21 Day Cleanse: My Diary

Hello! I know this is a hair/beauty blog and you guys are here for tutorials. I recently completed a 21 day cleanse in celebration of 2012. Why cleanse? Because I want to start the new year right and clean myself of all the impurities of 2011. It's not just about weightloss; it's about finding serenity and balance, feeling lifted and motivated. 

My friends and clients have all been asking me how the cleanse is going, so I have decided to share my personal journal written during my cleanse. Pardon the angry moments – the cleanse makes you cranky! I hope you guys enjoy reading this and get inspired to do a cleanse. Feel free to ask any questions! I had an amazing support group during my cleanse and am more than happy to give you support!

Day I Decided to Cleanse

December 31, 2011

It's New Year’s Eve and what better time than now to start a cleanse?  I have done a few cleanses in the past but never one longer than a week, I have been on a super healthy eating plan but that usually only lasts for two weeks before I end up cheating and have a drink or two along with a couple tasty treats at some type of social event ;-)

It’s sad to admit, I'm pretty sure I've never gone 21 days without at least a glass of wine or dessert of some kind. Is that bad?!

My goal for 2012 is to form new a new healthy lifestyle! Cut those cravings!

I was recommended this cleanse by my nutritionist.  It consists of a 21 day program filled with fruits and vegetables (organic whenever possible) and no meat or fish until day 11. There are no eggs, no dairy and no nuts!

This will be tough considering the fact that I'm really not a vegetable person. I only eat mashed potatoes (query whether that’s even a real “vegetable”) which are definitely NOT allowed.

During the program, you go in once a week for a colonic. They send you a daily email for motivation and how you should be feeling.

I am EXCITED and ready for this challenge!!!

Day Before the Cleanse

Goal: eat as much bad food as possible. I have 21 days of rabbit food ahead of me and I'm on a mission to get all of the guilty food (and alcohol) pleasures in!

This will be the fun part…I will be in LA with friends the day before I start the cleanse so my goal is to have lots of DRINKS! Don't be shy, Mr. Hot Bartender…keep ‘em coming! Lots of fried food, breads, desserts, more chocolate please and greasy fast food!!! My plan is to make myself so sick that I only crave healthy vegetables! 

Mission accomplished!  Ready for tomorrow.

Day 1

I wake up and I'm excited to start this healthy journey. I have to take at least 1-3 of these shakes that have fiber and nutrients a lot of pills consisting of the "detox pills". I'm allowed as many vegetables and half the amount of fruit. There is a list of approved and not approved fruits and veggies with the portion amount for each day. E.g. only half a banana a day and or half a sweet potato a day, 15 cherries max.

I make the shake, I would hardly call it a shake it's the consistency of dirt,
Shake tastes like dirt and looks like vomit, I can’t stop gagging? I had a very hard time with this. It's going to be a long 21 days!

As the day goes on I am staying strong. The salon I was facilitating so kindly offered me bagels with cream cheese approx five times. I was a-ok. My baby carrots and half a banana are good! The crazy food cravings haven't kicked in yet, but that might be because I made s’mores yesterday with my friends and had taco bell late night :-) !??! I had to get my last nasty food fix in. 

After teaching, I went to the grocery store tonight and spent FOREVER reading labels. I can't eat anything unless I make it myself.

Day one a success. Off to bed early.

Day 2

Woke up feeling okay, slight headache and really tired. Exhausted, actually.

I had visions of warm soft pretzels with nacho cheese in my dreams last night. I wake up and start the routine, pack my lunch box and stare at that nasty shake, I think if I slam it, it won't be so bad. Nope. Worse, it almost came back up (sorry, TMI). Only a minimum of 40 more shakes to go on this lovely program, I sarcastically say to myself.

I packed my lunch. My printer won't print the documents I need for work then get into my car and my gps voice command (Bubbles is what I named her) is not getting the address right, I've repeated myself 20 times in all different tones of my voice and want to punch my gps screen! Agggh! I think the detox rage is kicking in now? You think as I'm screaming in my car & the person at the light next to me is looking at me like I'm a crazy person! I started cracking up. Yep, the detoxification process had begun :-) Just be warned, you may turn into a slightly crazy person during your cleanse.

Today at work, I felt okay, but irritable and a bit unsatisfied with my snacks. Besides feeling tired, the rest of the day was fine and I was in good spirits. Bam. That evening, on my drive back home, my stomach started to hurt really bad, my palms got sweaty, and my mouths started to water like I was going to be sick. I was panicking, I couldn't call my doctor because it was after hours. Is this normal? Is this part of the detox or did I catch the flu?? Just my luck!

The sick feeling goes in waves my entire hour and a half drive home. If you know me then you know that throwing up is a horrifying experience for me and I will fight it and hold it back for as long as I can!

Phew, I make it home, drink some water and almost immediately have to run to the bathroom. I proceed to throw up FIVE times. My precious boxer Zoey was sitting next to me with her head practically in the toilet watching me like WTF mom.

I can't stop getting sick....
Whoa! That was not fun.
Passed out.

 

Day 3

Same awful feeling this morning. I’m nervous for the day ahead of me. Am I going to be sick again?
I finally got ahold of my nutritionist. She says it’s because my body went into “rush detox”....I probably shouldn't have eaten taco bell the night before starting the cleanse because things definitely went south of the border.
I was told not to quit the cleanse yet, but just cut my detox pills in half for the next day or so. Those things must have been really toxic for me. Again, probably wasn't a good idea to eat as much bad food as possible before starting :-/

Another possibility: during the first few days, I really didn't have a large appetite and so I was eating under 1,000 calories. Taking the pills on a half empty stomach may have been too much on my system.

Finally decided to not take the shake this morning because there is a good chance I would be sick afterwards.  I had to pull over the side of the road while driving to work because of nausea.

I'm feeling much better the rest of the day but my stomach is a tad queasy and I still have this subtle lingering of a headache above my eyebrows.

My classes are great and off to bed early.

Day 4

Much better still very lethargic but I'm back to taking the required amount of detox pills. It's not that it's necessarily hard to eat vegetables they just aren't as satisfying & don't taste so good.

You don't realize how much food is on TV or even in movies until you can't eat anymore, I was watching the Kardashians (guilty pleasure!  I needed to see what happened with their 8 week short marriage)...back to the food and every 30 seconds those girls are eating either candy, chips, cupcakes (pumpkin mmmm my fav.) Or they eat out somewhere.  If only I could be as blessed to have it all go straight to my ass, boobs and lips and keep my waist tiny like those girls!

Day 5
 

I seriously pondered taking my broken laptop and smashing it in the ground and then throwing it out the window, I wasn't even outraged on the outside I was calm cool and collective it was all internal like a psycho killer. So I guess the irritability has kicked in, again. Starting to get cramps. Fantastic. I wonder how much of this anger comes from the cleanse.

According to my daily cleanse support emails, I should be feeling much better, have more energy and should start to like the taste of the shakes. NONE of this is true for me yet.

Counting down the days. 2 more weeks left. And the weekend hasn't come yet :(

Day 6

Went for my Costco run (yes, cleanses are expensive and require regular trips to the store to buy fresh foods).  My sister and I stopped by this fruit stand that made sun dried carrot, green bean and beet chips that were made with only olive oil and sea salt. I called our nutritionist and asked if we're allowed to have them and she replied, “Yes, yum!”  So excited!! It was like Christmas morning getting the "ok" from your mom to open your presents…only ours were dried vegetables :-) We ate these veggie chips and it was as if my taste buds were in heaven!!! You really start appreciating the small things in life during the cleanse!

My sister and I could not stop smiling. All we kept saying was how good those beet chips tasted!
If you've ever been to Costco on a weekend you know it's madness, everyone driving up and down the aisles fighting for a parking spot. You saw my blinker!! (usually what I'm yelling). Today, we were not even concerned.

I was letting everyone cut in front of me. I was smiling and just eating away at our veggie chips. My sister and I were CRACKING UP at how excited we were. This just took our new eating plan to the next level. We were just a nibbling away at those veggie chips like they were chocolates it was like I had been given a happy pill, letting everyone cut before me. We were happy Days having a happy day  :-)

Later, I bought my dog these all natural doggie treats made with real peanut butter and oatmeal. When I opened up that container and smelled the sweet deliciousness, it was heaven to my nose and made my mouth water :-( I was doing so well up until that point but I felt such an urge…probably much like an addict of any type of drug addict needing his fix.  My addiction just happens to be sweets!

I immediately thought of freshly baked peanut butter cookies I have never smelled a dog treat so utterly fantastic as these :-( Zoey sure is enjoying them. Meanwhile, I will be trying to enjoying my broccoli…such a disappointment to my taste buds.

I should just go to bed so I stop thinking about food, two more weeks to go!