Precleanse starting Monday!

Hello everyone!






I went and did some shopping for the first few days of my pre-cleanse Elimination diet, and I have to say, it was pretty challenging.  A lot of the things on the list of approved foods are on the list, however sometimes you have to be careful- if a product is on the list but when you check the ingredients and something NOT allowed is listed in the ingredients, keep walking. You can't have that!


There is something I am going to be a little lax about while cleansing.


They ask that you get as much organic/fresh as possible.  Given my situation, I am not going to worry too much about my vegetables and fruits being organic and fresh, because it's already a HUGE change that I am eating more vegetables at all.  Of course, if it is economical, I will get fresh and organic when I can.


I was able to pick up some good stuff- I got some lettuce for salads, I have some canned black beans and peas (will rinse before use!), spinach, gluten free quinoa pasta, quinoa, rice syrup, stevia, miso paste,  tamari sauce, and more.


I did also find an interesting soup broth mix at the Korean market.  It's a vegetable broth base, and it says on the front (in Korean) that it is allergy-free.  The ingredients made me happy.  They are, as follows:


Mixed vegetable powder: Radish, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkin, sea salt, onion extract, carrot extract, garlic extract, rice powder, garlic oil




All of those are things allowed on CLEAN.  And it will be making many appearances, especially when I make miso soup. 


I will start the eliminating on Monday, doing it for a total of 6 days.  Normally, the pre-cleanse period is 3 days but I figure I might as well do it a little longer. 


Have a great weekend- I am enjoying dairy/breadlike substances for the last time for a while.  Got some Fage Greek yogurt for very cheap (I love it!) and some hummus/pita chips. 

Beginning the Clean Program!

Hello everyone!!!

I have decided that as of August 1, I will be starting Dr. Junger's Clean Program.  A friend of mine was kind and very generous enough to send me the kit (Again THANK YOU!) and I might as well use it and it would be in my best interest to do so.

I looked through my cabinets and found some approved items:

Dry chickpeas

Dry Cannellinis

Dry Lentils

Canned Black Beans

Canned Kidney Beans

Red Rice

Brown Rice

Miso paste

Tea

Olive oil

Sesame oil

Almond Milk

Frozen asparagus

Frozen green beans

Frozen snap peas

Organic Gala apples (not sure if they're still good)

Kimchi (Made with cabbage, onion, garlic, sea salt, and chili pepper, which is OK IF you know you are not allergic to nightshades. I do not think I am.)

My friend and I took a ride to whole foods and I picked up some more:

Low-sodium organic Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

Quinoa (really cheap in bulk)

Organic walnuts

Almond butter (for eating with apples or celery)

Rice pasta

Quinoa/Amaranth/Rice pasta
Brown Rice Syrup

I forgot to pick up nutritional yeast (for that cheesy flavor) and sea salt.  We might go back to the store and I might pick up some teff flatbreads so I can make sandwiches.  

Another thing I noticed- You cannot have any form of beef on this cleanse but you CAN have Buffalo.  My friend told me that she had buffalo before, and it tastes just like steak.  Next time we go shopping I might pick up a few Buffalo steaks to freeze/use.

Really excited about this, this will challenge me and really help me expand my culinary horizons in a way.  Anyone else doing this, or going gluten free?  Any tips/tricks for a newbie?

Have a great weekend!

Boot Camp Day 4

Hello everyone! 

I have completed days 4 and 5 over the weekend! 

Day 4- 

Exercise: I unfortunately hardly did any today. I was really busy but I did get 25 reps of arms and abs in. 

Breakfast: 

Mushroom egg wrap- An egg white omelet filled with mushrooms and spinach and seasoned with chives.  Taste- 9/10

Lunch: Tofu vegetable soup: Tastes a lot like the puree broccoli soup without the blending. 9/10.

Snack: Choco Chestnut Pudding- Out of this world for diet food. REAL chocolate! (I already took a bite before taking the picture) 11/10!

Dinner: Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes.  Eggplant was good, tomatoes... Not so much. Too liquidy when pureed. Maybe I did something wrong here. 7/10.

I hope you all had a great weekend and keep stopping by!

Day 1 cleanse (pm) and day 2 cleanse (am)

Hi everyone!

As you read, I last posted about my morning on the cleanse I started. Here's how the evening went. 

I had my second snack (the peanut butter bar, which I may say is delicious for a "health" bar), and for dinner, my strawberry shake.  Strawberry shakes are now the part of this cleanse I look forward to, because they actually taste pretty good for what it is!   For my serving of fruit/vegetables, I had a good sized Korean pear- not too sweet, really watery and crunchy. I suggest you try them- very good! (I am not normally a fruit person by the way)

Now for how it made me feel- I found myself getting tired a bit easier.  I went to the laundrymat to do the wash, and the process of carrying it down the stairs, doing the laundry, folding and carrying it back up just knocked me out.  I was just drained.  As for the promise of boosted energy, yes I did feel that during the day, mentally but physically was another story. 

Also, this is not necessarily a bowel cleanse, but for me, I was on the toilet about 7 times, and I certainly felt like that's what it was doing.

Day 2-

I weighed myself on the gym scale finally (with  my workout clothes on and barefoot) and my "official" weight is 275.4 pounds/125.1 kg.  My scale at home, like I said, can't make up its mind.

So far, I just had my first shake (chocolate- getting that one out of the way!) and snack bar.  Also, I put in my 30 minute walk.  I really realized how out of shape I am because walking for 30 minutes at 3 miles per hour, I had a heart rate of 140 the whole time, which for walking I think is a bit high. And I was sweaty on top of it. I am making sure to stay hydrated of course. 

An update on my schooling: This semester is paid for, I have applied for scholarships for next year. Hopefully I know soon!!

Usana Reset Cleanse Day 1! (part 1)

Hi everyone!!!

I have blogged in the past about a cleanse I was going to try- Reset by Usana.  Today is my first real day of trying it.

I made a minor attempt on Saturday to do this, but my body at the time just wasn't having it.

The product claims that this 5 day cleanse can help reduce or eliminate junk food cravings and kick start weightloss anywhere from 0 to 12 pounds in 5 days.

Starting weight today: 271.0 lb (approximately, my home scale is a little funky, weighing in at the gym tomorrow for more accurate reading)

So far, this morning I have had my first shake of the day- dutch chocolate flavored.  Surprisingly, out of the three flavors it comes with (chocolate, french vanilla and wild strawberry) chocolate actually tastes the WORST out of the three. Not terrible but compared to the other two, it's not as good.

My morning snack- an oatmeal raisin bar. Very tasty and when I look at the ingredients it is all natural. 

Lunch- Another shake, but the French Vanilla one. This one tastes more like sweet milk, which I don't mind. There is a vanilla flavor to it as well.  

That is all I have had for now, but the next snack is a chocolate peanut butter crunch bar, and dinner will be a strawberry shake, as well as a serving of vegetables and a serving of fruit. 

I am also supposed to be drinking up to 80 ounces of water. So far, 32 down. 

Exercise- must be light, for 20-30 minutes. This means for the next 5 days, no Tracy Anderson.  I will keep it to a brisk walk until I am finished with my cleanse.  I start going to the gym tomorrow, just going to do some stretches and a walk.  I can't wait for it to be over so I can do some treadmill dancing.

For now, that's all folks, will post about my evening tonight or tomorrow!  If you want to know more about the cleanse or trying it, let me know.