Final Cleanse Recap

So I mentioned a couple weeks ago that prior to my birthday I would be doing a final cleanse based on this detox cleanse from A Healthy Purpose for a period of 12 days before my birthday to give my digestive system a break, reduce bloating, and reduce psychological cravings for stimulant foods (like sugar and chocolate).

This was the basic outline of the plan:

Days 1-3: 100% Raw
Days 4-5: Green Smoothies
Days 6-7: Master Cleanse
Days 8-9: Green Smoothies
Days 10-12: 100% Raw

Of course, you’re all wondering how it went right?

Mental Reactions:

In terms of cravings, I didn’t find the cleanse to be too hard. The raw days were easiest. It being summer, I naturally want to eat raw food anyway, so not too much trouble there. Although, I might have cheated a bit on my raw days (okay, actually I cheated A LOT on day 11. I ate bread and pasta, woops!).

My liquid days were a lot easier than anticipated. I expected to be thinking about food all day long, but surprisingly I wasn’t even craving food all that much. I’m always craving something and usually that something is sugar. So it really did work in suppressing my psychological dependence on food. Unfortunately that suppression didn’t last beyond he cleanse, because as soon as I was done it I was back to eating cake and cookies and chocolate.

During days 6 and 7, the Master Cleanse days, no one wanted to be around me, and I don’t think it’s coincidental. Matt kept asking me why I was so moody. I was cranky and annoyed all the time, for no apparent reason. It wasn’t pretty.

Physical Reactions:

In terms of energy level, I still had lots of energy over those 12 days. I’d even venture to say that I had even more than when I eat normally. The cleanse didn’t effect my weightlifting at all and I was still able to run 16 miles over the course of the week. I even did more yoga classes than normal because I felt so good!

I mentioned some specifics of the Master Cleanse in this post that I wrote on Day 6. Basically, between the lemonade, the herbal laxative tea, and plain water I was so hydrated that I needed to be near the bathroom all the time. The herbal laxative tea is definitely effective, but it gave me quite an upset stomach.
One thing that I didn’t mention in the Master Cleanse post was the salt water flush that I did before bed: 2 tsp of salt dissolved into 2 c. of water. Stir and drink. Sound kinda gross? Try worst thing I’ve ever had. You’re actually supposed to drink a litre, but I could barely get 2 cups down. It tasted like I was drowning in the ocean. I tried to chug it all in one go, but I had to stop in between to chase it with some fresh water. When I finally got it down, I waited for the magic to happen. Less than 15 minutes later, that “magic” was more like a bad case of the stomach flu. Suffice to say that I’m pretty sure my colon was entirely cleansed.

Would I recommend this cleanse?

Yes. I really did feel good during those 12 days, my cravings were suppressed and I felt less bloated and more energetic.

What would I change?

If you wanted to make it a bit shorter, I would suggest cutting out the first and last raw day and maybe just steer clear of meat, dairy, and gluten on those days. I don’t think 3 raw days was totally necessary.
I wouldn’t do the master cleanse for more than 2 days, because I don’t think people could stand my crankiness!

Will I do it again?

I think so. Maybe during the winter. I could make it a biannual thing.

Do I think it worked?

I don’t think it had any lasting effects. I mean, I lost some weight, but it was obviously just water and poop. Also, my craving suppression didn’t last beyond the 12 days.

day 185: cleansing weekend

Have you ever taken an 86 year old woman shopping for clothes? Let me tell you, it is a nearly impossible task. My sister and I took my Nonna to the mall on Saturday morning to go shopping for a shirt to wear to an upcoming wedding. We always dread taking her shopping for clothes, not because she walks painfully slowly through the mall corridors, nor because she shouts commands at us (“Pay the lady!”) but because she is the world’s pickiest shopper.

You could pick any top off the racks of the most “old lady friendly” clothing store and she’ll find something wrong with it before even bothering to try it on. I believe the standard response to anything that we presented to her was “Oh ca’mon, I look ridiculous!”, a phrase used to mean anything from “I don’t like the colour” to “The sleeves are too short” to “The top is too long”. My sister and I were able to get he to try on several tops just by ushering her into the change room and bringing tops to her that we thought she might not hate. Whenever Nonna put on a top in the change room she would lament at how tight it was on the belly and tell us that she was getting fat. …I guess I know where my fat talk comes from.

So I guess fat talk doesn’t stop with age. It grows with you if you let it. It crosses generational boundaries. I hope that if I live to be a spunky 86 year old woman, like my Nonna, I won’t still be standing in front of the mirror picking at my body. I hope that my wrinkles will tell of all the days I’ve spent enjoying the sunshine, and that my chubbiness will show off my penchant for decadent desserts, and that my grey hair will make me look distinguished (okay, maybe that only works for men, but a girl can dream).

Eventually we were able to find a beautiful sheer black tunic with a grey camisole that makes her look 20 years younger. We even convinced her to buy a trendy long silver necklace to go with the outfit. Before we left my sister and I mentioned that Nonna is very picky when it comes to clothes. Nonna piped up and said: “I know what I want, and that’s what I’ll buy.” So, in spite of her fat talk I’m proud that she knows what she wants and what will make her comfortable with her appearance. I wish I could say the same.

I had intended to make some chia pudding for breakfast because I loved it on my first and second raw days, but I was out late on Friday night catching up with a friend and I totally forgot to make it. Instead I made a Sesame Banana Bowl with a very ripe banana.

1 Banana, sliced; 1 T tahini; 1 t molasses; sprinkling of cinnamon

After I made my dish pretty for the camera, I just mushed it all together and ate it with a spoon. Oh Yeah.

Bananas are my favourite food.

Lunch was a papaya salad from Red Papaya.

Dinner was a raw zucchini and carrot salad with a dressing made of cashews, tomato, and LOTS of basil.

Today was a green smoothie only day. As is tomorrow. I’d be interested if anyone has any good green smoothie recipes they want to share.

Update: Look out tonight for my first post in the Bikini Confidence blogger series!

day 183: second raw day

On to day 2 of raw eating!

I copied yesterday’s breakfast of Chia Pudding. I’m really liking this stuff! Chia pudding for breakfast tomorrow? I’m gonna go with YES.

Today’s pudding was flavoured with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg instead of the oolong tea. I love this spice combination; it reminds me of John R. Park Homestead.

In spite of the 30*C weather, my office is an ice box. I have cute skirts and short sleeved summer shirts that I can’t wear to work because of the temperature. Today I wore a sweater and long, heavy trousers and I had to sit on my feet to keep them warm. This is not my idea of a comfortable work environment. On days like this I wish I were a smoker so I could have an excuse to hang out outside without looking like I were casing the building. Alternately, I’m seriously considering investing in a snuggie strictly for office use and hoping it will catch on as neo-business casual. Let’s all do it. We’ll start a movement.

…Where was I going with all this?

Oh yeah, … I tried to keep warm today by drinking my new favourite tea. Kusmi Prince Vladimir tea. It’s a Russian style black tea that I scored in Montreal that’s flavoured with citrus, vanilla, and spices. I’m a sucker for good quality tea, and this Kusmi stuff is good, plus the package is photogenic. Win-win.

Before you ask, yes I did spend $5.82 on 50g of tea.

I was really excited for lunch today, but it turned out to be a let down. Had I not been so liberal with the seasoning, this mock chicken salad would have tasted awesome. But it didn’t. Instead, it tasted like salt.

I’m not giving up on this recipe because I know it can be good if I just stay away from the salt pig next time.

Mock Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 15 raw almonds
• 15 raw cashews
• 2 T raw sunflower seeds
• 3 stalks of celery hearts
• 1/4 of a green pepper
• 3 fresh sage leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place ingredients in the food processor and process until it forms a chunky paste. Make sure not to over-season the mixture!

Serve with your favourite salad (raw), or in a wrap or sandwich (not raw).

day 182: raw day

Today I did it raw as part of my Final Cleanse before my upcoming birthday. 3 raw meals and countless snacks (of fresh fruit and raw nuts) and it was much easier than expected. I’m actually really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow.

Breakfast was by far my favourite meal. Creamy Nut Chia Seed Pudding with Ripe Banana. I whirred with the food processor: 3/4 c almond milk, 2 T chia seeds, 1/4 t cornstarch, 1/8 t salt, 1/2 t cinnamon, 3 dates, 1 t Creamy Nut Oolong tea. And, yeah, I know oolong is not raw. I let the concoction sit overnight in the fridge and, voila, pudding!

Lunch wasn`t extraordinary. Roma Tomato and Basil Salad with Hemp Seeds, dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.

I had dinner at my nonna`s house today. In the summertime every meal she makes consists of a salad with radicchio. I swear the woman could live off radicchio, bread, and cheese. I have grown quite fond of the bitter herb in recent years. I generally don`t like a salad entirely made of the stuff but I feel like it does add a different dimension of flavour. Besides romaine lettuce this salad included not one, but 2 types of radicchio: the typical red radicchio and a green variety. Yum!

I topped this salad with sea salt, sunflower seeds, yellow bell pepper, and dried cranberries and dressed it yet again with balsamic vinegar. I found this vinegar deep in the abundant oil and vinegar cabinet and it was almost as sweet as syrup. It was a match made in heaven for the bitter radic`

I`m going to get a bit more creative tomorrow with lunch. Not with breakfast. Breakfast rocked. Same thing tomorrow AM.

I`ve already put together a mock chicken salad for my lunch tomorrow, inspired by a meal I had in Beantown, so stay tuned for the recipe!

In other news, I have a new computer! And by new, I mean a hand me down from my husband whose new gamer laptop was shipped today. Still, I`m excited because it`s a laptop, it`s only 2 years old, and it runs Vista. My PC was a desktop circa 1998 that ran Windows `98 and had no hard drive space (literally, I had to keep deleting files and uninstalling old programs). But the most exciting thing about it is that I no longer have to listen (or pretend to listen) to my husband weigh the pros and cons of every single laptop of the market.

Matt and the new computer with the giant screen.

If you’re interested in writing a post for the guest blogger series on Bikini Confidence, send me an e-mail at samanthaamenzies@gmail.com

day 181: Cleansing the Final Weeks

My birthday is in 12 days, can you believe it?

6 months has flown by and in that period of time I’ve grown stronger, improved my eating habits, and have worked on getting a handle on my body image issues. I’m proud of myself and my lifestyle.

I honestly think that the hardest part of all of this is gaining the confidence to look in the mirror and remind myself that I am beautiful, I have a strong body, and I will rock a bikini. I’m looking to my favourite bloggers for inspiration. Over the next few weeks I’m hosting a guest blogger series on the topic of Bikini Confidence. I’m inspired by bloggers’ struggles or comfort with their body image and I wanted to share their stories with all of you! It’s going to kick ass so stay tuned.

In preparation for my very fast approaching 25th birthday I’m cleansing. Back in February I read Kenzie’s Spring Detox Cleanse and decided back then that I would do it right before my birthday to give my digestive system a break, reduce bloating, and reducing psychological cravings for stimulant foods (like sugar and chocolate). So here I am, 12 days before the big day and committed to looking my BEST.

So I took Kenzie’s plan and modified it to suit me. Here’s my version of the cleanse:

Days 1-3: 100% Raw
Days 4-5: Green Smoothies
Days 6-7: Master Cleanse
Days 8-9: Green Smoothies
Days 10-12: 100% Raw

Feel free to follow along with me. I’ll be blogging and tweeting all about this adventure. The adventure begins tomorrow morning!

Also, if you’re interested in writing a post for the guest blogger series, send me an e-mail at samanthaamenzies@gmail.com