Day 6 and 7 - Weekend Weaknesses

So I didn't write an update last night because we were out all day having a great time!  I took the day off yesterday to have a mommy/daughter day because I have traveled so much lately. We woke up and had breakfast like we always do, and then went to the mall to Build-A-Bear and the Disney Store. We had a great time...and then it was lunch time.  I was thankful I brought my salad with me, because temptation was everywhere!  However, I didn't even take a bite of her lunch, and I was happy eating my salad.  When we got home we decided to set up a water fight with dad when he got off from work (see below). After we ate dinner, which was delicious by the way, we headed out to the movies. I am a sucker for movie popcorn, but I resisted temptation last night and didn't touch any of it.

I did realize as I woke up today that it is the weekend, and this is usually when we do the most damage with bad foods. But to my surprise, it wasn't a problem.  We got a new juicer in the mail Saturday (ours is a 110 and we need a 220, and our transformer is just not doing the job). It came with a surprise book with 100 juice recipes!  I had no clue it was coming with the juicer!!!  Happy six months late birthday present to me.

Our food list is the same as Day 5, just different juices.

Breakfast juice (per person):

   A handful of spinach

   1/4 head of cabbage

   1/2 cucumber

   1/2 orange

   2 cups watermelon

   1 plum

   1/8 cup POM juice

Lunch juice was a combination of whatever we could find in the refrigerator.  I think it had (per person) 1/2 a cucumber, about 1 cup watermelon, 1.5 carrots, and 1.5 apples.  We also had our big salad to go with it.  We are getting more comfortable throwing together juices on our own, but I do look forward to new ideas out of our juicing book.  We did decide today that if this was strictly a juice detox, we probably would have both failed by now.

We went and picked more strawberries, raspberries, and spinach this weekend.  I also got Makayla to try red and black currants.  That was a face that made the entire trip worth it.  Let's just say she's not a big fan!

Chris made raspberry watermelon ices for dessert Saturday.  They were so good, that even the kids enjoyed them.  There was no sugar, just juice from juicer, plus whole raspberries mixed in with the blender.  It was a nice summer treat!

Sunday is the last day of the strict detox.  Starting on day 8, we get to add yoghurt back into our diet.

Game On, Daddy!!

Our Sauteed Veg Last Night

Day 5 - Going Nuts For New Foods

Yay! We have reached the midway point of this detox. If you are following this journey, you can probably understand how excited we are to add in beans, nuts, oils, fruit salads, and raisins. We could have also added potatoes, but we chose not to go that starchy just yet. 

I truly am becoming a scaleoholic, but that is okay, I haven't been disappointed yet. Down another pound from yesterday.  I have a feeling it will slow down now that we are adding in the protein, and increasing the portions of food we are eating. I am nervous though!  Since only eating very basic things, I am scared to start adding in other foods. This is where we start practicing the art of moderation.  So here what is on the menu today:

Day Five - Halfway There

Wake up:

Dry brush for five minutes, starting with your torso and working your way out

Hot water with lemon

Throughout the day:

Water

Detox tea

Breathing exercise (5 min intervals)

Stretching (twisting is good for detoxing)

*NEW* Try adding in light exercise today

Breakfast:

1.5 cups Mixed Fruit Salad (we used cantaloupe, papaya, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, grapefruit)

Juice

   1/2 cucumber

   1/2 in ginger root

   2 carrots

   1 lg handful spinach

   1/2 orange

   2 green apples

   1/2 banana (added to blender and blended with juice, vice juiced)

Snack:

1.5 cups Mixed Fruit Salad (same as above)

1 Hot Green Tea (plain...no sugar/sweetener)

Lunch:

1 Large Salad with any fruit or veg, with lemon and olive oil

Juice

   1/2 head romain lettuce

   2 cups watermelon

   1/2 cucumber

   1 carrot

Snack:

1/4 cup walnuts

Small handful of raisins

Dinner:

1.5-2 cups Sautéed Vegetables

1-1.25 cup(s) cooked Brown Rice

1/4 cup cooked Garbanzo Beans (We like the ones sold in a carton, NOT canned.  You can soak dry beans, too, but they don't get soft enough for me.)

And for now I leave with an inspirational poster...

  

Image from www.ivillage.com

Enjoy your day!

Day 4 - So Many Amazing Recipes!

I think this is growing on me.  Down another 1.2 lbs, so I will take it!  Not sure I would want to do this on a full-time basis, but I think it will definitely become part of our regular habits to continue to try new things (especially the juices). I went looking for new recipes last night, and here is a few sites I found that have great recipes:

www.youngandraw.com

www.justonjuice.com

www.juicerecipes.com

www.yummly.com

...and the list could go on for days!

Someone also asked me yesterday why we are dry brushing our skin.  Here is two articles that can explain it better than I can.  But basically you lose quite a bit of waste through your skin each day (up to 1 lb), so why not help your skin breathe so it can do its job.

http://www.naturalnews.com/040389_skin_brushing_detox_health.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/040615_dry_brushing_lymphatic_system_detox.html

Day Four

Wake up:

Dry brush for five minutes, starting with your torso and working your way out

Hot water with lemon

Throughout the day:

Water

Detox tea

Breathing exercise (5 min intervals)

Stretching (twisting is good for detoxing)

Breakfast:

Banana Boost Juice (http://www.justonjuice.com/gung-ho-mango-juice)

*Somehow some of our beet juice for the afternoon juice made its way in to this juice, so we are cutting it with a banana (I can't do beets twice in a day...no way). We also only had one carrot left, so I added another half of a cucumber. 

Snack:

10 Strawberries (small/medium)

1 Hot Green Tea (plain...no sugar/sweetener)

Lunch:

1 Large Salad with any fruit or veg (no dressing)

Anytime of Year Spring Clean Juice (www.yummly.com)

Snack:

3 Medium Broccoli Florets 

Dinner:

Steamed Vegetables (about 1 cup)

Brown Rice (1/2 cup dry)

This is our afternoon juice on the left, and the ingredients for our morning juice on the cutting board.

EVENING UPDATE:

This is going to be short, because I am exhausted tonight. We had our first true test today. Chris had a barbecue, and I someone at the office was eating pizza (both of our weeknesses). We faced them both at lunchtime and continued in with our daily plan. The other test was gymnastics night. It is our one day during the week that we usually hit a local pub or find something quick to eat because Makayla has gymnastics right after work. Not only did we forget to bring our dinner with us, we still needed to get to the store to get more food for tomorrow's new food features (hooray for beans, nuts, and olive oil!). We did what we were supposed to do, and came home to make our dinner. Instead of using the rice that normally takes 25 minutes, we used a quick organic brown rice, and we quickly steamed our green beans, grabbed some basil from the garden, and juiced a lemon. My goal is to eat before 7 pm, but tonight that just didn't happen. The store had to wait until after dinner.

The juices today were pretty good!  I think we used too much ginger in the lunch juice, so I know to go easy next time. I don't mind the taste of ginger, but today I felt like I was drinking Chinese food!  I also tried the mint in the green tea and really enjoyed it. I will definitely keep that up. 

Tomorrow will be interesting.  We get to add nuts and raisins as an afternoon snack, oil to our salad for lunch, and we get to have beans and stir fried vegetables tomorrow night.  We had the option of a baked potato or rice, but since we have already been eating the rice, and we have it here, we just decided to stick with brown rice. 

Well it has been a long day and I am exhausted, so I am off to bed!  Having a mommy/daughter day tomorrow, and I hope I can resist temptation while we are out and about. This should be interesting...

Day 3 - What Exactly Is A Beet?

According to Men's Health, beets are like red spinach. Beets are one of the best sources of folate and betaine. Together, they work to lower blood levels of homocysteine, which is an inflammatory compound that can damage arteries and increase the risk of heart disease. And apparently the pigments in beets (betacyanins) are potent cancer fighters. 

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/best_healthy_foods/Beet.php#ixzz2ZF5s6tKc

I have to be honest, beets are not my favorite...root (or whatever they are).  However, the reward sounds like a reason to try to stomach them more often. 

Today is going to be more power juices, and basically the same food menu as yesterday. Here is what is on tap for the day:

Day Three

This is very similar to yesterday, but we changed up the shakes (I didn't want to do the same thing again today). 

Wake up:

Dry brush for five minutes, starting with your torso and working your way out

Hot water with lemon

Throughout the day:

Water

Detox tea

Breathing exercise (5 min intervals)

Stretching (twisting is good for detoxing)

Breakfast:

Banana Boost Juice (http://www.justonjuice.com/banana-boost-juice-recipe/)

*we only used half a banana each, and ate the other half. We didn't juice the banana either, we blended it with the juice this morning before we left for work. 

Snack:

7 Strawberries (medium)

1 Hot Green Tea (plain...no sugar/sweetener)

Lunch:

1 Large Salad with any fruit or veg (no dressing...I chose Romain today)

Watermelon Juice (our made up recipe...it makes about 20 oz depending on the juicer):

     3 cups watermelon (cut off the rind)

     1/2 cucumber

     1/2 orange, peeled

     1 large handful red seedless grapes

     1 inch fresh peeled ginger

     1 beet

     1/4 head of purple cabbage

Snack:

2 Small Carrots

Dinner:

Steamed Vegetables (about 1 cup)

Brown Rice (1/2 cup dry)

Lemon Juice

Fresh Herbs

(You can also do veg soup with a salad if you don't like the above combination)

I got on the scale today to compare my weight from 48 hrs ago.  I am down just over 5 lbs. Now I do realize this is probably quite a bit of water weight and waste, I also know if I do this right at the end, and slowly get back to a normal diet, I will keep most (if not all) of the weight off.  I will give another update tonight around dinner time. In the meantime I will share a funny picture I saw yesterday. I usually hate those eCard photos, but this one made me chuckle. 

EVENING UPDATE:

I am exhausted tonight!  It is probably because it is so hot here and I didn't sleep well last night (no A/C in our UK house). I did well eating everything today, and actually made it through the beet juice for lunch while in a meeting. The watermelon definitely helped the after taste from the beets.  I do find that celery tends to overpower whatever you put in the juice.  I am fine with that because I like celery, but my husband does not prefer the taste. The breakfast shake was great!  Definitely one of our favorites so far. 

Speaking of my husband, he is feeling great!  He is down 6 lbs from when we started 48 hrs ago, and sent me a message today saying he felt like he was on speed because he had so much energy. He said he just feels better overall, and less bloated than just two days ago. It is great to see he is benefiting from this crazy detox. 

I do want to clear something up that is probably on all of your minds...this detox does not put you in any embarrassing bathroom situations while trying to work. We read that you should start this detox on a Saturday, so we were really nervous to start it on a Monday, but it has not been an issue.

This is a time consuming process, and we realize that you have to be ready and dedicated to do this detox in order for it to continue for ten days. However, the positive to that is our child is getting exposed to new things. Tonight she had a fresh fruit "shaved ice" from leftover juice we made last weekend, and she loved it!  She also asked me for more red cabbage and peanut butter for dinner...again...for the third night in a row. I assume my cooking is that bad when she prefers cabbage and pb for dinner.

I am actually not too hungry today either.  I only felt hunger around the time I should be having snacks/meals. Chris said that was pretty accurate for him as well. I do still long for a bit of peanut butter, or something with more protein in it. I just have to hold out one more day!  We get nuts and raisins on day 5, hallelujah!

Day 2 - Cabbage and Peanut Butter

So you are probably thinking, "Who would eat cabbage and peanut butter?!".  That is what we said when our child was asking what all the ingredients are that Chris threw in the juicer. She wanted to try cabbage, and she loved it!  I told her to put a little peanut butter on to see how it tastes, and she asked for more.  So although yesterday was miserable, it was worth it just to see my child try a new vegetable and love it!

Day Two

Today we get to eat more food! 

Wake up:

Dry brush for five minutes, starting with your torso an pd working your way out

Hot water with lemon

Throughout the day:

Water

Detox tea

Breathing exercise (5 min intervals)

Stretching (twisting is good for detoxing)

Breakfast:

Green Giant Juice (http://www.justonjuice.com/green-giant-juice/)

1 Banana

Snack:

7 Strawberries (medium)

1 Hot Green Tea (thinking of adding some mint from the garden)

Lunch:

1 Large Salad with any fruit or veg (no dressing!)

Purple Power Juice (www.justonjuice.com)

Snack:

2 Small Carrots

Dinner:

Steamed Vegetables (about 1 cup)

Brown Rice (1/2 cup dry)

Lemon Juice

Fresh Herbs

(You can also do veg soup with a salad if you don't like the above combination)

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good. I slept really well last night, minus being a bit hungry. I did the usual five minute dry brush, and was greeted out of the shower with a cup of hot water with lemon.  I am actually not too hungry today, but I am sure once I get moving I will be ready to eat!  I will add an evening update when I get home. 

I just thought of something...this time last week, I was having tea with breakfast, a coffee on my way to work, and a caffeinated beverage with lunch...sometimes even with dinner. I did have a slight headache yesterday, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, so I can't complain!

EVENING UPDATE:

It is now 6:30 pm and I am so excited to have rice tonight. I don't care about the veg, but I am excited about the rice. So let me talk about today...many lessons learned.  First, don't blend the juices with ice, it just means you have more of this concoction to drink, and now you have to sort of chew it. The first juice for breakfast was actually pretty good. Chris said he didn't care for it, and thinks it needed something sweet added.  I could taste everything but the POM juice (we didn't have pomegranates or seeds at the store), however I do think it helped cut the flavor a bit. I didn't mind it...almost like having a Bloody Mary (with cucumbers, spinach and lettuce instead of tomatoes for juice). The morning snack was great, and so was the afternoon snack.  I could do without the lunch shake, and let me be honest, a dry salad with no dressing is not my favorite!  I will try adding something else to the lunch shake tomorrow...maybe more POM or watermelon juice.  I did not finish the juice or the salad today, i just could not do it. I did not take in anything off of my list, so I went without anything to substitute. Chris thinks I am not drinking enough water, but I am hungry most of the day. I do get a little relief when I take bites or sips of meals, but it quickly comes back. I did tell him today my carrots would be better with a side of cake...maybe even a whole cake, but he swears that is what put us in this position in the first place.  

One of my "ah ha" moments came today. I realized I am missing a dessert party on Friday, will miss having a fancy meal on our wedding anniversary next week, and tonight is my husband's birthday, and we are having steamed veg and brown rice instead of a big steak or birthday cake.  I realized this is what happens in life. We always think it is not the right time to eat right, or to make the changes we know we need to make. There is always something that comes up or gets in our way. Or we eat right for weeks, months, or even a year, and something changes our plans...a vacation, illness, or both (in our case), and we end up right back where we started.  Maybe I will begin to understand during this process why we do that to ourselves, but for now I don't have a good answer. It is not going to kill me to skip having the sweets and fatty foods.  It also won't kill me to have it every now and then if I can just get myself back on track afterward.  Temptation is so sweet (and sometimes salty in the form of movie popcorn or cheese fries....sorry I am hungry), but we need to learn to resist temptation. I have never wanted a piece of grilled chicken, tuna, or even nuts as much as I do right now...I don't even long for the sweet or salty stuff, just something with substance!

So for now, I sit and eat my brown rice with peas (which would be really great with the white sauce from a Japanese steak house poured on it) and reflect on what I can do to change my life, and learn the concept of eating to live, not living to eat. 

Day 1 - Motivation...Let's Do This!

This is not going to be easy...in fact I am semi no looking forward to it. However, we have spent the last nine months eating for probably three and not working out, so now we get ourselves back on track.  We are doing a ten day detox and I sure hope this sets us back on the path to being healthy. 

You are probably asking, "Why do these people need to do this detoxing?".  Well, I weigh ??? and my husband weighs ???...actually I am not going to tell you yet. I don't want you thinking, "Well she/he is way heavier/smaller than me, so that is why it will work for them, and not me". I think this is something for anyone looking to lose any weight and/or get themselves healthy. I have been traveling for eight weeks straight and ate on the road nearly every day. My body doesn't feel like it used to, and I want to feel that "clean" feeling again. 

Today is Day One of the ten day cleanse.  We started out with a dry brush scrub for five minutes. Then we eat...sorta. Today's food agenda is as follows:

1 cup of hot water with a slice of lemon (no sugar!)

One type of fruit or vegetable...as much as you want, but only that one type of fruit or veg.  The list you can choose from are grapes, apples, pears, pineapple, papaya, carrots, cucumber, celery.  I chose pineapple today.  I figure if I have to suffer and only eat one type of food, it might as well be something super tasty!  Plus, pineapple has loads of Vitamin C, which studies show that it helps asthma. Not sure if it is true, but I will try it! Chris chose apples today.  Not completely sure of his reasoning, but I am guessing it is because that is what was given as the example. I plan to eat an entire pineapple today!  This is the only mono-food day, so it has to get easier after today, right?!

Things to remember today: drink plenty of water all day, stretch (including twisting to help rid the toxins), and practice breathing exercises for five minutes a day. 

Now, off to work...and then off to bed early tonight. I hope this works!

(Under breath) I am not hungry...I am not hungry...I am not hungry. 

UPDATE:

We are surviving day one, but it is not easy!  If I had the choice of picking a different fruit or veg today, I would not have picked pineapple! My mouth is on fire!  I started out with raw pineapple, but it was way too harsh on my mouth, so I had Chris grill it tonight (with no spices...just plain pineapple). It did make it better but it is still not easy to eat. 

We are both really tired tonight, and found it hard to focus today. I did realize something today...I realized how much I graze. When I want a piece of chocolate, I eat it...I don't think about it. Today made me very conscious of how much extra I eat every day. 

Here is a rundown on how I felt today:

0900 - woo hoo...pineapple all day!

1030 - Who's idea was this?!

1200 - I am pretty sure my mouth is going to fall off.

1330 - the goal was three cups of pineapple by the time I went home...I am still working on cup #2

1500 - yep...still working on it.  I had to put in a piece of gum to help reduce the acidic feeling in my mouth

1630 - finally on cup #3 and it is going home with me...no way I can finish this before I go home. 

1900 - finished my third cup, plus a little of a fourth, but I am done. 

Mood: Grrrrrr!!! Definitely don't talk to me today. 

Feeling: headache, tired, lethargic

Tomorrow will be better...I know it.  Chris is prepping our meals and I can't wait for my change in diet tomorrow. 

A little inspiration for today, found on the livestrong.com website:

BENEFITS OF A MONO/DETOX DIET

Detox or mono diets are thought to purify the body and lead to better organ function. This helps with increasing energy, mental clarity, better skin, and better digestion.