My week without processed foods has been much more interesting than I expected it would be. Here’s a look at what I’ve learned (and I’m having the same thing today for lunch as yesterday, so I won’t bore you by posting the same picture!):

1.) I feel better. I’ve had regular stomachaches on and off for years and they were few and far between this week. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t eating any soy products (soy can be hard for a lot of people to digest), which hadn’t ever occurred to me as a possible culprit. Or it could be because I stopped chewing gum and drinking bottled drinks. When I was getting really hungry around 5pm each day, I was initially very surprised (and was glad I had a container of almonds at my desk). My “normal” feeling at that time is that my stomach hurts and I hardly ever feel very hungry for dinner, let alone in need of a late afternoon snack. Or perhaps I feel better simply because I’ve been eating more produce and whole grains that I usually do.

Conclusion: I’m going to continue to steer clear of soy, gum and most bottled drinks (especially those with artificial sweeteners). I am also going to experiment with different milk %’s to find a better replacement for soy milk. I bought 2% thinking I could use it for many purposes like baking, poured over hot cereal, and with my coffee. That last one turned out to be a terrible idea as it just doesn’t taste very good. I will try whole milk next and experiment with drinking black coffee, too.

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