*Please update your bookmarks to my new website: Hi friends! Happy hump day!
Did you know today is National Start Walking Day? Get moving! 
I think I’ll take Yasha on a walk after work this afternoon to do a little more apartment shopping. I think we’re close to picking a place! We have to put in 30-day notice with our current apartment by next Wednesday, so it’s definitely time to make a decision! It’s so hard to find apartments in this town, because most landlords want you to be able to move-in within two weeks! Don’t they know we have to give our current landlords 30-days notice?? And we came across a few complexes that wanted us to sign a lease without even showing us the ACTUAL apartment we’d be renting! Come on! The good news is, we’ve seen a couple apartments that will fit our needs– they’re clean and cheaper than our current place, and that’s what really matters! I’m hoping to make our final decision by Friday. That way we don’t have to spend another weekend hunting!
Anyway, remember how I was telling you guys how I wanted to tone it down on sugar? Well, my mother-in-law had other plans for me yesterday:
She sent us an Easter care-package– filled to the brim with her homemade cookies! I love my mother-in-law, and she makes the BEST peanut butter balls I’ve ever tasted! Since I typically only get them once a year, I just had to indulge:
YUM. Just as good as I remembered them. 
She also made really sweet, decorated sugar cookies:
Aren’t they cute??
Soon after indulging in sugar, though, I remember how crappy I feel when I eat it! That doesn’t, however, keep my cravings at bay. It’s amazing how quickly we forget when the sugar monster starts calling again! Since the weather is chilly and I’m dealing with all sorts of stress lately (taxes, apartment shopping, vet appointments…) I’m thinking maybe a bit of detox is in order.
I was reminded of the CLEAN book I read last summer:
Last July, I attempted this three-week cleanse, and I made it 8 full days before falling off track. There were some extenuating circumstances to why I stopped, but what matters is that I felt SO GOOD while following this program. It wasn’t actually THAT hard, considering the fact that I already enjoy green juice and smoothies on a regular basis. The challenge for me is cutting out bananas, goat cheese, sweet potatoes and eggs! I don’t think these things are necessarily bad for you, but, according to Dr. Junger, they are a little more acidic on the body, and don’t do you any favors when it comes to weight loss.
And let’s be honest: With summer just around the corner, I am interested in weight loss! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t!
So, I think it’s high time for a bit of “Spring CLEAN-ing!” Today, I’m going to be following some of Dr. Junger’s Elimination Diet principles, which is a good way to ease yourself into the program. I’ll be weaning myself off coffee over the next day or so, and I may keep green tea in my life during the cleanse… I know I’m supposed to be totally caffeine-free for the three week cleanse, but that doesn’t sound fun! Maybe I’ll find the motivation to cut it out, but for now, I’m mentally telling myself I can have green tea if I want to.
If I’m feeling good after today’s Elimination Diet, I might just go ahead and jump into the detox tomorrow! If I’m feeling weak and full of sugar cravings still, I might do another day of the diet and start on Friday. My father-in-law will be here tomorrow night to take us out to dinner, so I have a feeling this might be tough with company in town! But I’ll just do the best I can– there’s almost always a CLEAN option at restaurants!
Reader Feedback: Have you ever done a detox before? If so, how long did it last? How did you feel?
I’ve done my fair share of detoxes in the past, including the Master Cleanse, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I will only do cleanses that feel health-generating at this point in my life– such as flooding my body with fresh vegetable juices and enzymes! I’m just not into “quick fixes” anymore, or starving my body! Life’s just too short to treat your body badly!
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wow, your m-i-l sure went through a lot of trouble, very sweet!
i think you are looking at this detox with great perspective. trust your, ahem, gut instincts and you will do fine.
I’ve never done a cleanse and dont think I ever would–I eat just eating healthy is enough.
And I think that when losing weight it depends on cals in/cals out and not on the acidic levels of food.
but, i do think its great you are doing and looking into things that make you feel good because that’s really the most important thing.
I’ve never done a cleanse before.. not really. Unless you consider eating only fruits and veggies a cleanse which I guess it is. And I did a 1 day water fast once which was actually quite nice and refreshing. I guess those actually are detoxes.. anyways, the point is, they did in fact make me feel awesome.
Those cookies look good! I don’t think I would be able to resist them either.
I haven’t done a cleanse and I try and stay away from saying “i cant” have this or that because then I feel like I always want it more. I wouldn’t fret about staying away from things like bananas, do the best you can! I have always felt if it’s extreme, I won’t be able to stick with it…especially the no coffee thing haha !
I’ve had a girl in my studio class do the Master Cleanse. She was super jittery and had lost quite a bit of weight, but I think she has PUT ON even more weight than before she started the detox.
When transitioning from absolute junk food (pastaroni dinner, potato chips, sports drinks) and switched to healthy food filled with greens and whole wheat bread, I was getting very dizzy but felt good at the same time. So it was a little bit of a detox for my body.
I have done a couple of juice detoxes. I felt phenomenal on them. Clear skin, energy, clear thinking etc. But they are hard on the body if you do them for longer then a couple of days (mineral/vitamin loss). I did them for way too long because I was caught in a disordered (binge/starve) eating cycle that was psychologically driven. The thing is the reason why people usually feel better during a juice fast is because they have food intolerance that they don’t know about. I probably will never do a juice fast again but just stick with eating what makes me feel best. I know I feel like crap after dairy, gluten, meat and soy. I feel best when I eat mostly fresh veggies/fruits/nuts and vegan protein powders. I agree with Dr. Junger when it comes to weight loss. If your eating too much sugar/starch and not burning that through exercise, then it is very difficult to lose weight. You have to burn through your glycogen stores before you will start burning fat so if you build those to the max (if you eat past your max, you are storing fat)then you will just be burning that readily available fuel. I really like Dr. Junger’s cleanse because it keeps in protein but it is very low calorie so if your prone to binging after eating low calories plans, then I wouldn’t recommend it.
I recommend looking into a book called The Edge Effect by Dr. Eric Bravermen. It’s all about your brain’s neurotransmitters and it gives you tests to determine which you are dominant in and which you are depleted in. I can almost guarantee you that you are low in serotonin due to the fact that you have cravings for sugar. I’ve had great success with both this book and The Ultramind Connection. I haven’t had disordered eating in over 2 months for the first time in 2 years. I don’t have cravings or even barely an appetite any more. I have stopped thinking about food constantly and now I only eat if I’m actually hungry. And the best part is that I am losing weight without thinking about it..yay for finally fitting back into my clothes after two years of tearing my hair out trying to get back to my original size…
I have heard about the CLEAN Detox book. I have done all types of cleanses and detoxs, so worked and some did not. I feel you have to be at the right point in your life to do one, otherwise they are too hard and can just cause unwanted stress. I think you eat pretty good, so I would not worry to much! Just listen to your body and take one thing out of your diet at a time. Good luck!
I have been eating a lot of sweets too, not sure why, I think it is from stress, ugh.
Small sidenote….stress kicks down your serotonin. Also as your hormones drop right before the ‘time’ of the month, your serotonin levels also drop….quick but temporary serotonin boosters, bananas, caffeine, chocolate, starchy carbs…totally explains why we crave them while stressed or PMS’d…..good sustainable serotonin boosting…http://www.marksdailyapple.com/serotonin-boosters/….Also serotonin is the off-switch when it comes to eating. If you are low, then you’ll never feel ‘full’ or satisfied. I’m sure a lot of people know this stuff but just in case you don’t!
If you give up coffee you might be my hero!
My big sis and her husband just did the Dr Junger Clean Program for 20 days! They both looked and felt amazing afterwards – good luck! It was kind of funny walking into their dining room ad seeing all the smoothie powders and pills lines up side by side with their initials on them, but it def worked for them.
I’ve only done the Blueprint 3-day Cleanse a few times, but totally loved it! Absolutely something I like to do after the holidays or a couple times a year just to clean myself out. I’m still going mostly raw until dinner (and dinner is often mostly raw too), and feel amazing!! I actually got a colonic and am getting another tonight as well – gross I know, but I really want to do some housecleaning!!