Let the Cleanse Begin

After having a “Lundi Gras” on Monday involving a trip to Pizza Hut with a client followed by a good-sized serving of Halloween candy, I have officially begun the 21-day cleanse. It has been a good first day so far. I am learning a few important things:
1. This is going to take a lot more time and planning than I anticipated. Preparing this many raw vegetables is not an instant task. So far today I have made green juice, hummus, a salad, and tomato wild rice soup and have dirtied almost every major appliance in my kitchen including the juicer (thank you, Mary Jo--this thing rocks!!), the blender, and the food processor, all of which have numerous small parts that require attention after use. Thankfully, Charles and I are on this adventure together and he is a very good kitchen cleaner-upper.
2. I like green juice. This morning was my best creation yet. It included a cucumber, celery, romaine, kale, an apple, and a bit of ginger root. Yum! It doesn’t upset my stomach, keeps me fairly full for a bit, and just feels like I’m drinking health into my body. I know, some of you are reading this thinking “yeah right, not drinking vegetables for breakfast.” Try it—you might change your mind!
3. I feel more consistent throughout the day when I don’t eat sugar. I don’t think I really eat that much sugar even when not on a “cleanse,” but it’s enough to notice mood swings from what I eat and drink. My chai with honey and milk usually keeps me pretty happy in the morning but then I get a bad case of the grumps until I get lunch. Plus I’m always so jittery after all that caffeine and sugar that I start to feel crazy until I get more food.
4. There is no way I could ever do this to myself while Ironman training. There are not enough vegetables and gluten free grains in the world to support that kind of hunger. I still do not comprehend how people are vegan and burn 4000+ calories in a day. Thankfully, due to some nagging pain in my right foot, exercise is being kept to a minimum these days and therefore my metabolism seems to have chilled out.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I do have some fun pictures to post about this adventure!


Charles enjoying our last steak for a bit. Munch thought it looked good too! (he was asked to leave the table shortly after this exchange)


I usually buy lots of veggies but I've never had this many in my cart at once! The lady at the checkout was like, "so you like cucumbers..." (we had six)


Loving the juicer! Going to have to get my own.


Yum!