Detox Diet and Writing

I wrote my A post late last night for the A to Z Challenge.  It was fun, but not what I need to get myself mentally in the mode to write fiction.  Forgive me for writing two posts today, but this is what I need to get myself in writing mode.  I feel very motivated to write today, which may be because of my friend's A post on writing with alacrity.  Her alacrity is contagious - I am excited to work on my novel today too.

When my alarm went off this morning at 6:10 AM, which was intentionally set late to allow my teenager the opportunity to get herself out of bed, which she never does, I had a headache again.  It wasn't as bad as the day before, but there it was again, greeting me.  The greeting wasn't a nice hello but was more like a smack in the forehead with a sledgehammer.  I begged my daughter to get out of bed.  She said she was getting up, but she wasn't.  "Feet on the floor," I insisted.  She stood up impertinently - she's not a morning person so I didn't take it personally and never do.  I turned on the light, and she groaned on cue.  I left the door open as usual to make sure she at least had to walk to the door before she got dressed, hoping that motion would make it less likely she would fall back into bed the minute I walked out. 

I went back to half-sleep as usual and opened my eyes with no alarm at 6:25.  The lack of any sounds in the house except the interminable hum of technology, that really has no business humming at 6:25 AM, tells me she went back to sleep.  She yelled at me when I barged into her room to find her still in bed.  I announced the time.  She said something like, "Holy crap!" and magically got dressed and ready for school in 15 minutes, which is all the time she had left without being late for her history class. 

At 6:40 AM, I heard my daughter trying to wake up my husband.  He is the designated early morning driver to school.  The school buses come rediculously early, so we drive our little sleepy heads to school so they can sleep an extra 30 minutes a day.  I asked him to get up with the same tone I used with my daughter.  He said he was. I asked him to physically get out of the bed.  Again, he said he was.  He wasn't.  He's not a morning person, so I did not take his crabbiness personally and never do.  I offered to drive instead, but he declined and pulled himself out of bed.  I thanked my husband and told my daughter to have a great day.  I went right back to sleep. 

My plan was to wake up my middle child at 7:00 because I found the homework assignment he thought he left at school.  He's the kind of kid that would want to wake up early to do it instead of getting in trouble with his teacher.  I reset the alarm to 7:15 thinking 15 more minutes would make a difference for both of us.  At 7:15, I turned off the alarm.  At 7:55 that magical thing happened again, and I woke up just in time for him to get to school without missing his class.  I went downstairs and asked my husband if he could handle it.  My headache was worse. 

Sometime later, my sleep was again interrupted by the sound of a small person calling, "Mom-meee!"  Before I got out of bed, my husband did an intercept and said, "I've got it.  Go to sleep."  So I did.  And I slept until 11:00 AM.  The coffee maker had turned itself off hours ago, so I microwaved a cup to try to revive myself, noting the absence of the perpetual headache.  No one was in the house, just me and that incessant hum, which seemed louder than normal. 

I know that really shouldn't count as a good night's sleep considering I went to sleep around 1:00 AM and woke up several times between 6:10 and whatever time it was that my baby called my name.  But it's more sleep than I usually get and is a blessing, even with the interruptions.

When I woke up , my face seemed really puffy and uncomfortable and still does.  I am definitely having some issues.  I decided yesterday to do a detox diet for the next two weeks as a remedy to the chronic headaches.  I am very hopeful it will make me feel better.  The book that has the diet is The New Detox Diet by Elson Haas.  Whenever I have followed the diet even for a few days, it has really helped me get on track to losing weight and feeling better.  (Note to self that D is for Detox.)

I don't know why, but the idea of going on a two week detox diet and powering through a writing project over the next two weeks seems like a perfect match.  Refocusing my mind to be productive after a week of not being focused at all combined with a diet designed to rid my body of toxins seems like a good fit.  We will see.  I definitely can write more if my headache goes away.

My baby and husband are back.  My husband has graciously offered to stay for a little while longer and apparently made arrangements to work only this afternoon.  If my babe sleeps, I will definitely write this afternoon - if not, it will have to wait until this evening.