The Leprechaun Trap, or Being Prepared

Last Monday, I took Chickadee #1 to school as normal. There was an unusual crowd of parents at the door, so she slipped through in front of me before I could walk in. Thirty seconds later, she was back, her mouth in the perfect upside-down "U" shape it gets when she is devestated and about to cry. See, we (ahem, I) had forgotten about her leprechaun trap. Right there on the class calendar for all to see -- if "all" would only look at the calendar more than once a week. We had even had an unusually long weekend because she came home from school early on Wednesday with a stomach ache, then stayed home Thursday as precaution and was off already on Friday. But we didn't do the leprechaun trap. And, aside from googling "leprechaun trap" on Wednesday (the last time before Monday that I check the calendar), I gave it not one thought. Thus, on Monday, we were unprepared.

So I did what any self-respecting neurotic mother would do. I said, "Chickadee #1 -- no crying. We're going home and making your leprechaun trap." So, off we went. The flap from a cardboard box, some aluminum foil, the pot from a fake shamrock plant I had on the front porch, the base of the pot, a jar lid, and curtain rings, some tacky glue and packing tape, and 30 minutes -- this is what you get:

One happy (at least not crying) child, one leprechaun trap, and one mommy who's left kicking herself for not only being unprepared, but also for teaching her child the wrong lesson and taking responsibility for her school work in an unhealthy way.

So what does this all have to do with weight loss and my lack of it?

Preparation. Organization. Foresight. Taking the time to do things right.

All areas where I need help, and lots of it.

The one thing that I will say for myself is that I'm a good starter -- a great auld starter, actually. The trouble lies in finishing. Today I started my combination liver cleansing/penitential to prepare for Easter two week project to follow the guidelines established by Eric Berg (The Seven Principles of Fat Burning). In some ways, I'm skeptical -- I mean, Berg IS a chiropractor, after all -- not a nutritionist or a doctor. In other ways, I'm inspired -- two of my cousins, an aunt and an uncle, and now my sister and brother in law have all gone down this path. And my cousin, the first to try this, was directed to do it by her nutritionist.

The liver cleansing/penitential phase involves eating NO animal proteins or starches (breads, potatoes, rice) for two weeks (you can add a small amount of animal protein (a few ounces) per day if not having it makes you feel faint or sick. It also involves drinking the very pleasant cocktail of spring water (6 oz), unsweetened cranberry juice (2 ounces), lemon juice (2 T), and cider vinegar (1/2 t - 1 t) THREE TIMES PER DAY. So today, I started slowly. I'm not quite ready to go the no coffee/tea route (so I've had several cups of tea today). I also made myself a spinach and egg white omelet. But for lunch I'm having black bean soup (and probably for dinner too). This is going to be interesting. And scary and difficult, but my sister put it into great perspective yesterday. She just started week 2 of this phase, and said, "I know I can do anything for two weeks. I can do this."

I can do this.