Assessment Results: Week 1

Huzzah! We made it! And I am probably not alone when I say there is no way in HELL I would have made it past day 1 without the support of fellow "cleansers". Thanks everyone!

I realize it might not be the most kosher research practice to create your own measures/questionnaire and participate in your own study AND check the results only after completing 25% of the study, but alas, I will not be submitting this to a journal and I wanted to know if I my sacrifices paid off. So I took an assessment this morning and compared it to last week.

Some highlights:

• Almost 7 lb decrease in weight - yowza! Too bad it will likely come back by the end of this month. But I'll take it for now.
• Improvement in sleep quality - with a few exceptions, I slept more soundly and was a awake earlier (though still rolled out of bed at the last possible moment - no changes there :-\ )
• Energy - moderately improved; not groggy throughout the day yet still not enough energy to exercise consistently
• Mood - overall it was mildly improved; my PHQ-9 score, however, vastly improved by 8 points!

Some Disclaimers/Deviations:

• I've drank about 6-8 oz of coffee/day with almond milk. Could not let go.
  
• I had to bake a ton of cake for my nephew's birthday party and it was pretty hard to not take a few swipes of frosting to ensure that it was peanut buttery enough (it was not changing color). It was also REALLY hard to not eat cake batter (there's no excuses other than it is irresistably delicious) so I had a few tablespoons from the bowl. Strangely enough, just that tiniest bit of added sugar, dairy, and gluten had me buzzing before bed and when I woke up the next day.

Alright! Time for beans and fish! It finally gets better!!