Before and After…

my before and after

I had a friend tell me they had trouble downloading the images… it’s just a word doc. Is anyone else having trouble? If so, I’ve included the pics below… but I worked so hard on my word doc. 🙂

BEFORE:

AFTER:

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!

I knew I had left my waist somewhere…

DAY SEVENTEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I haven’t been updating as much because a) I have been busy and b) without Thomas my meals have been rolling on repeat. Although I will say that yesterday I actually went out to eat and was able to find something on the menu to order! It’s getting exciting folks! I actually know enough about food to know what to order for myself now!

I had a bison burger, which I was already a fan of before this because of how healthy they are for you. They are leaner than chicken, and it is illegal to add any steroids or chemicals to bison, so you can be sure it’s a free range, organic piece of meet. And you will be shocked at how flavorful they are. I far prefer bison to hamburger. It just really puts hamburger to shame, and you don’t even have to add any spices to it to make it taste delicious.

I had the patty, without the bun of course, and I added avocado as my healthy fat. I had a side salad instead of fries with just a touch of dressing. The dressing was a stretch because of the vinaigrette, but there was literally just a touch on it. And the salad was the healthy greens instead of iceberg lettuce which is pretty much water.The bison patty also falls apart it’s so tender and delicious. Again, this is something I would order again outside of my cleanse diet.

Starting tomorrow I am moving to 3-4 blended meals a day. That could mean a shake, or soup. This portion goes on for only 4 days and to be honest, I’m looking forward to it. With the shakes, I know I’m getting the right portions of everything, and I know it’s going to keep me full, and I know it’s going to be easy. So I don’t mind it at all.

Also on Monday I have to do round two of the Sea Source… yikes.

As for weight loss… I am at 10 lbs lost, which is quite remarkable in just 16 days, but even more, my body is unrecognizable. Even my sis who is not quick to give out the complements told me that I looked really skinny. My waist is much more defined. My stomach is completely flat. You can see my hips clearly again. I don’t look bloated at all. My thighs have also slimmed out, and you can see it in my face. I LOVE IT!! I saw two women yesterday who I had met the day before I began this cleanse, and the second I walked in the room they both said ‘You look fantastic. I can see it in your face!’ I can’t wait to show you guys the before and after pics. And this is all just in time for summer!!

Oh yes… and my skin is completely clear! I can’t remember the last time that happened! I have been hearing that in your late 20’s, women experience a change in hormones and a lot of women start to struggle with acne. That’s me! Well, this has really helped clear all that up thank god!! I can only guess it is because all of my meals are ‘hormonally balanced’ which in turn, would only hormonally balance my body and my skin chemistry. It makes total sense to me.

Over all, I’m almost sad to see it end in another week or so. I will definitely keep at least one shake in my daily routine as much as I can, and I know that I will be eating a lot better. My habits have changed now. And even though I know I’m not supposed to be doing this, according to Ti our nutritionist, I am finding myself judging my husband for his eating habits.

For example, yesterday he ate God knows what for breakfast. He had a beer and a frozen yogurt for lunch. And before and after dinner he had a vanilla shake. I think I might have judged him for that even if I wasn’t on this cleanse, but now… at least I am not falling into these habits along side him. I have to also point out that I have been away from him this last week for work and I just got to see him yesterday for the first time in 7 days. Well, twice I walked to the fridge to get a snack. TWICE!! I have not done that one time in these 17 days and I did it twice when he was home! That really tells me that I have unhealthy habits that I associate with him. Who knows why! But it was really good for me to recognize that. I would have never noticed had I not have been on this cleanse. It was really interesting to me.

Anyway, that’s all I have to report for today. Hope you’re enjoying this journey as much as I am!

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!!

Meals a gogo

So, as I mentioned, I have officially added the detoxifying element to my daily regimen. It’s the Paleo cleanse stuff that helps detoxify the liver. I guess the liver gets pretty bogged down over time, and so we need to clean it out. The nutritionist compared it to changing the filter on your AC. I can dig it.

It tastes funny. It’s almost fruity… but not really… kind of chalky… but not really. I can’t REALLY figure it out… but either way, it’s the most flavorful thing in my shakes. I don’t know how that happens.

So we are on day 10 today and I am still adjusting to drinking 2 shakes a day… 1 meal of food. Meals are slowly going away, and eventually will be gone entirely… but I’m finding that the shakes are just so darn easy that I don’t mind so much. If only I could solve this Paleo thing…

I’m also bathrooming slightly more but it’s still not at all what you think when you think ‘cleanse’ so that’s good.

I’ve lost 7 pounds. 10 days. Not too bad… I hope I keep this up!!!

Tomorrow I have to do the SeaSourse cleanse… I’ve been putting it off until I have nothing else to do… it’s just for one day, but it supports the colon. Well, there is only one thing that the colon does so if it’s supporting that… we shall see how it goes is basically what I’m saying to you. I’ve still been told that it won’t be bad, but you just never can tell.

Yesterday I only had time for 2 meals and they were both shakes. My second shake I had to take on the run- yesterday was a crazy, crazy day promoting with Arbonne- and as I was driving very illegally fast up to Yuba City, I took a turn too quickly and my dinner went flying across my car. So a) I lost part of my dinner and b) now not only to I have to drink the Paleo… my car smells like it too. Grand!

That garlic really sticks with you…

DAY EIGHT!!!!!!!!

I am just cruising now. Only 20 days to go! Okay… that sounds like it might as well be 1 million, but oh well. Think of how thin I’ll be. 🙂

So I had my second class last night and I learned two things: I’m not taking enough fiber and I’m not eating enough veggies… otherwise I’m doing great. And I’m not finding myself needed to add the healthy fat’s to my shakes because I’m not feeling hungry between meals, so that is going to increase my weight loss! Very exciting. I think I’m not feeling hungry because I’m too busy!! But either way, I’m pretty sure that that is a good thing. Those Fizzy tabs really do make a difference though, I have to say. I may not go back to my fourth favorite food: Soda. (Yea right!)

So yesterday, I woke up late (love my ‘job’). I am up for a promotion with Arbonne right now so I went straight to my office instead of the kitchen, so I was only able to get in 2 meals before 7 pm, which is when we are supposed to stop eating. Our metabolism, especially women’s, slows down significantly after that.

First meal was my token shake. I added the berries which I am now obsessed with, but I really learned last night that I have to be adding veggies every time as well to get enough throughout the day… which is fine because I can’t even taste them when I do. So today my goal is to up the fiber and the veggie intake!

Also today, we start the Paleo cleanse, which is going to start taking toxins out of the body. It’s basically a powder protein that we add to our shakes. We also now upped our number of shakes to at least 2 per day. The Paleo cleanse is designed to really help support and cleanse the liver, while the Sea Sourse cleanse is designed to support and cleanse the colon. Both are being added today… so it’s been interesting. Still no running to the bathroom issues, but we shall see. I’m actually going to add the Sea Sourse cleanse to my diet tomorrow since we have all week to do so.

So back to yesterday. It was at about noon when I had my shake, and then at 4 ish, Burny and I had another amazing meal. We both have agreed that we are going to continue eating this way after the cleanse. If the food tastes great AND is super good for you, why not. That way we won’t feel so bad eating out on the occasions that we do. I have to say, this whole process has really brought to light my bad eating habits. I really need to keep these tools and maybe even just continue with a vitamin, veggie, balanced shake each day. That would probably improve my diet, weight management and overall health quite a bit.

Our lovely meal consisted of grilled shrimp with garlic and spices and lemon and I made a ‘salsa dressing’. Between the onions in the salsa and the garlic… I’m pretty much a man repellant. That stuff stays with you.

The salsa… well, I intended for it to be actual salsa, but we used a blender instead of a food processor… and well, they are different. So it was liquid salsa, but it made for an amazing dressing. We ate the shrimp and some corn on a bed of spinach with the salsa dressing. Man did it have a kick, but I’m craving it again tonight! Who knew I could accidently create a fat-free, super healthy DRESSING? Plus, I forgot about corn. I LOVE corn!

Then I tried my detox tea, which I am supposed to drink everyday, with some warm almond milk and cinnamon. I just don’t like tea. Any suggestions on how to make tea taste better???

Exciting update: Today, Burny and I went on a hike again and I wore jeans for the first time in about five days. OMG has my body changed. I couldn’t believe all the places these things were loose! I love it!

Talk about hunter gatherer lifestyle…

DAY FIVE AND SIX!!!!!!

I have to say… the most unusual things happen to me. I mean, isn’t that why I blog? I must just have a cosmic target on my forehead telling the world to play a joke on me! “Let’s see what she does with THIS!” It gets ridiculous.

I’m talking about Day six of this cleanse program, but to get to day six, I must first tell you about day five!

Okay so the only real change in my meals on day five was that my lovely husband cooked me a wonderful meal that actually tasted like it wasn’t even healthy. We had steak, which I am allowed once a week if I love steak- and I do- but it has to be natural, organic and free range. It was. And he cooked it in coconut oil, garlic and some spices. It was amazing. He also cooked veggies in the same stuff and so we had cooked spinach, bell peppers and chalets on the side! It was soooo good. I would eat that even if I wasn’t on this cleanse. So anyway, I used up my steak meal for the week, which at the time didn’t feel like that big of a deal… of course I could go another week without steak! Right? Well…. let’s just say it would have been nice to have that option on day SIX!

Day six:

Side note, we have a new puppy… he is like 11 1/2 weeks old and he is as much of a terror as he is cute. And he is VERY cute. We are trying to teach him to sleep in the crate at night, but of course he doesn’t like it. We have neighbors. It’s not a good combo. And the night before day six, it was windy. It’s always windy in Gardnerville, but on this particular night, it was frighteningly windy. I was literally scared that the window was going to blow in. I could hear it squeaking. And I could hear a loud banging throughout the night that I just knew was our garbage. That damn toder has a habit of blowing over in the wind, dumbing and then blowing all our garbage around the yard. It’s just great. So I was not sleeping well and not looking forward to morning. And the puppy was just scared and lonely and loud. SO it was quite a night, I assure you.

Well, when Burny went to work in the morning, he let the dogs (we have a loner dog from his parents right now too to help train the puppy… right) out to use the restroom. The puppy, who is really the only one we are worried about, immediately did his business… both businesses! Okay, so good. Burny thought it would be fine to just bring them both back up to our room to sleep until I woke up. So I had both dogs on the bed, which I quite enjoy. This was not the problem. Around 9am, the baby jumped off the bed and woke me up. When he does this, he usually wants to chew on something so I threw the covers off myself and jumped up to grab him. Well, in that 30 seconds, this little dog had left a HUGE present on the floor at the foot of the bed… AND he was chewing my sock. All this in 30 seconds. I was almost impressed.

So of course I freaked out and took him downstairs and opened the back door to let him out. Well, as soon as he walked out the door, I noticed that our back fence had blown down in the wind, leaving a clear getaway to the back alley for the dogs. Now keep in mind that I have just woken up. I sleep in underwear. I had nothing else on. It’s raining, and windy and now I have to go out and retrieve the dogs before they escape. SO yes, I did a quick run around in the yard collecting the dogs with no clothes on in the rain. Not the best way to start my morning. And then I had to go upstairs and clean up the baby’s lovely mess. While I’m doing that, I realize that the puppy had escaped into the garage. How? Well, my husband had picked up the garbage and dragged the toder in the house so that it wouldn’t blow over again, and he had tried to push it into the garage from the house, it wouldn’t fit, so he left it in the door frame to the garage. Brilliant plan!

Think all this is the cosmic joke that the world is playing on me? Oh no…

It was at about this point, when I went into the kitchen to get the cleaning supplies that I realized the power was out. Yes, the electricity. I literally cursed out loud. I had been awake all of 11 minutes and I am NOT a morning person as it is!

SO after I cleaned up the dog mess, got dressed, and jimmy rigged the back fence with our dog gate so the dogs could be outside, I went into the kitchen to figure out what to make myself. Of course no power means no blender. No blender means no shake. No power means no microwave, oven, stove… basically there was no way for me to MAKE myself anything. Great. This would totally happen to ME while I’m on this totally random diet.

But I thought, no biggie… the power will be on by lunch. So for my first meal I drank a ready-made Arbonne protein shake which I am so glad my husband made me buy. I also ate a half of an apple to just fill me up a little more and then I drank a fiz tab.

After complaining via text message to my friends about my predicament, I sat down to make some calls for work. I thought at least nothing would distract me from getting some work done, even if I didn’t have the internet. Well, no… my cell phone wouldn’t make or receive calls. Texts, yes. Calls, no. It was like furthering this sick joke. So now I was SURE that the entire day was going to be a total waste. At least work wise. But I did clean. I cleaned the whole house. And don’t worry, I turned on every light in every room when I walked in. I tried to vacuum. I tried to turn on the heat when it got freezing in the house. I even tried to run the dishwasher! I mean, come on! I felt like an idiot every time! We are such creatures of habit, and clearly we take electricity for granted!

Power was still not on by lunch, which I was pretty much counting on, so meal two was another ready-made shake with some carrots and humus (which I threw out because I am so sick of it now) and I added fiber to my shake. It was gross. By now the fridge had totally lost it’s cool and the shake was luke warm and the fiber was chunky having not been able to blend it better. Lovely.

Then the big dog threw up in the yard because he had eaten too much food- the exact opposite problem I was having- and it took everything I had to keep the puppy from eating the puke. It was so gross. I had to pick up the puke with a paper towel, and even then the baby ate a hole in the grass trying to get every last morsel. I just don’t understand dogs. On our hike the other day it was all we could do to keep him from eating the horse poop!

So by dinner, I couldn’t possibly even consider drinking another ready-made shake. It just wasn’t going to be an option for me. So I called NetherNetherLand because she had done the cleanse before, and she suggested that I go to In n Out and get a burger protein style because I was allowed to have steak once a week. Sounded amazing, expect I had JUST HAD STEAK! Cosmic joke! I brainstormed with my husband also, and he suggested I wrap some defrosted shrimp in spinach and eat it. That did not sound appetizing at all. There were plenty of sauces I could have made, had I have had a blender. I was really feeling like a hunter/gatherer… I mean, I had already read half a book and fallen asleep three times. What did they do back then???????

The final decision was that I had to go out and get something to eat that was already cooked. There was not going to be any fast food places that were going to be able to offer me food within my strict diet, so I grudgingly decided that I would have to cheat. But I was going to cheat as best as I could. Well, most of the town was still lacking power too so I ended up going to KFC. I know that sounds like the worst place in the world to go to, but here is what I got: I got 1 breast of grilled chicken, which I know they cook in oil so that was cheating, but I knew it was going to be better than jack in the box. I got a side of corn, no butter and no salt, so that was fine, and I got colslaw… which had dairy so that was cheating too. But hey… I bet if the cavemen had the option, they would go to KFC too.

When I got home and started eating my cheater food, the power came back on. Of course.

And to make matters worse, LOST was a rerun!

Things that are weird about my diet so far: I started my period mid cycle which I can only assume is because of my drastic change in diet. I guess that happens sometimes.

Things that are good about my diet so far: I can already see changes in my body. I don’t have a scale here so I can’t weigh myself, but my clothes are fitting differently and my body just looks different in the mirror! Pretty cool. I am also finding that my skin is clearing up. I struggle with acne and chest acne, and it’s nearly all gone. I always thought that it might be food related…

So today is day seven. One week down!

Blood sugar a-plummeting

DAY FOUR!!!!

SO tired. Not sure if that is a side effect of the cleanse or of my constant non-stop activity! BLAH! I did get light headed every time I stood up today. I think my body is finally starting to protest this ‘hunter/gatherer’ lifestyle I’ve suddenly adopted.

For the record, I found out what was making my pee so bright yellow… Lizzard hypothesized and my MIL confirmed… the culprit is vitamins. Goes to show you that I may need this detox more than I even realize. I’ve never had enough vitamins to turn my pee colors. Yikes!

For meals today:

Breakfast… same shake as yesterday. Stuck to the berries, added spinach, no almond butter but still using the almond milk. Forgot the ice… wasn’t as good.

Lunch didn’t occur until I had driven back up to Nevada with a baby puppy on my lap and his brother, Gizmo, riding shotgun. And yes, again I went for the carrots and humus… no messy blender, no cooking… I mean, do you even realize how much of a pain a blender is to clean? Oh yes, I also had a half a Granny apple. It’s really amazing how delicious natural sweet is. You don’t really notice until you take out all the unnatural sweet things.

Dinner I changed things up a bit. I made brown rice and black beans and I added my infamous turkey breast with some avocado. It was good for about 7 bites and then it started really needing some spices, which our cupboards are lacking here in Nevada. I think I can improve upon it though… it was a good start. It looked like a fiesta bowl at Taco Bell… cept way less calories. 🙂 NetherNetherLand had some good ideas for recipes too, athankyou! And I’m very much looking forward to Burny’s return into my life tomorrow so that he can cook me up something delicious. He is one of those people who just know what to add to something to make it divine. I am clearly not one of those people.

So here is the weird thing for today, aside from the slight headache I’m now enduring throughout the day which I can only assume is due to lack of soda: About an hour after dinner I had the most uncomfortable pain in my middle… like all the way through my middle. It was not really like anything I had felt before… What could have caused that? It wasn’t air and it wasn’t me needing to use the restroom… and then all the sudden it was gone as soon as it had come… hmmm…