It took me a while to decide if I wanted to start the Cleanse on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, but now that it's Monday night, I'm glad that I did. Between a party, having people over for dinner, and the first 'official beach day,' I feel like I got through 3 of the harder days first.
As I said before, even being at the beginning of this Cleanse, it is such an eye opening experience, and really makes me see food in a different way. Just thinking about all those times when I want a snack, whether it be a handful of nuts or a handful of M&Ms, it really adds up. I'm actually feeling sort of guilty for eating too much fruit (because of the sugar factor, you should be eating twice as many veggies than fruit, especially if trying to lose weight while on the Cleanse), but it's summer, and it's tasty, and I'm not eating the ice cream and other bad foods I normally would. So I guess it's ok. But I bought a juicer today, so I'm going to try and incorporate more vegetables into my shakes, so I can eat more fruit for other snacks during the day.
I am having a lot of fun making the shakes. With my weird taste/texture issues, I find it best to use at least some frozen fruit for a frosty, ice-cream like texture. Here are the recipes for shakes 4 and 5
Cucumber-Cantaloupe
1/2 cup cucumber (seeds removed)
3/4 cup cantaloupe
3 frozen strawberries
1 tsp coconut oil
Water and crushed ice
(I tried to make it with just the cucumber and cantaloupe, and it was a much thinner texture, so I added three strawberries and the coconut oil, and it was so much better. I want to try and freeze the cantaloupe and try it again)
Tropical (This was an easy one, because all the fruit was in one bag)
About 1 cup of mixed fruit (pineapple, grapes, mango, strawberry)
1 tsp coconut oil
Water and crushed ice
I know they would be better for me using more veggies, but these shakes are tasting quite good. And it really helps me not miss ice cream! Though that's one of the first things I want to eat when I'm done...
Yesterday we had company for dinner, I couldn't eat the cheese and crackers, or the steak, or swordfish...but I did roast some yummy vegetables. It was hard not to have some wine, but I had my water in a wine glass, added some fresh lime juice, and it was good.
We need a new battery for our scale, so I haven't seen if I lost any weight yet. I know it's not the whole reason for doing the cleanse, but if I do this for three weeks, and I don't lose any weight, I have to admit I'll be kind of bummed. But I keep telling myself, it's only the third day, and it's not instant gratification. And I really do feel great. I thought I would have some headaches from sugar withdrawal, but I've been feeling good, energetic, and well-rested. I've been running, and still feel just as strong (the extra whey protein in the shakes really helps). Except for today, because it was super muggy and we walked about half the run. So far it's been such a positive experience! And if anyone is wondering....I'm peeing a lot more (drinking way more water than usual), and, unlike some other cleanses, my number 2s have been fairly normal, 1-2 times per day. Just incase you were curious...
Having mixed greens with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. And probably a shake for dessert.
Cheers (with my water glass), to a happy, healthy Memorial day weekend!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Day 2
I woke up this morning feeling like I had a little bit of a hangover, but then I remembered that I didn't drink last night. After drinking some water (with my handfuls of supplements), I felt better. Nothing bad, just a little bit of a headache. Besides that, I'm feeling good, and happy to have made it through 1 full day.
I think one of the hardest parts of the first day was just mentally telling myself that I can't snack on and eat certain things. I had a lot of down time yesterday, when I would normally snack, and I just had to grab carrot sticks or an orange, and drink water instead. I wasn't hungry, I was actually quite satisfied from my shakes, it was just hard to not be able to get a snack. Especially when George was eating onion dip and potato chips...
The shakes have been fun to make. I was really nervous that I would hate them, and have a really hard time drinking them. But so far so good. Here's recipe #2
1/2 cup pears
1 cup frozen peaches
Fresh minced ginger (probably about 2 tsp)
1 tsp coconut oil
2 scoops SP Complete
2 scoops Whey Pro
It was yummy! This morning I made pretty much the same thing, except I used less peaches and added frozen blueberries. For my afternoon shake, I'm thinking of trying cantaloupe and cucumber.
I have to admit, the first day was very challenging. And I kept thinking, how am I going to get through 20 more days??
George and I went to a party at our friends Jessica and Scott's last night. George was happy that I started my Cleanse, since I could be the designated driver. I had a fun time at the party, it was great to see some great people, even without partaking in the drinking. Not drinking was easy, but staring at all the good food was hard! Jessica and her sister Jo had some delicious fruit (so sweet and yummy) and vegetables that were great to munch on. But it was quite hard not grabbing a piece of cheese (I keep craving cheese!) or some potato chips.
After the party, George and I stopped at my parents house, because my mom got me some big bags of frozen fruit from BJ's for my shakes. This proved to be another challenge of the day. My dad had bought 3 different quarts of ice cream, along with toppings from my favorite ice cream shop, Cherry Hill Creamery. Everyone, including George made very yummy looking sundaes. I was tempted to just have a taste, but I fought the urge, and was glad I did.
In just one day of the cleanse, I feel I have already learned a lot, and I'm excited to get through it. Though, I really, REALLY want to see some results (weight loss) soon!
On another note, I am also training for a half marathon. I did my first one last year with some great friends; Jolene, Jessica and Scott. This year our team is growing bigger and I'm happy that my younger sister Kaitlyn will be running with us as well. We have a lot of training to do. We're only up to about 6 miles right now, but we have until August 14th, and I know we can do it! Kait is coming over to go for a run this morning, my first run since being on the cleanse.
We are having company tonight, and we're making surf and turf. Steak and Swordfish on the grill. I will be eating roasted summer vegetables with organic cold-pressed olive oil, and the squash-ginger soup (roasted squash and onion that I put into the food processor with some fresh ginger, then added some water to make it soup...actually very yummy) that I made yesterday. We'll see how it goes!
I think one of the hardest parts of the first day was just mentally telling myself that I can't snack on and eat certain things. I had a lot of down time yesterday, when I would normally snack, and I just had to grab carrot sticks or an orange, and drink water instead. I wasn't hungry, I was actually quite satisfied from my shakes, it was just hard to not be able to get a snack. Especially when George was eating onion dip and potato chips...
The shakes have been fun to make. I was really nervous that I would hate them, and have a really hard time drinking them. But so far so good. Here's recipe #2
1/2 cup pears
1 cup frozen peaches
Fresh minced ginger (probably about 2 tsp)
1 tsp coconut oil
2 scoops SP Complete
2 scoops Whey Pro
It was yummy! This morning I made pretty much the same thing, except I used less peaches and added frozen blueberries. For my afternoon shake, I'm thinking of trying cantaloupe and cucumber.
I have to admit, the first day was very challenging. And I kept thinking, how am I going to get through 20 more days??
George and I went to a party at our friends Jessica and Scott's last night. George was happy that I started my Cleanse, since I could be the designated driver. I had a fun time at the party, it was great to see some great people, even without partaking in the drinking. Not drinking was easy, but staring at all the good food was hard! Jessica and her sister Jo had some delicious fruit (so sweet and yummy) and vegetables that were great to munch on. But it was quite hard not grabbing a piece of cheese (I keep craving cheese!) or some potato chips.
After the party, George and I stopped at my parents house, because my mom got me some big bags of frozen fruit from BJ's for my shakes. This proved to be another challenge of the day. My dad had bought 3 different quarts of ice cream, along with toppings from my favorite ice cream shop, Cherry Hill Creamery. Everyone, including George made very yummy looking sundaes. I was tempted to just have a taste, but I fought the urge, and was glad I did.
In just one day of the cleanse, I feel I have already learned a lot, and I'm excited to get through it. Though, I really, REALLY want to see some results (weight loss) soon!
On another note, I am also training for a half marathon. I did my first one last year with some great friends; Jolene, Jessica and Scott. This year our team is growing bigger and I'm happy that my younger sister Kaitlyn will be running with us as well. We have a lot of training to do. We're only up to about 6 miles right now, but we have until August 14th, and I know we can do it! Kait is coming over to go for a run this morning, my first run since being on the cleanse.
We are having company tonight, and we're making surf and turf. Steak and Swordfish on the grill. I will be eating roasted summer vegetables with organic cold-pressed olive oil, and the squash-ginger soup (roasted squash and onion that I put into the food processor with some fresh ginger, then added some water to make it soup...actually very yummy) that I made yesterday. We'll see how it goes!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Day 1...
So I am finally doing it....a 21-day Purification Cleanse.
All of my supplements and powders came in the mail yesterday and I started this morning. Here's how it went so far...
It was a grey morning, and the first day of the cleanse, so I decided to take a rest day. George and I had some errands to do, so I held off starting to take the supplements until we got back.
My supplements for the morning were: 7 capsules of SP Cleanse, 3 Gastrofiber, 1 Linium B6, 2 A-F Betafood, 2 Prosymbiotic..and I think that was it. I'm no longer worried about drinking the 64 ounces or more of water, because I drank 32 ounces swallowing all those capsules and tablets! I take all of these 2-3 times a day (Except for the SP Cleanse, which I take for the first 7 days, then SP Greenfood for the remainder of the Cleanse). It's a lot, and I hope to get used to it quick!
Besides all of the supplements, I will be having 2 SP Complete Shakes, with Whey Pro powder (needing the extra protein so I can keep my workout routine). I was nervous all morning about the shake. I tend to have a hard time with flavors and textures of things, and the thought of all that powder in a smoothie was kind of grossing me out. BUT I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked it! I mean there were a couple of times when I thought about all that powder (weird, I know), and I gagged a little, but honestly it was quite tasty. For my shake today, I used 2 scoops SP Complete, 2 Whey Pro, 1 cup of frozen strawberries, and 1/2 cup of frozen pineapple, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, with some water and ice. I am going to try to experiment with using at least some vegetables, but we'll see how it goes.
Halfway through the first day, and having already taken all of the supplements twice and having 1 of the shakes, I can't imagine being hungry for much more (though I am definitely craving cheese, and the leftover pizza in the fridge is calling my name!). But I have to admit I feel full and satisfied. To help me get over my habit of snacking, I have been eating some carrot sticks, more to actually chew something than for hunger.
For other meals while on the cleanse, I can eat as many vegetables as I want. I can eat fruit as well, but want to save them for my shakes (you're supposed to have twice as many vegetables as fruit if trying to lose weight). Then once I hit day 11 I can add in some meat and fish. I can also eat a small amount of lentils and brown rice throughout the cleanse, but am going to try to stick to the shakes and fruits and veggies for the first 10 days.
Besides peeing a TON (which water makes me do anyway), I haven't had any side effects yet. I know it is going to be a long, hard journey, but it's something I believe is great to do, and I think will benefit me in many ways.
I'm not looking forward to dealing with symptoms of sugar withdrawal/detox. But it will be worth it, and I can use acupuncture to help any adverse reactions.
I'll be trying to blog daily about this...
All of my supplements and powders came in the mail yesterday and I started this morning. Here's how it went so far...
It was a grey morning, and the first day of the cleanse, so I decided to take a rest day. George and I had some errands to do, so I held off starting to take the supplements until we got back.
My supplements for the morning were: 7 capsules of SP Cleanse, 3 Gastrofiber, 1 Linium B6, 2 A-F Betafood, 2 Prosymbiotic..and I think that was it. I'm no longer worried about drinking the 64 ounces or more of water, because I drank 32 ounces swallowing all those capsules and tablets! I take all of these 2-3 times a day (Except for the SP Cleanse, which I take for the first 7 days, then SP Greenfood for the remainder of the Cleanse). It's a lot, and I hope to get used to it quick!
Besides all of the supplements, I will be having 2 SP Complete Shakes, with Whey Pro powder (needing the extra protein so I can keep my workout routine). I was nervous all morning about the shake. I tend to have a hard time with flavors and textures of things, and the thought of all that powder in a smoothie was kind of grossing me out. BUT I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked it! I mean there were a couple of times when I thought about all that powder (weird, I know), and I gagged a little, but honestly it was quite tasty. For my shake today, I used 2 scoops SP Complete, 2 Whey Pro, 1 cup of frozen strawberries, and 1/2 cup of frozen pineapple, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, with some water and ice. I am going to try to experiment with using at least some vegetables, but we'll see how it goes.
Halfway through the first day, and having already taken all of the supplements twice and having 1 of the shakes, I can't imagine being hungry for much more (though I am definitely craving cheese, and the leftover pizza in the fridge is calling my name!). But I have to admit I feel full and satisfied. To help me get over my habit of snacking, I have been eating some carrot sticks, more to actually chew something than for hunger.
For other meals while on the cleanse, I can eat as many vegetables as I want. I can eat fruit as well, but want to save them for my shakes (you're supposed to have twice as many vegetables as fruit if trying to lose weight). Then once I hit day 11 I can add in some meat and fish. I can also eat a small amount of lentils and brown rice throughout the cleanse, but am going to try to stick to the shakes and fruits and veggies for the first 10 days.
Besides peeing a TON (which water makes me do anyway), I haven't had any side effects yet. I know it is going to be a long, hard journey, but it's something I believe is great to do, and I think will benefit me in many ways.
I'm not looking forward to dealing with symptoms of sugar withdrawal/detox. But it will be worth it, and I can use acupuncture to help any adverse reactions.
I'll be trying to blog daily about this...
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