21 Day Cleanse - Day 4

Forgot to post this...

Morning:
16 oz. Warm Lemon Water

1 Orange Juiced

1 Cup Coconut Water

1 Cup Strawberries

1 Banana

24 oz Water

1.5 Cups Strawberries

Apple Pie (made with coconut oil and cinnamon)

20 oz Hibiscus Tea

16 oz Green Tea

1 oz Almonds

Afternoon:

16 oz Water

1 Cucumber + Vinegar, Dill, Honey Dressing

2 Bowls Mixed Fruit (melons, grapes, pineapples)

2 Bowls Mixed Salad w/Balsamic Vinaigrette

1.5 Rows Green & Black Organic Mint Dark Chocolate

Evening:

2 Handfuls Mixed Lettuce

Homemade Dressing (see previous post)

1/4 Cup Hemp Seed

4 Baby Dill Pickles

1 Avocado (part bad :( )

Pepito Seeds

10 oz Water

3 Squares Green & Black Organic Mint Dark Chocolate

With this mixture of salad, the combo of dressing, avocado, and dill pickles tasted like an egg salad. It was great!

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I was SO hungry all day long. I couldn't stop eating. I got up early and did Pilates (though my friend didn't join me after all). Sadly it was the last one of those classes because they are canceling it. I'm really glad I came, though! I would love to do more Pilates! 

But, I seriously ate all day long... And you can see I had plenty to drink! 

I went for a 30 min walk on my lunch with a coworker and we've decided to try to do it 3 times a week. 

Went to volleyball practice from 7-9 and HAD SO MUCH FUN!! I can't describe the pleasure I had from doing this. The group I practiced with is very new to the sport, but I still had a blast. When I join I will definitely not be playing with them as I seemed to have picked my skills back up where I left off (well, probably not, but I did damn well!). 

Seriously, though...I loved it. My forearms are SO bruised, though. I've not played in 10 years, so they aren't conditioned at all. 

Great group of people, too :) Can't wait to actually start playing! I don't think it'll be until next session, though (I might do some subbing until then) since Oct is pretty booked for me.

21 Day Cleanse - Day 3

Downed some more water before bed last night...was REALLY thirsty. I toyed with the idea of hitting up the gym this morning, but after searching the classes at all the locations around me, I was less than inspired. Forgot I was going for coffee/tea with a coworker on lunch today, so I will not be walking, but I did enlist another coworker to do a couple walks a week on our breaks. Start tomorrow! I'll be walk/running (not sure if my friend is or wants to run) with a buddy after work this evening. It'll at least get me moving! She's trying to get in shape after having put on quite a bit of weight. She does boot camp Tues and Thurs and now walking Wed with me. I'm determined to get my friends to socially move!

I could easily just go look, but I don't remember if I posted my excitement over volleyball Thurs! It's only practice and only to see where I might fit in with the different levels, but I'm so excited!! VOLLEYBALL! Man I love the sport. Depending on what team I wind up on will determine when practices are...and that might stink for my newly acquired walking buddies. They spread over Tues-Thurs with games on Fri.

Oh well, I'll figure it out!


Morning:
16 oz Warm Water & Lemon
12 oz Water
5 min Meditation
Quick Stretches/Core

Smoothie
4 Oranges Juiced
1 Banana
Handful Fresh Strawberries
16 oz Green Tea

I could not sit still for meditation this morning...not sure what the deal was but it's a sure sign I need to do it for MUCH longer. I decided to add in some strawberries to the blend this morning. They need to be eaten.

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Afternoon:
24 oz Water
16 oz Lemon Tea

Chowder
1/2 Bunch Celery
1/2 Cup Coconut Water
1/2 Tomato
3/4 Cup Brazil + Macadamia Nuts
1 Tbsp Agave
1 Clove Garlic
1/4 Onion
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Cayenne + Chili + Cumin + Salt + Pepper

The chowder is pretty great! Not sure why I didn't like the original recipe; perhaps the young coconut meat? I don't know. I'm eating it early so that I won't be too hungry while out with a coworker (I WILL be getting tea at this coffee house!). Granted, there's a TON of it and I'm darn full after 1/2...so I imagine I'll eat the rest later in the afternoon.



Afternoon Part 2:
Bunch of Grapes
Soy Mocha
Rest of Chowder

So that trip to the cafe I mentioned...yeah, well...they didn't have tea. They had coffee (apparently some vegan food too, but I already ate). The mocha was really not good. It was SO SWEET. I wish I had gotten just a coffee and had them put soy milk in it. It was bad. I wasted the money on that sucker and now have a horrible headache. Even my friend who had been there said it was more like hot chocolate than anything else. I have a headache to boot :(   The grapes were from my coworkers plate. She has food intolerance so I happily ate them. (Please note the chowder was after all of this!)



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Evening:

Black & Green Organic Mint Dark Chocolate

24 oz Water

Mini Cumin Nori Wrap Snacks (organic and raw from Natural Grocers)

Handful of Cashews

Handful of Organic Raisins

Handful of Homemade Sweet Potato Chips

10 Organic Baby Dill Pickles

1/2 Can Organic Olives

Random Salad

Handful Mixed Greens + seeds + olives

Homemade Dressing (Olives, Capers, Garlic, Mustard, Olive Oil, etc, etc...)

So I didn't wind up going to workout.... my friend had to work late. Little bit disappointed in myself. I probably should have gone on my own and I would have if I had been dressed. I was going to change at her place. As soon as I got home I knew I wasn't going out again. I dislike walking around my neighborhood. I stopped at Natural Grocers for the heck of it and kind of fell in love with their spices, nuts, and some of their produce. To my disbelief everything was organic and a LOT was cheaper than Sprouts! How did I not know this?!?! Not everything, mind you. But I will definitely be buying spices, nuts, and some produce there! 

When I got home I don't know why, but I was craving the crap out of salt. I wanted salty... I bought baby dill pickles and I couldn't stop eating them. And then as I was making the dressing I couldn't stop eating the olives. I also really craved mustard...to which I put on the sweet potato chips. Weird, eh? 

A friend asked if I wanted to workout in the morning, to which I said "Heck Yes!" We're off to do Pilates at 6. Whoohoo! I made the apple pie for lunch tomorrow and the cucumber salad (with vinegar, honey, and dill) for dinner since I'll be going to volleyball practice. :)  Excitement!

21 Day Cleanse - Day 2

So hey... I woke up this morning and was HIGHLY disappointed with the scale; especially after having done a colonic and getting rid of so much.

Whatever; I will not be ruled by you, Mr. Scale!


Morning:
2 Glasses Warm Water & Lemon
20 oz. Grapefruit Juice
12 oz. Water

I remember the grapefruit eating the crap out of my stomach last time. It didn't this time around; not sure why. I will say that having drank all of that...I'm really quite hungry. I was tempted to eat the banana I threw in my lunch for emergencies but am deciding not to. What I REALLY want is some coffee. I don't know why I can't get the same satisfaction out of tea (maybe because it's not quality tea?), but it just doesn't appeal to me!

I'm going to drink tea, though.

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Afternoon:
32 oz. Green Tea
3 Handfuls Mixed Greens
1/2 Large Tomato
1 Carrot Shredded
1 Avocado
1 Lemon Juiced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Dill, Rosemary, Chives

Definitely brought too much salad....buuut so tasty! However, I don't know about the rosemary. My friend has some growing wild in her back yard, so I went and trimmed, but I'm thinking I either didn't get the right plant (it was dark and the light wasn't working) or I trimmed in the wrong spot because it smells and tastes more like a pine tree - lol...but having looked them up online they are a woody plant. Guess, maybe I should just look for the younger parts of it next time.

I love the smell of dill :)   Chopping it up this morning made my kitchen smell sooo good. Speaking of herbs - update on the cilantro: it perked up and looks healthy! Water is amazing.

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Evening:
48 oz Water
Raw Protein Bar (can't remember the name...)
3 Leaves Kale
2 Handfuls Lettuce
1 Avocado
1 Large Tomato
1 Green Onion
Cilantro
1 Clove Garlic
Cayenne
Salt
1 Lemon Juiced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Hemp Hearts
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

Fitness:
Week 3 Distance Couch25K Run

Did week 3 of the C25K! I've done the timed version a long time ago, but this app has the distance version, which I'd rather do because you're not guaranteed to run 5k by the end of 30 min if you're slow! Lungs buuuurned, but it felt good. I didn't make it as far as I have in the past on the timed, but hey, whatev. I didn't want to push myself too much. Went the entire way one way so that I had to walk back. I stopped by Sprouts on the way home and picked up some items, including that raw protein bar. I need to make my own!

Definitely feel some great energy right now. I am making sweet potato chips via the dehydrator, I've signed up to try out a volleyball league, got multiple people to do a once a week run/walk after work with me (starting tomorrow with one friend!) and one will help me as he's already a runner. I plan on signing up for Warrior Dash next year (there's people wanting to join also!) and he's going to be my training "coach" - haha. I've gotten a lot accomplished today! Nothing was going on at work, so I was productive in other ways.

Dinner was late. I decided to massage the kale with half a lemon's juice and a little salt, added the lettuce, and then made some guac/salsa dressing out of everything else in that list. I'm going to fiddle with tomorrows lunch menu as I never found a young coconut and I was not a big fan of the recipe. Think I'll add in the half a tomato I have left and some other spices!

21 Day Cleanse - Day 1

This morning was a bit unconventional as I wound up staying at my boyfriends last night and leaving really early this morning to get ready at home. Luckily I had nice clothes to wear to work at his place and really just had to drop off the mounds of groceries for this week, make up my lunch, take care of the cat, and take off. I have some cleaning to do tonight, though... it's kind of a mess (at least to my standards, which are really high)! A friend is coming over to juice with me tonight, so I hope I have time to get it presentable.


Morning:
20 oz OJ (4 oranges)
Raw Tea
Vitamins
58 oz water

Been watching the clock from about 10:45 until noon waiting for lunch to hit. SO HUNGRY. I tried chugging water (hence the amount I've had so far), had all the tea, did some quick exercises, tried walking around...I think that's a sign that I really am just hungry. My head hurts, also. Perhaps because of the caffeine withdrawal? I have had some in the past few days!

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Afternoon:
1/4 Cup Hemp Hearts
1/4 Bunch Cilantro
1/4 Bunch Parsley
1 Tomato
1 Avocado
2 Green Onions
1 Lemon Juiced
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp salt

I love this type of meal. IT IS SO GOOD! There is more than what the recipe called for, but I'm making it at work, so I didn't want to leave half an avocado. I did chop the herbs this morning at home and I apparently neglected the cilantro in the bottom of the fridge because it was all sorts of wilted! I put them in a jar with some water and then an open bag draped over top. The jar was void of water. Oopsie... I cut off the ends this morning and filled it with water again in hopes to revive it at least enough to get some use out of it until I go shopping again.

I need to get in the habit of not eating at my desk, or at least not being on the computer and doing other things while eating. I tend to scarf down the meal and not realize what I even ate or relax and enjoy the flavors of fresh food!

I still have some of this left and I'm quite full. Makes me happy.

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Snack:
Organic Black & Green Mint Dark Chocolate
Apple
24 oz water

Somewhere along the line I got cravings for chocolate again. I don't tend to HAVE cravings unless I'm not eating optimally. Which was kind of my clue I needed to do this. I will slowly ween myself and hopefully just not have the desire to eat it at all soon!

I don't know what it is about apples, but they really fill me up...maybe because my body doesn't digest them so well. I don't know.


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Evening:
Green Juice (carrot, celery, apple, cucumber, lemon)
Almond Cheese
Kit Kat

I went and had my second colonic and feel amazing! I am also STARVING. A friend came over to try out juicing. I gave her the recipes from Kris Carr and she chose this spicier one. It turned out to be EXTRA spicy because she accidentally got mustard greens instead of kale. Whoops! Probably not the best way to try juicing.

My green juice was about 32 oz...it was good, but I was so hungry afterwards. I've had so much water today! Probably need to eat more food. I had some almond cheese that I finished off and then decided it was a good idea to eat the remainder of a Kit Kat bar I had in the freezer. Um... it didn't taste good at all. Added to the fact that my Packers lost (good grief refs...)... :(  Anyway...it's at least gone now and the only chocolate I have in the fridge is organic dark....so no milk! I'm not beating myself up over it. It happened. I learned my lesson.

Raw Cleanse Reboot

I decided, now being armed with much more knowledge -- especially when it comes to raw and my body -- to start the 21 Day Cleanse today! I haven't gained back a lot of weight, but I did gain some pounds since the first round and having gone through all of the health issues.

Please note that the health issues were purely my own. I loved the raw diet, however, there are things that my body cannot digest (cabbage, broccoli, etc) unless slightly cooked. I'm also convinced that my body was "WTF?" having gone from eating fairly poorly to dropping everything (chicken and fish, sugar, grains, etc) cold turkey and hitting the raw hard. That's kind of how I am...though I did slowly get rid of the other meats and dairy, I dropped the others pretty fast.

So, I'm pretty determined to finish these 21 days again, without the hormonal imbalances! Honestly, the first cleanse was a HUGE success for me. This one will only be better!

Since having done the 21 and 28 day programs, I've stuck to lots of greens and meatless. I did add in some cooked legumes and quinoa as well as cooked vegetables here and there. I've gotten in the habit of doing a green juice for breakfast and will stick to it, even through the 21 days. There will definitely be meals that I substitute as there were a couple that I wasn't fond of. I'll just be doing ones that I loved :)

The point of doing the 21 days now is to get back on track because I foresee myself slipping further into the cooked realm and I dislike it! I've noticed a change in my body; fatigue being the main.

Here's my routine, most of which started during and after the first round of 49 days!

Morning Ritual:
Warm water and lemon
10-20 min meditation
Yoga stretches
Dry Brush
Netti Pot
Shower
Green Juice
Tea throughout the morning (will be learning about loose leaf tea making soon!)

Afternoon Ritual:
Lunch (salads mainly)
30-50 min walk (or run at the gym, haven't gotten to that point yet! I take lunch time to do errands too)
Snack (fruit usually as I crave sweets after lunch)

Evening Ritual:
Some form of exercise after work (walking, running, cycling, lifting, etc)
Dinner (this depends if I get home late, but it tends to be some form of salad or mixed bowl)
Prep food and clothes for the next day
Relax (if there's time left for this, lol...)

I definitely can't say that EVERY day goes exactly like that, but for the most part.

Hit & Miss (An Update)

I had some fish. I like fish. I could probably not eat it again, though. I don't feel guilty having done so.

I do not miss dairy. I accidentally had some cheese in a salad last week. It didn't taste great and did a number on my stomach!

I don't miss carbs. Especially the white, starchy stuff. I did do some yam/sweet potato (no idea which it REALLY was) that was cooked, which tastes wonderful by itself. Not sure my stomach could digest it raw.

I miss blogging daily :(  I haven't been keeping up with the journal and it's driving me crazy! I love writing!

My boyfriend is getting ready to try a couple days of raw. I'm slightly excited! I don't think he'll stick to it at all, but I'm hoping the positives that he gets from it will make him think about doing an 80/20 plant-based diet!

Looking Back

I keep looking back at these posts and visiting on the online communities. Since my experience on the program I've added in some more cooked foods that weren't digesting well at all -- cabbage, broccoli. I do some quinoa every now and then. My hormonal issues have seemed to completely level off and I've not had any issues. My skin is super clear and my hair shiny and healthy.

I will say that 100% raw might not work for my body, but the 80/20 rule has been perfect so far. I've gotten a juicer and a dehydrator and have started making new, wonderful and delicious things! I don't think I would have gotten to this point had I not done what I did and taken the plunge. 49 days seems like a LOT, but it was so worth it, even with all of the challenges. It helped me get to where I am right now, which is happy and healthy :)