Taste the Rainbow...no not Skittles

Found this on a blog I read and thought it would be great to share as we are all looking to be a little healthier after the MC.... Think back to your last meal. How many colors were on your plate? If you answered 4 or 5, then congrats! You are eating right with color. If you answered 1 or 2, then let’s talk: Mother Nature has a habit of putting lots of healthy vitamins and minerals into foods that grow in the dirt, but did you know she took the trouble to color-code them for our convenience? green foods contain antioxidants and nutrients that promote healthy vision orange and deep yellow foods also help promote healthy vision, plus they contain vitamins that boost your immune system purple and blue foods contain antioxidants that provide anti-aging benefits, plus they help with memory, and urinary tract health red foods are good for heart health, vision, and your immune system some white, tan, and brown foods have nutrients that promote heart health bonus: each of these colors also help reduce your risk of cancer! Of course, these aren’t the only benefits to eating a more colorful, plant-based diet. These kinds of foods also provide a good source of fiber, a boost in mental function, and tons of other feel-good perks. Oh and here is a recipe for a green smoothie that could be a good breakfast drink: Green Smoothie! Ingredients: -1 cup coconut water -1 apple -1/2 bunch kale -small handful frozen spinach -2 tblpns lemon juice Directions: Blend and enjoy!

Like a Virgin

I feel like I just bought a new car and I am worried about getting the first scratch. I've only been eating whole fruits, veggies, grains, and nuts and I'm worried about drinking my first cup of coffee or eating my first sugary food. I've been postponing this for 5 days now and I know eventually I will have to budge a little because you can't be perfect all the time. I just don't know when the right time to do it is. Madonna has totally captured what I'm feeling...like a virgin, touched for the very first time...I'm waitin for that right food and the right day so that it will be a special moment...

I'll take the lemon juice over the OJ

2:30pm:

Ok as much as I wanted to be done with the 10 days of the MC, I really don't like drinking OJ all day long. It's not as filling and I am feeling hungry. It could be psychological as well but still I'm done with this OJ crap... Nelson and I texted each other during the day agreeing that we would prefer the lemon/maple concoction over the oj.

So with that being said and with the approval head nod by Deanna, I am going to make Soup tonight dammit!

I'm a huge believer that things happen for reasons and I do truly believe that Deanna did the ease out before us, so she can be the tester for us all. I thank her for that.

Fast forward to 6:30pm:
The soup is cooking on the stove, boiling up, and I'm going to pick up Nelson at the train at 7pm. I hope the soup is ready by the time he gets home, so we can really enjoy it. It smells so good. Here are some pics of my preparation:

Yummy delicious healthy veggies.... I took away 2 potatoes since I added a cup of brown rice

only used 2 cups of broth and probably added another 8 or 9 cups of water

Just sizzling away... This picture is missing the spinach, potatoes, rice, and beans (lentils and pinto)

Plump up lentils! I want to eat you!

7:15pm:

Got home from picking up Nelson from the Subway and the soup was ready to go!

One of the most delicious soups we ever had

Nelson becomes one with the soup

Nelson's happy after his first bite

Smells like heaven!

8:15pm:

We are done with our soup and our tummies are feeling good! Soup for lunch and dinner tomorrow and we are deciding to eat normal on Thursday! Yahoo!

Last night of the Lemon Crap!

Hey all,

Wow, it's the end of day 10 and we can't believe it's done. THANK GOD! We are so looking forward to tomorrow's OJ day.

Deanna, thanks so much for your support these past few days. You're still a part of this MC team and I'm very proud that you stuck with it for a whole 7 days and even more excited that you are feeling better. You see folks, if you saw Deanna on Friday (day 7), you would have probably gotten a bottle of Ensure and fed her. Her determination to get through 1 day at a time was amazing. She inspired us and now she is leading us to the ease out phase of this cleanse AND she's going into the new healthy vegan chapter of her life. We support ya babe! Deanna, you're just as fierce as the honeybadger. :)

In preparation for tomorrow, I peeled some oranges. Now THAT was hard. The smell of oranges is so beautifully fragrant and they were so cold when I was peeling them. I wanted to plop one juicy piece into my hungry mouth, BUT I didn't. So the plan is to drink about 60-80 ounces of OJ tomorrow. Honestly, I don't care how much I drink, I'm just drinking away! The book doesn't really give you an idea of how much to drink, so we'll probably go by the amount of the lemon crap we've been drinking.

On one of the many MC blogs that I've read, one guy actually blended the oranges with ice and some water to create a smoothie type substance. I'm gonna do that and juice the heck out of the oranges and also some grapefruit.

Here are some of my preparations:

This was the hard part!

All hands on deck!

Send in the reserves!

Don't worry the squash will stay!

Now I can't tell you how excited we are, but I can show you...

Good Night, Sweet Dreams, and see you tomorrow Oranges!

Reflection

Easing Out....

Kat and Nelson - I am so inspired by you two making it the whole way! What an accomplishment and I'm sure it has taught you many lessons and things about yourself. I thought I would share a little of what I learned and reflect on my goals from the first post.

#1 I want to cleanse my body as I transition to a vegan.

I think I needed to cleanse my mindset more than my body. I didn't really feel the physical effects of the cleanse (until my unfortunate end ahaha) but it did show me I can lose some weight and feel good and energized if I eat a little less (Duh!). Silly as that sounds I kept making excuses like I'm getting too old to lose weight, being a woman sucks, my metabolism is slow. Really, they were just excuses. As for the vegan part, that's it, I'm jumping in! It isn't as much a jump as it is a hop since I've been a vegetarian for 12 years but it is still a major change. I'm now officially seeing a holistic nutritional counselor and I'm excited for her help and support and I make this transition. I'll be sure to keep you both posted on what I learn as I know you are looking to make small yet important changes yourselves (this makes me happy).

#2 I want to stop confusing emotions for hunger.

The cleanse enlightened me on this idea and now I am actually putting it into practice. The first way I really noticed it was when I woke up on Sunday and thought I was supposed to be eating first thing when I woke up and I knew I had to have orange juice as "breakfast." I was like "Waaah, I don't want OJ, I want really food." So I said to myself, "Self, if you were really hungry you would want the juice. Maybe you just think you are supposed to be eating because it was your prior routine to wake up and eat." So I waited and did other things. Then, when my tummy growled and I felt REAL hunger, I was happy to have the OJ. I have had to this a lot in the past 2 and a half days. Be prepared to keep up with the "training" after the cleanse. It's not easy but it feels empowering when you take control.

#3 I want to prove a point.

At first I thought I failed on this goal having stopped the cleanse three days early. But, after some reflection and some helpful feedback I did prove that I could do it for a week and that I didn't die even though I looked like death. Everyone seemed to be sincerely impressed that I could do it that long and that feels good. However, I did also prove the point that you have to follow directions...which is ironic if you know me.

Okay so that's all for now. I included a picture of the soup you have to look forward to. It is very yummy. I was so scared testing it out on Saturday when I made it but I wanted to see if the rice and potatoes were cooked till tender as instructed (that was the only reason wink wink). I went to put it to my mouth out of habit and paused like ummm will my stomach explode if I taste this? But the worry was fleeting and I shook it off and ate the tiny spoonful. Pure delight. I didn't get carried away, I waited till later to have my bowl. Enjoy filling your belly with such healing and comforting tastiness! I know I did. I'm wishing you both a healthy and happy "easing out."

DAY 10!!!!!!!!

"We all become exactly what you believe." Oprah

Master Class - Master Cleanse

Last night I was watching Oprah's Master Class show on OWN and she was doing her own class. She said so many great things that can relate to everyone and in particular those who may be going through challenges in life. It was part 1 of her Master Class show and after watching the 1st inspirational show, I will absolutely watch the 2nd next Sunday. Tune in if you can.

So it's 7:15am and we just finished our LAST SWF. I prepared both at 6am and brought Nelson's up to him at 6:30. He didn't sleep that well. Now we could do the SWF tomorrow, but no, we are deciding not to. For the Salt water, we heat up the water just so it's lukewarm and this morning I felt like I was heating up a baby's bottle since I had to bring it up to Nelson. "Here's your bottle, baby boy." Just trying to get him a good mood since he didn't have the sweetest dreams. After I drank mine, I almost did a happy dance.

The drinks are set to go for the rest of the day and I'm looking forward to the day! It's our last day! It's our last day!

Bundle up, it's cold outside!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

We can't believe it! The 9th is almost done and we are coming to the end of the Master Cleanse. Everyday we surprise ouselves a little bit more. Around noon today, Nelson and I went to the grocery store so we could buy food for our soup and salad for day 3 of the ease out. Just a reminder, Day 1 - Drink OJ all day, Day 2 - Morning and Lunch OJ then veggie soup for dinner, Day 3 - OJ for breakfast, soup for lunch, salad and veggies for dinner.

I had my list ready to go for the soup and played it by ear on what to get for salad when I got to the store.

I began to really get excited for the soup, but even more for the salad! I got some organic romaine and arugula lettuce, fresh beets, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, red onion, and avocado for the salad. I'm planning on making lemon and oil dressing. I'll still love lemons even after this cleanse and plus we still have 2 huge bags of lemons to use!

This is the recipe I'm planning on using for the soup. I'm going to slow cook it all day on Wednesday so it's ready for us when we get home. It will certainly be a treat:

Master Cleanse Recipe: The Omnivore Vegetarian Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 varieties of beans, 1/2 cup each (kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, or other)
• 1 medium potato, half-inch cubes
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• Spinach
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• Other vegetables as desired
• No meat
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• vegetarian soup powder or cube (optional)

Preparation: Combine ingredients with 4 cups water, bring to a simmer, cook 20 minutes or until potatoes and beans are tender, adding water along the way if necessary.

When we got home, I put the red beets in the oven so they could be ready for our salad on thursday night. After roasting the beets, I peeled off the skins and when I did it in the past, I would normally taste it. It was really easy for me not to be tempted. I wasn't even craving it. So for that, I am proud.

We got a lot of stuff done today. Surprisingly enough we did have a lot energy. We cleaned, did laundry, I painted my nails, watched TV, and we even did some yoga. It was tough for me since I haven't done much working out, but it was only 30 minutes and it felt really good. Check out the dorky form ;)

"Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory."
- Anonymous

Good Morning Day 9!

Wow, only 2 more days of this lemon stuff and we are in the clear! Looking forward to Orange Juice!

A few things that I've noticed just as of yesterday and this morning. My tongue is getting back to normal! How exciting, not to be gross, but take a look for yourselves:

It was really gross before and now I'm not embarrassed to stick my tongue out at anyone!

As the days go by, this cleanse gets easier and easier. It becomes such a routine. Nelson is more in the routine of making the drinks in the AM while i'm catching up on z's (was up again in the middle of the morning last night, so i needed to sleep in) and he even brings me breakfast in bed, aka the Salt Water Flush! how romantic, right? haha right

Nelson this morning said, before you drink the SWF, weigh yourself. Again, to my surprise I lost another pound. and he did too. Where the heck is it coming from? Could it be coming from my organs? Could all the toxins be releasing from there? Whose to Say?

We're off to do our Sunday thing and will blog later! Hope you have a lovely Sunday Morning and afternoon.

Master Cleanse Drop Out

First of all, Eleni I am so sorry to hear about your father. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Okay so I made it to Day 7. As Kat can atest to, I was in pretty bad shape on Friday. I was weak, tired, off balance, a mess. I attribute it to lack of calories. As you can see by my Day 6 evening post, I had officially lost my appetite. On Day 7 I just stopped "eating." It's hard to describe but I just had an adversion to the drink and the SWF. My body was literally trying to give it back the wrong way. So my Master Cleanse friends, I bowed out gracefully and began my Ease Out this weekend. I am officially a Master Cleanse Drop Out (Beauty School Drop Out was the closest I could come with a picture).

The OJ just wasn't getting my blood sugar up with a glass here and a glass there so Saturday late afternoon I had a bowl of the Master Cleanse Soup. It wasn't like heaven for me, as one would expect. It was good though. I ate it slowly (burned my tongue ouchy) and was full after a bowl. I even took a break halfway through, which I never do when I eat. Everything went down fine. I even had a second bowl in the evening and an apple later in the evening. My stomach feels fine. I went to the bathroom just fine this morning too. So, no worries about easing out. It's all just fine. That seems to be my word. Fine.

I personally still feel faint. Yesterday and today my blood pressure has been very low. I haven't felt this "sick" in a while but I know slowly I'll recover. My body seems to be a little mad at me, and so is my husband. He took one look at me Friday and said "what did you do to yourself?" Needless to say I 'm not sure I proved a point. We too had a long conversation on Saturday moring as he made me my OJ and we sat on the couch. We never have weekend morning talks and this was a good one. The MC is bringing couples together, gotta love it.

Last night I baked a cake for my Mother in Law's bday today. I needed something to do with my time. I didn't even lick the spoon or the icing. I threw out the cake pieces I shaved off to make it even. I didn't want to put crap in my body now that it is cleaner than before. This might be the end of the Master Cleanse for me but it's the beginning of a new chapter for me as a vegan and I'm excited for it.

Our Trip To BJ's!

Boy oh Boy, I could not have gone to BJ's by myself today! Thank God for Nelson!

We had just a few things to get on our list:

Toothbrushes
Oranges
Grapefruits
Deodorant
Hand Soap

We ended up getting more of course. And we also saw our friend Nadia there! She's the Supervisor at the Verizon booth at BJs. I made her try my drink and she had one of the typical scrunched up faces. She said that the cayenne pepper really got her throat.

Here are some pics of our purchase:

We can't wait to eat this yummy delicious food!

Oh and to answer Elaine's question from a previous comment on a post:

"Is Nelson too weak to post his comments? Thanks Kat for the updates. How many pounds do you think you have lost so far? "

Haha, Nelson's not too weak. He was just saying before on our way to the store that he hasn't posting anything. He's just not as dedicated to the blog as I am, haha jk!

Nelson has lost about 6 pounds and I went down 7 pounds as of this morning, which I was really surprised to see! However I know that the majority of it will come back, but we are planning to try to limit our chicken and meat intake. We will still eat meat at family gatherings, etc. So when we see you in April, beware, we will eat all of your food!

Day 8!

This is our 2nd and LAST Saturday of being on the MC! WOOOHOOO! So far we are feeling good. Don't mean to provide TMI, but this morning, I went to the bathroom probably around 6-8 times. Woweee. That's a new record for me. So today I'm feeling the cleanse. I don't feel all blissful, but I do feel good.

We are about to go to BJ's to get lots of oranges and grapefruits for our ease out day - Tuesday! Tuesday is the same day my parents come home from Florida, so that day we have lots to look forward to! And it seems fitting that we are drinking OJ all day on Tuesday since the majority of oranges come from FLORIDA! It was meant to be!

On another note, we are thinking of Eleni today. Just found out that her dad had to get a triple bipass yesterday. Eleni, if you're reading, we're sending positive thoughts your way and sorry you and your family have to go through this scare. My father and Nelson's father have also gone through the bypass club, so we understand what you may be going through. We're here for ya babe!

So to end my blog, I would like to ask the magic 8 ball (since it's day 8 and all) if we will get through this weekend and he says...

What's in the box? What's in the box?

Yes yes! It's day:

Thanks to Brad Pitt for making this post pretty!

Wow! I really can't believe we are done with day 7! It was a tough week, but gotta say that it did seem to fly by. I hope this weekend flies by for us too.

Fridays are always fun to look forward to. Nelson and I seem to have a ritual for Friday nights, like most couples do. I either cook a meal or we order out and if we order, we usually get Thai or Sushi, so it was really hard to come home to 24 ounces of lemon/maple/kanye juice.

The one thing that I notice though... We don't sit in front of the TV while we are eating our drink. We actually just hang in the kitchen and just chat about anything while we are sipping away. So in addition to the other things I learned to appreciate on this cleanse, I feel that we actually had a chance to really communicate about how we are, what we did today, etc. We actually have TIME to hear each other out. Before, we would just put our food in bowls, hit the microwave "Reheat" button, get the tv trays out, and stare at the tv all night.

Now don't get me wrong, we still love tv and I'm sure we will get back into the old swing of things. But tonight, we are about to watch an old school movie, which I have come to love more each time I watch it:

Hasta La Vista, Day 7!

Whatchoo Talkin 'Bout Willis

Day 6 - Evening

I thought I'd stick to Kat's theme with the blast from the past tv shows. I am looking at my blue camelbak (or cameltoe as matt likes to call it). It has a little over 16 oz left and it is 7:36pm. I'm thinking 16 oz before 8pm? I'm already feeling full. Whatchoo Talkin 'Bout Willis? It is sooooo amazing how so little can fill me when I always described my stomach as an empty pit needing tons of food and being hungry all the time. I am still so amazed by this revelation. It really has me upside down. Now I know why I can never lose the weight...duh I eat too much. My body doesn't need so much food! My body's like "More food? Really? Whatchoo talkin 'bout Willis?" Now I get it! Oh and by the way, as I said that last line in my head, my stomach sounded like the voice of Yoda. Less food your stomach does need.

Stop all your fussin', Slap on a smile

Yep you guessed it, it's Six from Blossom, which means today is DAY SIX of the cleanse! Woohoo! We are so excited that we are past our half way point. Hey guys, how about we do this for another 10 days? Right Right Right!

I'd like to point out that Deanna and I have been doing this at work and only a couple of people know because we told them. Everyone else has no idea! After we are done with this, I would really like to say to my family and co-workers that we did this for 10 days straight and they had no idea. I didn't tell my family bc I didn't want them to worry.

So how do I feel on day 6? I'm doing good! Of course I would love to have a taste of something or even just to chew gum, but I know the end is near and I'm looking forward to having Orange Juice on the 1st Day of the Ease out process. We can't eat any solid food until 2 days after we are done with the master cleanse. So really we don't eat anything for 11 1/2 days!

Oh something about today... Nelson by accident broke our juicer. The first thing he said was "I'm sorry," with a surprised look on his face. It's just a juicer and I never refuse a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond. Nelson just doesn't realize how strong he is since the Master Cleanse. Take a look at the picture I took of him last night, isn't he cute? :)

Honey Badger

Day 6

We made it past the halfway mark and now we just have to stick it out a little while longer till the end. How appropriate that we made it over our hump on hump day! Coincidence or Fate? Hmmmm....

So last night I was freezing, chilled to the bone, couldn't warm up. I was under blankets, had layers of clothes on. I was practically tangled in Matthew to steal his warmth. The heat was up to 69 degrees. I don't know if this is a result of the weather today or the cleanse but I'm thinking it might have to do with the cleanse since it was warm in the house according to the thermostat. Matt said that I was dying since people get cold right before they die. I said "so that explains the white light I've been seeing." No, I'm not dying, just cold.

Another inconvenient thing yesterday and today, my scale is broken. I mean really? You worked all those days I was guilty of indulging in food but now that I am losing weight you decide to take a break? Really? Do your job scale!

Okay, otherwise I'm cool. Good to go today. Hoping my teammates are having a good morning with their SWF. Downed it in 5 minutes like yesterday. Thinking I might cap out there. No 3 minutes like Kat. You're an animal girl! Speaking of animals, I bet we will all be like the honey badger when we get to eat again. I'm eating everything in sight and I don't care. I'm a nasty ass honey badger.

Johnny Five, I'm Alive!

It's day 5 and we are in it to win it!!!

I'm feeling pretty good, but earlier, as Deanna and Nelson can attest, I wasn't such a happy camper. The weather has a lot to do with it, but now I'm out of the funk and ready to finish THIS with the rest of my team. I don't think I would have done this without Nelson and Deanna. Specifically Deanna, bc work is tough. People eating chips, bananas, popcorn, chocolate, coffee. COFFEE! OH HOW I MISS COFFEE!!! I can't wait to go to Starbucks when this is done.

In response to Deanna's earlier post about the NASTY tongue, I believe I am the winner of the nastiest tongue contest and probably the worst breath too. Both Nelson and Deanna said my breath was "stale." LOL thank God I can't smell my own breath. Luckily I have my toothbrush and toothpaste here at work!

I had our co-worker Joe try the concoction and he said it taste like "burnt ass." I don't really think it tastes all that bad. Deanna also tried mine and she had that disgusted look on her face just like this:


Since we are half way there, I would like to address my fears from my first post:

#1 pooping my pants
- hasn't happened, and it won't happen. It's really simple. You drink the salt water, and it comes out like salt water. Just wait from 30min-hour and you're all set for the day. Haven't had anything else happen during the day, just #1.

#2 waking up in the middle night and not being able to go back to sleep due to hunger pangs
- I'm still waking up but it's not bc of hunger. I'm working on it! If I am hungry I just try to breath and let that fill my tummy.

#3 not being able to pay attention or focus
- I'm able to focus fine, but the lack of sleep kinda doesn't help, but regardless I'm aok with that.

So looking back, there was really not much to fear. I guess it's only natural to have these fears since it was the unknown.

Nasty! (and not in a good way)

EWWWWW! When you notice people backing away from you....Brush your teeth and your tongue...nasty!

Finish This

Day 5

So Day 4 felt good. I'm getting sick of the drink and the SWF but otherwise I have a good amount of energy and I'm feeling great. No complaints other than food cravings. The second day at work was okay. I went to the mall during lunch to avoid the food smells, sights and sounds but then ended up at a store next to the pretzel place that smells oh so gooooooood. Oops! No worries, I walked right by and didn't even look.

My family continues to check in and cheer me on which is so helpful. I also feel like I'm at a point where I can finally see the "finish line." My mantra was "one day at a time." Now it might be "You're going to finish this, I'm so proud." Can mantras be that long? Do they have to be one word? If so I can shorten it to "finish this." Wait no, that sounds mean like that mean instructor from the Karate Kid ("finish him"). How about "proud"? I can do that. Sorry it is 6am, I've been up for 30 minutes and I am little wired. To summarize, my message to all of you is Finish This!

Oh and is anyone else pissed off that on Day 1 of the ease out we have to just drink orange juice? Come on! Booooo! Give me so food...get in my belly!

Going to bed hungry...

I've been saying that I'm hungry for the past 30 minutes to Nelson and he pointed out something I never really thought about. There are thousands, if not millions, of people who are poor and can't afford a meal to eat at night and for days. For that, I am grateful that we have the ability to eat whatever, whenever we want. I will go to bed hungry tonight and think about those people who aren't as fortunate as us.

After I typed my paragraph above, I googled "how many people hungry in the world." Check this out...

925 million hungry people in 2010

I'm at a loss for words.

http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#Number_of_hungry_people_in_the_world

Half way through Day 4

Hi guys!

So today's my first day at work while on the cleanse. I called out yesterday so even though I thought it might be tough to do the cleanse by myself at home, I find it more difficult at work. I'm hungry bc everyone else around is either eating or talking about food. In fact, someone in my office gave me a coupon page from last Sunday's paper. They gave it to me bc there's a coupon for Fiber One cereal. People think I'm weird because I eat Fiber One, but they just don't know what they are missing!

Now the picture of Fiber One cereal doesn't really do anything for me, but underneath it, there's a coupon for Hungry Hamburger Helper. I know that sounds gross, but the picture is just so dam appealing! I would never eat it normally, but I guess at this point I find any food to be yummy. In fact, here are a few other things I would not normally eat that I find myself thinking about:

Fried Chicken
Egg Rolls
Eggplant Parm
Potato Bread

Ok I'm torturing myself and the others with my list... Just need to get it out!
Oh and what's great about this is that during my lunch hour, I can do other things without involving food, so it's a time saver. Last night, Nelson almost went into the fridge to get his hummus, but he caught himself and said that it was routine for him. We all fall into our food routines and patterns that it's really good to take a step back and realize how much time we are dedicating to food.

So I dedicate this blog to the Hamburger Helper Hand!

Hello Day 4

Day 4 - Morning

I recall talking to Kat a day or two before we began the cleanse. I said that we all had to at least make it to Day 4 because the first three are the hardest. We need to give it a fair shot until the magical Day 4 when life becomes blissful again. So, here we are, we all made it to Day 4. Yay us! I can speak for myself, but according to Kat's last post I am not making this up, today should be a good day. I could use one today. Yesterday was fine but I'm definitely missing food. I don't feel hungry but I never feel satisfied. It's a wierd sensation. So, I could use a good peaceful feeling today. I think we all could. So, Day 4, you better live up to your reputation.



Yesterday at work was okay. I was around food of course but I've been around food since Day 1 with Matthew at home (he tries to be discrete). It was good to stay busy at work but not too busy that you can't take a break to refill your bottle (happened to me around 12pm). No one even noticed that I was doing the cleanse or anything different so that must mean I am doing a good job at being natural despite feeling a little unlike myself.



I noticed that I don't look forward to my mornings anymore. As a morning person, I always liked going to bed with the excitement of having my morning the next day to put on the Today Show, eat some breakfast, maybe drink some coffee, and get ready for work. Now I have the SWF to look forward to. It makes me gag towards the end. It is a lot to drink so quickly, even if it was just water. Drank it in 7 minutes today.



On a positive note, I am down three pounds. Looks like about a pound a day. Makes sense since I'm still only drinking about 400-500 calories a day. Who knew I could consume that little in calories and not feel tired or faint? That has been the biggest surprise for me. It just goes to show you that you can lose weight if you drink water when you "think" you're hungry. Interesting...



Okay, tata for now! Come on Day 4, make me proud!

We will soon know what it feels like right before we die...

"After several days many Master Cleanse dieters report entering a state of bliss that is either the result of the continuing elimination of toxins, or else a state similar to the tranquil experience that people who are starving to death have shortly before dying."

http://calorielab.com/news/2008/07/17/master-cleanse-in-detail/

Nelson’s Day Three Morning

So far this morning is going off without a hitch for me. (Don’t want to jinx it) I woke up at 6am (poor Kat was already up) and was drinking my Salt Water Flush by 6:30am. I realized that my difficulty getting it down on the second day stemmed from my aversion to the taste. I was that I was trying to let the liquid bypass my tongue to get to the back of my throat witch made gulping difficult, which in turn prolonged the process which in turn lead to me having to deal with the taste even longer.

This morning I chugged it like a Gatorade letting the mixture hit my tongue, tasting the saltwater and giving the liquid a smooth route to the back of my throat. I still didn’t taste good but the experience was over in three minutes this time. It also worked quicker today. I made my first bathroom run within 30 minutes while the previous day I waited an hour.

Also, after the second day of the Salt Water Flush, I realized that my whole cycle lasts about an hour and a half. By 8:00am I was ready to get ready for work and didn’t need to use the bathroom again until about 10:30am. So my one-hour commute to work presented no problems.

I brought 64oz of the Lemonade Mixture with me to work. Hopefully that will keep me from being hungry throughout the day. In fact, I haven’t experienced severe hunger or excessive irritability since the first day. One thing I find for myself is that I prefer drinking a little bit every few minutes or so throughout the day. I think I tend to feel hungrier if I treat it like a normal 3 meal day. Having a bottle in the morning and then waiting till lunch time or dinner doesn’t work for me. Like I said, a little bit through the whole day works better for me.

My energy level and concentration at work so far is good, or as good as can be expected for a Monday. I will monitor how I feel throughout the day and report again when I get a chance.
I feel very fortunate to share the experience with two other people and imagine it would be much tougher if I were to do it on my own. I’m very proud of Deanna for sticking with it after a very tough first day and proud of my wife who has been doing great with the process despite battling insomnia. I partnered up with two tough chicks!

Stay strong Spring Cleaners. We’ll have to celebrate after we reach our goal!

Day 3 for me

Hi all,

It's monday and happy to be 1 step closer to day 10. Deanna, you're right 8 more days is better than 10 whole days!

So I'm not in the best of moods, but I will stick with the drinking today. I'm not at work today bc I couldn't sleep through the night. It's been an ongoing problem and this is the start of the 6th week. I actually thought it was 4 or 5, but after checking the calendar it is now 6 weeks.

When I woke up at 1am last night, my stomach was growling but I just took a few sips of water to fill my belly. That did help. Regardless of the sleepless nights, I am still doing this cleanse bc I feel it working!

The Salt Water Flush (SWF) worked well this morning. I added an extra teaspoon to my mixture, so I had a total of 3 teaspoons. It tasted really salty and I didn't down it like yesterday but still did it without dry heaving (even though I really was going to). Today's SWF went through me better today than yesterday so I will continue to do 3 teaspoons.

Nelson did better with the SWF today. He finished it before me!

anywho just a funny photo of how i feel in the middle of the early morning hours...

Keeping Busy

Day 3 - Early Morning
It's 6am. Finished my salt water flush in under 10 minutes. It was tough for me. Felt a little nauseous but it subsided. Just hanging around waiting for the flush to take its effect if you know what I mean. I didn't have the same experience as Kat and Nelson yesterday so I'm a little concerned that I did something wrong. Kat did some research, as she always does for me, and found that you need to drink the flush within 15 minutes, took me 45 yesterday. I cut 35 minutes off my time...ahaha, not bad. So hopefully I actually do some "flushing" today. I'll update again this afternoon or evening, going to go get ready for the first day of work on the cleanse. Wish me luck!

Another Day Bites the Dust

Day 2 - Evening
We all made it through another day. Congrats to us! I even hung out with people that were eating. I did alright, no real temptation. I'm staying the course. Now we only have 8 days to go, doesn't sound as bad as 10....

I'm off to relax and go to bed. Another 32oz of salt water awaits me in the morning and I have to drink that thing down in 15 minutes (took me 45 this morning but I wasn't trying my hardest). Tomorrow is the first day of work. I hope I have the energy and concentration but so far so good. Good Night!

Kanye Pepper

Just would like to point out that whenever Nelson tries to say Cayenne pepper, he ALWAYS says Kanye by accident.

Do Not Go In There...

Light a candle for your loved ones at home with you. We will all benefit from this small act of kindness.

I take care of myself because I deserve it.

Good morning folks! It's Sunday and we're excited to be on day 2! Not feeling so bad!

Today's message from my daily meditation email: Maintain Your Sanity

That will definitely help me get through the day and when I read their full post on their site, this caught my eye:

You deserve to take care of yourself. You need it, your body needs it and your mind needs it. So, make a move, today!

Now I'm not sure what kind of move they meant, but I automatically just thought of the bathroom when I read that. I know TMI...

I finished the salt water flush from 8:15-8:19, which I pretty much downed. Nelson just finished it and he didn't like it at all. He even said to me that he didn't know how I did it so fast. Well you see my friends, you just gotta do it! lol I know, easier said than done. I didn't really think much about it. I took my first sip thinking that it might be extra salty and it wasn't that bad so I decided to fully go through the drink, stop, do it again, stop, and finish it up.

I'm glad Deanna is getting through this and we are getting through this together. One day at a time is the motto for all of us! Will post again soon... Enjoy your Sunday Funday

I'm Still Here....One Day at a Time

Day 2 - Morning

I made it through the first day! I promised myself I would take this one day at a time...short term goals, not long term. So my goal today is only to make it to tomorrow. It seems to be working thus far. The drink got more tolerable as the day went one. I didn't drink as much as we were advised but I felt okay. I was even fine when Matt decided to snack on a hot pretzel and Doritos last night. I am very proud of myself, a big switch from yesterday morning.

I even slept better than I have in days! I was so nervous about the cleanse I wasn't sleeping well the few days leading up. Last night, slept like a baby. Go figure.

Woke up on my own at 7am and curiously picked up my salt water solution sitting in the kitchen. Examined it. Sniffed it (yes its in a water bottle but I was a little tired). Then took a tentative sip. Eh, not as bad as I expected. I've drank worse after being knocked over by a wave in the ocean. At least this solution doesn't have sand and apparently people's urine in it....yuck people stop peeing in the ocean, come on!

Anyway, I currently have 8 oz left of the salt water flush. I'm drinking while writing and listening to my "relaxing" playlist on my ipod. Yesterday I even bought some meditation guides for my ipod to use today (I couldn't get the CD Kat and Nelson made me to download, it is my computer's fault, it sucks). So I am well on my way to continuing another day. I might go outside for a little while and get some fresh air. Maybe pop over and say hi to my parents. Although I know my mom will have a big Italian meal cooking for her company today and boy does it always smell so good! So we will see how I'm feeling. Otherwise, more movies, magazines, books, music. Just keeping it low key.

Just want to send a little shout out to Kat and Nelson for being so helpful and supportive yesterday. I would have quit if it wasn't for you two, so thanks. Okay, let's do this!

Do Not Underestimate The First Day of The Cleanse

Kudos to Kat and Deanna for putting this blog together. I would not have taken the initiative on my own. I think it will be both cathartic for us and hopefully insightful for those of you who have not tried the cleanse.

While Kat and Deanna did take the initiative to schedule the cleanse week and jointly performed all of the ingredient purchasing without my help, I have always been enthusiastic about the idea and looked forward to starting the process for some time now.

I pride myself as being a patient person, someone who can endure many challenging endeavors. So when I imagined how these ten days would go, I envisioned that I would be able to complete the process without much difficulty, maybe experiencing some uncomfortableness along the way.

I'm very fortunate that my wife Kat planned out our first morning preparation. So far I have felt like a passive participant. From the previous posting you can see that we prepared the first batch together with relative ease. We did bicker over the measurement conversions a bit but were reassured that we had the formula right after we whipped out the calculator. Fortunately for me, unlike our friend Deanna, I don't mind the taste of the mix and might even lean towards liking it. I will say that the cayenne pepper did take me by surprise a bit as it tingled the back of my throat. It definitely gives the concoction a kick. Kat got a little in her eye for a moment and briefly reacted like someone had doused her with pepper spray.

So everything start off well. Heeding some sage advice from a friend of ours who has successfully been through the process several times, I kept active during the late morning hours to keep my mind off of the ritual of eating. It was working very well and I felt great. I was cleaning the house and completing tasks well enough for Kat and I stick to our plan of getting my car battery replaced. So grabbed a couple of bottles of water and headed out to nearby Sears Auto. I estimated that the trip would take and hour and a half tops. Plenty of time for us to get back and relax and have another bottle of the drink.

Everything was going well until I hit a little rough patch. The battery replacement was taking longer than expected and I had to keep on top of the sales rep to make sure our car went through. After 45 minutes I was very impatient and more irritable than I normally am. Longer story short, the battery replacement plus another errand took about two and a half hours.

At this point I hadn't had the lemonade drink in over three hours. On the drive home I was feeling a little dizzy and had a headache. I was the most uncomfortable that I had been all day. Kat noticed that I hadn't drank any of my water during this time so I took a few slugs from my water bottle. I think I was dehydrated. No lemonade and almost no water for three hours was a big mistake. Fortunately, when we got home I drank another bottle of the mix and now feel much better.

Lesson Learned: Do not underestimate the challenge of the first day.

Kat and I should not have gone on errands today and should have just laid low. Staying active around your house is one thing, but embarking on errands where you have to interact with potentially difficult full-stomached people is another. Also, I think I need to stay hydrated between feedings. I think sometimes thirst is mistaken for hunger pains.

Thanks for reading. Hope someone learns from our collective experiences someday. I can't promise I will post as often as the two blog founders but I will do my best. Happy cleansing!

Checking in!

So it's almost 6pm on day 1 and I'll be honest, I'm hungry!

It's hard not to think about food since I've been used to it for 30 years already! I know that the first 3 days are the hardest so at least day 1 is almost over! I'm just wondering how the heck I can do this for another 9 1/2 days. Hopefully time will fly fast.

I feel a little weak and earlier I felt a little light headed. I'm definitely more irritated now and just before we went out to get a new battery for Nelson's car and everyone bothered me. It might also just be that it's New York and people are just plain rude.

Nelson's handling this quite well so I'm trying to follow his lead!

So in order for me to get through this, I googled a few sites to see how others got through it. After reading My Journey into the Master Cleanse, I felt a little bit better and it reminded me of WHY I am doing this:

To dissolve & eliminate toxins that have formed in any part of the body.
To cleanse the kidneys and the digestive system.
To purify the glands and cells throughout the entire body.
To eliminate all unusable waste & hardened material in the joints & muscles.
To relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries, and blood vessels.
To build a healthy blood stream.
To keep youth and elasticity regardless of your years.

Tomorrow morning we will do the Salt Water Flush. It will require 1 liter of water with 2 teaspoons of sea salt. Apparently this goes right through you... We will have to figure out a good schedule on when we both drink the flush since we only have 1 bathroom.

For now, I'm gonna go upstairs and lay in bed to study. Don't wanna eat the paper!

One Day at a Time

Day 1 - Afternoon

It's 2pm and I'm still with it...barely but I'm trying. My kind friends Kat & Nelson have suggested that I blog, meditate, get moving around to take my mind off of it. So I am taking their advice. I'm going to give it the good old college try. I mean it tastes bad but I can deal with it right? I did not expect this bump in the road. I expected the poop (ew), I expected the hunger now and again, I expected to be a little tired. I did not expect the stuff to be appalling! Of course at first I was/am disappointed with myself. But I didn't give up yet. I'm going to keep trying and maybe I will get used to it. My goal is to get through today and tomorrow morning. I'll take it from there. One day at a time...wasn't that a tv show? Stay strong you two, I'm still there with you (for now). : )

P.S. Just for fun look up the word "gross" under google images and see what random stuff pops up. I had to change my search to "disgusted." Worked out better. hahaha

Day 1 at the Castro Residence

So I had a wonderful dream last night... I was at a carnaval and there was so much food including my favorite portuguese dessert, Filhos, aka Fried Dough!

Then I woke up and realized there is no food to be eaten for 10/11 days. Ok we can do this.

So we started prepping (and arguing over the measurements)...

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS...

I'm soooo happy to be doing this. (Sarcasm)

Measuring out the 12 tablespoons of lemon juice = 3/4 cup.

Nice Jugs! :) There's 60 oz. of water in each.

Another 12 tablespoons of maple syrup. Thanks to Deanna for getting it for us!

... and finally 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper.

(Just a bit less than the recipe called for)

Nelson is sleep shaking!

All I wanted for breakfast was cereal so I took my frustration out on my jug.

"Ahh... ain't so bad." Nelson's a happy camper after his first sip!

I may be drinking, but I'm thinking about eating pancakes.

Good luck Deanna. We got this!

Maybe a good trick would be to imagine it tasting like something we love when we're guzzling it down.

Tune in later to see our status!