I've been feeling blah lately...bloated and fatigued and just off. I've been researching cleanses the past month or so but haven't been able to commit to one fully. I really liked the idea of a juice cleanse but knew that I would be able to stick to an all liquid diet for less than a day. Any cleanse that made me feel like I was starving wouldn't last long-I just don't have that willpower.It seems like every week someone new in my department was trying a new cleanse or diet. Currently one girl just finished the 10 day cayenne pepper, lemon juice and maple syrup cleanse (she hated it and said she was so hungry during that when it ended all she did was eat like crazy), another just started a juice fast and another just went Paleo. None of these are feasible for me. I know to set myself up for success and all of these would just lead to my failure. Another couple of my coworkers started the Sambazon Cleanse on Friday and I really liked the sound of it. Drink these three drinks a day and follow a vegan/gluten free meal plan. The cleanse even came with it's own meal plan-a plus for me because I need to know exactly what to eat and when. This cleanse was so structured I knew that I would easily be able to do it for 3 days. I read another review online of this cleanse and the girl planned to just consume the drinks and nothing else, which the cleanse says that if you have done cleanses before this is fine. She wasn't able to complete it, though, because she kept getting tempted by food at work. I don't like cleanses that deprive you of food for many reasons but the top two are that your body needs food for fuel-the cayenne, lemon water, maple syrup concoction is not sustaining you at all. I do give in a bit when it comes to a juice cleanse because you can get all the nutrients if you choose the right vegetables and fruit, but you lose a lot of fiber when juicing. There is also a cleanse where you eat a pureed soups..that doesn't count as a deprivation of food to me, though. The second reason is willpower...if you are depriving your body of food and only drinking juice three times a day and water in between then you are more susceptible to the lure of food. Your defenses are down. Unless you can clean out your kitchen completely and stay home from work, I just don't like the odds. Of course, I have very limited willpower so this could just be my bias talking.
When reading about it I really liked that it was described as a way to "reset". That's exactly what I needed! I didn't want to be running to the bathroom with diarrhea every 20 minutes (completely not a possible scenario at my job as I spent one to three hours bagging patients the last three shifts I worked). I also loved that the literature including the words "emotionally hungry". It's amazing when you read something that perfectly puts into context what you have been feeling without even knowing it. Emotional hunger isn't necessarily eating when you are depressed or anxious or bored but the feeling that you feel like you need to eat even when you're not hungry. It's more of a nagging thought than an actual hunger pang. For me it happens when I see or smell or think about food. It often leads to me overeating and is probably why I have been feeling so blah.
The drinks themselves are only $15 at Costco, but if you follow the meal plan all the fruits and veggies can run pretty expensive. You should buy organic when possible, which means a big price increase but I cheated and didn't get all organic. I couldn't find all of the produce organically grown and I thought that was okay. I was familiar with almost all of the veggies I bought except for baby bok choy and beets. I have never eaten or cooked with these, although I have been meaning to make beets a regular part of my diet because they have a ton of health benefits. There were a few spices that I had to buy like caraway and fennel seeds but luckily my grocer has a bulk section that you can measure out how much you want...a huge plus because I needed less than a tablespoon of each spice. Two things that I have never used and may be hard to find for people who don't live in an area with a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts, etc. was cacao nibs and hemp hearts. I had to buy a bag of each so will be searching the internet for uses for these. Another thing I really loved about this cleanse was that the meals were pretty simple and the recipes easy to follow. When I tried to go gluten free or vegan before I always found it daunting because the recipes called for things like sea vegetables or tempeh. There is a recipe that calls for tofu and I am a little nervous I will mess that up just because I haven't cooked with it before...I don't even know how I am supposed to dice it. Luckily I have some vegetarian friends that can guide me.
There's a lot of food preparation that goes with these meals. The preparation and cooking can be overwhelming. I made it a point to cut up veggies and fruits the night before so that when it came time to cook, everything was ready for me and every meal didn't turn into an hour long ordeal.
So I am about to conclude Day 1 and so far it's been pretty painless. The only thing I struggled with was timing. You are supposed to eat every 3 hours but I found this to be a little difficult to sustain. It was my day off so I slept in until 9 and didn't get the breakfast (a cayenne, lemon, cherry drink and 10-15 almonds) until almost 10, which put my mid morning snack at 1, lunch at 4, midday snack at 7 and dinner at 10. I thought I would eat every 2.5 hours instead but it didn't work out like that. The breakfast drink was not good. It tasted like I just vomited. I didn't taste any cherry in there but definitely tasted the lemon and cayenne. Luckily you only drink 10 ounces and I was able to down it pretty quickly. The almonds helped offset the taste, thankfully. My mid morning snack was a 1/2 cup quinoa with blueberries and a tablespoon of coconut oil. I thought the coconut oil would give it an interesting taste but really it just made it seem oily. I am not a huge fan of quinoa. I know it's good for me and so I make an effort to eat it in place of rice or as a side but the truth is, while I can stand it I don't yet love it and would take rice over it any day. The blueberries saved this snack for me and I was able to eat it all. Funnily enough, I felt pretty full afterwards and had to make myself eat lunch at 4. That's quinoa for you, it's a complete protein (the only grain I know of that is). What that taught me was that if I want to stay full, I should opt for quinoa. Guess I will be finding some recipes and learning to love this little grain. If I made it with coconut oil and blueberries again I would probably add some strawberries too just for some added flavor.
For lunch I had a red potato and green bean salad with mustard. I was a little hesitant about this one when making it. It sounded so good but I got uber natural mustard which still had mustard seeds in it so I was concerned with how it would turn out. It was actually very good. The mustard was not overwhelming at all. I was surprised the meal plan included potatoes because they are so starchy but I love potatoes so I didn't mind at all. I was not hungry at all with this meal but was able to eat a serving nonetheless. I also had the second drink which was a green drink with kale, cucumber, parsley and apple. It was pretty good. Tasted a little like apple juice.
Mid day snack was the third drink. I was really looking forward to this one! Brazil nuts, cashews and cocoa! It was not as chocolaty as I had envisioned but good nonetheless. Maybe I didn't shake the container enough. Guess I will find out tomorrow. Dinner was super good. It was a veggie burger patty topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, avocado and tomato with a spinach salad with lemon and olive oil dressing. Sooo yummy. I'm really glad the package came with four veggie patties because I will definitely be making this again.
Right now I still have about 20 ounces of water left to drink. You're supposed to drink half your body weight in ounces. I have been adding lemon or mint to the water so it doesn't get boring. I am actually pretty full right now, but not uncomfortably so. Hopefully tomorrow I can get up earlier and get started earlier so I am not eating so late at night. So far I don't feel any different. Not lighter or healthier. In fact, I was really tired all day. I took two naps this afternoon, totaling four hours. I've been working and travelling a lot, though, so I really don't think it has anything to do with the cleanse, especially since I know I am getting enough fuel from the food I am eating. I'm excited for tomorrow...hopefully I will feel something then.
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