cleanse | days 13-15

DAY 13 --breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, flax meal, bee pollen, coconut oil, water, mixed berries, mango, carrots, spinach] snack: carrots with hummus lunch: lettuce, spinach, chicken, avocado, mustard wrapped in brown rice tortilla snack: larabar dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, flax meal, almond milk, water, raspberries, mango, kale]

pretty much blah day because of the day before. was tired the entire day. feeling so ready to be done.

DAY 14 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, flax meal, bee pollen, coconut oil, water, mixed berries, mango, carrots, spinach] snack: none lunch: [applegate] chicken breast lunchmeat, herb lettuce, hummus, mustard wrapped in brown rice tortilla snack: half a larabar dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, coconut oil, coconut water, peaches, raspberries, carrots, kale]

felt back to normal on day 14, but was really hungry by late evening [probably should have been in bed].  i think about quitting multiple times every day, this day included. just really ready to be done, but then also i've come this far and so why quit now. but yes, i'm so darn excited about day 21 being only a week away. wondering how i should celebrate the big day?

DAY 15 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, flax meal, bee pollen, coconut water, raspberries, mango, carrots, spinach] snack:  apple with almond butter lunch:  [applegate] chicken breast lunchmeat, herb lettuce, hummus wrapped in brown rice tortilla and 1/2 larabar snack: 1/2 larabar dinner: you guessed it. a smoothie [protein, fiber, flax meal, coconut water, mixed berries, mango, kale]

man i woke up hungry on day 15 and stayed hungry most of the day. late night, i was so hungry that i couldn't think straight. it's funny how the days vary so much [not in my eating, but in my level of hunger]. besides being hungry, i felt great.

i know my lunches are boring and repetitive but i have no desire to really cook anything different or special. and i'm really not a very big vegetable eater ever. i tell myself every day that i'm going to make a juice, but that seems to never happen. maybe tomorrow. i have beets, carrots, apples and ginger waiting for me. i really need to juice more.

six more days and i'm DONE! cannot wait, cannot wait, cannot wait. kiele asked me today what my first meal was going to be post-cleanse...a donut? ummm...no, not a donut. but what IS my first meal going to be? it's kind of exciting to think about.

you can find my original post regarding this clean program cleanse here.

cleanse | days 10-12

DAY 10 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, water, almond milk, raspberries, pineapple, spinach] snack: apple with almond butter lunch: [applegate] chicken sausage, lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, avocado & hummus wrapped in brown rice tortilla snack:  none dinner:  smoothie [protein, fiber, coconut water, raspberries, mango, kale]

while i was so hungry the previous three days, day 10 brought something different -- i was actually full after lunch and stayed satisfied the rest of the day.  well, i stayed hungry until we went to a 10 PM movie and oh...the smell of movie popcorn.

HELL YEA -- HALFWAY THERE!!!!!!

DAY 11 --

breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, flax meal, coconut water, mixed berries, pineapple, spinach, kale] snack: none lunch: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, flax meal, coconut water, mixed berries, pineapple, spinach, kale] snack:  none dinner: grilled chicken with side salad and 1/2 larabar [at restaurant at the polynesian hotel, disney world]

today was supposed to be disney world but the parks were so crowded, we decided not to go to any parks.  but we did go visit our friends, who were in orlando, from pennsylvania.  since i wanted to eat dinner with everyone, i decided to do a smoothie for breakfast and lunch and dinner at a restaurant [with our friends]. all went well with no cheating but i sure did want a sip of steve's jalapeno margarita and a bite of his white chocolate cheesecake. oh yea, i really wanted some of the fresh right-out-of-the-oven hawaiian bread too; it smelled amazing.

DAY 12 --

breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, flax meal, coconut water, mixed berries, pineapple, spinach, kale] snack: none lunch: salad of lettuce, avocado & black beans [at mexican restaurant at epcot] snack:  none dinner: a couple of beers

yes, you read right, i had a couple of beers at dinner. we spent the day with friends at epcot center and ended up at 'the house of blues' in downtown disney, for dinner. we sat on the patio, listening to awesome live music. we ate [well everyone except me], we drank and the kids played and played and played. we didn't get back home last night until about 10:30 PM and exhausted, i went right to bed. so it's now the morning of the 13th day and i'm back at it but feel pretty much like shit. i'm tired and way, way dehydrated right now.  but it sure was an awesome day and evening spent with our friends, who had flown in from DC. hoping to get my body back on track today.

you can find my original post regarding this clean program cleanse here.

a couple of iphone photos...

cleanse | days 7-9

DAY 7 --breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, water, blueberries, pineapple, kale] snack: none lunch: chicken, hummus, avocado, spinach & lettuce wrapped in a brown rice tortilla. carrots on the side. snack: pineapple dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, mango, pineapple, kale]

another day of feeling great.  although i did feel more hungry than the previous few days. and i was up really late and so hungry by 1 AM, i could barely stand it.

and so begins week two.  YAY!

DAY 8 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, flax meal, water, almond milk, blueberries] snack: apple with almond butter and juice [celery, beets, ginger, apple] lunch: a bowl chicken, spinach & mushroom soup and lara bar snack: carrots with hummus dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, peach, pineapple, kale]

woke up and was certain my stomach was eating itself, i was so hungry. and the hunger continued throughout the entire day.  i was never satisfied...thought about food all day and dreamt about what my first meal will be post-cleanse.  besides being hungry, i felt great and even climbed the stairs, which also felt great. now to get my butt to yoga [why can't they have more morning yoga times?].

DAY 9 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, water, peaches, raspberries, spinach] snack:  none lunch:  [applegate] chicken sausage, lettuce, spinach, avocado, drizzle of homemade dressing, wrapped in brown rice tortilla and 1/2 of a larabar [larabar = dessert] snack:  a few carrots dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, almond milk, raspberries, pineapple]

while i was feeling good, day 9 was a day of wanting to be done.  i longed for a regular meal.  my tea was boring.  i was never satisfied throughout the day.  2-5 PM are my witching hours, for this cleanse.  thank goodness i'm doing this with a friend.  we gripe to one another. we share with one another. we support and encourage one another.

+++

i was reading about breaking bad habits last night and something i read shared about replacing a bad habit with a good one, e.g. replacing coffee with tea. sounds fine and dandy but all i can think about is having coffee again. but maybe that's because i'm not so committed to giving up coffee, when this is done. i've already said that i'm going back to coffee. i just am. so i guess i don't consider my coffee such a bad habit.

let day 10 begin. although i already really, really want a cup of coffee.  it smells so, so good!  and i have no idea how i'm going to manage days 11 and 12, being at disney world.

the coffee, that steve left behind when he left this morning, which i longed for but didn't have...

cleanse | days 4-6

DAY 4 --breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, ice, mango, pineapple, kale, spinach] snack: guacamole with a few brown rice crackers & half lara bar lunch: chicken with lettuce, onion and homemade dressing [kind of boring] snack: apple with almond butter [although i really wasn't hungry] dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, ice, mango, pineapple, cantaloupe, kale, spinach]

day four was an overall great day. no ailments. and very productive day around the house -- cleaning, organizing, purging. my meals seem to be rather satisfying.

DAY 5 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, ice, mixed berries, kale, spinach] snack: carrots with hummus lunch: chicken & avocado on bed of spinach [boring!] snack: none dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, water, ice, mango, pineapple, spinach]

felt great. lots of energy. very productive. working hard to cleanse other areas of my life, along with cleansing my mind, body and soul [e.g. my to-do list]. i did get a bit of a headache in the evening, but it wasn't anything terrible. stayed up late and got super hungry around 10 PM.

DAY 6 -- breakfast: smoothie [protein, fiber, bee pollen, water, mixed berries, spinach] snack: none lunch: chicken, spinach, lettuce, avocado & hummus wrapped in brown rice tortilla snack: none dinner: smoothie [protein, fiber, flax meal, water, ice, mango, pineapple, kale]

day six was another great day. no ailments. lots of energy. busy day checking things off my to-do list. not really hungry at all. kids and steve had steak and mashed potatoes for dinner and then went for ice cream. not being able to eat the same dinner with my family is one of the toughest things about this program, for me. as i shared in a previous post, i do plan on eating two dinners with my family each week and on those days, i'll have a smoothie for breakfast and lunch.

what a difference days 4-6 have been compared to days 1-3, which were really tough. while i am getting a bit bored with my smoothies and the food in general, i have felt great these past few days. i fantasize about food-cheating many times throughout each day, but have yet to cheat. if only i could have all vegetables, butter, bananas and strawberries. and i really miss my morning coffee. i will most likely get back to stair-training tomorrow and still hope to try yoga [maybe next week]. we're headed to disney world sunday and monday, which should be VERY interesting [yes, i plan on sticking to the cleanse, while at disney].

lastly, i've talked to my kids about what i'm doing and they all seem to understand and support me. it's important to me that they realize that this is a short-term cleanse and that i am not dieting.

i really can't believe that at the end of today, i will have doing this a full WEEK! if interested in learning why i started the clean program, check out my initial post here. and have a question, feel free to ask.

need to reset

i've been eating like shit. i haven't worked out in months. i've been drinking way too much (coffee & beer). i've haven't been very positive about things (especially about living in tampa). i'm fluffy-puffy -- just all around YUCK! i need to reset. i need to cleanse. i need to detox. i need to rejuvenate.

and that's exactly what i'm going to do.

i'm starting the clean program -- a 21-day cleanse, designed by cardiologist, dr junger. the basic premise of the clean program is that give the right conditions, your body has the ability to heal itself and achieve optimal health.  dr junger shares that many of the symptoms we suffer from (headaches, fatigue, weight gain, negativity, etc.) are caused by toxin build-up, which is readily accumulated throughout our everyday lives.  the clean program allows your body to reactivate your detoxification system, supports the detox process nutritionally and enhances elimination. there's also a lot of basic questions answered here.

i just finished reading the clean book and i have to say, i loved it. i have always believed in functional medicine and that's what dr junger is all about (a mix of eastern and western medicine).

today, i'm starting a 3-day elimination diet (strict diet of three meals of approved foods from this list, on page 8. and yes, i know...the forbidden food list is crazy.) then i will start the 21-day cleanse, which will consist of a liquid meal (shake, juice or soup) for breakfast and dinner and a regular meal (made from the approved foods list) for dinner. there's a whole bunch of recipes here and they really don't seem too bad. and i can snack when i'm hungry.

there's also supplements to take while doing the cleanse. dr junger's program charges $250-425 but you can also buy your own substitutive supplements, which is what i did (see below).

i'm hoping to get back to regularly working out too.  i'm starting to stair-train today, which should prove interesting since i'm so out of shape right now.  my goal is to eventually get back to crossfitting, which i haven't done since september. and i'd love to try yoga and incorporate it into my weekly routine.

as i was reading dr junger's book, i reminisced about how amazing i felt when i was crossfitting and eating a paleo(ish) diet. at the time, i was also getting lots of compliments on my skin. i always attributed this to the the exercise, but now i truly believe it was just as much my diet, as it was the exercise.

i know there's the skeptics, naysayers, cleanse-haters out there but i'm ready and excited for this -- a mind, body and soul reset. this cleanse just seems to make sense to me. my husband supports me. and i also plan to talk to my kids about what i'm doing, why i'm doing it, etc.

here's my BASIC CLEANSE PLAN -- days 1 - 3: elimination diet | three meals each day from approved food list

days 4 - 25: first thing in morning – probiotic with every meal – digest gold two hours after meals -- candizyme lunch - meal from approved food list put in morning & evening smoothies – brown rice protein, fiber, green vibrance (although i'm doing protein powder shot pre-smoothie because it's so gross) every evening – MVI, milk thistle, garlic tab, mag-citrate, vitamin D before bed – 2 TBS olive oil (not sure i'm going to be able to do this)

here's my PLAN FOR TODAY -- breakfast: shot of brown rice protein water morning shake (almond milk, ice, blueberries, mango, kale + fiber) tea

lunch: quinoa salad with chicken if juicer comes, i will also drink a juice (cucumber, celery, carrots, apple, ginger)

dinner: pea soup and spinach salad with dressing (oil, vinegar, dijon), onion, avocado & almonds

snacks, when needed: almonds, apple with almond butter & carrots with hummus

i want to note that i am NOT doing this cleanse to lose weight. yes, i'm a bit puffy-fluffy, but that has nothing to do with my current weight.

i'll keep you posted on how things go and how i feel. i'm hoping to last the full 21 days but we'll see how things go. right now, i'm afraid of the headaches and potential detox symptoms i've read about but from what i've heard, the outcome is amazing. if you are considering this cleanse, i highly recommend starting with the book. and of course, if any doubts or questions, check with your doctor before starting.

ETA: the brown rice protein powder shot (in a bit of water) was even more gross. i gagged like crazy, to the point that tears were strolling down my face. don't think i'll be doing that again.