAPS for my benefit.) It was the diet that was wrong. It was the whole concept of "diet" that was wrong. I needed to change my lifestyle more than I needed another diet. I am glad that I have come to this realization and gained this knowledge before it was too late (not that I think it is ever "too late" to change). I am now in control of my life and my body. I am learning to listen more carefully to my body for the cues that it is giving me about things. I feel empowered by what I have learned over the past six months (or longer). I know I will reach goals that I have set for myself. It just may take time but I am already a success story based on how much I have changed to this point and how much I am looking forward to the future! I am already a success because I didn't let the diet mentality that failed defeat me.

Success is a journey, not a destination. – Ralph Arbitelle