So, here’s an interesting thing that has happened as I tackle no grain, no dairy, no sugar. Every time I eat? It turns out it’s because I’m hungry. It’s hunger that is my cue to go in search of food, and this — I’m going to be honest — is pretty new to me. Of all the reasons I eat: I’m bored, I’m tired, I’m sad, I’m bored, I’m feeling angrily passive aggressive with no one close enough to take it out on… (because those people have decided they’d rather hang out with someone nice like Gordon Ramsey, instead…) Of all those reasons, hunger is usually farther down the list (a lot farther). I don’t want to say that the foods that are left after removing grains, dairy and sugar aren’t still good, solid, quality foods. A crisp red pepper? Grilled shrimp? Delicious stuff. My typical breakfast lately is over-easy eggs on a bed of Applegate deli turkey with a side of avocado. It’s great! But it’s also a little repetitive. Sometimes I switch it up with a lettuce wrap… with Applegate deli turkey and avocado. And if I’ve done a good job of planning, snacks of grilled chicken or a grab bag of cut celery and grape tomatoes? They certainly don’t sit tantalizingly in the work fridge, taunting me at my desk. If I haven’t done a good job of planning, my fall back spoonful of almond butter (moderate list!) also isn’t the stuff of food fantasies. 
Habit is a great thing. It’s the foundation of civility, I think. It keeps us breaking at stop signs, even as we’re also running down the “did you do/grab/get/ask?” list during morning carpool. It means we say thank you as part of our routines and smile acknowledgment at strangers. But the other side of habit is rut. And I’ve definitely fallen into a rut of boredom and emotional eating. It’s been such a long day, I deserve this cookie, chocolate, wine, sundae… And you know what, sometimes I absolutely do. But as a treat, not as a dangling-carrot reward for staying ambulatory past 6pm and not just because it’s the first thing I blindly grab for in the dim, forgiving light of the rut. While I have 12 days in and 16 days left of this rather stringent diet (yes, I’m counting), they say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I’ll have that and more under my belt, and I hope I take the lesson to heart and climb out of the rut.
I’m on my way. I’ve come to know what hunger feels like. And actually, it probably feels like my body regulating itself. I’m assuming. I’m new at this.