Momentum

I have some good news and some bad news. I always like to start with the bad news so that I can end on a more positive note, and it may help me solve anything from the bad news (if anything is needed to be solved anyway).

The bad news is that I didn't last with the dairy-free challenge. I experienced a glitch just before marking two weeks when I went out with a friend for tea and treats. She felt like having a crepe and I ordered one with her, and it was only when the crepes were already being made that I remembered that they have milk in them. I ate it anyway but it was a shame because I'd literally just eaten my lactose-free apple tart and felt all guilt-free. After coming home and confessing the "crime" to my husband, I continued sincerely on with my journey of being dairy-free for another day or so. But we held our housewarming party on Thursday and we ordered pizzas. Now I do love pizza but I thought I would just eat some of the other foods on the menu. In the end, we had far too much food, even after giving lots of it away, and so I had to take a few days off to be able to eat some of the food before it went off. Of course some of it we've frozen and I'm still getting through some of the muffins (which also have milk in them). I noticed that towards the end of my two week mark, I had a lot less phlegm and it was mainly clear. As soon as I've started consuming dairy again, the phlegm has come back and is quite thick and is definitely not clear at all. I'm hoping to recommence the dairy-free life soon.

Now time for the good news! I have started German classes (finally)!! I have class thrice a week in the mornings for three hours. I actually like it because it's stimulating my mind and I get to speak to more people. Other than that, it gets me out of bed in the morning, which is rather painful but for my own good. Also, while organising and preparing our housewarming party, I had a few early starts and late nights and had lots of errands to run at the same time. I realised how much I was capable of doing in a day and with my time in general- since I've been a bit of a sloth recently- and it kept me active and has helped my neck get better. This has meant that I have a new sense of motivation and desire to do things. I know it sounds silly but it's quite easy to watch people all around you do lots of things and then neglect yourself and fall into bad habits and just being absent from active life. It can also be quite depressing because you look at yourself and haven't got much to say when people ask "so what are you doing?" because grocery shopping and making dinner don't quite cut it. Anyway, I have dinner yet to make and some reading pending (yes, Moby Dick) as well as some drawing so let's see how much I can do today!

Would you like milk with that?

It's been a week that I've been dairy free. My reason for going dairy free is because I had an annoying amount of phlegm (sorry for being so precise) and I felt I ought to detox my body because often dairy is the culprit. I also find that when I fast for the whole month of Ramadan it often goes away, since that's also a detox, but I thought I would go half way.

Also, I can't deny that I've been somewhat influenced by some of the vegans I'm following on Instagram. I respect and understand why vegans have chosen such a lifestyle and I am myself quite a veggie-friendly person anyway but I have to say that I do love milk, cream, butter and cheese- basically fatty foods. Giving up meat wouldn't really be very difficult for me, but dairy would probably be the main challenge for me. 

Anywho, as mentioned above, I do love dairy- and we've switched to organic milk now but detoxing is my motive here. One week in (for my intended month) and I do have to say that yesterday I still had some phlegm. But I feel like my tongue is pinker, which I take as a good sign. I have been feeling a little more fatigued during the day and so I have taken my iron tablets to boost me- since now I should have good absorption levels without any dairy consumption. 

I bought some almond milk as a substitute, because I need some milk in my tea and I was wary of how soya milk is processed. I bought both sweetened and unsweetened and have only yet opened the unsweetened. I can say that I understand now why there is a sweetened version. It's quite different, having a slightly grainy texture and the taste takes getting used to I suppose. I used a little bit in some ginger tea, which made it look as if the milk had split but it was still ok, and two tablespoons in a cake that required milk. This morning I made myself a banana milkshake, with a ripe banana, almond milk, a bit of vanilla and 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. I have to say I am looking forward to finishing this milk and then maybe buying an organic soya milk instead- or even rice milk...

This morning I had a glass of warm water with freshly-squeezed lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and honey which was quite a shock to my tastebuds at 7am but hopefully that will also help cleanse the system. 

I hope to add more about my progress on this short journey.  

Reading progress

I really would have liked this post to be a quick review of Moby Dick, but unfortunately I haven't yet finished it. The reading has been taking me a lot longer than I could have anticipated and it's true that I haven't necessarily been reading it every day but I have now made the intention to try to. For some reason or another, I keep falling asleep after two or three pages and so I'm not progressing as quickly as I would have liked. This post is to celebrate reaching 25%! I fear that it's because it's American and I have noticed that I'm less inclined to American literature. It's strange because it's not even a boring novel, and the last two Russian novels were extremely more bleak and depressing but I was much more captivated by them. Anyway, I hope to join you soon with a few thoughts on the novel once I've reached the end, whenever that is. I have plenty more on my list and I'm almost tempted to read another book alongside this one- but that wouldn't be a good idea because I know how much I'll neglect it otherwise.