I went out of town for the weekend, but tried to adhere to the program as much as possible. It isn't hard. I just tried to incorporate a little of what I've eaten already on the plan. I didn't stick to the plan to a "T", but I was pretty good. I did have a glass of wine with dinner one night, but it was small and let me tell you, worth it!
I also had an esspresso for breakfast and let me just say, there is NO better rush than having coffee for the first time in over a week! I just sipped about half of it and that was it. I felt energized and happy the rest of the day. It was a conscious choice and I really took the time to just taste the coffee.
I didn't experience any headache the next day or the day after which surprised me. So I felt really ok with cheating a little.
So Monday, I had the day off from work to stay home with my kid for MLK day. I stuck to my program except for when I went to the mall. Orange Cup was SCREAMING my name. It's natural frozen yogurt, so I didn't feel guilty. I had the Glo cup with Mochi, Mango and raspberries. It was really nice to enjoy something that really is good for me. It was a bit sweet as I haven't had much sweet to eat. So my tastebuds were having a small soire in my mouth!
So Tuesday comes and I'm back to work and find it a lot easier to follow the plan exactly as it is laid out again. I had everything that was called for, but had a small bit of chocolate after my tofu stir-fry.
So that brings me to
DAY 10
I have been getting quite used to the food on the program. I find it really easy to prepare and eat everything. I really enjoy that I am putting nothing but whole foods into my mouth and about 80% organic. I'd like to be 100%, but it's just not possible for me. I live too far from Whole Foods and my Walmart has a fair amount of organic foods, but not all that I need. I make a few special trips to WF when I can.
Lemon Water and Flora tea. Lemon water was taken on the way to work in the car. I had let it set for too long and it was REALLY sour! I worry what it might be doing to my teeth enamel. My flora tea, I had to bring to work.
Breakfast. "Power Breakfast"
Organic Plain yogurt, Udo's Oil, Almond Butter, Blueberries, 1/2 a banana, Walnuts, Pumpkin Seeds, Cashews. This was a lot. I just used up what I had left of the yogurt...it was supposed to be 1/2 c, but I think it was more like 1 cup. I had a hard time getting it all down. I think my stomach is small now, so it fills up pretty fast.
Snack. Apple & Peanut Butter
Lunch. Spinach and Leafy Greens with a tomato, egg salad made of 2 Brown free-range organic eggs, celery and EVOO Mayonnaise.
I will update about dinner to begin tomorrow's post. I have a small headache today, but it is mainly due to work stress. I need to do some pranayama at lunch I think. I need to refocus my intention with this detox. I seem to be wavering from the center of it. That's typical of me though. That is exactly why I need to finish this so bad.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day 4
I started feeling a lot of tension in my hips and thighs and chalked it up to my working out on Tuesday night. I had a massage yesterday because I couldn't take the achiness. I can really take the ache that comes when I work out too hard, but this was really uncomfortable, like a raw ache that was really deep. I felt a little better after the massage, but then this morning it is back. It is really hard to sit down. It is very interesting to me that I have this. I'm not worried, I'm just really interested. Is this some emotional something coming into my physical world that I should deal with before I can move on? Is what you put into your system as fuel really that much to do with your emotions? Have my efforts to rid my body of unwanted toxins allowing my deep rooted issues to arise in physical form? Since I've never had this sort of ache before and this is my first detox, I can only assume yes! I know I have some problems from my past that I've let go of, but maybe this is something I should resurface for some time and work through it. It's a sexual issue and I think it is manifesting itself in that area to show me where I need to do some mental cleansing as well. I find it comforting that my mind is afterall connected very well to my physical. I think this is an opportunity to connect them even further so that I can grow beyond my past issues. I find it as a gift. I plan to work on this issue in a journal and plan on plenty of tears and an opening of my heart even further. Who knows...maybe it will help my chest pain....maybe it will open my heart even further and free that pain there too. Physical problems are indeed linked to emotional problems and those problems will show up in the area that needs attention and love. I'm ready for that. Who knew this would manifest out of just wanting to reset my system with whole real foods? I sure didn't, but am grateful for the lessons I'll learn!
So on to the food...
To cap off yesterday's blog, I have to finish that day in order to move on.
Last Night's Dinner. 365 Organic Miso Soup, tofu, and steamed veggies ( I had a mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots). I didn't understand the instructions, so I just put everything together in the soup. It was wonderful, nourishing, warm, tangy and delicious! I really felt full after I ate too. I felt content. Before the detox, I was always thinking of what I could have for dessert after I ate. I almost always needed something to "top up on", as my grandmother used to say. But last night I found myself thinking that and then saying to myself, "THIS is wonderful, THIS is enough, I Don't NEED a sweet after dinner!" This is a pattern I have to break. After the detox I plan to eat sweets once in a while, but definately NOT out of habit. I want sweets to be a special thing. I keep thinking about the old days when cake was served for birthdays, etc. It was really special. Now sweets aren't special. They are so easy to come by and when we have cake or ice cream or chocolate it just is there without any reward or specialness to it. I look forward to enjoying sweets occassionally and really tasting them and enjoying them!
NOW.
on to today....
Morning warm lemon water. check.
Morning warm FlorEssence tea. check.
Breakfast. oh my. this was awful. it really wasn't too bad tasting...it just looked really really really awful! It was 1/2 c. organic Stoneyfield Plain yogurt, 1packet Whole Foods Green Power Powder meal, 1 tbsp Udo's oil and granola. I mixed the yogurt and green powder stuff and the oil together at home and took the granola with me to eat my breakfast at work. I opened it and it instantly looked to me like my daughter's baby poo! It had the color and consistancy of breast fed baby poo! Ok, I thought to myself, "you have to get over it" and I did for a time. I put in the granola and made the mistake of mixing it up. It looked even worse now. chunky baby poo! I quickly put more granola on top to mask the look and just sort of forced it down. Now, I'm not one of those picky eaters at all. I love the taste of stuff most people are turned off by. I'm sort of a hippy that way. I love healthfood a lot, but this was just all the wrong flavor put together. I used bulk granola from Whole Foods (Maple, Almond Granola). That was what I tried to focus my tastebuds on, if that's possible. I got 90% of it down, but gave up after that.
Snack. Hummus and rice crackers. One of my favorite things is hummus. It called for homemade hummus, but I'm a working mother who has 2 jobs. I don't have a whole lotta time for homemade hummus. I bought the Athos roasted garlic hummus. I'm guessing it was supposed to be homemade to cut down on salt. It did have salt in the ingredients...but like I said I just don't have the time to make my own. I will just drink more water today to flush the extra salt out. I can say that I did taste the salt. I don't think I've had any salt in the last 3 days, so my tongue sort of picked up on the salt and it really felt strange.
Lunch. I think my stomach is smaller because I didn't even notice it was lunchtime. The past 3 days I have been impatiently counting down the minutes to my next food intake! I have told some people that if they want time to slow down, do a detox! You sit around just looking at the clock so you can eat again. Especially the eating detox plans. A friend told me the purely liquid detox's are easier. I find that I'm not starving for my next meal today. I looked forward to today's lunch because it was pretty normal food. Egg Salad on sprouted grain toast. I used 2 Free Range Organic eggs, 2 tbsp olive oil mayonaise and 2 tbsp celery. I also added some sprouts. I had bought sprouts for the previous days' lunch and didn't want them to go bad. I figured I could use some more nutrients anyway.
So I've been drinking a little more than 2 quarts of water a day. I don't think I'm going to do anymore gym machines until I'm done. Just yoga. I love yoga and am happy to be spending more time with it. I find that my practice flows really effortless. I move from one pose to the next without even thinking about it. I just go where my body feels like it needs to go. I love to feel my own way through a personal practice and am finding it easier now that I'm getting cleaned out. Before I would struggle with what to do. Now the poses feel like they have more purpose and feel really quite good.
My headaches are all gone. I have a little post nasal conjestion which I'm hoping will clear up soon. I actually feel really good. Today is the first day that I'm feeling like I can and really want to do more. I have to admit, I was thinking about only doing a week of this, but now I feel like I really want to do the rest of the program. We shall see.
Morning Lemon water...check.
Morning serving of Flor Essence tea....check.
So on to the food...
To cap off yesterday's blog, I have to finish that day in order to move on.
Last Night's Dinner. 365 Organic Miso Soup, tofu, and steamed veggies ( I had a mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots). I didn't understand the instructions, so I just put everything together in the soup. It was wonderful, nourishing, warm, tangy and delicious! I really felt full after I ate too. I felt content. Before the detox, I was always thinking of what I could have for dessert after I ate. I almost always needed something to "top up on", as my grandmother used to say. But last night I found myself thinking that and then saying to myself, "THIS is wonderful, THIS is enough, I Don't NEED a sweet after dinner!" This is a pattern I have to break. After the detox I plan to eat sweets once in a while, but definately NOT out of habit. I want sweets to be a special thing. I keep thinking about the old days when cake was served for birthdays, etc. It was really special. Now sweets aren't special. They are so easy to come by and when we have cake or ice cream or chocolate it just is there without any reward or specialness to it. I look forward to enjoying sweets occassionally and really tasting them and enjoying them!
NOW.
on to today....
Morning warm lemon water. check.
Morning warm FlorEssence tea. check.
Breakfast. oh my. this was awful. it really wasn't too bad tasting...it just looked really really really awful! It was 1/2 c. organic Stoneyfield Plain yogurt, 1packet Whole Foods Green Power Powder meal, 1 tbsp Udo's oil and granola. I mixed the yogurt and green powder stuff and the oil together at home and took the granola with me to eat my breakfast at work. I opened it and it instantly looked to me like my daughter's baby poo! It had the color and consistancy of breast fed baby poo! Ok, I thought to myself, "you have to get over it" and I did for a time. I put in the granola and made the mistake of mixing it up. It looked even worse now. chunky baby poo! I quickly put more granola on top to mask the look and just sort of forced it down. Now, I'm not one of those picky eaters at all. I love the taste of stuff most people are turned off by. I'm sort of a hippy that way. I love healthfood a lot, but this was just all the wrong flavor put together. I used bulk granola from Whole Foods (Maple, Almond Granola). That was what I tried to focus my tastebuds on, if that's possible. I got 90% of it down, but gave up after that.
Snack. Hummus and rice crackers. One of my favorite things is hummus. It called for homemade hummus, but I'm a working mother who has 2 jobs. I don't have a whole lotta time for homemade hummus. I bought the Athos roasted garlic hummus. I'm guessing it was supposed to be homemade to cut down on salt. It did have salt in the ingredients...but like I said I just don't have the time to make my own. I will just drink more water today to flush the extra salt out. I can say that I did taste the salt. I don't think I've had any salt in the last 3 days, so my tongue sort of picked up on the salt and it really felt strange.
Lunch. I think my stomach is smaller because I didn't even notice it was lunchtime. The past 3 days I have been impatiently counting down the minutes to my next food intake! I have told some people that if they want time to slow down, do a detox! You sit around just looking at the clock so you can eat again. Especially the eating detox plans. A friend told me the purely liquid detox's are easier. I find that I'm not starving for my next meal today. I looked forward to today's lunch because it was pretty normal food. Egg Salad on sprouted grain toast. I used 2 Free Range Organic eggs, 2 tbsp olive oil mayonaise and 2 tbsp celery. I also added some sprouts. I had bought sprouts for the previous days' lunch and didn't want them to go bad. I figured I could use some more nutrients anyway.
So I've been drinking a little more than 2 quarts of water a day. I don't think I'm going to do anymore gym machines until I'm done. Just yoga. I love yoga and am happy to be spending more time with it. I find that my practice flows really effortless. I move from one pose to the next without even thinking about it. I just go where my body feels like it needs to go. I love to feel my own way through a personal practice and am finding it easier now that I'm getting cleaned out. Before I would struggle with what to do. Now the poses feel like they have more purpose and feel really quite good.
My headaches are all gone. I have a little post nasal conjestion which I'm hoping will clear up soon. I actually feel really good. Today is the first day that I'm feeling like I can and really want to do more. I have to admit, I was thinking about only doing a week of this, but now I feel like I really want to do the rest of the program. We shall see.
Morning Lemon water...check.
Morning serving of Flor Essence tea....check.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Day 3
I went to bed early again last night, around 8:30pm. I felt it worth mentioning that I woke up exactly 6 hrs later at 2:30am sharp. They, whoever "they" are, say the average adult needs 6 hrs of sleep a night. Could my body be resetting itself? My ayurveda dosha is Kapha, so I could sleep all the time if I could. Before this detox I could sleep a solid 11 hrs a night and still be groggy. I'm hoping this detox resets my system so that I can sleep a good 6-8 hrs and actually wake up refreshed. I went back to sleep very easily and woke up at my usual 6:30am and was groggy and felt like sleeping another hour or more.
Started my day with a glass of warm lemon water as usual, followed up by the Flora tea. I dry brushed before my shower this morning and it felt so good to let the hot water wash over me, I really enjoyed my shower and had a hard time getting out.
Breakfast. "Power" Breakfast. Stoneyfield Organic Plain Lowfat Yogurt, fresh organic blueberries, an organic banana, 1/2 cup mixed seeds and nuts (I used: almond, walnut, pin nuts, and sesame seeds), 1 tbsp Udo's oil, and some almond butter. It called for 2 capsules of probiotics but I forgot those on the counter this morning. I ate it on my way to work. I was so so soooo hungry, I couldn't wait to eat. That sounds so pathetic now that I'm writing it. Oh well, moving on...
Snack. Now this snack was wonderful. I'm sure I'll be eating this as a snack even after the detox is done. An organic apple, some almond butter and some rice crackers. I bought the 365 Sesame Rice crackers from Whole Foods and they were great! I had never tried rice crackers and really enjoy them A LOT! It was a good combination. Again, I intended to maybe eat half in the morning and half in the afternoon, but I was so hungry I ate all of it and it was good too!
Lunch. Now - this lunch SUCKED! I probably would never have chosen to eat this ever and probably won't be able to bring myself to eat it after the detox. It was salad (Organic Mixed Herb Blend from Walmart), sprouts (Alfalfa and Clover sprouts), olives and pumpkin seeds. I forgot my olives, so it was just dry salad, sprouts and pumpkin seeds. First of all the pumpkin seeds fell to the bottom of the bowl because there was nothing sticky to suspend them on the lettuce. The lettuce was quite flavorful, but really not to my liking...just sort of bitter. The sprouts were dry too, so it was like chewing on cardboard. The only flavor I cared for was the pumpkin seeds and those were at the bottom of the bowl and I ate them last. It was good to finish with something that tasted decent.
So here I sit hungrier than a vulture at a vegan farm. It's been 4 hrs since that awful lunch and I'm counting down the minutes till dinner. I'm looking forward to dinner. It'll be miso soup with tofu and veggies. I really like miso soup, so it'll be good. It's already cooked too, so that's really good!
As for how I'm feeling? Hmmm. My caffeine headaches have become very dull. It's more of a residual ache that doesn't bother me. I'm having some discomfort in my jaw. All three days now, my jaw feels really tight. I keep stretching it and opening my mouth really wide to relax it, but it just seems really tense. I looked into buying a Shakti Mat that is used to lay on for accupressure, that you can also lie face down on your jaw to relax the muscles there. But I'm thinking by the time it arrives, the jaw tension will have subsided. I'm looking forward to using it anyway. It's akin to the ancient east Indian tradition of the bed of nails. I found it on ebay for on $35.00 compared to the website for $69.00.
I feel a lot of tension in my hips and thighs. It's probably just from the elliptical trainer last night. But I've used the elliptical many times before without having this particular soreness before. I took 20 minutes to so some hip opening yoga poses in the conference room here at work. I did legs up the wall for 10 minutes and it really helped me feel more focused. I have felt sort of unfocused since I started this. Sort of like I'm walking around in a cloud. Today is the first day it hasn't been so bad. I almost feel like I'm coming out of that cloud. I feel little pockets of bliss throughout the day; kind of like a really clean and peaceful feeling. I really am glad I didn't give in to my cravings for anything junk yesterday. I had that voice in my head saying, "come on, just give up, you know you can't do this, just go get some chinese food!" I have that even now. Writing that was very hard. I just feel like giving up and getting a cheeseburger. I don't even like cheeseburgers!
My stomach is acting a little crazy too. On and off throughout the day today, I've had a sort of pain in my stomach, sort of an achey and churning feeling. It lasts a little bit and then subsides. I'm wondering if that is just my liver trying to process some of the stored up junk. I was thinking about all the junk I've put into my body and wondered how my system is doing in there, trying to process the leftover garbage that could still be in my cells. The fat cells surely are emptying out some pretty nastly stuff.
Incidentally I did weigh myself at the gym last night. I wasn't going to weigh myself throughout this whole deal, but it was sort of taunting me. No, this detox program hasn't gone to my head, it was just taunting me, that's all! I'm NOT doing this for weightloss, though I could afford to lose some weight. I'm really over the whole losing weight thing. I've decided to live my life and not worry about my overly productive fat gene. I'm always going to have some extra bulk, so what!?!? I'm really and truly over it and have accepted myself through and through. This detox is just about resetting my system and being extra healthy and clean again for the first time...wait...who am I kidding? I've never been cleaned out. I've always had junk in my system in one way or another or in some amount or another. This is my first attempt at cleaning out my system. Anyway, back to that stupid scale... So in the 2 days I've lost 4 pounds. Wow! This is a detox, so I'm not going to freak out that I'm losing too much too quickly. I'm sure it's because I have a ton of extra water weight ,etc. and it will taper off soon. As I said in my earlier post, I have 80 - 100 pounds to lose, so it doesn't surprise me that I've lost 4 pounds in 2 days.
That's all for now.
Started my day with a glass of warm lemon water as usual, followed up by the Flora tea. I dry brushed before my shower this morning and it felt so good to let the hot water wash over me, I really enjoyed my shower and had a hard time getting out.
Breakfast. "Power" Breakfast. Stoneyfield Organic Plain Lowfat Yogurt, fresh organic blueberries, an organic banana, 1/2 cup mixed seeds and nuts (I used: almond, walnut, pin nuts, and sesame seeds), 1 tbsp Udo's oil, and some almond butter. It called for 2 capsules of probiotics but I forgot those on the counter this morning. I ate it on my way to work. I was so so soooo hungry, I couldn't wait to eat. That sounds so pathetic now that I'm writing it. Oh well, moving on...
Snack. Now this snack was wonderful. I'm sure I'll be eating this as a snack even after the detox is done. An organic apple, some almond butter and some rice crackers. I bought the 365 Sesame Rice crackers from Whole Foods and they were great! I had never tried rice crackers and really enjoy them A LOT! It was a good combination. Again, I intended to maybe eat half in the morning and half in the afternoon, but I was so hungry I ate all of it and it was good too!
Lunch. Now - this lunch SUCKED! I probably would never have chosen to eat this ever and probably won't be able to bring myself to eat it after the detox. It was salad (Organic Mixed Herb Blend from Walmart), sprouts (Alfalfa and Clover sprouts), olives and pumpkin seeds. I forgot my olives, so it was just dry salad, sprouts and pumpkin seeds. First of all the pumpkin seeds fell to the bottom of the bowl because there was nothing sticky to suspend them on the lettuce. The lettuce was quite flavorful, but really not to my liking...just sort of bitter. The sprouts were dry too, so it was like chewing on cardboard. The only flavor I cared for was the pumpkin seeds and those were at the bottom of the bowl and I ate them last. It was good to finish with something that tasted decent.
So here I sit hungrier than a vulture at a vegan farm. It's been 4 hrs since that awful lunch and I'm counting down the minutes till dinner. I'm looking forward to dinner. It'll be miso soup with tofu and veggies. I really like miso soup, so it'll be good. It's already cooked too, so that's really good!
As for how I'm feeling? Hmmm. My caffeine headaches have become very dull. It's more of a residual ache that doesn't bother me. I'm having some discomfort in my jaw. All three days now, my jaw feels really tight. I keep stretching it and opening my mouth really wide to relax it, but it just seems really tense. I looked into buying a Shakti Mat that is used to lay on for accupressure, that you can also lie face down on your jaw to relax the muscles there. But I'm thinking by the time it arrives, the jaw tension will have subsided. I'm looking forward to using it anyway. It's akin to the ancient east Indian tradition of the bed of nails. I found it on ebay for on $35.00 compared to the website for $69.00.
I feel a lot of tension in my hips and thighs. It's probably just from the elliptical trainer last night. But I've used the elliptical many times before without having this particular soreness before. I took 20 minutes to so some hip opening yoga poses in the conference room here at work. I did legs up the wall for 10 minutes and it really helped me feel more focused. I have felt sort of unfocused since I started this. Sort of like I'm walking around in a cloud. Today is the first day it hasn't been so bad. I almost feel like I'm coming out of that cloud. I feel little pockets of bliss throughout the day; kind of like a really clean and peaceful feeling. I really am glad I didn't give in to my cravings for anything junk yesterday. I had that voice in my head saying, "come on, just give up, you know you can't do this, just go get some chinese food!" I have that even now. Writing that was very hard. I just feel like giving up and getting a cheeseburger. I don't even like cheeseburgers!
My stomach is acting a little crazy too. On and off throughout the day today, I've had a sort of pain in my stomach, sort of an achey and churning feeling. It lasts a little bit and then subsides. I'm wondering if that is just my liver trying to process some of the stored up junk. I was thinking about all the junk I've put into my body and wondered how my system is doing in there, trying to process the leftover garbage that could still be in my cells. The fat cells surely are emptying out some pretty nastly stuff.
Incidentally I did weigh myself at the gym last night. I wasn't going to weigh myself throughout this whole deal, but it was sort of taunting me. No, this detox program hasn't gone to my head, it was just taunting me, that's all! I'm NOT doing this for weightloss, though I could afford to lose some weight. I'm really over the whole losing weight thing. I've decided to live my life and not worry about my overly productive fat gene. I'm always going to have some extra bulk, so what!?!? I'm really and truly over it and have accepted myself through and through. This detox is just about resetting my system and being extra healthy and clean again for the first time...wait...who am I kidding? I've never been cleaned out. I've always had junk in my system in one way or another or in some amount or another. This is my first attempt at cleaning out my system. Anyway, back to that stupid scale... So in the 2 days I've lost 4 pounds. Wow! This is a detox, so I'm not going to freak out that I'm losing too much too quickly. I'm sure it's because I have a ton of extra water weight ,etc. and it will taper off soon. As I said in my earlier post, I have 80 - 100 pounds to lose, so it doesn't surprise me that I've lost 4 pounds in 2 days.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Day 2
I figured since I do my updates mid-day when I'm at the front desk at work, I would sort of recap the 2nd part of the previous day before starting on the day at hand.
I had the intention of going to the gym, but was thinking more and more about how I really want to ease into this thing. It seemed a bit much for me on my first day. I was feeling a little crummy and really just wanted to get home, make my food, watch House (yes I said no TV, but I CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM HOUSE!) and go to bed super-d-duper early! So that is exactly what I did. When I arrived home, I was so ravenously hungry, I could have eaten anything! I warmed up my daughter some of my homemade butternut squash soup and set her down at the table while I prepared my food. I thought about just having her eat what I eat on this for dinner, but she wanted soup tonight. On the menu for dinner (for me) was brown rice, steamed veggies and some Udo's 3-6-9 oil. Since it take brown rice 40-50 minutes to cook, I was getting a bit skitzy. Now this is where I just don't understand my body. I have enough extra energy in the form of stored fat to last probably a week or more without eating a bite of anything. Why am I so amped to eat? It had been a good 5 hours since my lunch, but still, I just don't get why I feel like I MUST have food or I'll go crazy and eat everything in the house! My daughter's soup smelled sooooo good. And while it is healthy, it isn't on the plan and I really want to stick to the plan. I put my rice on and set the timer for 40 minutes. I go upstairs, and dry brush and take a short Lush bath with Big Blue bath bomb that has mineral rich salt in it and sea-weed too. I go downstairs in the nick of time to hear the timer go off.....I lift the lid and it IS NOT DONE! I had accidentally turned the heat off instead of to Low. So I set the timer for another 30 minutes, crossed my arms in disgust and sat on the couch. I gave up, I had a piece of Rye bread with butter. Yes, I cheated a little. It was just one piece of bread. I am not going to feel guilty about it though. I felt like I needed something, so I ate something. I made my steamed broccoli and cauliflower in the microwave steamer bag while I waited for the stupid rice! I used no-sodium veggie broth to cook it in. I felt like I needed to add some sort of flavor. I drizzled on about a Tablespoon of Udo's oil and TRIED VERY HARD to eat slowly and intentionally. It was really good, I enjoy brown rice and veggies a lot cooked with veggie broth. I was thinking it would be bland without any salt, but it was really good. I felt good that I had completely a day of the detox. Before bed I had my 2nd small cup of Flora Essence Tea 1 oz/1oz water. I tried to sip it slowly as the instruction state, but I was really excited to get to bed. I felt like I needed sleep very badly. My daughter asked if she could sleep with me and I very gladly said yes. It was nice to cuddle with her on a cold night. I feel more whole when we are together and I felt like that was what I needed after that first day of detox...to be whole.
And NOW...Day 2
I went to sleep around 8:15 last night. When I go to bed that early, I usually wake up with a fair amount of ease. This morning, I just wanted to keep sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. It took A LOT of work to slide out of bed. I took this as a really good sign that my body is trying to reset itself and wanted the sleep in order to repair any past damage. I really feel like doing the same thing today as I did yesterday, but also really want to get in some yoga and stretching. I just hope I don't fall asleep during savasana!
Breakfast. I started my day, as the plan says with a large warm glass of water with lemon. Then on to the tea. I find it really hard to drink the tea slowly. I guess because I am always so rushed in the morning. I really should think about getting up earlier, so I can take my time drinking the lemon water and the tea. I made my soft boiled egg and toast at home, but didn't have time to eat it. I took it with me to eat at work. This wasn't the best thing to eat in the whole world. It was cold, so it wasn't tasty at all! The bread was hard and cold. I just ate it without really tasting it.
My headache isn't as bad today from the coffee withdrawal. In the past, my head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer all day by the second day. Today isn't that bad. There's a dull ache to my head, but not at all unbearable. I just feel really really tired, almost like I'm in a daze. I literally have to work to keep my eyes open. I had to process payroll today, so I had to come to work. If it was a regular day, I would have called in sick to sleep. I'm that tired.
Snack. Snack time came quickly today because I'm so busy. I already had 17 oz of water (a full VOSS bottle) by the time snack time came. The menu said "homemade trail mix with nuts/seeds". I made mine with walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried bananas and strawberries, and dried cranberries. It was close to a cup. The plan doesn't specify how much, but I figured I needed the calories. That's something I want to eventually figure out...how many calories the plan has me eating. I'm trying not to think of this as a weight loss plan because that isn't my whole intention. I just want to get back to eating whole foods and getting my hormones and inflammation problems under control. But I'd still like to know what my intake is. I planned on eating only half of the snack at 10:30 and the other half at 2:30pm, but I ate it all without really even noticing. It was really good. I got a little worried that the dried cranberries were sweetened, because I'm not supposed to have any sugar. I'm not too sure how sweet dried cranberries usually are, but these were really sweet. It could be that my tastebuds are already used to eating whole foods and something naturally sweet is now REALLY sweet???
Lunch. Goat cheese on sprouted grain bread. I went with the Ezekiel brand bread. I warmed up the goat cheese to make it spreadable and it was pretty good. I don't care for goat cheese usually, but since my calories are so few and far between, it tasted great! Plus I got to eat raw carrots. It was a good solid lunch and I felt confident it would hold me over until dinner.
I decided to go to the gym so that I could sit in the heat sauna and sweat some more toxins out. I also did about 20 minutes of stretching with about 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was hungry, but I kept telling myself I'll be fine and I won't die if I don't eat. I kept drinking more and more water and tried to visualize it cleansing each of my cells. It helped. The heat really helped reinvigorate my drive to stick with the program. There was just something that sort of hit me when I was in there. It is dark in the sauna and I sort of went inside myself and found a deeper resolve and it grew with every long breath. I did some small stretches in there too. I still have the chest pain I have had for almost a year now. I sort of hoped it would be gone, if not, lessened by now. But alas, it persists and I'm starting to wonder if it is inflammation after all.
Dinner. On the menu was Whole Wheat pasta and veggies. I still had left over brown rice and veggies from the night before, so I just warmed that up. It was nice to eat something right when I got home rather than wait for the food to get ready. I took my tea before bed and hit the sack early again at 8:30.
I had the intention of going to the gym, but was thinking more and more about how I really want to ease into this thing. It seemed a bit much for me on my first day. I was feeling a little crummy and really just wanted to get home, make my food, watch House (yes I said no TV, but I CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM HOUSE!) and go to bed super-d-duper early! So that is exactly what I did. When I arrived home, I was so ravenously hungry, I could have eaten anything! I warmed up my daughter some of my homemade butternut squash soup and set her down at the table while I prepared my food. I thought about just having her eat what I eat on this for dinner, but she wanted soup tonight. On the menu for dinner (for me) was brown rice, steamed veggies and some Udo's 3-6-9 oil. Since it take brown rice 40-50 minutes to cook, I was getting a bit skitzy. Now this is where I just don't understand my body. I have enough extra energy in the form of stored fat to last probably a week or more without eating a bite of anything. Why am I so amped to eat? It had been a good 5 hours since my lunch, but still, I just don't get why I feel like I MUST have food or I'll go crazy and eat everything in the house! My daughter's soup smelled sooooo good. And while it is healthy, it isn't on the plan and I really want to stick to the plan. I put my rice on and set the timer for 40 minutes. I go upstairs, and dry brush and take a short Lush bath with Big Blue bath bomb that has mineral rich salt in it and sea-weed too. I go downstairs in the nick of time to hear the timer go off.....I lift the lid and it IS NOT DONE! I had accidentally turned the heat off instead of to Low. So I set the timer for another 30 minutes, crossed my arms in disgust and sat on the couch. I gave up, I had a piece of Rye bread with butter. Yes, I cheated a little. It was just one piece of bread. I am not going to feel guilty about it though. I felt like I needed something, so I ate something. I made my steamed broccoli and cauliflower in the microwave steamer bag while I waited for the stupid rice! I used no-sodium veggie broth to cook it in. I felt like I needed to add some sort of flavor. I drizzled on about a Tablespoon of Udo's oil and TRIED VERY HARD to eat slowly and intentionally. It was really good, I enjoy brown rice and veggies a lot cooked with veggie broth. I was thinking it would be bland without any salt, but it was really good. I felt good that I had completely a day of the detox. Before bed I had my 2nd small cup of Flora Essence Tea 1 oz/1oz water. I tried to sip it slowly as the instruction state, but I was really excited to get to bed. I felt like I needed sleep very badly. My daughter asked if she could sleep with me and I very gladly said yes. It was nice to cuddle with her on a cold night. I feel more whole when we are together and I felt like that was what I needed after that first day of detox...to be whole.
And NOW...Day 2
I went to sleep around 8:15 last night. When I go to bed that early, I usually wake up with a fair amount of ease. This morning, I just wanted to keep sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. It took A LOT of work to slide out of bed. I took this as a really good sign that my body is trying to reset itself and wanted the sleep in order to repair any past damage. I really feel like doing the same thing today as I did yesterday, but also really want to get in some yoga and stretching. I just hope I don't fall asleep during savasana!
Breakfast. I started my day, as the plan says with a large warm glass of water with lemon. Then on to the tea. I find it really hard to drink the tea slowly. I guess because I am always so rushed in the morning. I really should think about getting up earlier, so I can take my time drinking the lemon water and the tea. I made my soft boiled egg and toast at home, but didn't have time to eat it. I took it with me to eat at work. This wasn't the best thing to eat in the whole world. It was cold, so it wasn't tasty at all! The bread was hard and cold. I just ate it without really tasting it.
My headache isn't as bad today from the coffee withdrawal. In the past, my head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer all day by the second day. Today isn't that bad. There's a dull ache to my head, but not at all unbearable. I just feel really really tired, almost like I'm in a daze. I literally have to work to keep my eyes open. I had to process payroll today, so I had to come to work. If it was a regular day, I would have called in sick to sleep. I'm that tired.
Snack. Snack time came quickly today because I'm so busy. I already had 17 oz of water (a full VOSS bottle) by the time snack time came. The menu said "homemade trail mix with nuts/seeds". I made mine with walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried bananas and strawberries, and dried cranberries. It was close to a cup. The plan doesn't specify how much, but I figured I needed the calories. That's something I want to eventually figure out...how many calories the plan has me eating. I'm trying not to think of this as a weight loss plan because that isn't my whole intention. I just want to get back to eating whole foods and getting my hormones and inflammation problems under control. But I'd still like to know what my intake is. I planned on eating only half of the snack at 10:30 and the other half at 2:30pm, but I ate it all without really even noticing. It was really good. I got a little worried that the dried cranberries were sweetened, because I'm not supposed to have any sugar. I'm not too sure how sweet dried cranberries usually are, but these were really sweet. It could be that my tastebuds are already used to eating whole foods and something naturally sweet is now REALLY sweet???
Lunch. Goat cheese on sprouted grain bread. I went with the Ezekiel brand bread. I warmed up the goat cheese to make it spreadable and it was pretty good. I don't care for goat cheese usually, but since my calories are so few and far between, it tasted great! Plus I got to eat raw carrots. It was a good solid lunch and I felt confident it would hold me over until dinner.
I decided to go to the gym so that I could sit in the heat sauna and sweat some more toxins out. I also did about 20 minutes of stretching with about 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was hungry, but I kept telling myself I'll be fine and I won't die if I don't eat. I kept drinking more and more water and tried to visualize it cleansing each of my cells. It helped. The heat really helped reinvigorate my drive to stick with the program. There was just something that sort of hit me when I was in there. It is dark in the sauna and I sort of went inside myself and found a deeper resolve and it grew with every long breath. I did some small stretches in there too. I still have the chest pain I have had for almost a year now. I sort of hoped it would be gone, if not, lessened by now. But alas, it persists and I'm starting to wonder if it is inflammation after all.
Dinner. On the menu was Whole Wheat pasta and veggies. I still had left over brown rice and veggies from the night before, so I just warmed that up. It was nice to eat something right when I got home rather than wait for the food to get ready. I took my tea before bed and hit the sack early again at 8:30.
Monday, January 11, 2010
DAY 1 Let's Get This Detox Started...
Perusing my monthly Yoga Journal Magazine, I came across a Detox system by Flora. This was the instance where the advertising industry had me at the girl making a heart with her hands around the sun and the word balance just screaming at me to take notice! I have been wanting to do a detox month for a while now. I had done a day detox by Dr. Gillian McKeith and that was easy for me. It was an all day process and I was always preparing this or that; trying to force down this or that. I am not sure what struck me about this certain detox system above all the countless others out there. I went on the website and found they had an eating plan that looked easy enough for me to follow. It listed many things I already buy on a weekly basis. All I had to buy was the Flora tea, Udo's 3-6-9 Blend Oil, Udo's Beyond Greens, and some probiotic capsules. Done and done. I started the detox today and came to the conclusion that if I am going to stick with this, I'm going to have to pull out all the stops. I need to blog my way through this! I really need to get down my emotions and my reactions to this detox. After such a glutonous holiday, it is already hard for me and I'm only on Day 1, and half way through to boot!!
A little background on myself...
I have been overweight my entire life. I think I was at my ideal weight when I was 6, but that was the very last time. I realize this is not extraordinary or special in any way whatsoever. I am, though, a healthfood enthusiast. If I could I would spend my entire check at Whole Foods. But being middle class and a little too addicted to "easy" food (not fast food, except for the occassional Panda Express). I work full time and have a part time job at Lush and have 1 daughter. I don't have the luxury of shopping at Whole Foods 100% of the time or the time it takes to get there; a 30-40 minute drive one way without traffice. I have longed to be the glowing portrait of health, but my **issues** (yes I have those too, not special either I know) have thwarted every effort I deep rootedly have to eat only whole nutritional foods. I adore yoga with every fiber of my being. I would eat, sleep and breath yoga if I could. I have threatened to become a teacher, but who would want to take yoga from an obese woman? Because, yes, our fine government has classified me as obese. To be in my "normal" or "ideal" range, I'd have to lose somewhere around 80-100 pounds! THIS I find really hard to believe. Although I never seem to have a clear picture of myself. I saw a picture not to long ago at Thanksgiving dinner (apra po, right?) and I cried for 3 days when I thought about the way I looked. So I also have developed a strange pain in my chest. I'm 33 and I have a pain in my chest. Worried that I might be having a heart attack, I went with my mom holding my hand to see a doctor. They did an EKG to find nothing wrong. Bloodwork showed I had all normal cholestoral levels and no signs of any diabetes or the like. He told me it was just inflammation and to slow down with working out. HUH? This makes NO sense. But the pain persists. The doctor says it's inflammation. So I found yet another reason to do a detox. I am hoping I see some improvement with that pain soon through this detox. I am not aiming to lose weight. I just want my body to return to it's normal functions. I know my kidneys aren't working optimally if I'm experiencing inflammation. So here it goes:
A little background on myself...
I have been overweight my entire life. I think I was at my ideal weight when I was 6, but that was the very last time. I realize this is not extraordinary or special in any way whatsoever. I am, though, a healthfood enthusiast. If I could I would spend my entire check at Whole Foods. But being middle class and a little too addicted to "easy" food (not fast food, except for the occassional Panda Express). I work full time and have a part time job at Lush and have 1 daughter. I don't have the luxury of shopping at Whole Foods 100% of the time or the time it takes to get there; a 30-40 minute drive one way without traffice. I have longed to be the glowing portrait of health, but my **issues** (yes I have those too, not special either I know) have thwarted every effort I deep rootedly have to eat only whole nutritional foods. I adore yoga with every fiber of my being. I would eat, sleep and breath yoga if I could. I have threatened to become a teacher, but who would want to take yoga from an obese woman? Because, yes, our fine government has classified me as obese. To be in my "normal" or "ideal" range, I'd have to lose somewhere around 80-100 pounds! THIS I find really hard to believe. Although I never seem to have a clear picture of myself. I saw a picture not to long ago at Thanksgiving dinner (apra po, right?) and I cried for 3 days when I thought about the way I looked. So I also have developed a strange pain in my chest. I'm 33 and I have a pain in my chest. Worried that I might be having a heart attack, I went with my mom holding my hand to see a doctor. They did an EKG to find nothing wrong. Bloodwork showed I had all normal cholestoral levels and no signs of any diabetes or the like. He told me it was just inflammation and to slow down with working out. HUH? This makes NO sense. But the pain persists. The doctor says it's inflammation. So I found yet another reason to do a detox. I am hoping I see some improvement with that pain soon through this detox. I am not aiming to lose weight. I just want my body to return to it's normal functions. I know my kidneys aren't working optimally if I'm experiencing inflammation. So here it goes:
Day 1
So the first this to do every morning of this detox is to drink a nice tall glass of lemon water. I prefer warm water in the morning, so I made a sort of lemon tea. I do this occassionally already anyway, but it will be good to have to do it every day! Next up is to sip the Flor Essence Herbal Tea. The directions on the bottle say the serving size is 2 oz tea and 2 oz water. The print out detox diet literature from the FlorEssenceTea says 1 oz tea with 1 oz of water. To sip it slowly and swish it around in your mouth before swallowing. I was a little taken aback when I realized it would take 8, yes EIGHT bottles of the Flor Essence tea bottles at a whopping $37.00 a pop to get through the whole 25 days! The tea was good and earthy...something I don't mind at all. Then I was ready to have my breakfast, a "Power" smoothie. The smoothie was easy to make. I like to make smoothies and this was a good recipe. It tasted really good. I have a LARGE amount of blueberries in my freezer, so I plan to use these whenever I can. I sipped it slowly on my way to work because I knew it was going to be a long day with little calories.
I decided to make this detox more than just about what I consumed for my diet. I decided to make this a detox of negative emotions, loud and unnessary noises, TV, superfluous internet usage and anything that may have been making me feel off balance. Facebook has been a lot of drama with me recently, so I decided to limit my exposure to it to once a day instead of the constant checking on every hour on the hour. So I listened to a nice instrumental track on have on my ipod on my way to work and not be bothered by the bad or rude drivers. I set my intention to be happy the minute I woke up.
Around 10am, my face started to feel really warm. I have been drinking coffee everyday for a few months now, so I expected to have the withdrawal from coffee headaches I have had in the past weining myself from coffee. But this was different. My cheeks felt really warm, so I went to the restroom and my face was really really red and splotchy. I quickly thought of the yoga pose Viparita Karani or Legs Up A Wall pose. My mind automatically went to this pose. It was almost as though my body told me what it wanted. Usually this pose is quite simple, for anyone really. But when I went into the conference room (locking all the doors behind me) and laid down, it was quite difficult. I felt very bloated. My face felt like it was tight and full of fluid. I stayed in this position for about 15 minutes and when I came out, the receptionist commented that my face wasn't as red as when I went in there. I felt better, but was HUNGRY! it was about 11am and I realized I could have my snack of an organic apple and raw almonds. I took each bite delibritely, tasting every bite and enjoying the combination of apple and almond. I pulverized each bite and really felt the intention of nurishing my body. It was really a nice snack.
A key element to any detox is to drink a TON of water. I do drink a lot of water most every day anyway, so this is easy. I decided to up my water intake by a third to flush out the remaining caffeine addiction more quickly. It is really easy to drink water today. I have a large glass VOSS bottle that I refill all day at work. I'm on my 3rd refill today and I usually only have 2. The caffeine withdrawal is really bad on the second day, so I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I am going to hit the hay really early tonight in the hopes that this will help. I have a tissue with some essential oils called Muscle Ache Relief and that seems to keep the nausea away I have experienced detoxing from coffee and tea. A few people at work have commented that I smell really good today. It also helped to keep it close to my face during lunch when everyone is warming up their yummy smelling lunches across from where my office is located.
I have crazy cravings. I really want something anything bad for me! Seriously. I can't help but want french fries and I don't really like them all that much! I'm sory of at the point right now that I could eat anything. Can you believe it? Day 1, half way through and I'm having withdrawals from junk? We just had the holidays and I really was bad. I had everything you could possibly imagine that one has during the holidays. I'm really paying for it now.
Lunch was a really big bowl of Organic Mixed Baby Greens with 1 Tbsp of Udo's Oil (High Lignon) and 1 Brown Free Range Organic Egg (wow that's a mouthfull!). I sort of chopped up the egg so that it could be spread out to the whole salad. I have yet to appreciate the taste of any type of lettuce raw and naked. It was a pretty decent lunch. I'm not really certain how I'll make it to dinner though. It's 2:30 as I'm writing this and I'm already starting to feel hunger paigns. I want to go to the gym and do the Body Flow class. It's a fusion of Yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates. Since my gym only has 2 yoga classes and they are during the day, I go to this and it's pretty good. If it's all I can get! I like to do my own practice, but feel a bit lost sometimes when I do my own thing. Plus my daughter enjoy going to the gym with me. They have a good kid's club that she has a lot of fun at.
Dinner will be brown rice, steamed veggies and more Udo's oil. I'm really hungry, who am I kidding. I need to get a refill on water. website
I decided to make this detox more than just about what I consumed for my diet. I decided to make this a detox of negative emotions, loud and unnessary noises, TV, superfluous internet usage and anything that may have been making me feel off balance. Facebook has been a lot of drama with me recently, so I decided to limit my exposure to it to once a day instead of the constant checking on every hour on the hour. So I listened to a nice instrumental track on have on my ipod on my way to work and not be bothered by the bad or rude drivers. I set my intention to be happy the minute I woke up.
Around 10am, my face started to feel really warm. I have been drinking coffee everyday for a few months now, so I expected to have the withdrawal from coffee headaches I have had in the past weining myself from coffee. But this was different. My cheeks felt really warm, so I went to the restroom and my face was really really red and splotchy. I quickly thought of the yoga pose Viparita Karani or Legs Up A Wall pose. My mind automatically went to this pose. It was almost as though my body told me what it wanted. Usually this pose is quite simple, for anyone really. But when I went into the conference room (locking all the doors behind me) and laid down, it was quite difficult. I felt very bloated. My face felt like it was tight and full of fluid. I stayed in this position for about 15 minutes and when I came out, the receptionist commented that my face wasn't as red as when I went in there. I felt better, but was HUNGRY! it was about 11am and I realized I could have my snack of an organic apple and raw almonds. I took each bite delibritely, tasting every bite and enjoying the combination of apple and almond. I pulverized each bite and really felt the intention of nurishing my body. It was really a nice snack.
A key element to any detox is to drink a TON of water. I do drink a lot of water most every day anyway, so this is easy. I decided to up my water intake by a third to flush out the remaining caffeine addiction more quickly. It is really easy to drink water today. I have a large glass VOSS bottle that I refill all day at work. I'm on my 3rd refill today and I usually only have 2. The caffeine withdrawal is really bad on the second day, so I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I am going to hit the hay really early tonight in the hopes that this will help. I have a tissue with some essential oils called Muscle Ache Relief and that seems to keep the nausea away I have experienced detoxing from coffee and tea. A few people at work have commented that I smell really good today. It also helped to keep it close to my face during lunch when everyone is warming up their yummy smelling lunches across from where my office is located.
I have crazy cravings. I really want something anything bad for me! Seriously. I can't help but want french fries and I don't really like them all that much! I'm sory of at the point right now that I could eat anything. Can you believe it? Day 1, half way through and I'm having withdrawals from junk? We just had the holidays and I really was bad. I had everything you could possibly imagine that one has during the holidays. I'm really paying for it now.
Lunch was a really big bowl of Organic Mixed Baby Greens with 1 Tbsp of Udo's Oil (High Lignon) and 1 Brown Free Range Organic Egg (wow that's a mouthfull!). I sort of chopped up the egg so that it could be spread out to the whole salad. I have yet to appreciate the taste of any type of lettuce raw and naked. It was a pretty decent lunch. I'm not really certain how I'll make it to dinner though. It's 2:30 as I'm writing this and I'm already starting to feel hunger paigns. I want to go to the gym and do the Body Flow class. It's a fusion of Yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates. Since my gym only has 2 yoga classes and they are during the day, I go to this and it's pretty good. If it's all I can get! I like to do my own practice, but feel a bit lost sometimes when I do my own thing. Plus my daughter enjoy going to the gym with me. They have a good kid's club that she has a lot of fun at.
Dinner will be brown rice, steamed veggies and more Udo's oil. I'm really hungry, who am I kidding. I need to get a refill on water. website
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