All the Vegetables. And Juuuust a Little Beer.

When we woke from our slumber, we decided to finally get the groceries I'd listed the week before. I decided to fill our cart in the opposite order that we normally would: paper products/toiletries first, dry goods (like peanut butter and coffee—no crazy sugary carbs and no Cheez-Its!), then dairy and produce. I knew we were getting a lot of the latter, so I didn't want to fill the cart with produce and then end up squishing it with everything else. Our one bad move was getting the paper towels and aluminum foil, then proceeding down the neighboring beer aisle. Womp womp. I managed to escape without a six pack of delicious craft beer under my arm, but not before snapping this farewell photo.

I know cutting back on the beers will be tough, but my goal is to look at it as a personal challenge rather than a dietary rule I can't break. The plan is to no longer order beers when out to eat or drink whole servings at home or when hanging out at a sit 'n' sip. If I am interested in having some beer—which will not be often, as I am really interested in seeing what cutting down on alcohol consumption will do for me—I'll have only a small taste, like a sample 2-ounce glass. Basically, I'll steal some of Jono's beer. 🙂

Other than that, we spent most of our time in the produce section. Jon and I tried to tackle three or so veggies at a time: he'd get the snap peas, bell peppers, and cauliflower while I fetched the celery, green beans, and cucumber. After filling our full-sized cart (we normally get a mini cart, but we knew that wouldn't cut it this time), we grabbed some sushi for dinner. Over $250 later, we shoved our spoils into our car and lugged it home.

This morning, knowing I had a refrigerator full of freshness, I got out of bed at six o'clock and made lunches!! Eeep! Red pepper, green beans, and carrots with hummus; grapes and blackberries with plain Greek yogurt topped with pecans and cinnamon; strawberries; and a banana. My breakfast was a slice of five-grain, four-seed bread with some raw-milk cheddar cheese. Ugh, it was so good. I'm already craving it for tomorrow's breakfast. I also had enough time to go to the gym! As Buffalo legend Lance Diamond (R.I.P) said, "Healthy changes everything!" I came home feeling accomplished, and it was only 7:45 a.m. I am excited and hopeful that I can keep this up. I know it was just day one, but I felt better today than I have in a long time!

Update: I had a little beer Monday night. Not a full serving, though! I could drink only about half of my glass, which wasn't full to begin with but was, to be honest, more than I'd like to drink in a sitting in the future. It was Jon's home brew, and we were sitting 'n' sipping with some friends we haven't seen in a while. So I'll take it as my last hurrah.