Day 7

Caffeine...  As week one of my cleanse ends I'm realizing more and more just how addicted I am.  This realization comes in the form of another headache.  It started last night and persisted into the morning, but went away after I drank my morning coffee.  A strict cleanse does not allow for coffee or dairy (I use half and half in my coffee), but I knew I wasn't ready for the hardcore version.  I've got an exuberant 2-year-old, a busy husband, and a host of other daily things that need my attention...  So, for now I am thankful for my morning coffee and anticipating a reduction in physical symptoms as my body adjusts.

Here's a breakdown of week one:
The Good

1. This week has not been as hard as I was anticipating.  I have really enjoyed researching & coming up with different recipes that cleanse and nourish my body.  
2. I decided not to weigh this week.  I figured that regardless of what the scale said I would continue cleansing because I am not just dieting, I am changing my life.  
3. I "feel" smaller, especially around my middle.  I don't know if it is psychological or reality, but it feels good so I'll take it!

The Bad

1. The headaches are no fun, but they are manageable.
2. This one could be good or bad.  I'm realizing that I have not been kind to my body in the past.  I have been eating according to what I want not what my body needs.  I believe there will come a time for more balance; time for including things that I may want like birthday cake, a special meal with family, or a glass of wine with friends. But for right now I am content to be where I am on my journey.

Here's WHAT I ATE TODAY
Breakfast:

• coffee
• a green smoothie
• 2 spinach cubes
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 scoops whey protein powder
• 1.5 c almond milk

Post-workout:

• green smoothie (same as before)

Snack:

• banana with almond butter (we were babysitting at a friends house so I made do with what I had available)

Dinner:

• 1 c lentils
• 1/2 c brown rice (normally you are encouraged to eat EITHER brown rice OR lentils on any given day, but I didn't eat very much earlier in the day and I was HUNGRY... so, I did what worked for me.  Better than the Chick fil A we picked up for Bo or the tatertots the hubs made!)
• left over portabella mushroom 

"Dessert":

• half cup each: plain, non-fat Greek yogurt and coconut milk
• 2 peaches (diced and partially frozen)
• 2 T ground flaxseed

It's almost 6 PM and I'm still headache free...  yay!

Day 6 Cleansing

Yesterday (day 5) started off GREAT but ended pretty blah.  Bo took a short nap that afternoon which gave me less time to get things done and made him extra grumpy.  By dinner time my patience was wearing thin and by bed time I had developed a pretty good headache.  I don't know if it was the stress of the day, the extra protein (double scoops of whey powder), the psyllum husk capsules before each meal (for a good internal scrubbing), or all the Crystal Light lemonade...  It could've also been the time I spent on Jacob's Ladder (since I haven't done that in about a week)...  Hard to tell.  This morning (day 6) I still have a bit of tension in my neck and shoulders and scalp, but I'm headed to the gym for a workout and then some yoga - so hopefully that will help me de-stress and detoxify.

Later...

The yoga definitely helped de-stress my body.  My headache is gone.  Yay!  After a trip to Costco I made some red pepper soup for dinner tonight!  It's an original carolinamombo recipe and you can get it below :)

Here's WHAT I ATE TODAY

Breakfast smoothie: 

• 7 frozen strawberries
• 2 spinach cubes
• 2 scoops protein powder
• 1/2 c water
• 1 c almond milk

Post-workout snack: 

• small (20 oz) vanilla Lean-One smoothie from Smoothie King 

Lunch: 

• red peppers
• peach
• 1 c lentils + a smidge of coconut milk and plain non-fat Greek yogurt

Dinner: 

• grilled portobella mushroom
• homemade red pepper soup 
• ingredients: 3 red peppers, 2 onions, 2 beefsteak tomatoes, coconut oil (2 T), spices to taste (I did about a T of each cumin, garlic, oregano, and then salt/pepper to taste)
• directions:
1. chop all veggies
2. put chopped veggies in a large pot with coconut oil and spices; stir
3. cook, cook, cook (probably an hour) on medium heat, stirring as needed
4. blend with Magic Bullet or other blending apparatus 
5. add a dolop of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt (like Fage) and enjoy!

"Dessert":

• 2 peaches, chopped 
• 1/4 each coconut milk and greek yogurt
• 2 T ground flax seed

Day 5

So it's been another good day.  I've felt almost euphoric at times, and I definitely have more energy.  For example, by dinner time I am usually in a mental fog and exhausted -- could literally put my head on the dinner table and take a nap!  I'm usually craving caffeine in the form of a diet dr pepper or diet coke, but knowing that it will mess up my night time sleep.  It's my daily Catch 22...  But, last night was great!  I was not at all exhausted and today I have felt better able to multi-task in my home - which means things are cleaner and more organized, which means I have more time to spend with my family and THAT makes me a happy girl :)

So, here's WHAT I ATE TODAY
Lemon water (I forgot to mention earlier that I sqeeze half a lemon into some water first thing when I wake up.  I think it's pretty gross, but I've heard it's cleansing.)
Coffee with half-and-half
Breakfast smoothie:

• 2 scoops whey protein powder
• 1/4 avocado
• 2 spinach cubes (the kind I blended up and froze myself)
• almond milk, about 1 cup
• a handful of frozen blueberries

Lunch smoothie:

• 1 spinach cube
• 1/4 avocado 
• 2 scoops whey protein powder 
• half frozen banana 
• 1-2 T almond butter, approx
• almond milk, about 1 to 1.5 cups

Snacks:

• red pepper slices
• tomato slices
• cucumber sticks
• 2 apples, diced + 1/4 c each of coconut milk and plain non-fat Greek yogurt + 2 T ground flaxseed (this is yummy like a dessert!)

Dinner:

• 1 cup lentils (yay, I can finally eat them!!!)
• steamed broccoli
• sliced tomato

Day 4 Cleanse

Today I woke up feeling like a rock star.  My mouth is hurting less which has allowed me to expand my menu a bit by adding in some raw veggies.  I've had more energy and more patience with my little fella (which makes everybody happy) and feel clearer mentally.

I'm also renewed in my resolve to shed weight and to be fit and healthy.  This happened when a good friend of mine was asked to teach a fitness class at the gym.  She's my best friend so I am thrilled for her.  She has a stellar personality and an infectious energy.  She also has a way of making people feel at ease, so she would make a great instructor!!  My biggest struggle has always been my diet.  I carry my weight in my middle which is not attractive and is a direct result of the food I eat.  Although I believe that I am as strong (or stronger) physically as my friend, I do not look as good/lean as she does and I do not have her energy (which may or may not be why she was offered the opportunity and I wasn't).  I celebrate and congratulate my friend in her success.  She deserves it!  And she has inspired me to be a better version of myself... no, the BEST version of myself - starting with this cleanse.  So, here's to getting shredded , y'all :)

WHAT I ATE TODAY


Breakfast Smoothie:

• 1/2 avocado
• spinach
• 4 strawberries
• 1/2 c water
• 1/2 c coconut milk
• 1/2 c almond milk
• 1 scoop whey protein powder

Lunch Smoothie:

• 1/2 c greek yogurt
• 1/2 c almond milk
• 1/2 c water
• 2 T almond butter
• 2 T wheat germ
• 1/2 frozen banana 

Snack:

• raw orange and yellow bell peppers
• raw cucumber

Dinner:

• 1/2 c brown rice
• steamed asparagus
• spinach pesto - (I modified the recipe to be more cleanse friendly) 2 c spinach, 1/4 c evoo or evco, 1 T basil, 1 T garlic, 1 T lemon juice, 2 T wheat germ, 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
• sliced tomato

Snack:

• 1/4 c non-fat, plain, Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c coconut milk
• 1 apple, chopped
• 2 T wheat germ

Day 3 Cleanse

Today I have been tired and hungry.  My mouth is still hurting which makes it hard to eat (not to mention hard to WANT to eat) healthy, crunchy veggies.  All I really want is a warm slice of bread with honey or some macaroni and cheese.  Oh, well.  I'm sticking with it in spite of...

Here's what I ate today
Breakfast: a banana and a glass of almond milk
Lunch: left overs (steamed sweet potato, smidge of butter, steamed green beans, and a half cup of long grain rice)
Snack: smoothie (1 cup coconut milk, half banana, blueberries, spinach, 2 T wheat germ)
Dinner: 1 avocado and steamed broccoli tossed in a bit of coconut oil
Snack: peach smoothie (almond milk, peach, plain non-fat yogurt)

Day 2 Cleanse

DAY ONE SUMMARY

The Good:

• I made it through day one!  Hey, that in itself is an accomplishment - especially when your family is eating cinnamon chip muffins for breakfast and the last chocolate chip cookie is staring you down from it's perch on the kitchen counter... curse you sugary goodness.  Don't worry, I didn't give in to my cravings.  Yay me!

• I enjoyed the food that I ate.  No, really.  It was all tasty tasty.

• I slept great last night.  Hooray!  

• I felt like a rock star for making the commitment and sticking to it.

The Bad:

• I was a tad bit grumpy in a pretty foul mood.  I think I got overly hungry at one point because I found that if I kept up with my eating (especially protein) that I felt better and my mood improved, much to the appreciation of my husband!

• Last night my stomach felt very bloated (probably from all the fiber -- what my Grandmother would call "roughage") but that passed over night as did a trip to the bathroom (tmi?)

• I was very tired.  A fact that has carried over into today.  My workout was extra difficult and I just felt all-around beat.

TODAY (Day 2)

What I ate:
OK.  Really quickly...  I started this cleanse in the middle of some painful bad luck.  I bit my tongue and got a "lie" bump.  Ouch, right?!  Overcompensating, I bit the other side and got another bump...  *sigh*  I like to think that I have a high tolerance for pain.  I mean I gave birth to a 9.4lb baby naturally...  I kill myself at the gym 6 days a week.  I was a teacher.  I'm a wife (haha) and a mom...  So, anyway, I think I'm pretty tough.  (Maybe I'm just kidding myself???)  Regardless, these two little bumps are debilitating!  I mean really painful.  So painful that I am having to modify my menu...  like the wuss that I apparently am...  OK, on to the actual food.

• Breakfast: coffee and a smoothie (almond milk, greek yogurt, whey protein powder, spinach, and blueberries)
• Lunch: last night I made some lentils with this recipe.  I was very excited to have them for lunch, but they were too spicy and rather painful to my sensitive mouth.  Instead I had a banana and made another smoothie. I have to say that it is the best smoothie I have ever made.  So cool and creamy and satisfying! 

My Green Smoothie: 

half of an avocado, almond milk (approximately 1 - 1.5 cups), spinach (earlier in the week I blended up spinach and almond milk and froze it in ice cube trays for easy access to green smoothies.  I got the idea here and modified it), 2 T wheat germ, 1/4 cup of greek yogurt

• Snack: Pumpkin Smoothie (3T pumpkin, 1 c almond milk, 3 T greek yogurt, 1 t vanilla extract, 1 T almond butter) - not the best 
• Dinner: a steamed sweet potato with organic butter from grass-fed cows and steamed green beans with olive oil
• Snack: Strawberry Smoothie (1/4 c full-fat coconut milk, 1/4 c water, 1/2 c almond milk, 4 frozen strawberries, and 1 scoop whey protein powder)

Now, I'm off to bed... Night!

Day 1 Cleanse

I'm beginning a new adventure of sorts.  Today I am starting a 21-day cleanse based on the Standard Process Cleanse (SPC), and thought that this would be a good place to stay accountable by cataloging my ups and downs, the foods I eat, and (hopefully) the progress I make.  




Why Cleanse?
There as many reasons to cleanse as there are people who cleanse (ok, maybe not that many, but there are a lot of good reasons).  You can find out more here.  Some of the more popular reasons are as follows: 

• eliminate toxins
• weight loss
• increased energy/vitality
• better digestion
• less bloating
• clearer skin and shinier hair
• better sleep
• clearer thinking
• disappearance or lessening of previous conditions (acne, arthritis, stress, etc)

I have been resistant to cleansing in the past for several reasons...

1. The truth is that I'm pretty lazy (there, I said it).  Some might say "busy" (and while that may also be true, I usually feel like I can barely keep up with my life as it is.  My husband, my kid, my house, my dogs, my bills, my self, etc...  AND it takes a lot of effort to plan, shop for, and prepare meals to a particular dietary specification - especially when I have to prepare an entirely separate meal for the rest of my family who aren't cleansing.
2. I'm afraid that a cleanse will be too restrictive and I will end up binging on "bad" food.  I am going to do my best to keep up with this blog (again with the lazy...) which I hope will keep me accountable.  Also, I am doing this with a friend so there's another layer of accountability built in.  
3. THREE WEEKS.  That's a long time.  Three weeks...  It's just 3 weeks... 21 days...  I can do anything for that long, right?
4. This is perhaps my biggest excuse and also the biggest reason I should do the cleanse. I'm Melissa and I'm addicted to caffeine and sugar.  BIG time.  This cleanse calls for an elimination of refined sugar, animal protein (until day 11), simple carbs, most salt, and caffeine.  I have decided that in order to keep from feeling too overwhelmed I will keep my morning coffee (with half and half) and will occasionally eat sugar-free ''desserts'' like pudding or cool whip.  I would rather modify this experience as needed than give up or quit.

My biggest goals are to...

• lose fat

• increase energy

• reduce headaches

• reduce bloating

• improve skin

What I ate today


Breakfast: 
coffee and plain non-fat greek yogurt (fage), 1 diced peach, 1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil, 2 tablespoons wheat germ


Smoothie: 
almond milk, spinach, one-half banana, 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder


Lunch: 
Avocado Chutney (a seriously tasty recipe I found here at The Mommypotamus)


Dinner:
asparagus fries, sauteed mushrooms and onions, half cup of long grain wild rice


Smoothie:
almond milk, one-half banana, 1 T almond butter