Day 4

Today I did my juice fast... for the most part. I did have a few carrots with hummus and I had a small portion of rice with beans throughout the day; the carrots at 4 and the rice at 7. Surprisingly I feel great! I have been drinking a lot of water along with my juice which is good for pushing out the toxins. The natural sugar in the juice must have kept my energy level up as I didn't feel tired and I have had no headache or stomach ache.

Tomorrow I am back to eating solids again. I had M-K try my juice, the orange kind, and he loved it! We are going to start drinking these juices all of the time as they are all natural and 100% juice.
I may have mentioned this before but if I get one thing out of this detox is that I am beginning to be more and more aware of the ingredients that are in the food that we buy and consume on a daily basis. Even simple items like salsa and canned vegetables have hidden "extras" that we do not need to eat. Some people say that it's more expensive to buy natural food but its really not. When you eat processed foods or foods that have a lot of chemicals in them, they go right through you and don't fill you up. When you eat wholesome foods that are all natural and in a raw state, you will eat less, in tern saving money because you are not consuming as much as you usually do. And when you are eating healthy your carvings for junk food go away. We, as Americans, spend more and more money on daily fast food visits, junk food at the store, sodas, candy, etc. etc... if we could all just eat as we were made to eat the obesity rate, the heart disease, the cancers would eventually go down at a rapid rate. Everything in moderation.

Day 3

Breakfast was two satsuma oranges, applesauce with flax seeds and a piece of rice toast.

I had leftover dinner for lunch: re fried beans, onion, avocado, cilantro and radishes.

I have also been snacking on nuts all the time when I feel a little hungry.

My stomach was upset around dinner time and nothing felt good except cereal. I did by a wheat and sugar free cereal the other day. Its made out of millet and does contain barley but I needed to eat something and it was the only thing that sounded good. I love my rice milk too!

Day 3

I have read over and over by many sources that the third day is always the worst. Your body is finally flushing out a lot of toxins and is somewhat in shock by not having sugar, dairy and whatever else is cut out of your diet.
Well I can definitely say that it was the worst day for me. I was very tired and my stomach was upset for most of the day. I slept off and on and went to bed at 9:30 which is very unheard of me. I know that I am doing my body good and these side effects will subside and I will start to feel wonderful and full of life and energy again. M-K is a little worried though and this is a concern for me since he will insist that I get off the detox if I continue to look and feel worse.
I have never been one to complain if I don't feel well. I take steps to improve my feelings and try not to share with others. Although I didn't feel horrible, napping is very uncommon for me and he knows this. He also has noticed that I have been losing weight and doesn't like this as well. Believe me, I can use to lose a few pounds but I would never say that I was at an unhealthy weight. I think a lot of it is bloating and water. Since the first day I have not experienced bloating and the water is helping me feel lighter and flushed.
My sugar cravings are still there but not as bad and we even went to lunch yesterday after looking at a home to purchase. Of course he ate but I couldn't eat anything on the menu. His Cesar salad and pizza looked to good but I stayed determined and didn't give in. He sometimes feels bad by eating around me but I tell him that it is my choice and not to worry. I have pretty good will power when I want to use it. :)

Day 2

The bread was very good toasted and made an excellent sandwich!

My lunch was one piece of bread, hummus, red onion, avocado, sunflower seeds, tomato

Dinner was so good tonight! Vegan refried beans, brown rice, carrots, salsa, fresh cilantro, red onion, avocado and radish on the side.


For dessert I had applesauce.

Day 2

Last night I was feeling a little antsy so I hopped in the car and went to the health food store to pick up my staples. I was also curious to know what I was going to eat since I decided to start early and I didn’t have time to prep and my cupboards and fridge were not prepared.
One fact that I have found is that there is sugar in EVERYTHING! Even my beloved canned chickpeas had sugar in it… I know there are brands out there that don’t and I can always cook them myself, but even when you think you are safe there are hidden ingredients. I don’t think I have ever been so aware of all the ingredients that are in products now days. I knew they were bad but I am just in shock still. I know that I will always look at ingredients from now on. No more processed junk for me.
Even though I love my fruits and vegetables, the produce section is not the healthiest right now and makes it hard when a package of wilted strawberries is almost five dollars! So I stuck with apples, bananas, oranges and pineapple. Vegetables seem a bit heartier and avocados were on sale so I stocked up!
I also found rice bread that I am going to make veggie sandwiches out of; Hummus, tomato, onion, avocado, sprouts and sunflower seeds. I tasted the heel this morning and it had a good flavor but it is very dense and heavy. I hope toasting it won’t make it hard like a cracker.
Today I am feeling better; my energy is up and I keep looking towrads the next day to learn more about myself and how far I can go. I did still drink a half of cup of black coffee but switched to decaf tea as soon as possible. I think it’s the motion of drinking something at my desk that has me hooked to coffee. I try not to snack at my desk because I don’t want to associate my work area as always having something to eat. To keep track of my water intake I make little tally marks on my cup. We have red plastic cups by our water cooler and every time I finish a cup I mark the side of my cup. Its ten after twelve and I have consumed 48 ounces of plain water, not including my tea.
Foe breakfast I had a gala apple with some raw almonds and cashews. I brought my sandwich that I described earlier with two Satsumas for lunch.
Dinner is still yet to be determined. I have been craving Mexican so I may make some beans and rice with cilantro and radishes. Mmmm… sounds good already.

Day One Completed

The end, well almost, for Day 1 of my detox.

Not that bad, but not that great. I did drink a half of a cup of coffee just so I wouldn't get a huge headache. And lots of water and lemon tea! 64 ounces of water today, plus the tea.

I was getting really tired towards the end of the day and my eyes were hurting but I think that's because I was staring at a computer screen all day.

I'm thinking about what's to come... the purity, the clean feeling. I am not bloated today which is such a relief for me.

Here is what I ate:

Started off waking up to some lemon water. Sour but good. These lemons came fresh from California. M-K's grandparents shipped them up for Christmas a week back. I have contacted them and asked to send more. :)

For breakfast I packed a ripe banana, lunch I made a baby green salad with fresh radishes, green onion, tomato and cilantro. I squeezed some lemon juice on it for dressing. Lime would have been much better though. Along with that I ate a few rice cakes and had two satsuma oranges for a snack.



Dinner tonight was a snow pea stir fry with carrots, water chestnuts, onions, mushrooms and I added a few cashews. I sprinkled some ground ginger on the mix while I was steaming it. With it some brown rice and a glass of orange juice afterwards.

I am craving chocolate, that's all. And I feel a tad fatigued and drained, but this should go away after a while. Over all success for my first day! I'm stoke for more to come!

Day One

A new year brings only one thing... a new fad diet.
Although I don't consider myself to eat bad on a regular basis, the unwanted sugars and processed foods make my way in. I know it's not good for me, and for anyone else at that, so I want to show my body some appreciation and detox my way clean. My M-K and I actually decided to do this together and I was a bit shocked and surprised by the suggestion coming from his mouth instead of mine.
For months I have been trying to get him on a better diet and for me to take over his eating. He eats fairly well but he has a huge sweet tooth and he is constantly snacking on stuff. I wont allow him to by chips and such but I have to keep in mind that he is a grown man and I am not going to deny him every time or nag continuously.
He does have a few health problems and I know a consistent, healthy diet would help incredibly. If it were up to me, we would eat a vegan/raw diet. Don't get me wrong, I love dairy and meat but I know the benefits way out in favor of vegan and raw. This may be pushing it a little bit for him but we do have days where we don't eat meat.
So over the past few weeks I have been researching and researching to find a sensible and effective detox plan. Try it: Google "Detox" and see how many sites there are, and this isn't counting the books I got from the library either. With so many to choose from and so many ways to do it, I am deciding to go my own route in hope that this will leave me full of energy, a few pounds lighter and a new approach on life.

The rules:

Every morning I am starting off by drinking a cup of warm water with a wedge of lemon. I may switch this up and by some ginger as well as I have read the benefits from these two additives start the detox off right in the mornings.
Water, water water! I am shooting for 2 liters a day.
I am not eating past 7 PM. This will help my digestion and make sure I am not sleeping on a full stomach. I am actually very good with this since I go to the gym at night and I cant work out after I have just eaten. Most nights I eat at 6 and if I do get a little hungry after my workout I will have a small apple.
I am being very cautious on how much I eat. I don't eat a lot as it is so this shouldn't be a struggle,
No alcohol, no caffeine. This is my biggest fear and worst dreaded part of this. I am a caffeine junkie, hands down. Knowing that I was planning on detoxing I have cut back on my coffee intake and I am allowing myself either one cup of plain coffee or green tea in the morning. This is only temporary though until I can see how my body reacts.
Once a week I am doing a juice fast, either on Saturday or Sunday. This will help cleanse me even more and will be good for my digestion.

What not to eat:

• Dairy
• Wheat
• Sugar: refined, sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, brown sugar and any other form
• Gluten: barley, rye, spelt
• Caffeine and alcohol

What to eat:

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Rice: brown, wild, rice cakes, rice crackers (no white rice for me though)
• Grains: quinoa, amaranth, millet, buckwheat
• Beans
• Nuts and Seeds: unsalted, also nut butters (no peanuts or peanut butter)
• EVOO (in small amounts)
• Decaf Teas
• Lemon / Ginger water, 100% natural juice, rice milk, water
• I am also allowing myself some fish if I feel I need it. I cant have tofu soy) during this time so tuna packed in water, salmon, cod, snapper and halibut should be fine.

That's pretty much it. I am very excited and I couldn't wait until the first... heck why wait? I am going to do the full 2 weeks but if I feel great then I am going to stick it out another week.

I will try to post everyday. My thoughts, my food, my feelings; its the only way I feel accountable for my actions and I love feedback from others.