Cleanse: Day 18

This one is going to be short because I am exhausted!!! I won't bore you (or myself) recounting my day. Same stuff. Same food.

I went to the Solestruck Zine launch party, and it was super fun. Full of pretty people in amazing outfits. I stayed there for a couple hours, the whole time wanting so bad to partake in the open bar. After that I went to the Fez. Haven't been for almost a month so it was good to be back. I lasted until 1AM until I was just too tired and my feet hurt too much to keep dancing. I was also getting annoyed by drunk people who didn't seem to understand the concept of personal space.

I had a lot of fun tonight, even though I could not drink. Tomorrow night I DJ, which I have done while sober, but it's funner with booze.

Only three more days, almost done!!!!!

Cleanse: Day 17

Today was an incredibly long and busy day. I woke up at 6:45AM without an alarm and pretty much was going non-stop all day until about a couple of hours ago, when I was finally able to eat dinner. Even though I only got about 6 hours of sleep I had a lot of energy and felt really focused on what I needed to do, which included sewing, running, and an Alley 33 meeting. Luckily in the middle of my day I got a massage by Isadora Gouldberg of Muscle and Bone PDX. The massage was wonderful and she has very reasonable rates. I am definitely going back (I scheduled another appointment) and will start to get them regularly. A massage is not just a luxury, it's a necessity, especially considering I'm a seamstress and my neck and shoulders are taxed everyday.

I discovered a new favorite dish. By the time I got home I had no patience or creativity so I stuck a yam in the oven and boiled some chicken. I paired that with a spinach salad and half an avocado and wow!!! Chicken, yam, and avocado is a delicious combo, and I only used olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little bit of onion powder to add flavor. Definitely eating that again soon, maybe even tomorrow!

I have a busy weekend ahead of me, including a fancy party tomorrow night. I am in the middle of letting a mask dry on my face so I can look extra nice. I feel like I have not gone out in ages!!!! Only four more days left...

Cleanse: Day 16

I am so happy to say that today was a great day!!! I finally got my energy back and I feel like myself again. Now that I am in the last few days of the cleanse I am really going to do everything I can to make sure I detox as much as possible. Today I worked out and then sat in the steam room for 20 minutes. I loved it except for whatever scent they were pumping in with the steam. I had another acupuncture session tonight, which was great. I am getting a massage tomorrow and I am really looking forward to that. The last time I got one was around my last birthday, it's been too long. We are also resigned to juice everyday until the cleanse is over. Hopefully we will be able to stick with that, especially this weekend with all the crazy stuff going on.

Food-wise it's still the same with slight variations, and I don't waste anytime eating it once it's ready. Greg and I were talking over dinner about how we were going to add food back in once the cleanse is over, and how it has to be a slow process. We also talked about breakfast, and how on this cleanse we aren't able to eat any traditional breakfast food. We usually have something Asian derived, like jook or stir-fry or lentils with chard. It's actually pretty good, and I don't really miss breakfast food. I do miss millet toast with peanut butter though. That is something I will be adding back in right away.

Only 5 more days left!!! So close to the end!!!!

Cleanse: Day 15

Today was a tough day. It wasn't the worst though. I could still work, but I felt sluggish and it was really hard to focus. It seems like the end of my cleanse is going to be the toughest part. Maybe my body is finally releasing all of the toxins I have been holding on to? I don't know, seems like a logical explanation.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am getting to the point where as soon as my food is done being prepared I inhale it. Still been eating healthy. I always find a way to work rainbow chard into my breakfast and for lunch I always have a big salad. Tonight for dinner we had turkey burgers with lettuce as the buns with sweet potato chips. Seriously, they are better than potato chips, and I don't feel like a fat slob if I eat a bunch of them. Definitely going to be eating those after the cleanse. I want to try beet chips too, those should be pretty good.

So looking forward to my massage on Thursday!!!!! Only 6 more days to go!!!!!

Cleanse: Day 14

I am beginning to get to the point where I can't remember what day I am on! It's officially the last week of the cleanse. I am not as gung-ho about it as I was in the beginning, and I am so exhausted at the end of the day! I still have that mental clarity going though, and when I wake up in the morning I have more energy than I did before the cleanse. We did not do anything very imaginative with food today. Greg said my go-to food is sweet potato and his is avocado, and we inhale kale chips like they are going out of style, which kind of sucks because to make sure they come out right you kind of need to babysit them, so they are a pain to make. Oh well, these complaints are really nothing when it comes down to the big picture. Still feeling good for the most part, and think about how good I will feel after! Not just physically, but emotionally, that I have the will power to stick with this and not cheat. I have not cheated once!!! Just 7 more days to go...

Cleanse: Day 13

Today was a better day than the past two. My dizzies went away and I was able to get some stuff done, including a trip to the gym. This weekend I have been a little lazy with the food. I just want something that is quick to fix so I can eat it! I have discovered salad and broiled fish is one of the quickest meals ever, and super satisfying. That will probably be my go to for the rest of the cleanse, and after it too.

I went to a naked lady party tonight, and man it's getting harder to resist the goodies that come along with social functions. This coming up weekend is the mother load, I have two things to go to on Friday and four on Saturday. Will these temptations ever end?!?

Somethings to look forward to: I have an acupuncture appointment on Wednesday and a massage on Thursday. I still need to get a steam in, hopefully I will do that this week. Only a little more than a week to go!!!

Cleanse: Day 12

This is going to be a short one. I had another day of the PMS dizzies. I tried to get going, but when I could barely stand up long enough to make myself breakfast I gave up and just decided to stay in bed. I did have a good day though, and as long as I stayed in bed I felt okay. I watched Valentino: The Last Emperor and Everything Must Go, along with some Futurama episodes (I always forget how freaking funny that show is!) I read and did some crossword puzzles, and I caught up on some fashion blogs. It was a nice and relaxing day.

My diet today was a lot of the same stuff I have been eating, literally. We had a ton of leftovers. Today was the first day I craved junk food. Kale chips actually satisfied that craving, which was good.

I am feeling a little better now, so I am hoping I'll be back to my energetic self tomorrow. Going to bed now. Almost done with Week 2!

Cleanse: Day 11

Today was not such a good day. It started the same as the others, I woke up feeling great with tons of energy, and I was excited to be able to add chicken and fish to my diet. I thought I would be on top of the world! Before lunch I started to not feel so hot, but I thought I was just hungry, so I made lunch. It was broiled dover sole that we bought from the farmers market and a salad. The food, although delicious, did not help. I felt dizzy and sluggish, and I am pretty sure my good friend PMS is to blame. I continued on my downward spiral the rest of the day, with a "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms." bummed out feeling on top of it. Luckily earlier in the day I started some chicken in the crock pot (with tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper), so dinner was easy. It was also made easy by the fact that Greg served it to me in bed. So yeah I have been taking it easy, and sorry there are no pictures, but they would not have been very interesting anyway.

Was looking forward to going to Shut Up & Dance tonight for the first time in two weeks, but I have to rest instead. There was a time where I would feel this way and go out anyway, and alcohol would be my medicine, and then I would be in bed for a day or two after. Pretty stupid right?

Sorry if this post is super "Debbie Downer" of me. I am happy about the fact that I made it halfway through the cleanse! It will be a cake walk after this, or hopefully it will. For some reason it seems like there are so many social events happening while I am on this cleanse, and next weekend one even has an open bar. Grrr. Gotta stay strong. It will all be worth it in the end.

Cleanse: Day 10

This one is going to be short. Nothing interesting really happened today. I worked, cleaned the house, and went running. The first time since I started the cleanse actually. It was pretty hot but I felt great afterward. Now I am crashing.

We just ate the same food today that we have been eating the past 9 days , nothing new. We get to add chicken and fish to the diet tomorrow, so exciting! I am going to make fish for lunch and slow-cooked chicken for dinner. Not sure of the exact recipes yet. I will make sure to get some pictures though!

Still feel great! While driving around today I stared longingly at all the people sitting outside of restaurants in the gorgeous weather eating and drinking. That will be me soon. Soon...

Cleanse: Day 9

You might be getting sick of hearing about how great I feel, but too bad! I am riding high on my increased energy and mental clarity. Greg and I had a discussion about how we were going to eat post-cleanse. Two days after we're done is the Fourth of July, and that could be pretty dangerous. If we overindulge we will feel horrible, and undo all the work that we have done. We'll have to watch ourselves (and each other) to make sure we're good.

As expected, I am sore today after my yoga session last night, but not too bad. I am definitely going to start going at least once a week. I had an acupuncture session again tonight, and will try to go once a week while I am the cleanse. I love acupuncture, you fall into that weird kind of sleep that you don't experience any other time. I am hoping to get a massage toward the end of my cleanse (if I can find an affordable one, they are so spendy!) and I also want to visit the Salt Grotto. I still need to get a steam in too! Maybe next week.

Now for the food part! Tonight I made a stir fry of a parsnip, shitake mushrooms, baby bok choy, and brown rice (the rice looks red because we cooked it in water that we used to boil beets and then added tumeric.) It turned out super yummy, and Greg, who usually hates parsnips, even approved:

Greg insisted that I include our Buddha in a shot.

I also added India Black Mineral Salt, which smells and tastes like eggs. Weird sounding I know, but I added just a little and it gave it egg flavor, which I like. We picked it up at The Spice and Tea Exchange, a mecca of salts and spices. I think we spent an hour in there smelling everything until we came out with our three favorite blends, which were the India Black, Vik's Garlic Fix! and Korean BBQ Rub (to use after the cleanse.)

Now I am going to pamper myself a bit and give myself an at home facial. So relaxing! Too bad I can't have a glass of wine while I am doing it, oh well, I'll settle for tea instead.

Cleanse: Day 8

Well, this morning I walked into the living room and saw this:

That was a good way to start the day, they're little buddies!!!

Today was another great day, although I was a bit moody, but I am blaming that on PMS, which is not as bad as it usually is this time around. I am interested to see how this cleanse impacts my menstrual cycle, which is usually horrible and will sometimes relegate me to my bed for two days. (Sorry if that is TMI, especially if there are boys reading. I will be touching on this subject further if necessary so you'll just have to deal with it!)

I participated in my first yoga class in months tonight, and man am I out of practice! I was going religiously every week, and then I messed up my shoulder so I stopped going so it could heal. My shoulder held up fine, but I am not as flexible or as strong as I used to be, and a couple of times I got light headed and had to retreat into child's pose. We'll see how my muscles feel tomorrow...

For dinner tonight we tried a new recipe I found here, except I amended and subtracted from it so it would be in accordance with our diet. Sweet potato, lentils instead of beans, ground flax seed instead of Panko, and spices. Everything else I subtracted, and here is how it turned out:

Because there was no flour it did not bind as well, so it fell apart a little as I was eating it, but it was still tasty! We realized after we ate that we forgot the avocado, but that's just as well as it probably would have created an even bigger mess. We had a little side salad of cucumber, carrot, and radish in apple cider vinegar and spices, and the pickle is from the Whole Foods olive bar.

Greg said we are kind of hitting a wall with our food choices, which I agree with. We just have to keep being creative and look up recipes, which Pinterest has been super helpful with. In two days we will be able to add chicken and seafood into the mix, and it can't come soon enough!!!

Cleanse: Day 7

This is going to be another quick one because I have to go to bed soon (rest is super important while on a cleanse!) Our menu for the day wasn't terribly exciting. Two salads, asparagus fries (I will never get sick of these) and leftover lentil chili. Tomorrow I will be trying a new recipe I found, and I am super excited because I think it's going to be pretty awesome!

This is the end of Day 7, that means I made it through the first week! Yay! Honestly I thought I would experience more negative side effects, and the side effects I have experienced are pretty mild. Today was the first day since starting the cleanse that I did my full gym routine, and I felt awesome afterward. Before today I had been taking it easy, but still making sure to do something everyday, like taking walks and doing sun salutations in the morning. My gym experience today gave me the motivation to hit it hard this week and next week, gotta sweat those toxins out! I also want to try out the steam room. I have been hesitant to do this because I hate showering at the gym, but I think getting a really good sweat going will be beneficial, so I just have to suck it up and do it.

One revelation I (or we I should say) have had while on this cleanse is that it really makes you re-evaluate your relationship with food. So often we eat because of mood or taste, not enough for sustenance and nutrition. This diet is all about eating nutritious food, and luckily most of it is tasty! While preparing every meal, I often think that this is what it was like back in "olden times." No running to the store to grab a box of something and throwing it in the microwave. Everything had to be planned, prepared, and cooked, not to mention cleaning up afterward. It is so time consuming! The benefit is feeling healthier though, so I will trade in some of my time for feeling great.

Greg asked me if we were going to stick to this diet (more or less) after the cleanse is over. I was in a sarcastic mood so I quipped back, "No, we're going on the Mad Men diet and we'll start drinking and smoking all the time." Can you imagine? I would probably have a heart attack the first day into it.

This post was longer than I thought it would be. Definitely time for bed. One more thing though, Happy Birthday Paul McCartney!!!!!

Cleanse: Day 6

Last night and today were the first times we spent a length of time away from home, and I quickly learned that it is best to make sure to bring protein shakes and food, otherwise the mood can go from happy and energetic to cranky and hungry in no time flat.

Right after I posted last night Greg and I had dinner. Beets, sweet potatos, and asparagus fries:

We wanted to make sure we were full so that we would better handle any temptations that might present themselves. First was Julie's housewarming party. Luckily there was fruit there for us to snack on and water with blueberry ice-cubes to sip on.

After that Greg and I went our separate ways, him to Al's Den to DJ and me to Gold Dust Meridian to DJ. The night started off really fun, and it was on the World Naked Bike Ride route so it was pretty packed. Then at 1AM I hit a wall. I was exhausted and the last hour went by so slowly. The music I was playing was a reflection of my mood, slower, but still hits, and luckily people were digging it so everything worked out.

Today we got up and out the door as quickly as we could for the Portland Gay Pride Parade. It was my first time and it was super fun! Everyone was full of positive energy, being there gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside (corny I know.) Here are some of the best shots I took of the parade:

He was walking by so fast I cut off his nose!

After the parade (and after we wondered around downtown for a while) we came home and vegged. Then we spent an hour in the kitchen making eggplant calamari (recipe here) and sweet potato chips:

It was like we were eating junk food, but it was healthy! The eggplant is breaded with ground flax seeds and we dipped them in guacamole. It was so delicious!

So, it's the end of day 6, almost the end of the first week, and everything is going great. I have a lot of energy most of the time, I just have to make sure to always have food on hand, or be near a Whole Foods to take advantage of their amazing salad bar (which I have) if I am away from home. It's not easy, but right now we have the time and it's actually fun to discover new recipes, most of which we will be carrying into our post-cleanse lives. Now, back to my Sunday night Mad Men marathon...

Cleanse: Day 5

This one is short and early because I have a long night tonight, and it will be the first night that I will be out socially since I have started the cleanse. First I am attending my friend Julie's housewarming party, then I am DJing and the Gold Dust Meridian from 10-2 (prime viewing location for tonight's World Naked Bike Ride!) This will really be a test of my willpower, being around food I can't eat and booze I can't drink. I am optimistic though, might be a little hard but I know I can do it.

I felt great all day today. Spent another couple of hours doing yard work and then our friend Mary came over for a little bit. My face is still broken out a little, but my dreams were somewhat normal last night. I did not get as much sleep as I would have liked because when Greg got home at 2:30AM he decided to talk my ear off for an hour, then of course it took me another hour and a half to fall back asleep again. He will now be sleeping in the guest room after DJ gigs when I stay home. I need my beauty sleep!!!!

Going to go to Pride tomorrow so that should be interesting, stay tuned for a lengthier and more in depth post tomorrow, hopefully with pictures from Pride!

Cleanse: Day 4

The booklet I received with all the supplements for the cleanse made it clear that I would have ups and downs, good days and bad days, and today was kind of a bad day. It actually started out great. I woke up after 11 hours of sleep (with a mild breakout, common side-effect of a cleanse) full of energy and ready to conquer the day's tasks, which I did. I did about 3 hours of yard work and did a little bit of sewing. After the yard work, after lunch and before the sewing, I hit a wall. I felt sluggish and the most trivial of things would send me into a tailspin (me to Greg, "Can you puhleeze wipe the freaking counter! I am so sick of walking into a mess every time I step foot in the kitchen! Why do you insist on making my life so difficult!?!) Yes, I was being overly dramatic, but he just shrugged it off and I eventually cleaned up the mess, or the mess he left after he cleaned. It was also the first day that I felt REALLY hungry. I was okay until about 5PM, and then I started having daydreams about pizza. I saw a picture of a hamburger and started salivating like a dog looking at a, well, a hamburger. And two side-effects continued today that I did not expect but make sense. The first is the most horrible taste in my mouth when I wake-up, worse than a hangover. The second is really strange and vivid dreams. Last night I had one dream where I was eating cheese and crackers and then half way through I yelled, "Wait! I shouldn't be eating this! I'm on a cleanse!" Well, that one was not so strange, but the next one was. I was in a country that was a cross between Vietnam and South Africa (or what I believe to be South Africa since I have never been there) traveling with a group of people that included Yolandi Visser of Die Antwoord. We spent most of the time running away from people that were trying to rob us on the street and the rest in a bank trying to find a lost debit card. WTF? I believe dreams have symbolism, but this one was just bat shit crazy. It might not sound like it but to me it was.

Anyway, Greg made an awesome lentil "chili" for dinner. It consisted of lentils, tomatoes, finely chopped onion, garlic, lime, cumin, and chili powder. We served it over lightly steamed rainbow chard and garnished it with fresh tomato slices, avocado, lime, and cilantro. Here it is:

It was oh so tasty, and good thing, Greg made a huge batch of it.

Now it's midnight and Greg is DJing at Shut Up & Dance at the Fez. I decided to stay home because I felt so tired and drained, but ironically my energy has come back and now I feel great. Probably still smart to stay home though. Wrapping the day up, I was up, down, and then back up again. All part of the cleanse, but hopefully I will have more up days than down days.

Cleanse: Day 3

Today was a doozy. Due to a deadline I only got 4 hours of sleep last night and I am completely drained! I know that I should not have done that, getting plenty of rest is essential while on a cleanse. Luckily I can sleep in tomorrow, and I will make sure I sleep normally for the rest of the cleanse.

Every time I don't get enough sleep I feel hungry all the time, and today was no different. I stuck with what I am supposed to eat, just more of it, and four protein shakes instead of three. Greg made jook (an Asian soup, ours consisted of vegetables slow cooked in water overnight with brown rice) and I had that this morning with my usual smoothie. For lunch I had a spinach/cucumber salad and then at dinner we pigged out, or a cleanse version anyway: beets, celery with guacamole, and asparagus fries. The asparagus fries were amazing and super easy, just drizzle on olive oil, broil until it's crispy, and sprinkle with salt (Greg also sprinkled on powdered garlic and onion, which made them even tastier.) I topped off my evening with a trip to Working Class Acupuncture, I told them I was doing a cleanse and wanted to use acupuncture to aid the removal of toxins. I am not sure if it did anything, but anytime I have gone there for other ailments I always see results, so we'll see.

Looking forward to getting some much needed sleep, and being fresh for tomorrow!

Cleanse: Day 2

This one is going to be short because I have had a long day! Day 2 of the cleanse is almost over, and I am still feeling great! Was hungrier today than yesterday, so that meant more protein shakes. I have had tons of energy all day, and I am kind of surprised because I thought I would feel at least a little sluggish. I managed to work a 12 hour day and go to the gym, and I don't feel exhausted! Greg, on the other hand, felt a little fluish today and had low energy, until I made him go to the gym. He is doing the cleanse with me, but only food wise, he is not taking the supplements like I am. This leads me to be believe that he may be more toxic than me or the supplements make a huge difference, or maybe a combination of both. Either way I am already feeling the benefits, and am motivated to keep going! Hopefully tomorrow's post will be a little more involved, with maybe a picture and recipe. That's it for tonight, gotta get up early tomorrow!

Cleanse: Day 1

I am nearing the end of the first day of the cleanse, and so far I can already feel the effects, mostly positive! I had a smoothie and a yam for breakfast, home-made lentil soup and carrots for lunch, and a spinach salad with beets for dinner. It sounds like rabbit food but I was never hungry, the protein shakes that I had with the meals are really filling, so filling that I skipped it for lunch. The cleanse also involves taking 7 pills 3 times a day with meals. For breakfast I took them all at once after breakfast and felt kind of dizzy and sick for a few hours, but for lunch and dinner I spread them out and that seemed to help. I have a weird kind of energy and clarity that I have not felt in a really long time, but I also feel kind of spazzy and un-focused, but that is probably just because it was my Monday today and that always happens. I am really looking forward to seeing what else will happen, and I can take a little discomfort, it's just all the bad stuff being flushed out of my body!

If you are considering doing a cleanse I have one piece of advice, make sure it is during a time when you don't have any huge projects or stressful situations going on. It takes a lot of time and planning when it comes to the food, especially (I am assuming) when you are a few days into it and need to add some variety into the diet due to boredom.

Hopefully I will have pictures with these posts, but I am not really a fan of taking pictures of food unless the meal is amazing, so we'll see. For now I'll have to be content with posting a cute picture of my dog Basil:

Now off I go to soak in an epsom salt bath...

Cleanse: -1 Day One

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything here, and with good reason. I have been writing for the Portland Mercury On Design Blog, and I am really loving it! (You can catch up on all of my past posts here.) Needless to say that because of this new job I have been focusing any blog ideas I have on that, but starting today I (hopefully) will be making posts here everyday as well. Tomorrow I start a 21 day cleanse, courtesy of Better Forever, an amazing holistic health center headed by Jeanne Kennedy Crosby D.C. that specializes in chiropractic, applied kinesiology, and clinical nutrition services that I first wrote about here. Tonight I had kind of a last supper at Bamboo Sushi, which coincidentally also served as the celebration for my boyfriend and I's eight year anniversary. The food was amazing and was a perfect way to "go out."

This cleanse involves eating nothing but vegetables and fruit for the first 10 days (with protein shakes) and then adding chicken and fish for the rest of the cleanse, all the while taking supplements that aid in the detoxification of the body. In all honesty the food part will not be that hard, I pretty much just eat only organic food made at home (once in a while I will eat junk, but I'm human!) The hardest part for me will be giving up alcohol. I'm not saying I'm an alcoholic, but I can't really remember the last time I went that long without drinking. I like to out, especially dancing, and it's always nice to have a drink (or more) to loosen up a bit. I have to say that I have been overindulging just a little bit lately though, and it would do me some good to see what life is like without the booze. I do remember the last time I went out sober I thought everyone was super annoying, they being drunk and all, but I guess that's my problem. I will probably just end up going home early instead of closing down the bar, which is always a good idea anyway.

So, I intend to blog about this cleanse here everyday, with a weekly rundown over on MOD. While this cleanse is mostly about ridding my body of toxins, I also am aiming to rid my mind and spirit of toxins as well. The latter two I have been working on for a while, and I feel like this cleanse will be the final push to help me achieve this. And if anyone out there reading this has been thinking about doing a cleanse but is not sure what to expect, you can live through my process here. Looking forward to tomorrow...