21 days and 1 litre of Extra Virgin Olive Oil later, I'm done my cleanse!
Things I've learned:
• have 1/2 cup grapefruit juice with breakfast and 1/2 cup veggie juice with dinner. Any other beverage throughout the day should be water or herbal tea.
• have 50% raw and 50% steamed veg at lunch
• no raw fruit or veg after 4 pm
• limit intake of red meat (once a month) and no pork (bye, bye bacon) but enjoy chicken and fish several times a week (preferably organic chicken and wild fish – not the bottom-feeding, mercury laden kind)
• have an egg once, or twice a week
• raw shredded beets and carrots tossed with sunflower oil and balsamic vinegar is yummy and apparently a good cleanser
• no white sugar (which is refined using arsenic) – use raw sugar, maple syrup or honey
• use sea salt not regular table salt
Tonight I think I will celebrate with some popcorn (dressed in organic butter and sea salt).
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Cleanse... Week 3 Day 6
That's right folks, only 2 days (including today) to go!!
That tally so far... 10 lbs lost internally (ie. I haven't changed clothing sizes), energy is high, I feel fantastic, I've eaten a bunch of new things I hadn't tried before (quinoa, lentils, swiss chard, steel cut oats, broccoli rabe, white turnips...there are probably more that I can't remember).
The cleanse is great and because it's all food related, you don't need any other supplements or have to have and special powders or pills. My mother is interested, although wants to know the "science" behind it, but if she does it, I'd totally do it again. It's more like a restorative cleanse and 21 days is how long it takes for the intestinal bacteria to reset/regenerate. Dr. Rau says, "Our goal is to substitute healthy cells for weak or damaged cells. Providing the right nutrition helps create a healthier organ by establishing an optimal internal environment for at least one or more generation spans of the organ's cells." He then gives a list of Life Spans of Various Cells...Blood Cells–1 month, Lymph Cells–2 months, Liver–6-12 months, Nerves–2-7 years!!
Anyway, I found it fascinating and easy to follow. My main reason for doing this was to get my intestines working properly again so I didn't feel my digestive system working, so I would feel better and have more energy. Now that I've almost completed the cleanse, I have had a chance to see what I've been eating and what I really don't need to eat. It is a total mind shift. I'm hoping that I can continue eating this well and get the rest of the family to eat this way too. That's my next project!
That tally so far... 10 lbs lost internally (ie. I haven't changed clothing sizes), energy is high, I feel fantastic, I've eaten a bunch of new things I hadn't tried before (quinoa, lentils, swiss chard, steel cut oats, broccoli rabe, white turnips...there are probably more that I can't remember).
The cleanse is great and because it's all food related, you don't need any other supplements or have to have and special powders or pills. My mother is interested, although wants to know the "science" behind it, but if she does it, I'd totally do it again. It's more like a restorative cleanse and 21 days is how long it takes for the intestinal bacteria to reset/regenerate. Dr. Rau says, "Our goal is to substitute healthy cells for weak or damaged cells. Providing the right nutrition helps create a healthier organ by establishing an optimal internal environment for at least one or more generation spans of the organ's cells." He then gives a list of Life Spans of Various Cells...Blood Cells–1 month, Lymph Cells–2 months, Liver–6-12 months, Nerves–2-7 years!!
Anyway, I found it fascinating and easy to follow. My main reason for doing this was to get my intestines working properly again so I didn't feel my digestive system working, so I would feel better and have more energy. Now that I've almost completed the cleanse, I have had a chance to see what I've been eating and what I really don't need to eat. It is a total mind shift. I'm hoping that I can continue eating this well and get the rest of the family to eat this way too. That's my next project!
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Cleanse... Week 2 Day 5
Had some lovely Guacamole (with 6 baked tortilla chips) for a snack and a Black Bean with Cashew and Carrot "Burger" for dinner. Not too shabby. Tomorrow is Eggplant for lunch and Beet Soup for dinner. Although I'm not craving the sweets, when I took fresh made (not by me) Long Johns out to Craig yesterday (it was our 9th anniversary and he had to work a 12 hr day... I took 15 buns out for the 15 years we've been together... I know, too sweet, pun intended) I was mighty tempted to sink my teeth into that icing sugar piece of heaven. Drool....
Well, I'm almost done the cleanse. I do feel "cleaner"... lighter and healthier, much more energy. I've lost 10 lbs although you wouldn't know it to look at me. I cannot fathom that I had 10 lbs of toxins in me! That's is seriously disgusting. I haven't changed sizes so it must be all internal. Gross, eh?
I feel I've been remiss in the last little while posting schtuff. I told Craig last night that I feel all I've been doing to making salad, steaming veggies and then washing the dishes to use at the next meal. It's a lot of work! And then, because the kids and their daddy aren't interested in eating all these veggie dishes, I'm making other stuff for them to eat. Every time Craig tries a dish, he feels sick. Could it be that his body cannot handle all the veggie goodness? I'm also finding that groceries are quite expensive. I've been buying for the week and it's always around $200 by the time I get done. This diet is going to cost me $600 for 3 weeks!! Yikes!! That's one thing I wish I could change... for people wanting to be healthier, to eat healthier, you'd think it would be more affordable and the selection would be better without having to travel all over the place (gas is too expensive!!!). And would it hurt to get a Whole Foods here?!?!?
Well, I'm almost done the cleanse. I do feel "cleaner"... lighter and healthier, much more energy. I've lost 10 lbs although you wouldn't know it to look at me. I cannot fathom that I had 10 lbs of toxins in me! That's is seriously disgusting. I haven't changed sizes so it must be all internal. Gross, eh?
I feel I've been remiss in the last little while posting schtuff. I told Craig last night that I feel all I've been doing to making salad, steaming veggies and then washing the dishes to use at the next meal. It's a lot of work! And then, because the kids and their daddy aren't interested in eating all these veggie dishes, I'm making other stuff for them to eat. Every time Craig tries a dish, he feels sick. Could it be that his body cannot handle all the veggie goodness? I'm also finding that groceries are quite expensive. I've been buying for the week and it's always around $200 by the time I get done. This diet is going to cost me $600 for 3 weeks!! Yikes!! That's one thing I wish I could change... for people wanting to be healthier, to eat healthier, you'd think it would be more affordable and the selection would be better without having to travel all over the place (gas is too expensive!!!). And would it hurt to get a Whole Foods here?!?!?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
My street
It is strange that I wonder what is in the delivery trucks cruising down our street... or is it even more strange that I judge the contents by the logos on the trucks. Mostly I wonder how people can spend so much money on their places (or maybe I'm a bit envious of it). I see landscaping trucks, furniture trucks, lawn care companies, renovators, restorers, hundreds or thousands worth of product and merchandise traveling down the street. Just once, I think I'll get a delivery from some hoity-toity delivery service to see what the neighbours say... Dream big Heather, dream big.
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