I'm Going Clean..

...and it is not easy

After reading the GOOP post about all the benefits of Dr. Junger's cleanse, I am now attempting the 21 day detox myself. Leave it to Gweneth to convince me.

Now, I have mixed feelings about the word "cleanse" or "detox."

I have said many times in the past that I didn't really believe in strict detox diets; that if someone wanted to lose weight and change their diet, it's way better to do it little by little so it sticks.

I still believe this.

A funny thing happened to me this New Year's though. While brainstorming what my resolution would be, I realized that for the first time in all of my teenage to adult years, it wasn't going to be about losing weight or exercising more. This was a crazy realization, but one that felt very good.

I, of course will always want to be challenged by exercise and will find many new obsessions this year, I'm sure, but at this point, I don't feel any urge to commit to working out more than I am now, or losing any weight. For the first time maybe ever, I feel pretty comfortable in my body.

All that being said, I still had a resolution to figure out.

So, I decided that this should be the year that I get my body/mind/soul as healthy as possible.
I want to know what it feels like to have great balance and health, naturally. It's not that I don't feel strong and healthy now, but as many know, I deal with some continuing health issues that I would love to get even more under control.

Also - - this Clean thing is supposed to radically change your skin.. and I am never one to turn down a promise like that!

And after a very expensive Sunday shopping trip, I was ready to start.

I don't want to go too into what the 21 days consist of because it would take forever, but the "why" is so your body will be able to rid itself of toxins and re-start its own healing process, allowing for better sleep, skin, moods, and help for other chronic discomforts.

The cleanse is basically based on combining both liquid (smoothies) meals with solid meals each day, eliminating all foods that could potentially cause common allergies. There is oh so much more to it than that, but I'll explain a bit more later if people want to know. Or you could just go visit GOOP.com, go to "Do" and read Gwenny's take on it.

Day one is now over, and it was hard. Had a pretty good smoothie for bkfst, but was so sad to give up my English muffin w/ sunflower seed butter.

Lunch was a Larabar & apple - NOT enough food and I will not make that mistake tomorrow.

I've already prepared a pesto salmon and asparagus salad to take.

Dinner was a "green" smoothie. Hmm.. not the best tasting thing ever.. even w/ all the mango I put in, I could definitely taste the raw Kale. I will have plenty of time to experiment though.

I don't know if it was cheating or not, but I inhaled some roasted seaweed (my very favorite snack right now). I'll check on the rules later...

Now comes 12 hours in between my liquid meals, most of which will be spent sleeping. Yay - the best part so far.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I will start to feel that surge of energy and be completely content with my am smoothie.. raw caoco and almond milk anyone???

Had to take a picture of my blogging buddy. She sits on my lap, her paws over one of my arms, and my other arm over her back while typing; she doesn't seem to mind swaying with my arm as I type, so I don't mind the company.