http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcPjvp4La8A

Cleanse Update: And...The End. Maybe Not.

So to recap, I undertook a two-week whole foods cleanse/de-tox on October 1st. I retained a coach for this cleanse, who provided me with many recipes and daily food for thought and phone check-ins. The food I made was tasty and filling and 'normal' (stuffed zuchhini boats, chickpea patties), and the cleanse was full-spectrum, for it included a ban on TV, news, and evening computer use; it also included yoga and meditation. Oh, and powerful, wonderful tea. I want to call it a great cleanse, overall, despite the fact for three of the fourteen days my thighs, hips, and back hurt so badly I thought I had the flu, followed by, three days later, two days of intense congestion, which made me think I had a cold. The update on the latter is that, no, I did not have a cold, for it never went to my lungs and never knocked me out. The congestion literally cleared up overnight. Wow. Powerful.

So what's next? Well, the day after breaking the cleanse, just yesterday--I had sashimi and side salad at a nice restaurant--I gave thought to continuing the cleanse. Perhaps not 100%, but I have the energy and desire to keep eating whole foods primarily. Why?

*Because I'm stunned how hard and effectively my body worked during the cleanse to rid itself of toxins and unneeded junk; I suspect there is more cleansing I can do.

*Because I have learned to tell the difference between hunger and blood sugar wackiness. I get easily lightheaded a couple hours after I eat. In the past, I would eat something, even if I was not hungry. Now, I drink this phenomenal sugar balancing tea. Voila, as they say in France! Pas de problem.

*Because I did drop some unwanted pounds and have some more to shed. I realized from this cleanse I don't have to starve or feel deprived in order to lose unnecessary fat!

*Because it was 'real.' It was menu planning, shopping, food prep, discipline, and the felt joy of eating simply and being mindful of all we put into our body.

Of course, I'm going to a swanky wedding tonight. If I have a little cake or a bit of champagne, I'll be all right with it, for I accomplished a big thing already, and tomorrow is a new day!

Namaste.

Cleanse Update: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Day Ten Report:

I am lighter! I haven't had processed foods, alcohol, caffeine, dairy, meat, and wheat in ten days! Zing! My horrible hip, thigh, and back pains just disappeared four days ago! There are a zillion beautiful whole foods recipes my coach has passed to me to enjoy, and the ones I've tried have been delicious. (I am particularly in love with the beetroot soup!). My coach emails me every night affirmation/food for thought new challenges, new meditations, and new ideas for re-thinking what, why, how, and when of my food intake. I know what foods I'm sensitive to, what triggers my cravings, and (lordy, this is FINE) how to now--because I've been practicing it--say to myself, "I don't want to have that. I choose not to eat that" instead of, "Oh my god, I hate this cleanse. Why do I have to be on a cleanse? Why can't I eat what I *WANT*? Life sucks" and other effort-defeating things. So my body is de-toxing, and my mind and heart arem too. THAT IS GOOD!

My sleeping problem is not solved. I've always been a bad sleeper: four or five hours, and I awake. Before the cleanse, I suspected that much of what I was eating for dinner was waking me up. I was partly right. I don't wait up now in some jagged post-sugar come down from a dinner heavy on the carbs, but...sigh...I STILL wake up. Not every night, because now I'm on this rocking special herb tea that my coach created just for me, and it helps calm the body/mind during the day to make a normal sleep more possible, but...I STILL am not sleeping well. THAT IS BAD!

And now...a cold. I used to get colds all the time. All the time. And between colds I'd have sinus infections. Once I brought yoga into my life, such poor health turned to good: I'm happy to report whereas eight years ago I was getting a cold every other month, I am now getting one cold every two or three years. Maybe it's the cleanse that made me vulnerable to germies this date, maybe I was just due, but here I am on Cleanse Day #10, and I'm miserable. And that's not good, or bad. THAT IS UGLY!

So I'm off to call my coach for some consulting. No wait. Consoling. No wait. Both.

Cleanse, Day Four: Ouch!!!!

All right, all right. Perhaps I was a little overly optimistic to think this cleanse was going to be a true love, a cleanse to remember (see prior post). Today I woke with aches so acute I want to sum them up as such: I'm dying.

Fortunately, I'm not. I certainly do not know who to blame for my aches, so I blame no one, not even myself. That revelation of non-blame regarding pain is one huge step life for me, to be in the middle of a cleanse and not feel as though I'm in a suit way too tight for me, or on a planet where there's not enough oxygen for me, or in some mean babysitter's kitchen where no food is served after 3 p.m. because you're going to go home soon....some day...not too much longer, and eat. I have so much to tend to during this cleanse that pointing fingers at past people or habits that cause stored toxicity and stress in the body is--rimshot, please--counter-productive.

Still. I am miserable. The aches I feel are in my upper and mid back, thighs, and hips. It's just like having the flu, but I have no other symptoms. You'd think I'd be all happy about that. Only to a slight degree am I. I know I'm not sick, so why why why ME? The answer is, 'why NOT me?'

Part of this cleanse--oh, I'd say a large part of it--is mental: hot baths, heating pads, calming teas so I can sleep, and the prescribed yoga by my coach are part and parcel along with a whole foods diet. On this cleanse, if you stick to it, you can't escape improvement. It's just that the road to that can start out bumpy. All cleanses offer that. Money back guarantee: A challenge for you psyche and soul or WE pay for your vegetables!

Hey, Ouchville: I'm not having any fun walking down your streets these days, but soon I'll find a clearing, and I'll say goodbye to you, and that will be a breath of fresh air. Namaste.

A Cleanse to Remember

I am beginning my third day of a 14-day whole food de-tox and cleanse. This is the third annual autumn cleanse I have undertaken.

The first cleanse, a five-day juice extravaganza, bordered on the surreal, like a dream whose details we do not quite remember. My first cleanse ever, it was a radical choice, for going to the juicy side without so much as a half-day lead-in--I think I had meat AND wine AND chocolate the night before, la vita dopa!--asked more from me than I was able and willing to give.

Cleanses are like relationships. Once you're in one, you'd kind of like to see it through to its happy ending. You and the cleanse both deserve it.

The second cleanse was so much more interesting than the first because by now I was used to hunger, and I was permitted to eat solid foods in the second week. My second cleanse was a kit I purchased containing whey protein, bioactive supplements, and beet powder with instructions about which of them to eat at what time of day in juice or smoothie form, adding to my diet as much vegetable and fruit juice as I wanted, or raw or steamed non-starch vegetables or fruit, with an emphasis on green, raw vegetables. By the second week I could add brown rice and lentils only if I were really hungry.

Lentils. Now we were talking.

Sort of. This second cleanse was like a chick flick. I loved it, I felt it, I laughed and cried throughout. And, to the credit of naysayers of chick flicks everywhere, it felt canned. When it was over, it was over, and I went back to my comparatively unglamorous non-cleanse life, quickly picking up on my old eating habits without the mental awareness and discipline to drop them and take up the new. It’s like the time my best friend said, “Ack. Why are you dating HIM? Can’t you see THIS GUY’S so much better?” I think she was even pointing to a group photograph of us all, but did the visual help even? Nope.

And now. Cleanse #3. Much better. So much better. For one, I hired a coach. Lightbulb goes off: professionals are paid for a reason! They know stuff! Second, she provided a regimen she designed just for me based on her knowledge gained about me from many conversations and several questionnaires. My daily regimen includes Taoist herb tea, pranayama, asana, meditation, NO tv/news/evening computer use, and….ta-da-…ta-da…ta-da…food. Whole food. Sure we juice. Sure we eat raw. Sure there are so many veggies in the menus it takes a ton of cleaning, chopping, and peeling. But on this cleanse, ladies and gentlemen, I eat grains. Warm potatoes. Beans. Nut milk. Honey sparingly.

Honey sparingly. That’s fun to say.

I do think I am in love. I think me and this, me and this, me and this cleanse, we got a thing going on. Stay tuned for the reviews.