The Cleanse...

There is no easy way to say this but I have struggled with weight loss since I had my son. Which was 10 years ago. I never consider myself "fat" per say but I missed my tiny body that I had prior to getting knocked up. The problem is that despite knowing all the things to lose it, I never stuck through with anything. The husband and I tried all sorts of things. Weight watchers online, gym memberships, Slimfast, good old fashion calorie counting but because we didn't see results instantly we always fell off the wagon. We like to eat. And more than anything we are emotional eaters. Bad day? Good day? Celebrations? Eat. Eat. Eat. We are not gluttonous people, we are eating our weight in crappy food or going back for third and fourthsey. But we like food and we are don't like to exercise so well. 

Enter Dr. Bryan. He is our chiropractor and has been talking to us about the Standard Process Cleanse for years. But no cheese? No bread? NO COFFEE? You sir, have lost your damn. But after trying so many things the husband was convinced that this would be the only thing that would work. I finally gave in, convinced that this wasn't gonna work, that we are gonna dump money into something but at least I can say I gave it the old college try.

So this cleanse is suppose to basically detox your body to help you get rid of cravings over the course of 21 days. You do this by only eating fruits and veggies as well as brown rice or lentils for 10 days and then adding in chicken/fish on days 11-21. You should drink at least 64ozs of water daily. No coffee, alcohol or pharmaceuticals allowed. I figure 21 days isn't so long and if I power through I will be back to eating "normal" in no time.

This was one of the hardest things I have ever done. And it was totally worth it. Day 2 was the hardest for me, I had a massive headache that lasted basically from lunchtime to bedtime. I'm fairly confident that this was the withdrawals of caffeine. I had been slowly tapering off from 3 cups a day to just 1. I don't drink soda so all my caffeine comes from coffee but I really really love my coffee.

At first we were not very creative with our meals. Shake for breakfast, salad sans dressing for lunch and more veggies and rice for dinner. This only lasted like 3 days before the husband almost lost his mind. We searched the internet for SP recipes( which Dr Cindy and Mommypotamus helped with quite a bit!) and tried some new things. But by Day 11 both of us we over the moon to add chicken into the mix.

It was hard. I know I've said this already but I want to make sure that I put that out there. Because one of the very awesome benefits of this process is weight loss. In the 21 days I lost almost 15lbs. And when I say that part everyone wants to know what diet I am on. And whereas I went into this thinking it was a diet, I've come to realize this is more of a lifestyle change than a diet. Because when St Patrick's day fell on day 21 I thought well, 20 days is just as good, bring on the green beer! But when faced with said green beer, I declined. And I felt good about that. In fact, when the husband said he wanted to do the Post Cleanse program, I agreed. And I felt good about that, too.

So I haven't resumed my life of caffeine and booze. I try to stay away from processed food at all costs. And I eat veggies like I actually enjoy them. I slipped for the husband's bday and ate 3 slices of pizza and then a bowl of mac and cheese but I felt like such crapola that I don't want to do that again.

If you are considering do this cleanse, my advice would be start weening yourself off caffeine, carbs,cheese and meat first. Also, find a bunch of vegan recipes and try those before you start. This program is way more mentally straining than physical, especially if you eat your feelings like we do. But I am so happy we did this and I truly feel like it was an eye opening experience. I hope you can get as much of this process as we did.

20. Go Vegetarian for a month-Part 2

So it has been a month since I have completed my month of no meat. I also did a cleanse which, I was going to include in this post but feel like it deserves it's own post. But no meat went over so well. I truly felt better, I was really excited to try new recipes and think it definitely help me unearthed a love of cooking I never realized I had. (Back story: My mom is a cook. And if you know me, you know I tend to go against the grain on anything and everything. So when my mother tried to "teach" me how to cook, I formally protested the whole thing. In fact I stood by guns so adamantly I moved into a house without an oven/stove).

 The only thing that could prevent me from go full on meatless forever is bacon. And when I say this to folks, everyone agrees. I know logically is just made of pork but in my soul I'm convinced its actually made of equal parts magic and crack. Nonetheless, I was completely ready to swear off meat forever until we did this cleanse, which involved basically swearing off all things not fruits and veggies for the first 10 days and then adding in chicken/fish on day 11. By Day 11 I needed something tasty so chicken came back. I also ate way more fish than I have ever in my life, which was also odd.  

When we finished the cleanse I thought, I'd go back to no meat and I believe A LOT less meat is my end goal however, we decided to do the post-cleanse program as we reintroduce food back and I'm not prepared to go back to a vegan lifestyle until I can eat everything again.

So far of the 2 List items I've tried, this had the best and most surprising outcome.