2.  I want to be a person without toxins in my body.

My favorite dessert are cookies (Oreos and chocolate chip) and I really enjoy Belgian beers.  Boom!  While I do not have either often, when I do, watch out!  My mother spent a long time looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  We found it and I really, I mean really, enjoy them!  There is just something about them that takes me to a happy place.  Oh...and the beer...I live in Europe with great beer only 53 stairs from my apartment.  What a gift.

Now comes the hard part.  While I enjoy those things, I am pushing them to the side to embrace a healthier life.

I have noticed that my body feels better when I embrace a gluten free diet.  I have more energy, clearer skin, I feel lighter, and do not experience tummy problems.  While I have been committed to dodging foods with gluten in them in the past, I have veered from the path long enough to not like the outcome and be convicted to be committed once again.

Where to start...

A friend introduced me to a 21-day cleanse through the Clean program.  She sold me when she said, "You get to eat real food."  I am not a fan of liquid lemon, maple syrup and cayenne paper fasts.  No thank you.  This one sounded a bit more promising.

Ok...so...I tried it yesterday.  To be totally honest, I was on the phone with her a few minutes ago and tried to get her to understand that it was too hard and the food tasted too bad.  I did not win.  She has done the cleanse once before (and even got her hubby to do it too), and is gearing up to do it again.  Her words of love and willingness to walk with me in this helped me to try it once more.

I want to do it, well no I don't but I want the health that comes from doing it, and I honestly think I was looking for an out, and like a good friend, she did not give it to me (thanks Rachie).  The truth is that the food is not too bad.  Even though I cannot get some of the ingredients in Austria, I can substitute and I just need to look a bit harder.  I just have to experiment and see what I like.  Rachie and I enjoy different tastes (obviously, she drinks coffee and I do not touch the stuff).

So tomorrow, I will hold my head high.  I will wake up and make a breakfast smoothie with rice milk, blueberries and raspberries, chia seeds and perhaps some almonds or cashews for a little extra kick.  I am living the high life now!  I will not only swallow the goodness in with I will concoct in the blender but I will take in health and wellness too.

Sweet Jesus, I am going to need you to help me with this one.  This one I can definitely NOT do alone!

Oh, and if I will be discouraged, I will take a deep breath, inhale the Holy Spirit and exhale this truth...I am a person who is smoke free.