As I previously posted, I decided to commit to a 14 day total body cleanse. 7 days of fasting 7 of eating raw/vegan/gluten free. Annnnd while it took me closer to three weeks, today is the last day!
DAY 1: The first day of drinking the master cleanse juice was miserable. It was a Saturday, I was starving and out of my mind bored. Matt and I drove in circles trying to find something to do other than drink or go to brunch.
DAY 2: And Sunday wasn’t much better… I felt depleted of energy, ready to give up, and extremely irritable. It didn’t help that I had quite a lot of shopping to do and my companion was throwing back candy like it was going out of style.
DAY 3-7: But Sunday folded into Monday and I woke up feeling energized, slimmer and overall pleased with my decision to keep fasting. The week flew by, and it was a breeze staying clear of food and drinks. My only complaint is that my body stopped heating itself appropriately, so I was miserably cold in 70 degree weather.
DAY 7-9: Now according to the plan (which I posted a in-depth summary of a few posts back), I was supposed to introduce solids very slowly back into my diet on the second Saturday. This just happen to be the same Saturday I was at my first coachella weekend, so needless to say I had a few mishaps. I definitely drank, but at least I stayed to the raw/vegan/gluten free guidelines (right?!)
DAY 10-14: We discovered Erewhon, so basically we ate like Vegan kings for this entire week. Not drinking was tough with friends in town, but eating was a cinch. Fruit for breakfast, raw zucchini ‘pasta’ for lunch, trail mix snacks and raw vegan tacos, salads, soups and quinoa for dinner.
This was the point where I was supposed to do the dreaded epsom salt chugging followed by drinking a half cup of olive oil — but with Vegas coming up on the 15th, I decided to postpone one more week….
Day 15-17: Drank like a fish, but miraculously stuck to the diet! Lots of nuts, lots of fruits and a few salads thrown in the mix. Definitely hard to turn down In n Out for the ride home, but I persevered!
Day 18-21: Back to eating clean until last night. When I did the epsom salt/extra virgin olive oil death cleanse.
Conclusions: I’ve never felt so empowered as I did the first week. Food is such a clutch for me, and no matter how full I am… I become a ravenous animal when I get home from a stressful day of work. And even worse at night while I mindlessly munch. Okay, I basically mindlessly eat nonstop from waking up to falling asleep. Not eating left me feeling in control of my body and will power. Plus abstaining from coffee alcohol (kind of) and gum was a huge feat for me.
I feel guilty for frivolous weekend festivities, but the cleanse isn’t meant to torture you right? If I’ve got the concept right, the program is meant to enliven you and give your body and mind a peaceful vacation. Not sure if my body had a vacation per se, but the empowerment of the first week hasn’t quite worn off and I’ve lost 5 or so pounds off my middle. (My boyfriend even shed 20!) Did my gallbladder stones flush out of my system? Who knows. Is this actually cleansing my system or just throwing it into shock? Also not sure. What I do know is that I feel a little more alive, and a little more guided on my relentless pursuit of health and wellness.
