This diet has been one of the easiest diets I have ever tried to follow. My husband and I have noticed an overwhelming feeling of "healthiness" as we've eaten mostly vegetables, fruits, and proteins these last few weeks. The scale is tipping in our favor, slowly but surely... but even more impressive is the change in our sleeping (more regular), energy level (more consistent), and bowels (were you expecting something descriptive here?). In order to reward ourselves for our hard work and effort, we decided to have a "cheat" evening to help jump start our metabolism, throwing off our system by straying from our new routine.... keep it on it's toes! My Cheat involved cheesy, bacon, ranch pizza, followed by a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge sauce. Surely, that will give my body a jump!
    And it did.... an hour after the ice cream, everything that was once inside of my body jumped to the outside of my body. In between the painful tummy cramps, moaning, sweating, dry heaves, and the runs (ah, HERE'S the gross description you all wanted), I decided that perhaps I have a bit of a sensitivity to dairy (noting that the first 4 letters of "dairy" are also in the word "d iarrhea"... how had I not made the connection before!). It was in those painful moments as I gripped the edge of the toilet seat that I swore off ice cream.... forever. It's bittersweet, really. Ice cream has been my pick-me-up after a bad day, faithful friend after a break-up, hidden vice (hidden so no one else will find it and eat it!), and favorite overall treat since I was a little tike. But today, today I realized that some relationships are not meant to last. And we all know that if a relationship yields pain, it has to go. So, I bid my sweet ice cream a fond farewell as I move on to my rebound-food.... the fruit smoothie.