Day 18--IKEA food? Nahh.. I've got my greens.

This has been a tough day. In talking with Brandon recently, we decided that we wanted to make a trip out to IKEA. I needed to buy a bookcase for work that actually fit my standards, and I knew that IKEA would have what I wanted. We had been planning this trip for about a week. I knew this would be a bit problematic for me, but the day went pretty well.

MORNING
I ate my regular fruit bowl and enjoyed it, naturally. I put it off until a little later in the morning to give me the ability to eat lunch a little later and not be starving.

LUNCH
I had to pack my lunch and bring it with me to IKEA. I packed my Vera Bradley bag and stuffed it with my lunchbag, a half gallon of water, and my supplements. Try lugging that around the building.

Meal 52 of 63:

jicama, cucumber, and tomato on spinach greens

I will say it was challenging to watch Brandon and my friend Michele eat the IKEA food, but I enjoyed eating my salad. Michele keeps making comments like, "I don't know how you're eating like a rabbit and surviving." The funny thing is although I know I'm only eating fruit and vegetables, I don't feel like I'm eating like a rabbit. I feel satisfied. I feel good. I have a great amount of energy.

And let me just say that I love jicama (pronounced hic-ama).

Because I ate lunch so late, I didn't even get to drink my Alkalinize until about 4:00 after we got back from IKEA. I threw me off for an entire hour.

DINNER
On our way home, we stopped by the market to find fennel for dinner, but we had no luck. Instead, we substituted a bit.

Meal 53 of 63:

roasted fennel baked sweet potato 

lemony broccoli and asparagus

I can't get enough of it. So yummy.

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This day has been tough. We ended up putting our 18 year old cat down today. It was really difficult for mom and Stephanie. Stephanie has such a sweet soul, and she can be emotionally affected by anything and everything. Stephanie loves everyone and everything. Death isn't easy for her to process which is understandable because she was only 8 when our father passed away. I've seen Sashie fading away for a couple months, but her condition worsened significantly within the last week or so. I've had the time to process Sashie leaving us, so Saturday wasn't so challenging for me to go through. It was extremely difficult to watch Sashie try and walk or even simply lay down. I spent my morning today helping her eat and drink. she drank her water, but she couldn't even hold herself up. She was no longer eating her food, but she chose to simply lick it. She always loved going outside, so we had her stay outside this morning as long as possible. She was ready to give up--laying beneath the stairs, hiding underneath the fireplace...She was ready to go. It has just been an extremely difficult day. Goodbye, Sashie girl.

Here's to tomorrow.

Day 17--First Bad Day in a Long Time

For some reason, my computer can't find my SD card, so pictures can't be uploaded. They will be uploaded as soon as possible..

MORNING
I woke up this morning about 10 seconds before my alarm sounded. I was WIDE awake, even though I feel like I didn't get much sleep. I can honestly say that my body is starting to function better now on less sleep than it did before. It would be interesting to have another sleep study to see if my sleep apnea has... reduced. Is that the right word? Hmm..

I weighed myself this morning. Down a pound since yesterday. I'm .6 of a pound away from losing 10 pounds in this process.

BREAKFAST
Breakfast was a lovely bowl of fresh fruit while sitting at my desk at work. I have become a MASTER of SAFELY dripping my Oxygenize into my water bottle while driving so I could take my supplements in the car early enough to eat as soon as I get into work. I was disappointed, though, because the cantaloupe seemed to have gone bad. That or it was so overripe that the flavor and texture were just off. I ended up eating only about 2 cups of fruit. I'm used to eating closer to 3 cups of fruit. I was really nervous about getting hungry during the day.

LUNCH
I had been really good about drinking my water up until lunch. I was really looking forward to dinner because it smelled SO GOOD when I mixed it up last night.

Meal 50 of 63:

Moroccan carrot salad

microgreen salad

However....it was a letdown. It could have been really good if I left out the optional cayenne pepper from the recipe. Yet since I wanted to stick to the plan as closely as possible, I wanted to add it. It was a huge mistake. So, I ate around it and only ate the MAYBE 2 cups of mixed baby greens. I didn't add anything else (cucumbers, tomatos, seeds, etc) because I thought it might clash with the carrots. It is a good thing that I had the foresight to include 1/4 an avocado. So lunch consisted of 2 cups baby greens and 1/4 an avocado. After a smaller breakfast and a small lunch, I was now even more nervous about getting hungry...

DINNER
I got home around 4:15 or so. I actually remembered to drink my Alkalinize at 3:00 like I normally do, so I didn't feel thrown off--not like yesterday.

Meal 51 of 63:

roasted delicata butternut squash

steamed lemon green beans

I couldn't get behind the squash. I liked it, but it was bland. I'm not a fan of the aminos, and I added it anyway. When will I learn? The thing is the aminos CAN be good in some dishes, but not all of them. I ended up eating twice the serving of green beans instead. Again, a letdown, and again, I'm left nervous about hunger.

I still have about 28 oz of water to drink for this gallon. Hopefully it will keep me satisfied the rest of the day.

Only 4 days left! I can't believe how fast this has gone by...

Day 16--Back to Business

Today gave me the first glimpse into how I could handle this process while working. I had training for a pilot program I am doing that lasted from 8:00-3:00. I had everything all ready and prepared last night before I went to bed:

I drank all the bottled water by 4:00 this afternoon. All I had left for the evening was the 40 oz. left in the gallon jug. I had to pee so many times today! It's tough being back in the school and not being able to use the bathroom anytime it's necessary. I had to wait until we had a break...ugh!

MORNING
I woke up pretty well--especially for not getting bed until about 10:30. I weighed myself, and I continue to drop. By the time I walked out the door, I felt like I was so well-prepared for the day. However, I couldn't help but think I forgot something...

BREAKFAST
I enjoyed my breakfast sitting at my desk again. Can you guess what breakfast consisted of? Yes, fresh fruit. I didn't pack enough. I realize that as soon as I took a bite of the first peach slice. I knew early this morning that today would be a hungry day.

LUNCH
I wasn't very hungry for lunch. I actually finished the entire green water bottle by the time I needed to take my supplement (11:30). I had a basic microgreen salad with 1 tablespoon of creamy garlic dressing.

MID-AFTERNOON
I had every intention of bringing my Alkalinize with my and taking it as soon as training was over. However, I realized at 3:00 that I remembered EVERYTHING except the green death drink. I didn't take it until 4:00 which meant that dinner would be pushed back another hour. I was hungry this afternoon--not hungry enough for a snack, but hungry. The Alkalinize subdued my hunger enough to help me get through dinner prep.

DINNER
This was the only meal I was nervous about while looking through the week's menu.

Meal 46 of 63:

curry cauliflower

lemon pepper kale

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this meal because I've never really experienced curry. I've heard such mixed reactions about it that I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. I knew my mom doesn't like curry, but while I was preparing it, I used a little less curry than necessary. However, I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I really enjoyed this! I would absolutely make it again.

I am still hungry. This is definitely a hungry day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Fingers are crossed for it! I have already finished my gallon of water, but I only got through one gallon.

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Now that I'm no longer taking the Detox, I find myself not having such difficulty using the bathroom. The Detox is meant to help RELEASE the toxins, but it seemed to have the reverse effect on me. Now that I'm no longer taking the detox, my BMs are coming back to normal like during Phase 1. I am grateful for that. I was really beginning to feel gross.

Day 9--I've got "K9" written on top of my gallon of water. I've been waiting for it since I started.

Super long title, but whatever.

This day was a long day, and I knew that in advance, so I was able to prepare. Like I mentioned yesterday, I cooked all my food for today yesterday. I spent a good 6 hours in the kitchen. Prepping and cooking. It was worth it, though, to have a day of no cooking. I spent the day out in Hillsborough tutoring, and then went up to visit Michele.

People on the boards have revealed that it could take 2-3 days for the Detox to work it's magic. Oh, if I forgot to mention, this is the RELEASE phase where my body is supposed to release everything it's been holding onto. I'm still waiting for this release to happen. It's supposed to be a gentle release, not a OH-MY-GOSH-I'M-ABOUT-TO-CRAP-MY-PANTS release. We'll see.

MORNING
Waking up this morning was super easy, and that's with not going to bed until 10:45. My alarm went off at 5:00, and I was up, bouncing, and ready to go. This is clearly not because I'm cute, but rather than this cleanse is really helping me sleep. It took me no time to fall asleep last night, and I don't remember waking up once. Nice change.

BREAKFAST
The breakfast in the book for this morning was miso soup which I refuse to eat. So rather than suffer, I decided to eat a different breakfast from this week. This week mostly has fruit in the morning for breakfast, but I didn't want to have fruit. Instead, I took the only other non-miso non-fruit recipe for this week's breakfast and used it for today. I was pleasantly surprised. I ate it at my desk at work while I scribbled some answers to a Romeo and Juliet study guide question packet for tutoring since I've never used the guide and, oh, yeah, all my materials are boxed up for the summer.

Meal 25 of 63:

chick pea mash with avocado and cilantro

spinach

I added a bit of Himalayan salt on top of the chick pea mash before I packed it away. I was DELICIOUS! I could eat that a million times over and over again. The avocado really helped. The recipe called for slices, but who can really slice an avocado nicely without mushing half of it? I put it in the food processor which resulted in a guac-like avocado for my topping. So good. I highly recommend it.

LUNCH
Basic microgreen salad with some pinto beans and rice from last night. Also yummy. I added some more Himalayan salt to the top, and it was divine.

DINNER
This was the most frustrating part of yesterday because it was so time consuming, but the end-product is so darn good!

Meal 27 of 63:

sweet potato and roasted red pepper bisque

roasted asparagus with slivered almonds

This was the second meal that made me want to do this cleanse. If I can eat something as good as this and feel better about myself, why wouldn't I? Like I said yesterday, it's totally vegan and totally good. It does have a strong ginger flavor which I know some people don't like, but I thought it was fabulous. It's amazing how little you have to put into it to make something so good. There were even some small chunks of sweet potato and roasted red pepper. I love it. Yummmm...

Also, this was the first time I roasted my own red peppers. I felt so accomplished! One thing I'm learning is that sometimes I actually CAN cook. I might not actually burn the house down. I am finding that I do sometimes put the wrong quantity of something in the mix. I mean, really, what's the big difference between tsp. and tbsp.?? Unfortunately, it has resulted in unplanned doubling or tripling of recipes to make it work and not throw everything away.

This was a really good day, and a really good day for food.

Day 4--Hallelujah!

MORNING --7:10 am
Thankfully my headache faded away during the night. I still had 32 oz of water to drink of my gallon which were left unconsumed by the time I woke up. I fell asleep on the couch while trying to watch Mary Poppins overtake Lord Voldemort, but that was unsuccessful. Since I woke up a half hour ago, I've consumed 20 oz of the 32 oz. I don't want to start a new gallon until I finish the previous.

My body was aching when I woke up. THAT I know is from the cleanse as we have to limit our physical activity. My legs, calves, and arms all achy.

Okay 32 oz done. Now time for another 12 oz, supplements, and breakfast.

BREAKFAST -- 8:29 am
I drank my 12 oz of water and put the Mineralize and Oxygenize in it, but I forgot to take my Optimize. The videos said it's no big deal, but I do need to take them later. They recommend splitting them up and taking 3 Optimize with lunch and 3 with dinner. That will be my plan. So prior to eating, not so hungry, but I was really looking forward to it! It was definitely a big improvement over the meals yesterday.

Meal 10 of 63:

2 cups fresh fruit

1/2 cup plain FF yogurt sweetened with Grade B maple syrup

1 slice multi-grain toast

So good. I love fruit. I am a little nervous, however, because I've never just had fruit for breakfast. Well..I guess that's not entirely true. I've had fruit with yogurt and granola, so this isn't completely foreign. I am nervous about possible hunger in a short time, but we'll see. I can foresee that this will be a plenty of water kind of day!

I'll also be testing myself today. Brandon and I will be driving out to get his license plates for his new car. It gives me a bit of anxiety because since I've started this, I haven't been more than 10 minutes away from the house where I could easily access everything I needed. This will help me prepare for tutoring next week.

LUNCH--12:45 pm
I was actually getting hungry for lunch. By 11:15 this morning, my stomach started growling. Soon after (and 20 oz of water later), I had another serving of black beans and rice with salsa and some cucumber salad from last night. Very satisfying.

DINNER--8:00 pm
Dinner was lovely tonight! I am a little nervous about getting hungry again...

Meal 12 of 63:

quinoa

stir-fry vegetables

cucumber and tomato salad

As you see, there is no meat or soy protein here. That's the lovely thing about quinoa. It's a grain, but it's very high in protein. I finished eating over an hour ago (first time since we started that we ate at a "normal" hour for dinner), and I'm stating to feel a little hungry. I know this means I just need to drink more water, but it's so tough when my younger sister is in the kitchen making popcorn on the stove.

I feel good today. Body aches were limited to this morning. I haven't had a headache since I went to bed last night. Food prep didn't take too long (this may be due to the fact that there was no marinating involved...). I'm feeling happy today. I'm more energetic than I have been. It certainly is night and day when comparing yesterday and today. Many people on the facebook pages say that Days 1-3 were tough and foggy for them, but starting Day 4 they saw a difference. I can certainly say the same thing. I hope this stays...