Yesterday morning, I made a great breakfast. The base was sautéed Kale. I added some eggs, and green olives. When it was finished, I topped it with a little bit of of asiago cheese and avocado. Sounds good, right.

As I was eating the meal, I could not stop smiling. I was grinning really big, felt good and nourished. As the breakfast was cooking, I made a salad for lunch. It was also healthy and good. I ate it around 11:30. When I finished, I wasn't close to full. I could have easily doubled - maybe even tripled - the size of it. My day and work schedule didn't allow for a snack until quite a bit later, and I started getting hungry. I knew the ingredients to make a salad and veggies - which would fall right in line with the diet - were in the fridge, but I also knew that wouldn't be enough.

In a quick calculation, I knew instantly that another salad for dinner, with the prospect of two more salads for lunch and dinner the next day, and maybe the day after, was enough to get me to cave, to stop. I also had a specific craving: nachos.

But these nachos are different.

Last year, I got the book The Plant-Power Way, which is a plant-based (read: vegan) cookbook. It has a recipe for nachos, which include organic, corn tortilla chips, no greasy meat (I used a soy substitute, Trader Joe's Beef-less Ground Beef), and cashew cheese (made from a recipe in the book I just mentioned). I made them. They were delicious, and did what I need as far as variety and taste. With them, as with most plants, the feeling of 'full' you get is way different than when the same food is filled with meat and dairy. Instead of a gut-full, you're more light-full, satisfied but not stuffed.

I also really needed to relax. For some reason, I couldn't relax yesterday. I had issues with technology that pushed my plans back by about two hours, and required really intense mental focus. I was sitting in a chair the whole time. It would have been a great day for a long run, but my body needed an 'off' day from working out. At the end of work day, when evening and free time came, I was tense. The tension wasn't anxious, but was more like a tightly wound spool that needed to unwind a bit. I decided to use wine.

I had two glasses of wine, while watching the show, Ozark. I lit a candle, laid on the couch, and it was really nice.

As I went through the debate - cheat or be stringent, I realized: I am not a puritan. Almost everything I've heard of the Puritans has caused to think: WTF? Why'd it have to be these people that came here and made laws. Following the letter of the law over the principal for the law is something that has bothered me for the longest. But then I asked: if I deny the body and follow rules simply for rules sake, how am I any different? The goal for me is not a month of no alcohol, two weeks of no sugar, and then back to old habits. The goal is to be more healthy. The goal is to be more intentional, more productive, more fulfilled. This realization opened the door for a different evaluative system. What, today, helps the overall goal? Today, what steps can I make toward general health and wellness? Yesterday, that answer was exactly what I did.

I woke up today feeling better, refreshed. My meals today will be healthy. They will follow the diet. Today, I'm back to the boozeless month. In being back, I'm also motivated to work out and feel better overall. I honored what my body needed yesterday.

I did this because I am not a Puritan.