Sorry I have been slacking. I actually went out this weekend! I guess I needed it after staying cooped up for 2 weeks, avoiding people who had food.... So first and foremost I'll discuss my diet for the past few days.
Friday was orange juice day, and let me tell you, I was starving! It was a new sensation considering the lemonade kept me full, I'm not lying. I have been cutting my OJ. That day I did 8oz OJ, 8oz purified water. I also snuck 2 small pieces of a soft pretzel. I know I shouldn't have, but someone brought in a bag to work and I was hungry and wanted to chew. That evening I also had some lettuce before going out, although again I wasn't supposed to. Friday I also cut up all the vegetables and made a huge pot of soup. I will list what I put in, but I made a huge pot, so if you want the recipe, ask me for more detail.
about 8-10 or so small red bliss potatoes, halved
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots
1 fresh tomato
a package of frozen spinach, thawed
1 turnip root
1 half of a zuchinni
1 half of a yellow squash
1 half of a white onion
garbanzo beans
lima beans
kidney beans (handful of each, all dried beans that I let soak, not canned)
1 cup brown rice
a bunch of fresh parsley and dill tied together (to be removed after)
3-4 vegan unsalted boullion cubes
and a tsp of each of the following:
coriander
cumin
sweet basil
garlic
cayenne pepper
sea salt
black pepper
I let it come to a boil, then took it down to low and let it cook for about 2 hours. I think it tastes great, but there is not really much salt. You are supposed to enjoy the taste of the vegetables. Now that I have been eating it for a few days, I add a pinch more sea salt before eating. Things that are really salty are unappealing to me though.
Saturday, I had OJ for breakfast. I am still cutting the juice, half juice, half water. It's too sweet if I don't. For lunch I had soup again. I also had between 5 and 10 almonds and a couple little tiny chocolate cookies from trader joes. They looked like dog treats, but tasted awesome. Bad, I know. I had OJ and a banana before going out. While I was out I had a salad with a little bit of an olive oil based dressing that I dipped into occasionally. I ate an olive that was in my salad and it was way too salty for me. That made me sad because I love olives and martinis. I guess it will take some getting used to.
Yesterday, I slept in as I did all weekend. I was out til close Friday and Saturday and I needed to rest. I also didn't nap all weekend long. For breakfast I had OJ, cut, and some strawberries and blackberries. I had soup for lunch, again. Then for dinner, I roasted some zuchinni, yellow squash, red pepper and onion with fresh paste and sliced garlic., olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. I also made a mediterranean tomato salad with cucumber, red onion, olive oil, chopped fresh parsley, fresh garlic, sea salt, black pepper, and squeeze of lemon juice. It was delicious. I had some green grapes and a handful of pretzel nibs in the evening. I also made a salad last night for the week with lettuce, carrots, celery, red pepper, mushrooms and cucumber.
Today I didn't go to work, which I'll get to in a minute. I had OJ when I got up, then soup and a small salad for lunch with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper.
Friday, I started to not feel well. I was wondering if it was because I was not ready to stop the lemonade, I couldn't figure it out. I had about 3 glasses of cut OJ during the day but my throat was hurting and I felt run down. On my way home from work, I remembered I was supposed to start taking vitamins that day. The cleanse rids your body of all toxins, which includes both bad and good bacteria. You need the good bacteria to keep up your immune. I had bought Probiotics and Flax Seed Oil capsules. The proboitics include the good bacteria you would find in yogurt. Read up on both of these, they are amazing for you. I took two of each when I got home and I felt better. So I went out that evening, didn't drink, just had water with lemon squeezed in.
Saturday, my throat was feeling better, I continued to take the vitamins including a regular One a Day vitamin. It was my own fault for forgetting the day before, so I tried to take it easy that day before going out. I slept in, ran a few errands and laid out. I did not go to the bathroom at all Saturday, which made me kind-of nervous. It was a change from the previous 2 weeks where I went regularly, but different. (ask if you really want to know)
Yesterday, I again slept in, continued to take the vitamins and just relaxed as I always do on Sundays. I finally went to the bathroom, a few times in fact which I wasn't expecting.
Today I woke up, showered and got ready for work. As I was about to leave, I realized I have a slight cold and my voice is kind-of shot and my job consists of talking all day, so I went upstairs and got back in bed. I am run down from the weekend and my body probably fighting to stay healthy. I have the sick days to take, so might as well let myself rest so I don't get worse. I plan to eat the rest of the roasted vegetables for dinner with some couscous and possibly a tomato salad again.
Friday I measured and weighed myself...
I lost an inch and a half around my bust, a half of an inch from my waist and hips and an inch and a half in each of my thighs. I lost 5 1/2 lbs total, according to the scale on Friday, but I am pretty sure I lost another pound since then. The only reason I know this is because I had my period last week and I can see that I lost some of the water weight. I definitely didn't do this to lose weight, it is just one of the added benefits to a cleanse. I intend on staying healthy, eating what I want when I have a craving, in moderation, and walking and doing pilates to keep it up. I plan on staying ovo-lacto vegetarian because I will eat dairy, but not as often as I used to. Carbs and too much dairy make me gain weight and drag me down energy-wise. I plan on keeping a predominately vegan diet for the meantime. I would definitely consider doing a cleanse again, but not unless I felt I needed to. If you are a healthy person, you don't really need to cleanse your system. If you have any specific questions about anything that I haven't posted, please ask! Overall, I think this was a great experience for me and I will write in with little updates if I feel there is something pertinent you should know.
