Weekend Update 2

This week was a tough week because I had 4 Christmas parties to attend. FOUR. CHRISTMAS PARTIES. Do you have any idea how much good food people reserve and make only at Christmastime? TONS. The answer is TONS. So. Much. Butter.
I did pretty well at the beginning of the week. At Hubby's bank branch Christmas party (which was at a buffet, mind you) I only had a bowl of vegetable soup, a big salad, and about 2 oz. of roasted turkey. On Tuesday my Bluegrass Band had a gig at some ward Christmas party. I had a plate of raw fruits and veggies and 2 tiny baguette slices with cream cheese and cucumber, about 2 inches in diameter each. I passed up the trays of goodies at work and stuck with garbanzo bean salad I brought from home, and a pomegranate that I bought from the grocery store down the road. Best pomegranate of my life, btw.
By the time Friday's Bank Manager party rolled around, however, my will-power was at an all-time low. I had mashed potatoes, salad, roasted carrots, roast beef, a chocolate covered strawberry, a couple of peanut butter cups, and I snuck a few bites of Luis's cheesecake and cupcake (it was from Sweet Tooth Fairy- I couldn't resist!)
I tried to repent of my ways on Saturday, but while I was out running errands with the boy I lost track of time and we were both starving, so we had to eat at a restaurant at lunch. I had a fruit bowl and a bowl of cheddar broccoli soup and a couple slices of garlic bread that came with it. I have a weakness for anything covered with melted butter. I couldn't pass it up. It was, incidentally, worth it. Who knew Denny's, of all places, makes such good soup?
Yesterday Luis's entire family came over for dinner for a triple birthday party. I made pozole (which is a type of Mexican pork stew) and quesadillas. I did pretty well with portion control, but I still at a little of everything, including the birthday cake at the end.
By the end of the day I felt terrible. I had a headache, a stomach ache, my nerves were shot, and I had no energy. It's amazing how accustomed I had become in just 2 weeks to eating clean and feeling super energetic all the time.
Today I am avowed to behave myself and eat clean, although we have three days of Christmas parties at work, and I'm feeling weak.
In the end, though, I still lost a pound, and stayed off caffeine all week. Pretty successful, if you ask me. I'd like to take the opportunity to mention that my primary goal in doing this is not weight loss (although that's a major bonus), but rather wellness. It's just a lot easier to measure how much weight you lose than it is to measure internal healing. As a side note, however, I did get a visit from an old friend this week whom I haven't seen in 6 months. She rarely visits without hormonal supplementation, and I was shocked and happily surprised. It only lasted for about 2 days, but I'll take whatever I can get when it comes to lady stuff. I think that's a much better indication, also, of the major healing that I can feel taking place daily.
All in all, 2 and a half weeks in, my weight is down, my skin is cleared up, and I feel fantastic. I honestly think it will be harder to stop juicing than it was to start.
As far as Luis goes, he had such low energy yesterday that he couldn't stay awake. He's been trying to eat healthy at all of these parties, too, but he's having a harder time of it than I am, and he refuses to skip dessert. He was completely passed out last night at 10:30, and dragging from about 8:00 on. Even with all the cheating, however, he lost another 3 pounds, has clearer skin, and better mood/energy than before.