No meat. No wheat. No sweets. No diary. No alcohol.

I took on this personal venture as a challenge. I wanted to see if I could actually make good tasting, filling food, void of the list of some of my most enjoyable vices.

I recently went for my annual physical and got my blood work done and when the results came back, my doctor said, "your numbers look great! Your triglycerides are a little high but other than that, you're fine. Keep doing what you're doing."  This was wonderful news! I was healthy and could keep doing what I'm doing! Yay for me!

Then I took my blood work results to my acupuncturist,  Ida Mat Aris. She went line item by line item on my panel of blood work and showed me that I was on a ledge ready to go overboard. Her response was, "keep doing what you're doing and within 2 years you'll have diabetes." Stunned, I bitterly retorted, "but they said I was FINE!"  She calmly responded, "Angel, doctors will tell you you're fine until you're not. They are not in the practice of preventative medicine."

The very next day I begun implementing changes to my diet. The first thing to go, after I finished what I had left was the vanilla coffee creamer. I knew sugar had to go. I began reading labels and quickly discovered, sugar is in almost everything!  In removing sugar from my diet, I eliminated a lot of processed foods. The removal of this one ingredient had an amazing effect on me. I hadn't realized I was living with so much pain. My joints ached. My back hurt. Every morning when I got out of bed, I felt like the tin man in need of oil for my stiff joints, hips, and back. I chalked it up to age and accepted it as part of life.

What I hadn't accounted for was the absence of pain. It's gone! I can pop up out of bed again like when I was in my 20's. I had no idea that sugar was being infultrated into my diet more than I had agreed to. It's everywhere and in everything!  I've had to make a consorted effort to avoid it.

After feeling so great from the absence of this one ingredient, it raised my curiosity. What if, I detox from OTHER stuff too? From this question, my challenge was born. I made myself accountable by posting my challenge on Facebook and posting my food daily.

I have been able to make amazing, beautiful, filling food. I am shocked. I didn't believe it was possible. With the inspiration of Chef Jeff Kawakami, Cyndi Boyd, Ida Mat Aris, and others who have been instrumental in my life, I think it has been a total success with lots of positive feedback from my Facebook community. This experience has forever changed my relationship with meat, wheat, sweets, diary, and alcohol.  I will be posting pictures and the recipes, partly for myself so I don't forget them.