Day Seven.

Around 3:30pm-

So at breakfast this morning [ok, more like brunch really late this afternoon], I tried one of my organic frozen meals from the brand Amy's Kitchen. Now while I love this brand's pizzas, even I was a little afraid of my most recent purchase: Tofu Scrambled. Despite many years hovering on the edge of vegetarianism, I've never actually tried tofu. Frankly, I've been scared of being disappointed by this vegan staple and running back to carnivorism [ok, so I wouldn't go that far, but I wanted to like it and had a pretty strong feeling that I wouldn't]. This meal left me pleasantly surprised. While I'm doubtful that it will end up on my cravings list, the combination of tofu, spinach, mushrooms, tomato, and hash browns was not bad at all. Another surprising development: the few dots of ketchup I allowed myself to go on my hash browns was...almost too sweet. Yep, that's right, I'm becoming more sensitive to the artificial sweeteners. Perhaps this will be the last day of high fructose corn syrup after all. Is there a bottle of Organic Ketchup in my future? Maybe. [Note: a quick google search reveals that Heinz actually does make organic ketchup, I might have to check this out.]

Meanwhile, I'm making a valiant attempt to break the habit of needing something sweet after every meal. Now that I've found some safety items like Green and Black's chocolate bars, it's tempting to revert back to the old routine, but even raw sugar isn't as good as real food. Usually I allow myself a piece of the chocolate bar after ONE meal a day. Other occasions I try to use fruit as the pacifier. Oh, and you know that tip for dieters that says your should brush your teeth after a meal to avoid craving dessert? Yeah, doesn't work. At least not for me. Actually, as a long-time mint/chocolate fan, the minty fresh toothpaste sometimes makes me crave chocolate even more.

Now perhaps it's just because it's a lazy Saturday, but I'm experiencing less and less of the side effects. Today there is no dull headache and the flemy feeling in my throat has nearly subsided. At this rate, by week three this experiment will be a piece of cake. [Cake made with raw sugar and natural sweeteners, that is...hmmm...maybe I should start baking...]

8pm-

So I just conducted an experiment. The last time I purchased Green and Black Chocolate bars, I got two, the 70% and the 85%. This week, I've been sticking with the 85% because the raw cane sugar is listed second to last on the ingredients list [only 5g]. Tonight, I tried the 70% with it's raw cane sugar listed second on the list [12g]. And now...I think my taste buds are going numb. Yes, it's a better, organic sugar choice, but it's still sugar, and in it's higher quantities, it's causing a reaction. Weird. And oddly, I like the 85%'s taste better anyway...the 70%'s kind of...tangy.

8:17pm-

Dang it! Now my throat's getting froggy again. I'm starting to see even more reason to continue this experiment...these reactions are not pleasant...or normal.