Organic Living Days 3-6

The caffeine withdrawal hit Friday afternoon (Day 3) bringing with it a fierce headache which felt like a continuously tightening belt around my skull. Tylenol is no match for my lacking diet coke intake. Luckily, I had already begun to feel better, lighter, more full of energy by that point in the process so I had adequate incentive to trudge through the pain and persist with the non-processed food plan.

I have come to two realizations at this current juncture.

1. I am very lazy about my food choices:
   It takes a great deal of effort to be deliberate about what I choose to eat. I was completely unaware until now how much of my day is spent with some sort of food or drink in hand. I am hoping that over time the decision to select or reject food based on its content will become more natural and require less though but it is definitely keeping the wheels of my brain turning as I plan what and when I can eat.
2. My boozin is on the rise:
   I have been taking the beer/wine/spirits rule to heart as I omit most other unacceptable beverages. I am selective about the adult beverages I drink, but my overall alcohol intake has increase exponentially in the last week (don't worry mom, it's an increase in frequency, not a increase in quantity per sitting).

Friday-Saturday-Sunday were full of challenges. My friend David (Spinning Quarter travel partner) came into town for the weekend and we went out on the town for some fine dining Friday night followed by camping on Saturday and Sunday. Friday we met up with Brittany, one of my girlfriends from college, for drinks at Bodega which was exciting for 2 reasons. The first being that Brittany is awesome and since she moved away for medical school I haven't seen her but once. The second being that October 2, 2011 marked the arrival of Yuengling to Ohio and this was our first opportunity to drink it "legally" in Ohio, on tap none the less. Drinks were followed by dinner at M at Miranova. One of the benefits of fine dining is everything is made with the finest of ingredients, so while I was still more selective than usual about what I ate, I allowed myself to believe, at least for the most part, the content of the dishes were non-processed. All the food was superb so any guilt quickly vanished as the various courses arrived.

After dinner, David and I met up with his sister and brother-in law for drinks at Milestone 229 which is along the Scioto Mile downtown. I have a childlike affinity for fountains and the one constructed behind the site of this establishment is truly inspired. It is amazing to me how little I have seen and done in this city where I have lived for 7 years. How could I, a fountain enthusiast, possibly have missed this spectacular set up?

 Saturday camping was the trickiest yet. We packed a cooler with appropriate dietary selections, but arriving to camp where there was a spread including hot bacon, biscuits and gravy was torture. Somehow, organic yogurt and eggs paled in comparison. Sunday morning after David and I left the camp site we went to the local organic restaurant I frequent, The Northstar Cafe. As David had never been there for brunch, I insisted he get the Cloud 9 pancakes (they are the things dreams are made of). He was skeptical at first because, per him, "who dreams about pancakes," but then, gentleman that he is, he ate every last bite, completely forgetting to save a small piece for me. The waitress overheard be giving David a hard time for his selfishness in failing to offer me a bite of my favorite dish, and she brought out another whole pancake just for me. The woman should get a raise!

Today I return back to a "normal" schedule and dining out for every meal will go away (at least for a few days). I need to talk to Kristen to get a pulse check on how she and Tim are doing at this point and maybe get some new recipes for the week. For right now, I am headed out to do my weekly grocery stopping.