On that cleansing trend
"C" is for "Cleanse" as my co-worker James pointed out.
Three of us got together last Tuesday and by Wednesday morning I was at the Whole Foods in Venice buying some almond milk for breakfast and buying the rest of my juice cleansing dosage for the day.
So we did this juicing thing. You can read more of the specifics far below, but let me tell you something happened in those two days that made me almost forced to eat really basic ingredients the past four days since then or else I started to feel sick.
Fortunately (or unfortunately?) today was my first day eating chocolate again. By choice, but also because I was pretty much Betty White from the "You're not you when you're hungry" Snickers commercial (although it really should be more like "You're not you when you don't have your chocolate fix"). Tuesdays are my stressful work+two classes days and I needed a pick-me-up that my body was used to.
Trust me, I'm not bragging about this. This is far from a Snickers or chocolate endorsement. Part of my New Year's promise to myself was to get away from all that, and really educate myself about what I'm putting into my body, the strategies of food companies, and how our body processes food.
Food Babe has been a great resource, but I'll be sure to share some other resources I pick up along the way.
Until then, you've got my juice cleanse kickstarting experience. So back to those specifics if ya really want to know/are thinking of trying it for yourself...
That first day dosage included:
- 1 vanilla almond milk
- 1 vegetable juice
- 1 beet juice
- 1 juice with a lot of cayenne pepper in it
- 1 fruit juice (the "pineapple express")
- another almond milk with cacao
Couple things:
1) I did enough research to know what types of juice cleanse choices there were. I had also read through some pro/con posts about cleansing in general. We modeled ours after the Pressed Juicery Cleanse One, but decided to go to a local Whole Foods because it was cheaper and closer. The lady at Whole Foods, who cleanses frequently, said typically you don't drink/need almond milk with it.
2) These juices were, as far as I know, 100% organic, made on-site, but were purposely heavily diluted with water.
3) In addition, I drank lots of water throughout the day.
4) We were only doing this for two days. #beginners
I drank the juices in the order listed above. I made sure to save the fruit juice and almond milk for last because I needed something to look forward to. Most of the day was fine. One of my co-workers really struggled with the beet juice, and I really struggled with that cayenne pepper stuff (I generally am pretty sensitive and stay away from spicy things) but hey, I made a commitment. Mostly I just craved being able to actually chew on something.
I was pretty proud of myself for finishing the day. I felt full, and like I was doing something good for my body.
The next day was the same drill. I woke up with a slight headache that went away once I had my morning almond milk. This day I also switched out the cayenne pepper juice for another vegetable juice.
I ended that night at home, curled up in my bed, wanting this headache that came back to go away. My body uncomfortable but weirdly feeling healthy. It was a strange state of being. But I survived.
Since then, I felt just slightly more aware of my body's needs. I started to feel sick Friday afternoon, after eating some Mediterranean food for lunch. That feeling came and went most of the weekend.
So now, today, I'm finally back to eating my normal, slightly unhealthy, diet that includes chocolate. Not exactly where I want to be, but I'll get there. One small bite at a time.