Here we go again

Like childbirth the pain and anguish of my last juice feast has deserted me and I am now facing another one.

Not even a month has passed. WHAT? am I crazy you ask....

No. I am in America. My mother has an awesome juicer and my parents have both offered to do it with me. They are paying for the ingredients so really I have no excuse. Hope I lose another 8 lbs as that would really make me a very happy Mama.

My spelling and grammar are atrocious at the moment as I am highly jetlagged and very tired, so I am signing off.

Goodnight from the crazy juicy mama.

Real food- the joy of chewing

So the asian noodle salad ended up turning my stomach just smelling the vinegar in the dressing. But the thai green veggie curry with brown rice I had for dinner was delicious.

The final tally when I stepped on the scale this morning was 8lbs gone. A respectable start to my goal. Halfway there already. :-D

Signing off.
xx

Day 7- The end is nigh

So I won't lie and say that that Asian noodle salad in the fridge isn't calling my name. But I am not really hungry. I just want to chew. I cleaned the juicer and put it away. Honestly I think my little POS juicer has done well to last this long, it's on its last legs (sounds a bit like an aircraft carrier on a combat day).

Gwen is napping and I am cleaning. I feel so accomplished today I have been super productive and haven't switched the telly on at all. If my life continues like this I may end up a productive member of society. God help us all. I have a few job applications out and a few more arriving by post. My kitchen is close to sparkling (can't seem to get the table to not feel sticky...) I am on top of my laundry pile and my house doesn't smell of bachelor anymore.

Off to treat myself to a mint tea. And rejoice that tomorrow morning a big bowl of grape nuts, strawberrys and almond milk awaits my devouring.

Day 6- Hunger? what hunger?

Day and night at in-laws was survived. Not helped by MIL baking a huge chocolate cake with black cherry jam and whipped cream icing. I discovered that The Green Machine by Naked juices is not nearly as gross as I remember it being. Either they have changed the recipe or my taste-buds truly have changed because a few months ago when I tried one I gagged on the first sip and threw the bottle out.

Surprisingly I am *not* hungry. The juices finally are filling me up, that being said I may have slightly cheated and stolen a handful of (air popped) popcorn from my daughter this afternoon. It was wonderful to chew something though. And seriously- air popped popcorn is pretty healthy....even if it can't be juiced.

Only 36 hours to go- I am already planning my first meal- brown rice and steamed veggies? Maybe a wee bit of thai green curry. MmmMmmmm

Also- Dropped 6 lbs already!!

DONUTS!!!! PLEASE!

Jason Vale the 'genius' who came up with this torture plan called 7lbs in 7 days swears that any hunger you feel during the 7 days is purely psychological and not physical hunger. It's all in my head. The grumbling roaring sound coming from my guts is not hunger, it's the purr of a contented well rested digestive tract. BULLSHIT! I'm hungry. I am so hungry I am fantasizing about cheeseburgers and bacon and I've never eaten meat in my life!!!

But I'm more than halfway there so really no point in giving up now is there? Especially not now that I bought a stockpile of juicy smoothie things for our excursion to the inlaws tomorrow. I could murder a tin of baked beans. Last time I was this desperate for food I was stoned. And I gave my then boyfriend a black eye and a bad case of blue balls over a kudos bar. I hope I have enough self restraint not to injure anyone this time.

Mama- that smells like horrible.

HALFWAY THERE!!

My first all green juice and it wasn't as bad as I expected, although I suspect had it been my first juice of the cleanse I would have given up then and there. 

I am sick of cleaning out my juicer. So much so that I am looking forward to going to my in-laws house tomorrow so I have an excuse to drink bottled juices. 

I am finding myself drooling over food on the tv set. And the cheesy beany pasta in the fridge is calling my name too. 

Tummy rumbling, trying not to fixate. 

Signing off...

Day 3- still hungry

Well I have made it almost halfway through this blasted juicing thing. Don't even know what to call it as it's not really a fast and I would struggle to call it a 'diet' in the traditional sense. Juice total body cleanse? Whatever. It's juicy.

Still hungry, made pasta with baked beans and loads of ooey gooey melted cheese throughout it for my hubby and baby's dinner. It took all my self control to not shovel forkfuls into my mouth while no one was looking. But I sat and watched them eat it all up and put the leftovers in the fridge. *proud*

My avocados are finally ripe, so I got my first taste of an avocado smoothie, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Not sure if it was just cause I have not eaten anything in 2 days and a bit of variety in my smoothies was welcome, but nevertheless it tasted pretty good.

Best moment of the day by far was stepping on the scale and watching those 4 lbs drop off. Long may it continue.

Day 2 Done

48 hours accomplished. I can honestly say I am sick of juice, looking forward to my 2 0'clock today as it has *gasp* yogurt in it!

The bright side is my headache subsided about noon yesterday and the rest of the day except the constant feeling of an empty stomach was rather enjoyable. I've not felt lethargic (well any more than I normally do when jetlagged) or blue. I've just felt normal and a bit hungry. I could sink my teeth into anything about now. But 5 more days to go.

Ok, off to my morning cup of lemon tea.

holy headache batman

So this is what a 'detox' headache feels like.

Holy headpounding. Off to bed with my tummy growling, but I can't face cleaning the juicer one more time today.

Defeat and Regrouping

Ok so lemonade was not my thing. I couldn't deal with the hunger or boredom of having nothing but maple flavored lemonade. It was doing my head in.

Two months stateside though has thoroughly toxified me and added 8lbs to my gut. Ugh. Time to detox. In steps Jason Vale and his 7lbs in 7 days Juice diet.

What better time than when my cupboards are free from tempting treats and my fridge is empty ready to be filled with fruit and veg.

So yesterday I got out the juicer (I think it's been sitting unused for about as long as I've been married...It was on our registry), and I read his book (very short thankfully and very simplistically written.).

This morning I started my juicing. The juice tastes much much better than I expected.  My avocados aren't ripe yet though so I've been using bananas for the smoothie juices. I may stick to it as I really dislike avocado. I'm proud I have made it this far- even if it is only 12 hours in. I have been making food for Gwen all day and I haven't even licked my fingers. Dinner will be a challenge, but I'm keeping it simple for hubby and child. Meat and french fries so I am not even tempted.

That bowl of popcorn sitting next to my sleeping babe is really friggin tempting. I guess I should go make another juice before I give in to temptation.

Decisions decision....

Last night Hubby reminded me that we're going to London sans child this weekend, so I chose a pretty crappy time to do a cleanse. So I am cheating, or taking it slower, depending how you look at it. For the remainder of the week until the weekend is over I am having the lemonade (which this morning is mighty spicy. I think I may have gone a wee overboard on the pinch of cayenne) and one raw food meal mid day. That way I can still treat my darling dearest to Sushi at the weekend. Then come Monday I will do the full Master cleanse.

Back to my hot and spicy lemonade now!

Day Zero- Or the Day I decided to cleanse

For months I have been toying with the idea of doing a cleanse- be it 3 day, 1 week, 2 week, even a month. What's stopped me? My daughter- she is still breastfeeding and supposedly when you detox your breast milk becomes a dumping ground for all those nasty free radicals and toxins that have been screwing about with your system, thus scarring your child's delicate intestinal flora forever. So instead of cleansing I've tried to just watch what I eat, take lots of supplements and try to just suffer through the eczema, constipation, recurrent yeast infections...all things I know from pre-motherhood I could sort out with a decent detox to reset my body. I told myself, she'll be weaned soon enough and then I can detox all I like. The problem is she is 2.5 and I am happy still breastfeeding her. She is such a happy healthy child, and all I have learned of extended breastfeeding has made me realize that the best thing for both of us is to keep going until she's ready to stop. Be that next week, next year or in 3 years time (but I REALLY hope it's before then!). In the meantime I am sick of my body being so helter skelter all over the place.

So yes. I have made the decision to cleanse. I'm trying to do it with the least number of chemicals (hey- even if it comes from a plant or mineral, most of the pills and powders are still chemical, processed, not totally natural) and thus I have chosen the 'Master Cleanse' also known as the drink yourself silly on spicy lemonade diet. It's a pretty simple concept- and pretty well known- squeeze half a lemon 2 tsp of organic maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper into a glass of water and enjoy as often as you like through the day. Don't eat anything. Drink 2 quarts of salt water in the morning to clear out the garbage, and if you feel you need a bigger kick drink a little laxative tea last thing at night. To be honest- I'm hungry just thinking about it. More than hunger though I am sick and tired of having yeast infections. I should buy stock in Canesten for the amount of pessiaries I have shoved inside me and creams I have smeared all over me in the past 2 years.

I'm going home to America to visit family in 3 weeks time and I want to enjoy myself. I don't want to worry about where I can buy yeast tablets or laxatives. I want to sit out on our boat and enjoy the lake. Tomorrow morning I start. I haven't dedicated myself to how long this cleanse will last, but it will be at least 3 days. My hubby should be happy as it means he gets to eat meat for as long as I am cleansing (he is normally a forced vegetarian as my daughter and I are both veggie). He might not be happy at the emotional and physical roller coaster I am about to step onto, but at least when it's all done I should be feeling nice and clean.

To prepare I have bought:
1 bag of unwaxed organic lemons
1 bottle of Grade B maple syrup
1 pouch of super strong cayenne pepper
4 face masks (dead sea salt, cucumber, jasmine, and clay) - a girl has to treat herself!!

Right now I am enjoying a big bowl of Thai red curry soup and mentally preparing myself for tomorrow. Wish me luck!