30 Day Detox Wellness Cleanse - Coping With Challenges

It's the end of day 11 of my 30 day detox.  I have to say that I am feeling pretty great this past week!  I haven't had a headache since about day 3 and that was only minor.  I am not use to having NO HEADACHES!  My face looks so healthy - a good glow to it and even all the normal body aches from inflammation are gone.  I haven't had to take any ibuprofen like I am use to doing and this is AWESOME because I really don't like putting that stuff into my body.  It confirms to me that the food we put into our mouths directly affects how our bodies react!

Processed, fatty, sugary foods = headaches, cramping, inflammation in joints, skin flaws, even temperament.  Oh, and don't forget WEIGHT GAIN.

Fresh, vibrant, nutrition-packed foods = healthy looking skin, energy, joy, youthfulness, and so on!

So what are some of the challenges I have had to face??

Well, for starters, the first 6 days I had no idea what to eat. 

I knew there were options out there for me, but it's so baffling when you are use to cooking "healthy meals" and suddenly realize that the majority of what you thought was ok is not.  Again, no soy, corn products, whey/dairy, gluten, sugar, caffeine and alcohol.  Even vinegar can't be used since it breeds yeast.  So suddenly even simple things like a salad become a challenge.  "What do I put ON my salad???"  (BTW, salads topped with fruit and a few nuts are great and a squeeze of lemon - you won't miss the dressing it's so juicy.  Veggie salads are good with a drizzle of EVOO and squeeze of lemon.)

This second week in, I got down to business and started really playing with my food.  I bought TONS of nutrition packed fruits and veggies and nuts, seeds, dried fruits, almond milk and a few gluten/dairy/soy free breads.  I have been having fun sauteeing veggies with lots of onions and garlic and throwing in small  amounts of meat.  I have a super delicious wild rice pilaf from Costco that has barley, red rice, lentils, wild rice and dehydrated veggies in it.  Yum.  Costco has TONS of organic healthy choices like fresh veggies, fruits and even meats.  We buy our beef from a farm in Michigan and it's all organic and grass fed.  I also found out I CAN HAVE CHEESE! YAY! Goat cheese is allowed when detoxing because it's so much easier for your body to digest.  That just opened up a whole bunch of doors for me to create healthy delicious recipes!

Here's a few things I had for dinner this past week:

This particular night I was starving!  I had a TINY bit of beef left and chopped it up, sauteed it with a very small amount of grape seed oil and tons of onions, garlic and green beans.  Half a "naked" sweet potato and a poached egg - had too...my body wanted more protein!

Another sauteed dinner: Wild rice pilaf (from Costco) a little bit of turkey breast chopped and sauteed with red, yellow and orange bell pepper, onions and yellow squash.  A few cukes on the side.

And my PIZZA!! Udi's makes a ready to go pizza crust and I topped it with a small amount of sauce, a sprinkle of goat cheese, steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes and yellow squash.  Totally wish I remembered the spinach!

Of course these are all dinners.  Breakfast and lunch are all raw foods. 

Which brings me to the second challenge: Can I do this detox and LEAVE my house??

Answer: YES!!  I have just had to be prepared ahead of time!  When I get my husband ready for the next days meals (he leaves VERY early in the morning for work) I cut up a big bowl full of fruit for him for breakfast and sometimes he makes some eggs to go with it.  I make him a salad and top it with TONS of veggies or fruits and nuts to take for his lunch and I pack up some dried fruits and nuts for him to snack on.  A couple of times he has gotten salmon filet (cooked the night ahead) and chopped turkey breast with his salad. 

For me, if I know I am leaving for a few hours with the kids, I pack some sandwiches for them, drink my shake for breakfast and take a salad to go for myself.  Like I said, a little extra effort but the rewards are great. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this: I have to pat myself on the back for this one.  I made the kids cupcakes the other day.  It's a rare treat but their dad is out of town for a few days for work and I was trying to make this fun for them and keep their minds off it.  I did NOT eat one! I did not eat ANY, I should say!  And guess what (pinch - ouch) Yup.  Still alive. AND, I have lost NINE pounds in 11 days.

30 Day Detox Wellness Cleanse - Days 3-5

I am very happy to report that I am over the worst of it and reaping and enjoying the benefits of this detox diet!  Day 2 was rough for me with nausea and lightheadedness.  But the last 3 days have evened out and I am feeling GREAT!!

It's amazing how quickly my stomach has adjusted to the amount of food I am feeding it.  My husband is on this diet with me and we both have remarked how much less we are eating but how we are not in the least uncomfortable or hungry.  The hunger is different, too, when we do feel hungry.  It's not ravenous like "RAH! FEED ME NOW!!" and you know, you just try to put whatever you can find the fastest into your mouth.  Now, we take the time to prepare something nutritious and leave out all the inflammatory foods.  

Ok, so alot of my friends keep asking me what I am doing.  I have simply removed the things from my diet that are bad for me and replaced them with CLEAN FOODS that we are SUPPOSE to eat.  These inflammatory items include: gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, caffeine and alcohol.  

I have had a lot of guidance from my friend, Jeannine.  You remember her if you read my other post.  She sells Arbonne products and they have a whole line-up of detoxifying and healthy products.  I LOVE the vanilla protein shake mix and the Digestion Plus.  My husband is really liking the Energy Fizz tabs to help him reduce his need for caffeine. Anyway, Arbonne has a great 30 day program with meal ideas, recipes, (including tons of great shake recipes) the 5 Keys Areas to Fitness, basically it breaks EVERYTHING DOWN IN SIMPLE TERMS.  I love it!  

So what have I been eating/enjoying this week? Here's a sample: 

Wednesday (day 3)For lunch I had a broiled salmon filet over a raw spinach salad.  Salad dressing was a drizzle of EVOO and a squeeze of lemon.

Thursday (Day 4) I had this beautiful bounty of fruit for breakfast with 16 ozs of water and decaf tea.

 For dinner (Day 4) I had this delicious baked garlic chicken with roasted garlic and steamed veggies.  (The stuffed grape leaves were tried and disliked)

I posted this picture on facebook of my super yummy shake for lunch.  Several people made fun of it saying it looked like mud or dirt but WOW, is it delicious!  I am waiting for my vanilla protein shake mix to come in from Arbonne and that will make it even yummier.  Today's shake was made with almond milk, spinach, almond butter, blueberries, a banana, milled flax and fiber.  It was ever so tasty.  I can't wait to make some different flavors!

So, how am I feeling now, and what have I noticed for changes?  It's the end of day 5, I am full of energy now and first thing when I wake up in the morning.  My skin is REALLY soft, my face looks healthier, my headaches are gone (I use to take ibuprofen EVERY DAY) and my body definitely feels A LOT less bloated.  Oh, and I have lost 7 (SEVEN!!!!) pounds in just 5 days!  So the weight loss is balancing out now.  I dropped the first 6 pounds in 18 hours from all the excess water my body was holding on to.  I can't believe the benefits of this detox so far.  Of course, the goal being, at the end of the 30 days, I incorporate a few things into my diet slowly to see what my body reacts too, and make healthy choices so as to make this a WAY OF LIFE.

30 Day Detox Cleanse - Day 1 and 2

A friend of mine posted something interesting the other day about how the average American consumes over 150 POUNDS of sugar per year!!  Apparently a healthy amount is less than 10 pounds a year.   I found this so astounding that I was compelled to question her further on her offer to help 'kick the habit' of this very inflammatory and common substance.  She's an Arbonne consultant so she teaches this as not only a 30 day program but also how to make it a way of living.  Of course there are some really helpful Arbonne products to assist in your success.  More on that later as I try them out.


SO, I started doing some research.  It didn't take me long to find dozens of detox diets online with that handy dandy google search bar.  The one that seemed to sound the healthiest without starving myself was "The Total Wellness Cleanse".  I didn't buy any of the products offered which were guides and recipes I believe.   I liked the "5-day Natural Detox Menu" alot and wanted to start right away.  


Day 1


It's the last day of the weekend, I have convinced my dear husband to get on board with the cleanse so we can be successful.  It would be just too hard to cook pastas and such for him while I get to eat all sorts of raw foods...I was afraid he would get too jealous. (ha.ha.)


FIRST, I jumped on the scale.  I don't want to make this completely about losing weight because I truly want to be and feel healthier.   I have been having lower abdominal pain and a few other minor health concerns that my doctors just cannot seem to find a root cause for.  HOWEVER, I feel it's important to also know where you are starting from to track your total health.  


I follow the 5-day detox menu (link above) closely by drinking 16 ozs of water, eating a bowl of grapes and apple slices, a banana and drinking a cup of decaf loose leaf organic tea.  I spent the next 2 hours in the bathroom every 15 minutes relieving my bladder.  

This gets me to lunch where I make a hearty spinach salad with chopped tomato, avocado, cucumbers and slivered almonds.  I threw some black beans on top and squeezed (a bit too much) lemon juice and a little olive oil, salt and pepper.


I snacked on about a handful of dried fruit and almonds.


At dinner, we were pretty hungry.  It was nice out and we wanted to grill.  Apparently the occasional red meat in small amounts is also ok on this diet.  We picked up some Porter House steaks and had about 6 ozs (maybe a little more than we should have had but small strides!) and lightly steamed cauliflower and broccoli.  


I snacked a bit on dried fruit in the evening to stop me from raiding the pantry and had another cup of decaf tea before bed.  


At the end of day 1, I had dropped 3 pounds.  I know it's working because my body has no use for all the excess water since I am getting the toxins and salt etc out.  


*A tip I read: You should drink 1/2 oz of water per pound that you weigh.*


Analysis of day 1:  I felt very refreshed, energized and excited.  I also felt VERY thirsty even though I was drinking more water than normal.  


DAY 2


That was today.  I woke up earlier than normal with energy.  I drank my water right away and followed a similar breakfast routine.  We had errands to run so  after breakfast I packed the kids up in the car and grabbed some nuts and dried fruit to take along in case I got hungry.  As the morning wore on I noticed that I was feeling light-headed a slightly nauseous.  I called my friend  that sells the Arbonne products and she told me that this was normal and that if I could get through the first few days it will pass.  Since I was out and about she had me stop in to try out a few products that would help give me a boost.  I tried some Energy Fizz drink and a protein shake for lunch.  After I was able to get those down I felt better the rest of the day.  


CONFESSION:  I was in the process of getting dinner prepared when we had a few last minute emergencies where we had to leave right away.   After the situation was handled, both my husband and I were absolutely starving.  I wanted to stick as close as I could to my cleanse but I did have a sandwich from Subway for dinner.  I kept it as clean as I could, just turkey, a ton of veggies and the bread.  But, there you have it.  I don't feel like a failure...just trying to take it one step at a time.  Someone told me that it's ok to back off a little if you take the diet too quickly so you don't go into shock!  


By the end of day 2, I am down 6 pounds from where I started.  I immediately noticed the difference in my face.  I most definitely don't feel so bloated and the pain in my lower abdomen? GONE.  I am hoping that it will stay gone.  My other minor health concerns have also disappeared so far.  So, that is a success in my book! 


 Analysis of day 2: a little nausea and dizziness is the body's way of letting you know that your are on the right track.  Adding some extra protein in your cleanse diet is recommended for females since we tend to lack this anyway.  Having an egg at breakfast or a protein shake (as per the recommendation of my lovely friend, Jeannine) is a good idea if you are like me and the fruit just isn't sticking with you.  "You don't have to feel hungry on a cleanse" - (or something along those terms) says Jeannine.  


Stay tuned.  I can give you another earful if you're interested :)

180 Days!!

We did it!  We completed the required 180 days of school and our first year as a homeschooling family!! 

The laws vary state to state of course, but Indiana's laws are fairly lax on the actual schooling requirements.  State law says that you must complete 180 days of schooling and today was our 180th day! We began last year in June when summer break was just beginning for most children and my little troopers were trucking along and actually enjoying it!

I was teaching kindergarten and first grade this year.  Now that our "requirement" has ended, that doesn't mean we are "done" for the school year.  Now we review what we went over this year and I am currently looking into placement tests to see if we left anything out that we should still cover.  I also want to use this to see where the kids "excel" and where they are "weak".  We believe in "mastery" instead of just simply "passing" the children along to get them into the next grade level - yet another benefit of homeschooling.

Beside completing our requirement and looking into placement testing, I am also working on our syllabus for the upcoming school year.  We haven't yet purchased a set curriculum and I feel more confident this year to create our own again...now that I have a better idea of what is involved,  it's not so "scary". 

So, here's to the last 10 months and 180 completed days of learning FUN....yeah...some days were certainly harder than others...but we DID it.  I can't believe how far we've come from the very first month. My kids have never been happier and it has been such a blessing to watch them progress and know that we did that - together. 

Another Lovely Benefit Of Homeschooling

Like many of you we have been having some unusually warm weather for our area this time of year.
No complaints here!

I couldn't possibly keep my kids couped up in the house to do math, reading, science, blah blah blah...

so I sent them into the vitamin D filled outdoors to get their play on.  As the day progressed I started to feel a little guilty: 'I know they should come in and get some schooling done, but it's too nice out!'  I was a little conflicted.  One day turned into two, the temperature just kept right on rising...

Then reality set in.

'Why am I worried about this??  Public and private schools give their kids vacation time...why can't I?'

Thus prompted another wonderful, joyful benefit of being a homeschooling family:

WE don't have to pre-schedule our vacations...WE can take them whenever we like....like when the weather hits 80 DEGREES in the freakin' middle of MARCH!! Wahoooey!!

And boy did we :)

Of course, we didn't do nothing.  That week my kids learned to garden with my hubby (he took a few days off from work to spend with us) and I learned to just relax and enjoy my family....

...and hang my clothes out on the line of course :)