Days 9 and 10

The past couple of days have been plagued by, well, for TMI's sake i'll just say women's troubles. Yesterday was really hard to get through. I made my morning shake with extra pineapple because I hear that pineapple is good for inflammation... hence, my sprained ankle. I also put maca in it because I needed the extra energy. I spent the rest of the morning scrubbing down the house, trying to distract myself and build up some sort of appetite in time for lunch. I pretty much had to force myself to eat lunch because I had absolutely no appetite whatsoever. I had salad with mushrooms, shallots, and balsamic vinegar. Oh, I almost forgot! I got an ice cream maker a few weeks ago and decided that I was going to make "clean" ice cream! So that's what I did after lunch. I made ice cream out of coconut milk, vanilla, and agave. And that's it. It came out sooo good. I'm still going to eat it in extreme moderation, I had only a spoonful yesterday. The rest of the day was spent napping off and on while my boyfriend and a friend installed our new awesome tv. Snack was rice cake with almond butter - my favorite. Dinner shake was made with pineapple as well, and was delicious. It filled me up and I went to bed easily with no residual hunger, and I slept pretty well through the night!

Today I woke up feeling a little bit better but still with no hunger. I took my morning supplement and made my shake anyway, out of berries, more pineapple, and almond milk. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy my shakes? I think that might be something that I take out of this, is having different kinds of shakes in the morning.... well, for summer, anyway. I do have to admit that I miss eating solid food for dinner. When I am done with the cleanse my BF and I are going to celebrate by going out to dinner. Lunch was sauteed greens with red onion, garbanzo beans, and quinoa. I wasn't hungry and pretty much just made lunch because it was lunchtime. Snack today was an apple with some raw almond butter. I accidently made my dinner shake extra big, and didn't want to waste it so I drank it all up. Now I'm so freaking full... waiting to digest. I've still been pretty low energy all day and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be better because I'm supposed to go to the gym -finally.

Day 8

I have now officially completed the first day of the second week of the clean program. I have to say, this is one of the most fun and delicious cleanses I have ever done. I wasn't so sure about it at first... 21 days seemed like a lifetime when I was starting day 1. But now at day 8, I see how the 21 days can breeze by... I can almost see myself being sad when they are over. This could be the beginning of a permanent change of lifestyle for me. I can already see how easy it could be to incorporate the "clean" principles into every day life. There is also tons of community support at my.cleanprogram.com, as well as so many fun recipes that I'm dying to try.

Today has probably been the best day so far, except for right now I'm feeling a pretty bloated. I had my evening shake, and I haven't eaten anything else out of the ordinary, except for pineapple, but I can't imagine pineapple making me bloated.

I have also been VERY good about taking all of the supplements. I'm not sure if I mentioned yet that there are two versions of this cleanse. There is the one where follow the book, and one where you purchase the kit. I'm doing the kit version, because I like anything that makes my life easier, and the kit does just that. It is super user friendly and gives me the freedom to only have to think about what's for lunch.. and includes all the supplements that I am supposed to take. Apparently, the supplements are one of the most important components to this cleanse. The shakes are tasting so much better to me now then when I first started. I love that I can get creative and add different things to the shakes as well. Tonight, for instance, I had some blueberries and a little bit of peach, almond milk, spinach, and stevia to make it a bit sweeter.

I have noticed my skin complexion is evening out a little more, my eyes are brighter, and the darkness under my eyes is fading. I even opted not to wear any makeup today. I think I may have lost a little bit of weight as well.

My cravings for foods not allowed in the program have almost completely dissipated (not counting the occasional longing for corn chips and salsa... weird craving)I made my boyfriend eggs and pancakes this morning and did not even desire to take a tiny little bite. That is so rare and weird, since eggs were probably the hardest thing for me to give up.

Today's lunch was bok choy sauteed in EVOO with quinoa and kindey beans. Snacks were a spoonful of almond butter, and later some pineapple. To me that sounds so minimal, I'm one of those people that eats pretty much throughout the whole day, but honestly, it was more then enough. Also, a few cups of green tea were consumed throughout the day. I used to never be a fan of green tea, I have to admit. It was always too dry or bitter and made me slightly nauseous, but lately it's really grown on me. In other news, hollywood's hottest days seem to be taking a slight break, and oh man am I grateful. There is nothing worse then being cranky from detox and overheated. Hopefully though the crankyness has disappeared for good... only time can tell...

As for now, my happiness level is off the charts. I'm ecstatic for no good reason other than simply being alive. It's fun. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Days 6 and 7

I have been feeling so much better these past two days. My detox symptoms or pretty much gone and i've been feeling like myself again. I have inquired within the clean forums and dutifully added in more snacks throughout the day to keep my hunger levels normal. This is not a deprivation diet, it is a cleanse meant to nourish the body... So i've learned that if I eat salad for lunch, I have to follow it up with some good snacks like a brown rice cake with almond butter. The last two days though I had some heartier lunches. Today I made quinoa with beans and greens. Yesterday lunch was such a treat - brown rice penne with a sauce made out of nutritional yeast, almond milk, and pesto. It was absolutely divine. Probably not something I should be eating every day though. I'm still not really feeling as though i've lost any weight, but my skin seems nicer and my eyes seem brighter. If I didn't have this sprained ankle I would probably be exercising a lot more and losing more weight. But I have TONS of energy and have been able to run all my errands without losing energy. Every other cleanse I have ever been on I have not been able to maintain a normal lifestyle. Right now, I feel like I could do this forever.

I feel so good, in fact, that I am in no means craving any foods that aren't approved on the diet. I've been looking forward to my shakes and actually craving those. I think I stopped craving sugar about 2 days ago. In fact, I was even able to make my boyfriend his breakfast of eggs, toast, butter, and coffee this morning without even wanting any of it a tiny bit. I just enjoyed making it for him and that was that. That's huge because coffee and eggs have been the hardest thing for me to give up. My body is really starting to adapt nicely to this.

Day 5

I can summarize how today has been with one word: Hunger.

I have been so freaking hungry all day.

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep for hours because it was so hot, and because my stomach was growling. I downed about two glasses of water but it didn't seem to help.

Finally fell asleep and woke up again at a more normal hour, and was still hungry. I had a cup of tea and waiting for about an hour before having my morning shake, which was quite delicious.

An hour after drinking it, I was hungry again, and even hungrier still with the wafting smells as my boyfriend made himself eggs, toast, and coffee.

I battled my hunger by drinking excessive amounts of water and trying to stay busy. Finally lunch time rolled around, and I made a big salad with quinoa, cucumbers, kidney beans, and a tahini dressing. I also had a spoonful of almond butter. Finally full, I headed out to my voice lesson which kept me busy. Then I had a third of a nice, big, juicy apple. I must be shrinking my stomach, because I was too full to finish the whole apple. I felt happy and full, but there was a headache there and I am not sure whether it was caused by the heat (103 degrees F) or the cleanse. I then spent the better part of the rest of the day cleaning and organizing the back room, and taking lots of things to Goodwill. Still drinking lots and lots of water.

I got hungry again around 6pm, but I waited another hour and a half before making my dinner shake. I used chocolate nourish, which is now my favorite because it tastes the most hearty for some reason, and I used blueberries and almond milk, which has become my standard. Yes, I still have not tried the shake made with just water. I don't really see why I should though... I'm not extremely overweight, though I could stand to lose a few pounds. Yeah, just not worth it to me. I like anything I put in my body to be satisfying and delicious. Anyway, I don't know what is up with me today but I was still very hungry after the shake. It has now been a few hours and I am doing anything in my power to stop thinking about my stomach that is loudly growling at me. I've drank lots of water, which helped a bit but not much. I think I shall make a cup of chamomile tea and see how that does. Also re-reading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time.

I still don't feel as though i've lost any weight, but then again, I'm just judging by looks because I don't have a scale. 16 days to go...

Day 4

Wow. If there ever was a day to represent feeling crazy, today would be the one.

PMS + Detox + insane heat = Crazy me.

Morning time was nice, though I woke up at 4am and couldn't sleep until 6am, and then I slept until 9am. After going to bed early last night, I ended up feeling as though I had overslept. Head fuzz. Detox symptom? Not sure.

I don't think i've lost any weight yet, though I do feel like I have less water retention. I'm also breaking out a little bit which is sometimes a detox symptom.

The smoothie was so delicious this morning - I put a some stevia in it. It tasted like a nice cool breakfast dessert meal that was incredibly satisfying. Kind of like how hot pancakes with maple syrup would make you feel on a cold day when it's raining outside, this was the lovelyness of my morning shake.

And I was full.

This was the best part of my whole day... from here on out, it started getting ugly.

The boyfriend came home and when he is feeling agitated from heat and I am feeling emotional/agitated from heat, nothing good comes of it.

But, we had errands to do, and so we did. Farmer's market for some local fresh produce for me (red cabbage, kale, avocados, lettuce, and bok choy for me, fresh organic farm eggs for him)

Then was kinkos for some printing job that my printer has just been refusing to do, then Trader Joe's where I got almond milk, tuna for my cat, chicken for my dogs, organic persian cucumbers, and dishwashing soap.

We went home and by this time I was hungry for lunch and feeling faint, hot, headachy and gross. I made a salad with lettuce, kidney beans, some quinoa sprinkled in, and cucumbers. So good and refreshing. I instantly felt better as soon as I ate this. It was then time to go to the gym.

I did not have as much energy as I would have liked to have. I felt weak, and normally when I can use 10 lb weights I had to use 8 lbs and it was hard. I could barely make it through cardio. I was absolutely drained. Maybe next time i'll try adding more protein powder to my morning smoothie, or eating more carbs right before the workout. Then was home, where someone came to pick up the armoire I put on craigslist, and I made kale crisps inspired by Neeta from neetascleanrecipes.com.

They were wonderful and satisfying.

Then was some craziness. We had to put together a futon, move an insanely large armchair through doorways that it did not want to fit through, and move lots of things around. Yes, i'm redecorating... or trying to anyway.

I am constantly thirsty and I have a constant headache. I had my evening shake which went down really fast and left me wanting more.

I don't know how our relationship is going to survive this heat wave.

Day 3

Today was so much better than yesterday.

No headache upon waking, no hunger, no fatigue. It was all good. I had a busy day too, and I had my first lunch out, which ended up being a salad with avocado, a few green beans, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Pretty weak, but I guess it was better then nothing. On the way home though after being out from 9am to 3:30pm I was getting a little cranky...

The headache came, and the fatigue. As soon as I got home though, I was off again, to a movie screening. Even though I was feeling icky going into it, when I got out, I felt much better.

I've just had my evening shake. I feel full, and I feel a slight headache.

I should mention the thirst. I've been so thirsty through this whole process, it's never quenched no matter how much water I drink. And i've been drinking a lot of water... way more than usual, and probably more than the recommended amount. It's weird.

I'm also breaking out a little bit but I think that has something to do with the detoxing thing.

Phew. Another day down. 18 more days to go.

The Day 2 Blues

Yes, that's right, the blues. Wow today was hard. Not hard in the sense that I wanted to eat everything... but hard as in detox symptoms to the extreme. I guess I didn't realize it would begin working so quickly and throwing toxins out. As they say, detox is retox.

It also occurred to me today that I should probably buy a scale, so that I can accurately describe everything happening to me on the cleanse... but i've avoided scales for so long, I'm not entirely sure yet.

I slept in like crazy this morning (for me) until about 9am. I could not get up for the life of me, and strangely I didn't feel hungry at all. I felt weak, slow, and my head felt fuzzy... but I also felt jittery. I slowly woke up and had a big glass of water and my morning encourage supplement. As soon as I finished drinking the water, the glass slipped from my hand and shattered all over the floor. Nice. That's supposed to be good luck, right?

Anyway, I had some tea and waited a little while before drinking my smoothie - I wanted to wait until I actually felt hungry, and it took a while. I'm wondering if this whole process is actually slowing my metabolism down. Not sure I like that.

I had the chocolate flavored nourish with blueberries and almond milk, and it was quite palatable this morning. I was feeling a little bit lighter even though I was still experiencing extreme detox symptoms.

I tried to rest and take it easy, pretty much just cleaned and poked around on the internet.

For lunch I made vegetables with red kidney beans and red quinoa with a sauce I made out of mustard, brown rice syrup, and coconut vinegar. It was pretty good. By that point the head fuzz had pretty much gone away, but I was still extremely lethargic.

Also, i've been unusually thirsty and drinking so many glasses of water that I've lost count. I guess that's my body telling me it needs water to flush out the toxins?

I've pretty much been a boring sloth and spent the rest of this lazy Saturday on the couch. Wow, I need to get a life.

After evening smoothie and pills (why do these damn evening pills always get stuck in my throat??) I'm feeling a lot better. My body feels nourished, i'm not jittery and I only have a very slight headache, but i'm still so tired even though i've been resting all day. it's 9:20pm and I'm thinking of getting into bed. Dear me.

I'm glad that I got through today, I hear that Day 2 for a lot of people is really a tough one. I'm hoping it will all be worth it in the end.

Clean, Day 1

So the first day of my challenge, and the night before I thought I would help myself ease into it by eating a bowl of soup way before bedtime. Cut to me waking up at 5am because my stomach was growling so loud.

I got up and downed 2 big glasses of water to calm it down.

Then woke up for real around 7am, feeling light, skinny, and hungry.

Already I was looking less bloated then I had been a few days ago.

I took the morning pill and then drank some tea, and waited about an hour or so before having my shake. At this point, I was so hungry I didn't think I could make it. I'm one of those people that needs to eat breakfast, so that was probably the hardest part for me.

I made the shake with vanilla nourish, some blueberries and almond milk, because that sounded a lot more appetizing to my grumbling tummy then making it with just water.

The shake was... ok, at best. I mean, I think it will grow on me and probably start tasting better, but it wasn't what my body wanted this morning. A little bit grainy. As soon as I finished, the first thing that popped in my head was, "how long until lunch?"

Unfortunately, a lot longer then I would have liked because of an animal emergency. We went out on our morning errands.... smog check car, rite-aid, etc... and when we got back there was something really wrong with our kitty, and there was blood on the ground.

So I grabbed a couple of raw green beans because I was hungry at this point, but that's all I could get down before rushing off.

2 hours later, our cat was fine, and I was faint. Literally. Shaking, and so hungry that I could barely hang on. The car ride home was hell. Finally, half an hour later we were home and I raced for the kitchen and cooked up some veggies with aduki beans.

I started to feel much better. I think I might be hyperglycemic or something because if I don't eat something every few hours, I get crazy headaches, dizzyness, irritability, etc.

Anyway, as soon as I ate, I felt much better. Throughout the rest of the day I just kept drinking tons of water, had another cup of tea, and had a spoonful of almond butter and hummus here and there. I didn't start getting really hungry until around 7, but didn't make my evening shake until about 8:30.

I used chocolate nourish this time as well as the blueberries and almond milk, and it actually tasted really good! Maybe it's cause I was that hungry, or maybe it's cause my body is adapting to less enhanced flavors. Either way I was happy, and full!

It's now 10:10 and 2 glasses of water have been downed since, and i'm still content and full... except for the supplements that got stuck in my throat and still feel like they are there. UGH.

I'm going to try to go to bed before I get hungry again. Hurray for a successful first day!

Last night of Elimination Diet... Finally...

It's finally here. My last night before officially starting the cleanse. I have to admit that I'm a little intimidated.

I bought a new TV and I'm redecorating though, so I will have plenty of things to keep me busy and not thinking about it.

Today was pretty good and easy. It's been so hot here in LA that I almost have to force myself to eat, and I can only handle raw foods that are cold. Like cucumbers. And smoothies. And salads.

However, I did have some split pea soup for dinner, which was strangely perfect.

I also got my lazy, ankle-sprained booty over to the gym today and did some weights and a bit of light cardio (as much as I could do with my sprain)

Hopefully by this point my body is ready to take on the cleanse with minimal detox symptoms.

I must note that for the last two days i've had the worst headache I can ever remember having. At first I thought that there might be something terribly wrong with me, but I think that the combination of the insane heat and me coming off of my crazy weekend, headaches might be a perfectly normal side effect.

I'm dying to do some yoga in addition to the cleanse... by that, I mean, going to the best little yoga studio ever, Liberation Yoga, but my ankle is still too sprained to partake in classes. The best i'll probably get is me with my mat on the living room floor, makeshifting my way through the lying down poses.

I'm also thinking of incorporating the netty pot, which, for those of you who don't know, is an ayurvedic trinket. It is a little pot with a spout in which you put a salt water solution and pour it through one nostril and it drips out the other. Then you switch. It sounds awful, it looks awful, and it's almost awful and mostly weird, but mostly quite refreshing. It's very similar to the feeling you get in your nose when you do a cannonball into a swimming pool. It is supposed to completely clear your nasal passages and help with flushing out toxins, allergies, under-eye darkness, and more. I've heard mixed reviews on the usefulness of the netty pot, there was an article written about it that said that using it too often can actually be bad for you, and there are those that say you should use it every morning. I'll take the middle approach and maybe try it a couple of times a week. I'll let you (whoever you are) know how it works out.

Weekend Extravaganza...

Okay, yes, I haven't written for a few days, and yes, there is a reason. Not one that I am proud of, but a reason nonetheless. Yes, I went crazy this weekend and broke the diet... Oh, the shame. The horror!

BUT... I kind of (okay, REALLY) set myself up for it, and since I hadn't officially started the 21 day cleanse part of the diet, I can justify it to myself. Sort of. That just means that I have to start over, but I think i'll do 3 days instead of the 5. How badly did I break it, you ask?

Oh dear...

First, I should add that it was not just a birthday weekend, but a DOUBLE birthday weekend.

It all started with a not-so-innocent sip of my boyfriends beer at a Sunday BBQ. Up until then, I had nibbled on a few almonds. One sip turned to two, turned to 5, and so on...

Then came the chips and salsa. Oh, how I wanted not to eat those corn chips and mango salsa. But by this point I had probably had the equivalent of one beer, and I am a notorious lightweight, so all reason went out the window at this point. Point being, Chips = devoured.

Well since I was already cheating, might as well enjoy myself and try not to feel guilty, right?

All this was followed by a few niblings of potato salad (which, by the way, I NEVER eat), and something else that I can't seem to recall (remember: extreme lightweight). Then the most evil part of all... the vegan cupcake from sprinkles. Ok, but in my defense, they were sprinkles cupcakes!! How could I resist at this point? Anyway, by now there was no stopping me on my cheat weekend.

We left the BBQ a few hours later in a hurry because we were almost running late for the surprise get together I had planned for my boyfriends birthday later that night. Yeah, this is where it gets really ugly.

First of all, earlier that morning, I made this:

Inspired by one of the coolest books ever, Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Allen Richardson http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/ I totally fell in love with this book when I saw it at a friend's house and had to order my own copy, and have since been on a cupcake making roll. Don't worry, I won't make anymore cupcakes any time soon, I promise.

I made the bottom half gluten-free (strategically placed so that the guests would eat the more user friendly ones and so that I could have a gluten-free cupcake) I know, I know, there was still sugar, but at least it was organic and dairy/egg/gluten-free. That's something, right?

Of course, I also had a glass of wine, a small shot of tequila (my boyfriend's birthday party, people!), and the munchies. Cheese, puff pastry with spinach and mushrooms, tomato basil mozzarella, flat bread... you name it, I had a bite.

I also gulped down tons of water because the next day (his actual b-day) we were going to..... DISNEYLAND!

I woke up that morning knowing that it was an all or nothing kind of day, and since yesterday was an "all" day, I might as well really enjoy myself at the happiest place on earth and have another "all" day.

So breakfast was an egg and a piece of Ezekial sprouted grain bread.

We were then on our way, where we did our secret free parking trick, and I crutched my way through downtown disney over to the wheelchair rentals (no lines = YIPEE!!!), and was rolled away into the disney dream.

After a few rides, we split a mahi mahi burrito for lunch.

Then rides, rides, and more rides! We got so much done in one day...

Dinner was at the Cafe Orleans, where I had a spinach salad with grilled salmon, and a few bites of birthday dessert.

Then, more rides, shopping, and on our way home where I made a vow that it was my last "cheat" day and it was time to get down to this "clean" business.

And so I did. The next day (yesterday) I was really good. Had a breakfast smoothie, lunch was a baby greens salad with a little bit of salmon, cucumbers, and a dressing I made out of tahini, apple cider vinegar, wheat free tamari, garlic, and a bit of olive oil. Nom.

Snack was half an avocado.

For dinner I had a small portion of quinoa with a bit of dairy-free pesto, and some steamed broccoli and cauliflower. For dessert, a had a tablespoon of raw almond butter with a little bit of agave. Cause yes, I have a crazy sweet tooth.

Back on track and it feels so good. I'm now sipping on a cup of green tea as I write this, and planning on hitting the gym today. Phew. Glad that's over.

Elimination Diet, Day 4

Today was difficult. Had my usual smoothie in the morning, and then we had a whole bunch of errands to run. It was soo hot and i've had a headache all freaking day. And i'm so bloated. And my stomach hurts. What the hell.

On a positive note, i'm getting much better at limping around town. I opted for no crutches today, just me and my limp.

I was pretty much out and about all day, going from one place to the next, and only one stop home where I scarfed down a little bit of leftover quinoa from last night and then kept going.

When I got home, I had a few more bites of quinoa and some almond butter (too hungry to make anything) I went on another cleaning frenzy. With two big dogs, a long hair cat, and a human male, things get messy really fast. The truth is, i've never been good at being tidy and organized. It's not something that anyone in my family was ever accomplished in, and it somehow always bonded us. Since living on my own and with roommates/boyfriends for oh, some odd time, i've slowly had to teach myself the ways of being domestic. Cooking, cleaning... and now I'm hooked. Anyway.

At this point my boyfriend is already asking what's for dinner, and I'm not even hungry yet.

But I make dinner anyway... brown rice pasta with vegan/gluten free pesto, mushrooms, shallots, and zucchini, and asparagus - blanched and then sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper. I had a very small portion.

I think i'm eating too many carbs. Maybe that is why i'm bloated. Perhaps tomorrow I should try more raw foods and salads?

Elimination Diet, Day 3

I received my clean kit in the mail today! Seeing it all out in front of me makes this all more real... It's a little bit intimidating... I really want to be able to make it through, without risking my sanity and my social life.

On another note, I am extending the elimination diet past the 5 day mark and doing it for 6 days instead because of a day trip to Disneyland for my boyfriends birthday. After much thought and insight from others, I decided that was the best decision, so no torture for me in Disneyland!

Hopefully I will just be able to enjoy myself and find some things to eat that are "clean friendly".

This morning was the usual yerba mate tea in the morning and smoothie for breakfast. I gave myself a smaller portion this morning and it seemed to workout just fine. I'm actually walking around a little bit right now, with a huge limp, but it's a nice start. I have downgraded to using just one crutch on outings and no crutches just in the apartment. So I capitalized on my newfound mobility and decided it would be a great day to go to the gym for the first time in over a month. Oy Vey. We went a little while after breakfast, and man do I wish I would have thought of some portable clean snacks because by the time we got there the smoothie had digested and I was pretty hungry again. I usually bring an energy bar or something with me, but alas, no clean energy bars to my knowledge. If anyone knows of any I urge you to come forward with the information. I still managed to get through the workout alright though, but I was really freaking fatigued. I was like a slug trying to lift dumbells, all the while with my poor boyfriend trying not to get frustrated at me for my lack of enthusiasm, energy, and proper form (he's a personal trainer). After that, I managed to walk/limp on the treadmill at a slight incline for a mile (I heard that walking on an incline is good for sprained ankle rehab). Then we were off again on more errands, two grocery stores and all the while my stomach is rumbling like crazy begging for the burrito samples they have out at Trader Joe's. Finally we made our way home, where I found my clean kit waiting for me which made me very happy that I resisted all those evil urges. I quickly threw together a salad with mixed baby greens, persian cucumber, mushrooms, aduki beans, and leftover broccoli raab pesto as dressing. I think that was the best salad I have ever eaten in my life - that's how hungry I was. I then continued with my organizing and cleaning to distract me from thoughts of the forbidden dark chocolate that I knew was sitting in the fridge. Evil. I felt pretty damn good for awhile - I had a good amount of energy and I was feeling very clean and pure. I'd eaten vegan all day. I was vegan for about a year, and even though i'm not anymore, vegan food still makes me very very happy.

I started to get hungry about two hours later... the only downfall of salads.

After showering and meditating, I got started on dinner, which was quinoa with garbanzo beans, zucchini, and garlic smothered in the leftover creamy mushroom sauce, and kale cooked with red wine vinegar, garlic, and onions. It was perfect. Healthy, flavorful, light, vegan... and there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Now i'm hungry again... crap.

Elimination Diet, Day 2

When I got up this morning, I surprisingly wasn't hungry at all, which is weird for me because I'm the kind of person that is overcome with the sensation of hunger the minute I become vertical.

Could it be my body adjusting to the purity of my diet? Who knows. So I made myself a cup of yerba mate tea, and by the time I had finished the hunger rolled in. I ate a few pieces of melon and the hunger went away.

A couple of hours later, my boyfriend made himself coffee, eggs and toast. I tried my hardest to ignore the delicious smells and made myself a breakfast smoothie consisting of almond milk, almond butter, maca, blueberries, flax seed, fresh mint, and agave. It was perfect - creamy, sweet, thick, and satisfying.... and somehow, managed to keep me full for hours.

So full I had to take a nap. I think I need to cut down on my portion sizes even more... it really didn't seem like that much. Whatever.

Later, lunch was leftover veggies from last night which I heated and combined with a little bit of brown rice and some aduki beans, and I made the biggest mistake ever: I watched Julie & Julia. One of my favorite movies, but I forgot that every time I watch it all I want to do is eat butter, chocolate cream pie, and whisk things. So of course now all I could thing about was fattening french food made with butter... drool. Still thinking about it. Yup.

I tried to overcome my cravings by going into a cleaning frenzy. I tackled the kitchen, the living room, then the bedroom, and... well, you get the idea.

I had some dried seaweed as a snack and carried on with the day.

I had a slight headache, but nothing really crazy... I guess all that is going to come with the actual cleanse part. yikes.

Dinner was baked halibut with a delicious broccoli raab pesto that I made just with the broccoli raab, walnuts, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Plus a side of steamed zucchini. It was wonderful, but now all I want is sugar sugar sugar. I must have been in extreme denial, I didn't realize that I was THIS addicted to sugar. It doesn't help that the boyfriend is eating chocolate on the next couch over.

I think it's time to buy some carob and brown rice syrup. Or something.

Elimination Diet, Day 1

I woke up this morning feeling really hungry. I had a two cups of yerba mate tea before I realized that I haven't gone grocery shopping in almost two weeks. The fridge was practically bare. Oh, crap. What to eat? I had eggs in the fridge which is what I usually eat along with a piece of Ezekial sprouted grain bread, but that's definitely not allowed.

So I opted for a spoonful of almond butter and another cup of tea to curb my hunger until I could think of something else. An hour or so later, I found some frozen mango and blueberries and decided to make a smoothie with almond milk, agave, coconut oil, mango, and blueberries. YUM! Hunger satiated. I felt so good.

It's amazing that I didn't even realize how crappy/dehydrated/cracked out coffee ACTUALLY makes me feel until I purposely go without it.

A few hours later I started getting hungry again, and the fridge was still bare. The only vegetable I could find was a single red onion. I looked through the cupboards and found brown rice... Now I can work with this. Upon further investigation, I located a can of organic black beans. Score! All within the guidelines of the elimination diet!

I cooked the rice, sauteed the onion, threw in the black beans (after thoroughly rinsing them of their canned-ness, of course), put the rice in and seasoned it up with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a bit of cumin. It was pretty decent, and very satisfying... in a non-diet foodish kind of way.

Then my boyfriend came home, ate my leftovers, and helped me limp out of the apartment (yes, I'm still on crutches and have to battle a ridiculous flight of stairs before every excursion), and we were off on some daily errands, which included going to Petco for supplies for our furry children, then Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I spent way too much money on food (I was hungry again, by this point) but it was all worth it.

When we got home a had a small spoonful of hummus and then a spoonful of sunflower seed butter to hold me off for dinner.

For dinner, I made pan-seared salmon topped with a creamy mushroom sauce that I made only out of water, almond milk, coconut oil, buckwheat flour, and mushrooms. OH MY GOD it was SOOO good. Delicious, creamy, tasted just like the bad stuff but knowing it was actually not bad for me made it so much better. I also made some steamed vegetables on the side.

So far, so good. The only problem is, my boyfriend keeps forgetting that I'm on this program and incessantly tries to push on me my favorite naughty treats. Ugh. It was so so hard not to have a glass of white wine with dinner, especially after he poured it and set it in front of me even after I said no. As I'm writing this I'm dreading the moment he brings over my favorite dark chocolate, because I know he will, and I know how hard it will be to say no, but I'm going to have to. I guess this is what it's all about from here on out, saying no to things. Guess I better get used to it!

And so, it begins (sort of)

I'd like to think of myself as a somewhat healthy person. By healthy, I mean, i'm a vegetarian, (sort of) I eat organic, (most of the time) I avoid refined sugars, (sometimes) and I get most of my daily nutrients from an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables (boy, I wish).
Okay, so maybe I'm not as healthy as I would like to think that I am.

A few weeks ago while trail running, I took a really bad fall and sprained my ankle - badly. I've therefore been confined to a prison of my Hollywood apartment (with a very steep and narrow staircase being the only exit, hence, prison) accompanied by my crutches, two dogs, a cat, and a boyfriend. This has left me with a whole lot of time to think and research, but very little time (ability, actually) to exercise.

Trust me, I've done my fair share of fad diets and cleanses (Atkins, South Beach, Raw food detox, juice fasts, and The Master Cleanse, to name a few) and what they all had in common is that none of them were sustainable. My goal in them was always same - lose weight, look great, feel great. The weight always came off, but as soon as I would stop, it would come back on just as quickly. Or in some cases, I just couldn't live my day to day life while on the cleanse.

However, now my reasons for needing a cleanse are a bit different. Sure, I would love to lose a few extra pounds, but mainly, I haven't been feeling like myself lately. I've been fatigued, dealing with a crazy sprained ankle that is taking FOREVER to heal, having lots of headaches, bloating, etc. In short, I'm not in touch with my body, and therefore, myself.

That is why when I heard about The Clean Program by Dr. Alejandro Junger, I knew that I HAD to give this one a try. http://www.cleanprogram.com/

From what i've learned, it is primarily not a weight loss cleanse, but if you need to, you will probably lose some excess weight. It's all about nourishing your body and healing it from the inside out.
The Clean Program is a combination of 2 smoothies and 1 meal per day, including snacks and supplements. Sounds amazing. Supposedly, you don't go hungry. And, it's hot celebrity endorsed. Yipee!
So I ordered my cleansing kit today and it should be here within two days! Before starting the cleanse, however, you are supposed to do a 3-5 day elimination diet, where you only eat certain types of food and eliminate things like coffee, alcohol, chocolate, refined sugar, gluten, dairy, eggs, etc. It's supposed to make the transition into the full on cleanse a smoother one.
So in order to honor the program and give it my all, I drank my last cup of coffee this morning and ate my last piece of dark chocolate just before writing this. I will be starting the elimination diet tomorrow, and then, the cleanse.

Did I mention it's a 5 day elimination diet followed by a 21 day cleanse?
.....What have I gotten myself into?