And were done

So it’s official! I have made it through the 28 days!! I feel amazing, I feel accomplished, I feel healthy!

Final tally is this:

-14 lbs in 28 days gone.

-3 inches (at least) around the waist gone.

thinner looking face

-new appreciation for veggies!

Now that it is all said and done I have to say in all honesty that it wasn’t hard at all. I mean, now that it’s over it really feels like it flew by. I learned in my class that after 21 days your body/mind has learned a new habit. It’s like muscle memory. So I have MORE than learned a new way of eating… hell, a new way of living. I can’t tell you how amazing I feel when I go to bed (and actually fall asleep which is new to me) and when I wake up. It’s really remarkably different from how I felt before. How can I know for sure??
Well, I did exactly what you’re NOT supposed to do on day 29. I ate whatever I wanted. The whole point of this thing is to start over with a clean slate and reintroduce foods into your diet slowly… well, what can I say… I missed cheese and bread. So I actually stayed within some of the boundaries but I really want to tell you why I totally regret my 29th day.

Morning: I had a Jamba Juice. I had the same one I had had DURING the cleanse, but I did not add any of my cleansing elements. Let me tell you… eating/drinking that much fruit (however healthy it might be) causes air… air that comes out… and you know what I’m saying to you right now. I was honestly alarmed.

Lunch: I had a choice. I knew I was going to eat at least ONE meal with the family, and so I was going to choose between the lunch meal and the dinner meal. Well, I was really interested in the dinner meal and it just looked/sounded too delicious so I chose dinner. So for lunch, I had a salad of mixed greens… everything on the salad was allowed (black beans, tomatoes, and corn. The dressing was even a cilantro dressing, which didn’t have any dairy or anything bad (as far as I know). So the only thing that I ‘reintroduced’ in this meal was cheese… and really only just a little. Maybe 2 oz. And that is how we are SUPPOSED to reintroduce foods… a little at a time, and one at a time. Well……

Dinner: I ate with the family alright.

I had a beef bbq sandwich (the beef was fine) it’s the bread and the sugar that were new. I also had a little potato salad, which adds potato, mayo, and dairy to the list of new foods. I also had coleslaw, which again adds dairy (but otherwise was okay). I also had just a little mashed potatoes, which adds butter and dairy. I had asparagus (thank god) and then to finish it all off, I had just a bit of tapioca pudding. I mean what was I thinking?

What’s the bid deal?

Well, one, I couldn’t figure out exactly what was making me feel like CRAP

and, two, I felt like MAJOR crap!!

That was at about 6:30pm and when I went to bed at nearly midnight I was still suffering. I was full, and bloated and just icky feeling. For the past 28 days I had not felt any of those feelings… certainly not while laying down to go to sleep. And guess what? This morning… same story. I still felt full and gross. I usually woke up feeling ready to roll. I always felt like my stomach was flat. I never had to rush to the bathroom. I never felt sluggish… all that this morning. Trust me, it wasn’t worth it. It might have been before, but now that I know how I can feel without it… I really want to figure out exactly what of those MANY things are causing this feeling. So I’m starting again… and now I know how.

Today I had a very healthy salad again. All items on board qualified with my diet… and it was delicious and I felt great. And then for dinner, I had a shake. Paleo, protein, fiber, spinach… the whole thing. And you know what… I feel better. I’m not quite back to where I was (which shocks me even more) but I do feel better.

Tomorrow: bad news… a wedding. A wedding that I intend to be drunk at because ‘cheat number 2’ might be in attendance (among other reasons), and I plan on eating whatever they are serving. Soooo yea, I’m going to be right back in icky land. BUT I do plan to go right back on my shake diet the entire week following. I feel like I really have the tools now to keep myself on track and keep myself as healthy as possible.

I’m very excited and it was WELL worth the money. I think even my husband would grudgingly agree to that!

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey. If this wedding doesn’t offer me up a good blog, I will return to my great stories next week!

If you’re interested in cleansing too or just want more info, please let me know. I can also get you a 20-50% discount on your cleanse products. Message me!!

Observe and Report

Two more days!

Twenty six days!! Can you believe it? I can’t! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself after this adventure closes. To be honest, I have a wedding this coming Saturday and I am afraid I am going to pollute the hell out of my body, but at least I know now how to get it back to normal! I have a clean slate and I plan to keep it as clean as possible, as much as possible.

Report: I am currently 11 lbs down and only 1 pound away from my goal. So if I can just drop one more pound in these next two days, I will have reached my goal weight! But not only that, I have lost INCHES around my waist. I wish so much that I would have measured, and if you do this… I recommend you do do that… but I would venture to guess that I’ve lost 3-4 inches. It’s amazing. My stomach is totally flat still and I LOVE my skin. That is probably the most impressive part of this whole thing… NO MORE ACNE AT ALL! If you are in your late twenties, STILL struggling with acne… you should really consider food allergies. I kind of thought that that was my problem, but when you’re eating things all the time, and not really ‘testing’ food… how are you supposed to know what is causing what? So that is very exciting. And furthermore…

Report: I had a regular however NATURAL hamburger patty the other day (protein style of course) and the next day I had 2 zits!! I had one greasy thing (even though it was natural) and I broke out!! Very telling to me. Now I know for sure!

Observation: I no longer need any sleep aids. I have restless leg syndrome. It sucks. I hate it. And I can NEVER fall asleep on my own. I stopped taking meds and had it down to melatonin, which is at least a natural supplement… but I don’t even need that anymore. Even if I go to sleep before I’m actually tired, I can still fall asleep fine. Pretty amazing. And furthermore…

Observation: I have plenty of energy. I feel great!

Observation: I am actually craving things like green beans! I have had them two days in a row and they are delicious! I am also looking forward to incorporating shakes into my daily routine.

Observation: I have also developed a taste for foods that I would have never even tried before, like Veggie soup and spinach in my shakes.

Report: I am very proud of myself. I feel like I have accomplished something and I feel like I now have the tools to really maintain my weight and my health!! I am very excited to see what happens!! Stay tuned for before and after pics!

Coming down the home stretch

DAY TWENTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay kids, only 8 days to go… and it feels so good. I can’t believe it’s almost over! Wow. It feels like it’s been a long time, but on the same token, it feels like 28 days is NOTHING. Anyone can do anything for 28 days. Even if you work. Even if you have kids. Even if you think you can’t… I must go back to one of my favorite sayings: Whether you think you can, or think you can’t… you’re right. So what do YOU think?

So here is the update from my almost done perspective. Don’t forget, I’m on all liquids right now! WHAT?? Me? The girl who loves herself some food! Favorite food one: Brownies. Favorite food two: Mexican food. Favorite food three: Cheese. Favorite food four: Soda. And can I have any of these? Forget it! AND I’M ON DAY 20!

Today is day three of my ALL liquid diet. I only have one more day of this, although I feel like I could easily do more. I have been having two shakes per day and one other meal that is liquid. (i.e. soup). Day one I had some chicken noodle soup (homemade) without the noodles or the chicken. It was grand. And then I also had another cup of a mexican soup that is veggie based… also delicious. I mean, when you’re just eating the broth, sometimes you need to double up. It’s not because I was overly hungry.

Keep in mind, each of these meals are balanced, especially the shakes, so I’m not hungry! And it’s only 4 days so I mean, who can’t do four days?

So yesterday, Burny experimented and I’m not sure how it turned out… jury is still out. We heated up some chicken broth (organic) and then he added some garlic, jalapeno, carrots and basal to the mix and once it was heated up… we blended it so it was all liquid. Sounds gross, but that’s soup right? If I had it to do over again, I would leave out the jalapeno and go easy on the basil. It was a little strong for my taste… but it did the trick. I wasn’t hungry afterwards. I am finding that less and less makes me full. I’ve completely stopped over eating… and I am a ‘go back for seconds if it’s really good’ kind of girl, so you can see how huge this is for me. I mean… MacTen, Raps and I can take down a Soup Plantation any day! I can really put it away!

Today, for my non-shake, liquid meal, I found this amazing little place in South Lake Tahoe that serves Natural and Organic foods… including a veggie soup that had no dairy, sugar and was totally vegan! How perfect is that? So I enjoyed a delicious bowl of veggie soup. Oh my God… if you know me, you know that I don’t do veggies, and never in my life has it occurred to me to order veggie soup, but that is something I would totally order again. I would actually drive to South Lake for that soup. I thought it was amazing. And I cheated a little by eating a few of the veggies… They were really soup-like though.

AND, as our nutritionist recommended, I got a massage today. Thank you Burny! 50 mins of pure bliss. I do love myself some massage. And it really was helpful. I feel like a brand new woman. And then to follow it up with that amazing, and HEALTHY soup… I mean I might just be turning over a new leaf! We shall see…

Stay turned for the final week. Tomorrow is the second go round of the Sea Source cleanse… lovely!

9 lbs/13 days

Actually, truth be told… I had lost nine pounds on the 11th day and I haven’t weighed myself again so who can know. I’m wasting away. Mostly I am noticing that my stomach is flat as can be and I’m not bloated or pooching out, which is most of the battle, wouldn’t you say? It’s all very exciting.

As I mentioned, I did have to do the Sea Source cleanse portion (which will be once a week for the next two weeks) two days ago and I have to admit that that was the least fun part of this whole experience. First of all, I’m not used to drinking SO MUCH liquid. And to think that I actually got a head ache from not drinking enough just makes me feel like there is no winning.

With the Paleo and the Sea Source I’m supposed to feel a little hung over, and therefore, I must hydrate more than usual. Well, for me more than usual is drinking ANY water at all so you can bet that I felt pretty shitty… no pun intended…

The Sea Source, like I said, supports the colon so I made sure I had nothing going on that day outside of the house, just in case. Well, I drank the whole thing which took all day (we are supposed to sip it for 8-10 hours) and it tasted like some sort of guava drink. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t unbearable. Usually things that are kind of gross get more gross with time… this was quite the opposite. It actually got easier to drink as the day went on. I think it just takes some getting used to. But don’t get me wrong… I’m glad that I only have to do it once a week.

So I was just waiting for it to all ‘catch up to me’ but nothing happened. Half way through the day, as I mentioned, I got a headache that got worse and worse as the day went on. Drinking water really helped and by the end of the day, it had pretty  much gone away, but it was back in the morning so I did have to cheat and take some meds to get ride of it. I’m kind of a baby when it comes to a head ache. I used to get migraines so I am really sensitive to that sort of pain.

At about 10pm… well, it came. It came and came. About 4 trips to the restroom and it was over however, so it wasn’t even that bad. But it was the first time that I have had to deal with that aspect. I feel like everyone has been waiting for that, so there ya go! It was over and done with in about 45 minutes though… and everything has been fine since so I think I can deal with it.

Today I had some Free Range Ground Turkey meat as my protein in my one meal, so that’s new. It was actually really good and I think I can mix it with a lot of things. I was kind of running out of ideas for the ‘protein’ aspect of my non-shake meals… so I’m glad that I have something new to play with.

Tomorrow I will be half way through the whole program!! Also tomorrow we are stepping it up to 3 shakes a day for a few days, which will be new. Honestly, I’m looking forward to it. The shakes are so easy and they are balanced so I’m not hungry and frankly, I don’t have to cook or think up something good to eat. So I don’t think that that will be very difficult. This will mean that we will be bumping up the Paleo too though, so we will see how I react to that. Always something new!!