I’m sure I had this same revelation during my previous Detox Week experience, but I’ll say it again: It occurred to me last night while eating out at Sweet Tomatoes (one of the few restaurants I can actually enjoy during this whole thing) that my normal diet is not really all that different than what I’m doing this week. It’s just that usually, I consume way too many breads, pastas and other super-starchy foods. Lots of Asian-inspired noodle dishes. Sandwiches. Ridiculous amounts of white rice. Not to mention the tofu and soy/texturized vegetable protein-based faux meats. And typically, after I eat these things? I feel drained. I feel too full. And I know that all the gluten is going right to my gut.

Given that, by late afternoon yesterday, my body had already started adjusting to the reduced load. I wasn’t as terribly hungry as I was on Wednesday (though seeing people mention food on Facebook or Twitter kinda killed me), to the point that in the evening when Sara asked if I’d eaten dinner, I thought about it for a second and said “I’m not really that hungry.” Of course, she was, and we actually ended up going to Sweet Tomatoes, which under normal circumstances, this would be the best week of the year for such a thing, because we’re in the midst of customer favorites month at the soup-and-salad buffet, and some of MY favorites are featured right now, including creamy tomato soup and peanut butter cookie bars. But of course, while Sara enjoyed those delights, I had a simple salad loaded with veggies and sunflower seeds and a splash of olive oil and vinegar, a baked potato with onions and chives, and a little serving of minestrone soup broth. It was good nonetheless.

Today, I’m going to Go Raw Cafe, an amazing, raw and vegan restaurant near Green Valley. It’s one of my favorite places ever, but I so rarely go there, so this will be a treat. Then this evening is the opening reception for Drawn in the Dust (that group art show in which I have a few pieces), and following that is “The Tell,” a storytelling event hosted by Vegas Seven, which I already talked about yesterday and I’m gonna shut up now and get to the menu for Day Two:

• Breakfast: One banana, one cup of Dynamo juice blend
• Morning snack: One Pure bar (raw/vegan) – don’t remember the name of the flavor.
• Lunch: Trader Joe’s lentil and vegetable soup
• Afternoon snack: Raw almonds and walnuts; baby carrots with organic hummus
• Pre-dinner snack: One or two pineapple spears
• Dinner: Sweet Tomatoes –  salad loaded with veggies, sunflower seeds and a splash of olive oil and vinegar, baked potato with onions and chives, and a little serving of minestrone soup broth

I might try for a run in a few minutes. I know I said I wasn’t going to do any heavy exercise, but I feel really weird if I don’t at least run every few days or so now. So we’ll see how that goes.