October 17, 2005
It's Day 9! One day before the last day! And that snarky chick is dead! I guess she met the Porcelain Grave like the other toxins.
- 19 Organic Lemons: $20.10
- 1 Bottle of Organic Grade B Maple Syrup: $9.99
- A pasta and cheese girl craving a tomato salad over spring greens with crumbled bleu cheese w/ champaigne baked chicken breast... totally and utterly frickin priceless.
I guess I should pause for some of you to pick yourselves up off the floor. If you know me at all... anything with "tomatoes and salad" in the same sentence sounds like crazy-talk. I'd better call mom and make sure she didn't have a massive coronary.
I walked into Wawa today to buy my son's school snack. About the only thing I buy there now is peanut butter crackers and yogurt. Even that's a stretch. Did you ever just look at the contents of a convenience store???? Yeah. Hmmm. Convenient place to breed disease.
I remember a local Wawa employee who lost a lot of weight and looked great. I asked her what she was doing. She loudly proclaimed "I stopped eating the food here." It took her a second to realize the oops. I guess the arrows flying out of her supervisor's eyes didn't help. But she was quite passionate about it. She shared with a whisper, "I took time to read the ingredients of the food we prepare here, and just couldn't eat it anymore." Wow. She didn't work there much longer than that. I wonder if she got in trouble for the remark or simply left after the revelation and change in health.
I started bi-monthly trips to Marlton NJ to visit Trader Joe's and Whole Foods long before I started the cleanse. Now, more than ever, I'm not comfortable in a convenience store or the local food market. By taking my mom with me, she has the same reaction when we miss a trip, and finds her way to our much-smaller local health food market.
In the book The China Study, the author declares that the state of disease in the U.S. comes down to three things: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm sold. It's a new day.
Notes to those on the cleanse:
1. The body does regulate based on the new schedule. I find that my salt water flush works faster in the AM, and now I can make it through the night after Senna tea (without waking at weird hours for the Bathroom Dash.)
2. Organic limes are a nice change for two reasons (a) they cost less than lemons but give more juice per fruit LOL and (2) they add variety. Even with all the benefits of the cleanse, I find "food boredom" my worst enemy.
3. It's day 9 and I have one day left. I opted for the 10-day cleanse, but I'm already rethinking that decision. I look forward to breaking the cleanse on Wednesday and eating solid food by the weekend with the family. But, I don't look forward to deep-sixing the awesome physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of being on the cleanse. I may not "break" after tomorrow. More on that later...
October 12, 2005
Today was my first day back to work since starting the cleanse. Our building was treated to a fire alarm. I bounced from my chair and froze in my tracks. I had to stop and get the two most important things from my cubicle (1) my lemonade (2) my car keys. I can't afford to get hungry or get stranded without a Porcelain Throne Retreat.
I've been visiting the rawsome website, launched by a woman who essentially changed her entire health and overall life by adopting a raw foods lifestyle. Now I can't imagine myself eating only raw food, but I can surely agree with her call for everyone to add some raw foods to the diet.
In fact, I have had some serious conversations with myself about food and vitality. I put a pindrop of bbq sauce on my tongue last nite, swashed, and spit. It tasted *funny.* We live on a lifetime of substances that our body finds odd. French Women Don't Get Fat, my latest reading material, takes a light (yet informative and action-based) look at the balance between health, vitality, and the enjoyment of all kinds of food. I'm actually having fun considering healthier life after the cleanse.
I've only heard once before that we cleanse physical AND emotional crap from our bodies. I'm starting to wonder if that's valid, because I had a short period of the blues last night. Weird. Didn't last long, but was very sudden and very obvious.
I have always been a vivid dreamer (full of colors, sound, other sensory activity, etc.). It's like being awake. Well over the past 3 days or so, my dreams have been much more vivid, and involve more people that I know. Last night, it was the neighbor. It would be interesting to find out that what I learned in the dream was true. Hmmmm.
More tomorrow.
October 11, 2005
Who doesn't remember the song "Control" by Janet Jackson? Okay... who over 30 doesn't remember?
That's exactly how I felt today. It's 1:13pm, and I'm shocked at what a difference a day makes. I'm not having food fantasies. I'm already turned off to the thought of returning to some foods (like the Pork Roll and Cheddar Cheese sandwich I have almost every time we bowl).
In fact, I look forward to preparing dinner for the kids tonite (BBQ chicken, with Bone Suckin' Sauce from Whole Foods, organic Asparagus prepared in butter and garlic, and corn bread). You'd think I would dread the thought.
I'm not a lick hungry. Well... until I got a "grumble" for leaving my lemonade at home while running errands. But no crisis. I didn't want to run to Mickey D's to fix the lemonade absence. In fact, all I wanted to do was get home. I feel great!
I purchased 6 limes today. I may go with a lime drink, or a lemon/lime mix. Why not? Variety is the spice of life. Ugh. That's so cliche.
I also purchased 3 books. In addition to spending more time in prayer, reading my Bible, and severely limiting my TV watching, I want to get some other reading in. Here's the titles I purchased:
1. French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure (Mireille Guiliano)
2. The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health (T. Colin Campbell, PhD with Thomas M. Campbell II)
3. Death by Prescription: The Shocking Truth Behind an Overmedicated Nation (Ray D. Strand, M.D.)
As you can see, I'm sticking to a common theme. LOL I hope to have book reviews for these and other titles I've read in recent past (such as Kevin Trudeau's latest book and others).
I refuse to weigh myself during the cleanse, but I can say: Halfway thru Day 3, I had no objections or other challenges of resistance as I went to put on my jeans.
Tips for those on the cleanse:
1. To help keep my skin under control, I'm using a product that I purchased at Whole Foods Market: Gentle Skin Peel: Papaya Enzyme & Fruit Acid Skin Peel (by Earth Science). I don't know if this will actually help, but my skin looks a lot better today than it was last night.
2. Prepare yourself for the cost. I purchased 19 organic lemons (approx. 3.5-day supply) today, and they cost just over $20. The Grade B organic Maple Syrup was approx. $10 for a 4-day supply. That's not huge, when you consider all the lunches and other meals your saving... but I think I anticipated "lemons" as a much smaller expense. LOL3. Don't skip a "meal." I was feeling tired, but not hungry, almost all morning. Although I wasn't hungry, I finally drank some lemonade around 10:15am. Within 1 minute (no exaggeration), I was ready to tackle the day. I was waiting until I felt hungry to drink the lemonade, but I didn't realize I was tired because I skipped the lemonade for "breakfast."More later as I end Day 3 tonight and publish Part II.
