Soup and Juice

I have found something interesting.   I found it at the People's Food Co-op in La Crosse.  It is called Total Body Cleanse.  A complete 14 day Internal Cleanse claiming to be organic. I started it yesterday.  So far so good.  2 pills in the morning upon waking up.  3 pills 30 minutes before breakfast.  3 more pills 30 minutes in the evening.  2 more pills in the evening.    10 pills total of 3 different blends.  Nothing significant to report other than I did get a bit gassy last night.  Not sure what that was all about but ewwww...

Now.. I am still taking my Skinny Fiber.  The link will take you to my page where you can read about the product.  It is amazing at making you full so you don't over eat.  It also helps regulate your potty breaks.  I will do another post about the product at another time.  I want to focus on the Total Body Cleanse product now. 

One thing I want to mention is that after my last juice cleanse I went right back to eating junk and gained back the weight I had lost.  This tells me that I really need to be careful of my eating habits and pay attention to the type of food I am eating.  I felt horrible all last week and I am sure that it was due to all the eating out we did.  My belly hurt and I had major headaches that were bordering on being migraines.

2 days of good food and I am feeling much better.  I made a couple days worth of juice and also made myself some cabbage soup that I blended up into a smooth creamy blend.  I am going to make some cauliflower soup tonight.  That stuff is AMAZING!!!  I use almond milk in place of cows milk and I skip the flour all together.  You don't really need it.  It is all in how you season it. 

My plan for this 14 day cleanse is to stay away from heavy solid food.  I plan to still eat fruit in whole form and some veggies like cucumbers and zucchini.  The main will be blended soups though.  No meat, grain or dairy for this one.  A total juice cleanse just isn't going to work for me.  My will power is just not good enough..  I am a cave-er in-er when it comes to snacking.  Habit kicks in and I reach for my beloved ritz crackers.. haha

I will leave this post as is for now.  Possibly update later tonight.  

Morning weigh in: 172

Back to eating review

So I am back to eating solids and I love it!  Geez I really love food.   I have been going for more veggies and fruits than before.   Cutting out pastas and grains is a bummer but I know I shouldn't be eating so much of them anyway. 

I got a copy of the iZo cleanse recipes.   I might give that a try next month.  I think a cleanse once a month would be good for me.  Not sure how many days I will go though.   Putting goal dates is hard when your body is screaming at you to eat something.   I think a day to day goal is much better.

I am also contemplating a soup and juice cleanse.   My friend Inga is on one like this.  Inga is from Ireland where things seem to be much "cleaner living" than here in the U.S. I think it is called Can Can but I will have to double check.   She seems to like this one over a plain juice cleanse.  She has also dropped 9 pounds in 6 days.  Might have to think about that one.

I did make a big pot of cabbage soup.  I love this soup.   Not a fan of the diet so I don't ever do it, but I do love the soup and the kids do too.  I like to use it as a filler when I need a snack.  It's not overly filling but sure sits nice on a cold evening.

I am still officially down 6 pounds since my reboot.  I knew I would gain a few back cause you always do.   It's the filling of the digestive track.

I am gonna call it a night.  Not feeling to great this evening.   Feeling almost flu-ish.  Sigh

Made it the full 15 days!

Sorry for the slack in posting.  I got incredibly busy with my online business and just lost track of time..

I managed to gimp by on my fast.  15 days and the last 5 were much harder than I thought.   My emotions ran high and my feelings seemed to be on my sleeves. 

Overall this is a good system.   I lost 9 pounds total.  Hunger levels were average.  I was not starving but never really satisfied either.   Some of the recipes were amazing and some needed major tweaking. 

I would recommend this one as an ease in to the juicing world.  Super easy to follow.

Day 10 of 15 day reboot

Good Grief...  I have been swamped.. I apologize for not getting on here sooner...

How I am feeling...  Well.. the caffeine withdrawal headaches are gone..  I feel pretty cleaned out.  I am down 8 pounds and feel pretty good.  My only concerns at this point are how my belly is feeling.  Very empty even though I drink plenty of fluid to keep it full..  I am desperately trying to stay focused but my body is not cooperating very well. 

I am just plain hungry.  I feel light headed a lot.  I don't really care for that feeling.  I drink juice when it happens and it fixes the problem for the time.  As long as I stay on task with something I am okay.  When I am just relaxing all I think about is food..

I almost gave up on Friday and ended up getting sidetracked and managed to stay on track with it.  This reboot is much harder than the last one I did.  Maybe because it is so dang cold out.  It is possible to get -50 out tonight and it is just blowing thru the house like crazy..

Anyway..  overall I am energized again.  Some sluggish moments but nothing to horrible..

Day 5 and 6 of 15 day reboot

So yesterday was a nightmare for me.  I got up and did my normal routine.  Lemon water in the morning..  Made my smoothie breakfast and went to work.  10 minutes in my boss comes up to me and asks if I plan on taking my piercings out.  My eyebrow, nose and tongue are pierced and have been for many years.  Now.. I have been employed for 3 years with this company and it has never been an issue until a year ago when I was asked to remove it and I refused.  Nothing more was said.  Now all the sudden it is either take them out or be fired on the spot.  Well.. listen here.. my piercings are small and very inoffensive.  I find it very hypocritical that the guys can walk around with full sleeve tattoos and I can't have small studs...  WTF...  I refused to take them out and he said it was going to be an issue. 

I waited all day for the fall out that did not come.  I was so stressed that I couldn't finish my smoothie, didn't eat lunch, and barely got my juice down.  I called the district manager to ask if there was some compromise like taking the nose one out and leaving the eyebrow..  He said a definite no.  So right before quitting time the boss comes to me and again asks if I plan on taking them out and I said no.  I will take the nose one out but not the others.  He said to get a dark one and keep my hair covering it and it shouldn't be a problem.  I agreed. 

The rest of the day had my nerves shot from the stress and came home to find Bruce in bed sick and feverish..  FRACK!!!   Took my darling daughter Macky (McKenzie) to her award ceremony for the VFW, made the supper and then sent Bruce into the tub filled with hot water and salts to help relax him.  Big backfire..  He felt horrible.

The night was restless for me and I got little sleep.. 

I made lemon water and took it with me to work this morning only to have one of my co-workers following me around to see if I had taken my piercings out since she was a sheep and did as she was told..  Grrrrr..  Mind your own dang business... I hate that with a passion..  Nosy and I have no doubt she intends on ratting us out..  Whatever.. If I get fired more the better..  Better jobs are out there that pay more and less stress..

8:00am- BREAKFAST!!  I managed to choke down my 14 ounces of morning juice.  Carrot apple lemon and spinach..  It was very tasty..

9:30am- 18 ounces of water down..

11:00am- SNACK TIME!!!  12 ounces of plain carrot and celery juice.

1:30pm- LUNCH TIME!!  16 ounces of green juice made with celery, kale, spinach, green apple, cayenne pepper, cucumber and pear.

3:00pm- Incredibly tired..  Is it naptime yet?  No... you are working silly fish... sigh...

4:00pm- 18 ounces of water finished.

Day 4 of 15 day reboot

Well today is a Monday...  Thats for sure.. grrrr

5:45am- wake up with 10 ounces lemon water.

8:00am- Island Green Smoothie

9:30am- finished first 18 ounces of water

10:30am- 12 ounces of Carrot Apple Lemon Juice.  Very good but cut the lemon.  Instead of 2 I did 1.5 lemons.

12:15pm- green salad with olive oil dressing.  7 ounces of green detox soup

2:00pm- finished second 18 ounces of water.

4:15pm- 12 ounces Carrot Apple Lemon Juice.

Finally home from work..  Lucky me has a store meeting at 8pm.  Not on my list of fun things to do.. grrrr.

Can you tell I am cranky?  I have a really bad case of the f - its... I am stressed and just want COFFEE!!!

6:30pm- 7 ounces of Squash Apple Soup..  It really is not great..  YUCK... I do not like it.

8:00pm- 14 ounces of hot coffee...  Yes.. I blew it..  I couldn't stand myself so I just gave in and got it over with.  And it was YUMMY!!!  It tasted so dang good...  I don't feel guilty for cheating... But now that it is out of my system I think I will be okay..  My attitude is much better as well...

*****  I also wanted to touch base and say that I have lost 3.9 pounds at this point.  I also have never gone to the bathroom this much in a day ever...  Holy Moly I have to pee a lot.   That has to be a good thing right?

Day 3 of 15 day reboot

I woke up this morning at 3am with the worst belly cramps imaginable.  OMFGosh!!!  It was so horrible.  I laid on the bathroom floor by the toilet just praying it would stop.  1.5 hours of pure hell..   Seriously it was intense..  I didn't lose it, but close several times.  I was definitely stopping this plan..  Nothing was worth this kind of pain.  NOTHING should ever make you feel this bad.

HOWEVER....

After sleeping on the floor until 5:30am-ish....  I discovered that my body was just plain unhappy and really needed to be cleaned out more than ever.  So... I will continue the program and get my body back to where it should and needs to be.

6:00am- 10 ounces of hot lemon water with ginger

7:00am- 10 ounces of hot green tea with fresh peppermint to cool the tummy..

10:00am- BREAKFAST!!  20 ounces Shamrock Smoothie...  This is super good, but I did add a couple drops of stevia to sweeten it up some.  Just a tad lip puckering.. I don't like a full lemon in my smoothies and tends to make me pucker to much..  My thoughts are this...  If it is to bitter, tart or just plain yucky you are not going to enjoy doing it..  So tweek it a bit without changing it completely..  It you can enjoy it you will stick with it more..

12:15pm- LUNCHTIME!!!  I know...  Skipped my morning juice.. I really should be having that for lunch, but I am still not feeling super great and just want something in my belly.  Something hot..  so...Green Detox Soup it is..  This stuff is AMAZING!!

My goal for today is to drink a bit more water..  Instead of tea..  I love tea, however, I do need to increase the fluids just a bit..  maybe 8 more ounces to start.. haha

Took myself a little nap.  Feeling very tired today.

2:15pm- having a nice tall 7 ounce cup of water kefir.  OOOOO... it is lovely...

3:00pm-SNACK TIME!!! 15 ounces of Green Lemonade Juice...  Not to bad at all...  Kind of fresh tasting.

I am finally roasting up my acorn squash for supper..  Gonna make some Apple Squash Soup.  To be honest I would rather just devour the squash as it is.. hahaha..  Smells divine.. but sampling the broth before blending isn't all that great..  :(

6:05pm- SUPPER TIME!!  Blah..  The Apple Squash Soup is nothing to write home to mom about.  Its not horrible but would require a lot of tweaking if I was making this for any other reason.  Even with pepper it is bland.  The green detox soup was sooo much better..  However..  I am having the other half of my Mushroom stuffed Acorn Squash from last night.  That is divine... 

6:30pm- finished a 20 ounce bottle of water.

7:00pm- 10 cup of hot yerba mate tea.