Day 7

Today was okay. I have been pretty tired but haven't kept up on protein in my shakes. I have also had a wicked headache today that is just getting progressively worse so I'm going to bed.

Still don't like vegetables, but trying to eat them. Tonight Laura made a really good crockpot lentil soup from an Emeril Lagasse challenge that I'll post the recipe below. It was from another blog with a lot of recipes for people on the cleanse so definitely worth checking out.

Last day of the nasty pills, woohoo!

Here's the recipe:

"GMA" put out the call and hundreds of viewers e-mailed us their super slow-cooker recipes. After thousands of votes, Mary Sperling's Lentil Soup was one of the five finalists in Emeril's Slow-Cooker Challenge.

Ingredients

· 3 carrots, chopped

· 3 ribs of celery, chopped

· 1 onion, chopped

· 3 cloves garlic, pressed

· 8 cups water (or vegetable broth)

· 2 cups lentils, rinsed

· 1 tsp. dried thyme

· 1 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

· 2 tsp. salt

· 1 tsp. ground pepper

· 1 bunch kale, washed and chopped

Cooking Directions

Put all of these ingredients in the slow cooker. Set it on low if you are leaving it all day, high if you are starting it around lunchtime.
About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve the soup, add the last four ingredients.
You can add potatoes if you want more bulk. Add cubed potatoes at the beginning of cooking if you do.
Tomatoes are also good in this dish. Add one 14 1/2 ounce can of diced tomatoes at the beginning of cooking if you like. I don't use the tomatoes because my husband is allergic to them.
This lentil soup is everything people want now. It's loaded with nutrition, easy to make, inexpensive, delicious, low fat and vegetarian. As a mother of three and a graduate student, this soup is very handy.
The leftovers (even better the second day!) are a healthy hot meal I send in Thermos to school for lunch. My boys especially like the kale.
I once had a party at my home, and being concerned about having enough food, I threw this soup together in my slow cooker then finished the rest of my party prep. Surprisingly, this afterthought was the favorite food of the day!

Days 5 & 6

The last 2 days really haven't been much different then days 3 & 4. I have noticed that today I was pretty stinking tired - if I don't add additional protein to my shakes I am pretty darn exhausted. I can't believe tomorrow is day 7 already! The end of the nasty pills! Let's hope the green food pills are better!

Yeah, really no changes at all other than being a little more tired. I definitely miss meat and am looking forward to Saturday when I can add in chicken and fish to my diet!

Oh, I guess something was interesting: tonight Laura said I smell very different - everything from my breath to my skin. I thought that was odd but I have noticed that my mouth actually tastes quite different than before. Weird.

Day 4

This marks the end to day 4 of the cleanse. Today went quite well, had a decent amount of energy throughout the day and got a lot done. It's 11:15 now and I'm starting to get pretty tired but I feel like my energy level has definitely been "up there" today. One thing I will point out that if you have done this cleanse will know exactly what I'm talking about: gas. I've heard people joke about vegetarians having a lot of gas but this is getting downright ridiculous. It's not room clearing or anything but it is constant! That is the main thing I just can't get over right now... I asked a vegetarian friend how long it takes for your body to get used to it's new diet and the gas subsides and she laughed at me and said, "never!" Sweet. So there you have it, something to look forward to when you try the cleanse.

Another thing that I noticed today is that I kept reaching for food I can't have. Not that I was going to cheat on the diet or anything, just that I was being absentminded and wasn't really paying attention. I haven't cheated (intentionally or accidently) yet and do not plan on it. I decided from the get-go I was going to do this 100% and don't see much point in giving in and possibly compromising the results of the cleanse.

Tonight for dinner I had excellent stuffed green peppers. They were filled with brown rice, bean sprouts, onions and tomatoes. Doesn't sound all that great but I really enjoyed them; wierd, eh?

Anyway, today went very well and I didn't seem to notice being hungry or grumpy or having any difficulty with mental clarity. Everything seems to be going very well. Let's hope it continues this way!

On a side note Laura crushed my motivation today (not really). For some reason I had it in my head that I could have meat on day 8; she informed me it's not until day 11. What a bummer...

Day 3

So yesterday I was not feeling well at all, which you could probably guess from my post. I was exhausted, couldn't think straight and couldn't figure out why the crap I would do that to myself. Today couldn't have been more different. I woke up this morning like I usually do in the morning - very slowly. But as I got going I noticed that I really didn't feel bad at all, especially compared to yesterday. I had a test this morning in my Pathology class and was done in 8 minutes... I couldn't believe it, 8 minutes. One of my friends was on question 12 (out of 42) when I turned in my exam. I have seriously felt great today! I haven't been overly tired, I haven't really even noticed hunger pains, I have been able to focus in class and I just feel good. One odd thing is that I feel like I have energy but that I'm weak... I don't know how else to describe it other than that. Anyway, I really needed today to go well with my exam and other classes going on and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

On the food front I still don't really care for vegetables. They take forever to eat and prepare and they don't taste that great. I probably ate too much fruit today but I still definitely ate more veggies than fruit, just probably not the 2:1 that I am supposed to. For dinner tonight Laura made an avocado chutney that we found the recipe for on somebody else's blog who did the SP cleanse (lots of recipes over there, as well as the SP site, definitely worth checking out!) and it was fantastic! I ate it over brown rice and it was really really good. She grilled chicken for her and the kids and I think if I would have added some chicken to it then it would be something I would enjoy eating on a regular basis.

So day 3 down successfully - only 4 more to go before I can have protein! I am very excited for that. I really like chicken, shrimp, fish... All the proteins I'm allowed to eat are some of my favorites. It's sad I can't grill them but I'll survive. One of our friends is coming to visit and we will be feeding the Missionaries twice while I'm on this diet so hopefully they don't get offended that I most likely won't be doing my grilled meals for guests. Oh well, they'll get over it I'm sure!

To recap, I can't explain enough the difference between yesterday and today. Heck, it's probably extremely apparent just in my attitude in this post. I really needed a good day and wasn't let down.

Day 2

Well, today's not over quite yet but I figure now is as good a time as any to do my daily update. This sucks. I feel like crap. My head is killing me, my sinuses are killing me, I feel like I'm starving and stuffed at the same time every time I eat, I have absolutely no energy and I have horrible mental clarity/reading comprehension. Whose idea was this, anyway? I was hoping today would be better but it is significantly worse. I really do not like vegetables. I like fruit but I am trying to stick to the guidelines of the diet and eat twice as many veggies as fruit and I don't like it.

This was a salad I had for lunch today. I know it doesn't look like a salad but there was a whole lot of spinach under that fruit. It looks pretty good, right? I had to force-feed myself the whole way. I don't know what my deal is, I usually love blueberries and strawberries. Tonight for dinner Laura made a vegetable primavera over spaghetti squash and it was really good (oh, and I had a sweet potato to make up for last night's snafu!) except for way too much parsley. This was the first time I've ever had spaghetti squash - it was pretty flavorless but worked wonderfully as a pasta substitute.

I've been pretty grumpy today, or just feel like I have a short fuse. I'm really edgy and easily annoyed (it's like I'm on my period or something...) and just have no energy at all. I came home early from class and took a nap because I just couldn't stay up any longer. I have a major exam in the morning and am really second guessing how appropriate my timing was with this cleanse.

Ok, enough complaining. I am going to really try and stay more positive in my future posts because I dont' want to turn anybody off to this. Everybody warned me the first couple days are the hardest and they are surely not letting me down. I am really going to try and stay positive and think about the reason I'm doing this and the hopeful benefits. I'm grateful I get to try this cleanse out and am really hoping it will help me to get my butt in gear and in better shape.

Here's to hoping...

Day 1

Phew, day 1 is over! I realized something today: I like meat and I like sugar. I do not, however, like vegetables! This morning was fine, had my shake and supplements and went to school. I brought mini bell peppers, celery, plums, beets and a tangerine with me for lunch/snacks. They were gone by 11:30 and I still had another 5 hours to go! I was in the library eating my lunch and studying and somebody brought in their lunch of re-heated leftover roasted chicken and it smelled absolutely amazing, after that my stomach would not stop growling (and hasn't stopped yet) for real food. When I got home I made a salad of brocolli slaw with fresh pureed blueberries and strawberries and was forcing myself to eat it when somebody in the apartment complex started grilling something that smelled fantastic. I kept eating my slaw. I baked a sweet potato for dinner as well, cut it in half and realized it was bad - it was the thing I was looking forward to all day. Isn't that sad? When the hilight of the day is a sweet potato? Sheesh. Anyway, I also caramalized some onions (not really sure if that's okay or not but I didn't use any sugar like I normally would) to put ontop of the the sweet potato. I ate them plain and they were probably my favorite thing I've eaten today. I like fruit but you're supposed to have at least twice as much vegetable as fruit.

So other than wanting food and something besides water to drink I think I did okay today. I noticed I was sweating most of the day and I've been absolutely exhausted. I am having a bit of a struggle with reading comprehension and I would imagine it's due to low blood sugar. I'm a little grumpy tonight but not too bad, I think it's primarily because our downstairs neighbor was a jerk to Laura today and I wish I was there so I could have told him where to stick it.

So there you have it, 1 down, 20 to go. Goo.

Introduction

Tonight is my last night of being able to eat what I want, when I want for quite a while. Tomorrow morning I am starting a full body cleanse protocol from Standard Process. Here's a copy of the PDF if you want to take a look at it to see what I'm talking about...

So it is a 21 day diet and for days 1-10 I am only allowed to eat raw fruits and vegetables and take their pre-determined supplements that go along with the cleanse. One of these supplements, SP Cleanse, will be taken via pills at a whopping dosage of 21 pills a day! Holy cow, that's gonna be breakfast! Other supplements with the program include: SP Complete, SP Green Food, Gastro-Fiber and Whole Food Fiber. Anyway, I am a little aprehensive and also a little intimidated/anxious about this regemin. I do not have (or maybe utilize is the correct word) much self control when it comes to eating: I eat what and when I want. I love ice cream, I love having a can of coke now and then, I love a nice juicy steak, BBQ ribs is one of my favorite food groups... I will admit, I'm a little worried about going without so many things I really love.

Tonight I weighed myself (clothed in shorts and t-shirt) and am at 216.4 pounds. When I got married a little over 5 years ago I weiged about 180 pounds so I have put on a significant amount of weight. If it was muscle mass I wouldn't be upset but it is as far from that as possible. I don't really work out. I am in class for 7-10 hours a day and the rest of my day is spent having dinner with my family, playing with my kids and studying. If I were to work out I would have to replace something I'm doing and it would have to be time spent with my family and I'm just not willing to do that right now. I am going to try and bike at least 30 minutes 3-5 times per week while I'm studying. We'll see how that goes.

I ordered some whey protein to supplement the cleanse with just so I'm getting some protein in my diet but I will be taking minimal amounts of it and probably not for the first couple days.

Alright, I think that's about all! I am going to try to update this blog every night with my comments and experience; call it my journal if you will, I would just like some way of documenting this to be able to look back on the experience as a whole and on a day-to-day basis. I welcome comments from anybody and everybody so feel free. I am also leaving this blog public and am only inviting 1 person to the blog so anybody else reading this will be via word of mouth or sheer accident so I do not expect many readers at all (nor do I think I want many).

Wish me luck!