Well, I've started taking a natural laxative, so life is much better. Who knew this topic would be the major feature of my blog about the cleanse! We are at the stage of the cleanse where the novelty has worn off, so it's much harder to stay with it. I'm pretty good at staying with something once I've committed to it (witness my 34 year old business and 28 year old relationship with Liz), so I'm not worried about sticking with it, it's just harder. Some days, I'm pretty much hungry for most of the day, like today. I actually had the misconception that we'd been on the cleanse for 2 weeks, and was planning what I wanted to eat next Sunday, when Liz reminded me that we've only done it for a week. How can that be?
We've also started talking about what we want to do when we finish the cleanse. We both want to continue having 12 horse between the last time we eat in the evening and breakfast. It makes sense to both of us that that gives our system time for some housecleaning in addition to digestion. I'm thinking about permanently not eating desserts. Our friend Walter does that, and he's managed to stay trim his adult life. I'm also thinking about limiting the frequency with which I drink beer. That's going to be a harder one. I really like beer and I like getting a little buzz on. I no longer like getting a major buzz on like I did when I was in my teens and 20s. Just a mild little buzz. So I have to experiment with what works. I want to get to my ideal weight and stay there this time, not put it all back on over a period of years.
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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Day 6
I'm so blocked up I could scream. It's been 2 days with no relief. I took castor oil last night with no effect, and I've taken it twice today. Very frustrating.
I went to a fundraiser last night. Lots of great food being passed around that I avoided. Today we had a birthday party at work, so I had to avoid beer, chips, and chocolate.
I've fallen asleep twice while writing this, so I'm off to bed.
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I went to a fundraiser last night. Lots of great food being passed around that I avoided. Today we had a birthday party at work, so I had to avoid beer, chips, and chocolate.
I've fallen asleep twice while writing this, so I'm off to bed.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Cleanse Day 5
I had a nice surprise when I got on the scale today--159.6. The shocking part is that my weight was higher yesterday--163.4. I had been bummed yesterday about my weight being higher. I started second guessing myself--am I doing the cleanse right, etc., etc.
My biggest issue is--how to put this delicately--problems with elimination. I'm definitely out of my routine. The book we're following is very unhappy about elimination problems--we don't want to reabsorb those nasty toxins we went to so much trouble to get into our colon, now, do we. So it suggests that any day you haven't eliminated properly, taking castor oil. Now there's a disgusting substance. It's disgustingly thick. It does its job quite well. My low weights are the mornings after the castor oil has cleaned me out.
I really don't want to make a habit of asking it, and Liz doesn't want me to either--she's worried I'll become dependent on it. So I've been adding things to my diet. First I added ground flax seed. That didn't do it. Then I added bentonite clay. Still not enough. Now I'm taking psyllium seed twice a day. Now that's an interesting substance. I put a tablespoon in water and drink it down. It doesn't have a taste but it has a weird texture. Kind of like tapioca beads or something. It feels like I should chew it, but I want to drink it as fast as possible. We'll see if that can get me off the caster oil.
We're doing well at staying with the cleanse. The hardest part for me is after dinner. Dinner tonight was an 8 oz glass of juice made from an apple, a head of fennel, and a half of lemon. It was really delicious, but not what my prior 61.9 years has led me to think of as dinner. I'm not as hungry as I thought I would be--it's more not satisfied. But I'm loving the results. Liz looks fabulous--she's lost 10 pounds and it shows!
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My biggest issue is--how to put this delicately--problems with elimination. I'm definitely out of my routine. The book we're following is very unhappy about elimination problems--we don't want to reabsorb those nasty toxins we went to so much trouble to get into our colon, now, do we. So it suggests that any day you haven't eliminated properly, taking castor oil. Now there's a disgusting substance. It's disgustingly thick. It does its job quite well. My low weights are the mornings after the castor oil has cleaned me out.
I really don't want to make a habit of asking it, and Liz doesn't want me to either--she's worried I'll become dependent on it. So I've been adding things to my diet. First I added ground flax seed. That didn't do it. Then I added bentonite clay. Still not enough. Now I'm taking psyllium seed twice a day. Now that's an interesting substance. I put a tablespoon in water and drink it down. It doesn't have a taste but it has a weird texture. Kind of like tapioca beads or something. It feels like I should chew it, but I want to drink it as fast as possible. We'll see if that can get me off the caster oil.
We're doing well at staying with the cleanse. The hardest part for me is after dinner. Dinner tonight was an 8 oz glass of juice made from an apple, a head of fennel, and a half of lemon. It was really delicious, but not what my prior 61.9 years has led me to think of as dinner. I'm not as hungry as I thought I would be--it's more not satisfied. But I'm loving the results. Liz looks fabulous--she's lost 10 pounds and it shows!
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Cleanse: Day 3
I feel like I'm getting into the rhythm of the cleanse, although it feels weird to have our main meal at lunch. Liz offered to make the main meal today, so I came home for lunch. She did a great job-- lamb chops with quinoa and kale.
I weighted 162 this morning--the pounds are flying off fast. I'm adding a few new things to our diet to increase the fiber content. Starting this morning, I ground up some flax seed to put in our smoothie and tonight I took some Bentonite clay, which is also supposed to be good for removing heavy metals from the system. We also started taking garlic pills, which are supposed to be good at removing parasites. I don't know if we have heavy metals or parasites, but what the hell, may as well do the whole thing. In for a dime, in for a dollar.
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I weighted 162 this morning--the pounds are flying off fast. I'm adding a few new things to our diet to increase the fiber content. Starting this morning, I ground up some flax seed to put in our smoothie and tonight I took some Bentonite clay, which is also supposed to be good for removing heavy metals from the system. We also started taking garlic pills, which are supposed to be good at removing parasites. I don't know if we have heavy metals or parasites, but what the hell, may as well do the whole thing. In for a dime, in for a dollar.
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
Cleanse: Day 2
Day 2 as easier than day 1. I wasn't starving when I got up, and felt full after breakfast. I was very hungry by lunchtime, but part of that was because we had a late lunch. I was a little hungry by dinner time, but felt very satisfied by dinner's juice (apples, kale, celery, broccoli, cucumber, and lemon).
I'm hoping each day gets a bit easier. My weight was up a bit from yesterday--how I have no idea, given what I ate yesterday, but I'm sure the overall direction will be down.
Again, the best thing about this cleanse is how delicious all the recipes are. I'm sure we'll continue eating them long after the cleanse is done.
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I'm hoping each day gets a bit easier. My weight was up a bit from yesterday--how I have no idea, given what I ate yesterday, but I'm sure the overall direction will be down.
Again, the best thing about this cleanse is how delicious all the recipes are. I'm sure we'll continue eating them long after the cleanse is done.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
Let the Cleanse Begin
Liz and I started a 3 week cleanse today. I'm pretty excited about it I think it will kick-start us getting to our ideal weights, and let me be not over-weight by my birthday.
I've done a few cleanses in my lifetime. The first one was when I was in my mid-20s. I read a book about fasting and did a fast--I think it was for 3 days. At the end of it, I was so starving, I did just what they said not to do and ate a big meal. I still remember how much pain I was in all night.
The next one was when Katy was living with us. She had done a cleanse using a kit you can get online or at Whole Foods or similar places. With that cleanse, we had smoothies for breakfast and lunch with a mixture that came with the kit, and then had a very simple dinner--my memory was that it was a piece of baked skinless, boneless chicken breast with maybe a side vegetable. We did that for a week. It wasn't too bad, but didn't result in any permanent changes. And it was a bit boring in terms of what we ate. I think we did it again a few months later.
This one is very different for a number of reasons. First, it starts with a week of preparation, and then the clause lasts three weeks. During the preparation time, there were a lot of foods we had to cut out of our diet, like dairy, wheat, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, beef, pork, some vegetables (like corn and peppers), some fruits (like oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, and bananas, and some nuts (like peanuts and pistachios). The idea is two-fold--not eating foods that are common allergens and eating fewer acid-producing foods. The other thing was to have 12 hours between dinner and breakfast--if we finished dinner at 7, we shouldn't eat breakfast before 7 in the morning.
The preparation phase went well. We did it from Monday to Friday and both lost a few pounds. Today we started the actual cleanse. That involves having smoothies, fresh made juices, or light soups for breakfast and dinner, and a full meal at lunch. The book we're doing this from has recipes for everything we eat, to make sure we getting the right nutrients and eating the right quantities. The idea behind it it to have our bodies spend the least amount of time digesting, and maximum time detoxifying.
I thought I'd be starving tonight, but I'm not even hungry. I was starving this morning. I got up at 6 and Liz slept till 8 so I waited for her to get up to make breakfast. I was really hungry, and breakfast didn't do much to alleviate it. We went for a 12 mile bike ride and I was so hungry when we returned, I ate an apple and some almonds (the almonds ere permitted as a snack, not the apple). But I was going grocery shopping and literally was afraid of my driving skills because I was so hungry. But lunch was so filling, I wasn't even hungry at dinner time. I ate the soup I made for dinner, and though it was very light, I still feel full.
The best part is that every recipe we've tried so far is incredibly delicious! I've mad a meal plan that has us eating something different for very meal this week. That pretty much exhausts the recipes in the book, but that's much more variation than we normally have.
So here's where I stand:
I weighed 172.4 when I made the commitment to stop eating dessert and sinking alcohol on March 18th.
I weighed 166.2 on April 16th when we started the preparation phase.
I weighed 162.8 this morning when we started the cleanse.
I just need to lose 7.8 pounds to not be over-weight on my birthday, and 26 pounds to be at my ideal weight. I think the next 3 weeks will get me past the first goal and well on my way to the second!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I've done a few cleanses in my lifetime. The first one was when I was in my mid-20s. I read a book about fasting and did a fast--I think it was for 3 days. At the end of it, I was so starving, I did just what they said not to do and ate a big meal. I still remember how much pain I was in all night.
The next one was when Katy was living with us. She had done a cleanse using a kit you can get online or at Whole Foods or similar places. With that cleanse, we had smoothies for breakfast and lunch with a mixture that came with the kit, and then had a very simple dinner--my memory was that it was a piece of baked skinless, boneless chicken breast with maybe a side vegetable. We did that for a week. It wasn't too bad, but didn't result in any permanent changes. And it was a bit boring in terms of what we ate. I think we did it again a few months later.
This one is very different for a number of reasons. First, it starts with a week of preparation, and then the clause lasts three weeks. During the preparation time, there were a lot of foods we had to cut out of our diet, like dairy, wheat, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, beef, pork, some vegetables (like corn and peppers), some fruits (like oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, and bananas, and some nuts (like peanuts and pistachios). The idea is two-fold--not eating foods that are common allergens and eating fewer acid-producing foods. The other thing was to have 12 hours between dinner and breakfast--if we finished dinner at 7, we shouldn't eat breakfast before 7 in the morning.
The preparation phase went well. We did it from Monday to Friday and both lost a few pounds. Today we started the actual cleanse. That involves having smoothies, fresh made juices, or light soups for breakfast and dinner, and a full meal at lunch. The book we're doing this from has recipes for everything we eat, to make sure we getting the right nutrients and eating the right quantities. The idea behind it it to have our bodies spend the least amount of time digesting, and maximum time detoxifying.
I thought I'd be starving tonight, but I'm not even hungry. I was starving this morning. I got up at 6 and Liz slept till 8 so I waited for her to get up to make breakfast. I was really hungry, and breakfast didn't do much to alleviate it. We went for a 12 mile bike ride and I was so hungry when we returned, I ate an apple and some almonds (the almonds ere permitted as a snack, not the apple). But I was going grocery shopping and literally was afraid of my driving skills because I was so hungry. But lunch was so filling, I wasn't even hungry at dinner time. I ate the soup I made for dinner, and though it was very light, I still feel full.
The best part is that every recipe we've tried so far is incredibly delicious! I've mad a meal plan that has us eating something different for very meal this week. That pretty much exhausts the recipes in the book, but that's much more variation than we normally have.
So here's where I stand:
I weighed 172.4 when I made the commitment to stop eating dessert and sinking alcohol on March 18th.
I weighed 166.2 on April 16th when we started the preparation phase.
I weighed 162.8 this morning when we started the cleanse.
I just need to lose 7.8 pounds to not be over-weight on my birthday, and 26 pounds to be at my ideal weight. I think the next 3 weeks will get me past the first goal and well on my way to the second!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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