Monday, October 24, 2011

Days 2 and 3

Yep - so I am already slacking -I said I would write everyday and I didn't yesterday.

Anyway this is a combined for days 2 and 3.

Yesterday was good - I did have a small headache throughout most of the morning. Not sure if that is because of my head cold or the detoxing. According to what I have read days 2 and 3 are the hardest for some - especially if they are used to having a fair amount of caffeine in their diets.

Yesterday I had my shakes (more about that later) and munched on some steamed edemame - now while edemame isn't on the "approved" list - I love them and had to have them - at least it was a veggie right???

I also went to a Pampered Chef Party and I know you are thinking - Pampered Chef - oh no food...well the consultant made chicken fajitas with a fresh salsa and guacamole. I simply picked through the chicken to get to the peppers and onions and had a scoop of salsa and guacamole - yummy stuff and nothing on the "not approved" list.

I spent most of the afternoon making a lentil veggie soup - complete with homemade veggie broth - go me...it actually turned out pretty good...even Third Child liked it - score one for me. Plenty of leftovers though - so I will be eating it for lunch for the next few days.

So part if the program is possible weight loss - I will say I have some meat on my bones and one of the reasons for doing this purification program was to shake my body up - for the past 8 months I have been eating a fairly clean diet - working out - doing cardio kickboxing 2x's per week and while I have toned up and shown the appearance of loosing weight the scale doesn't budge. This morning I got on the scale and I am down 2.2 lbs from Saturday morning.

On to the shakes that I said I would talk about.

One of the core components of the program is doing 2-3 shakes a day - in the shakes you put 2 scoops of the SP Complete powder - which is made up of all sorts of extracts of whole foods, which is one of the main reasons it tastes "earthy" - also in the shake you put 1 tablespoon of high quality oil such as olive or coconut - I prefer coconut. The rest is water and any fruit or veggies you want to add. I have tried a few so far...I tried one that involved 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree - not so recommended. But, since I now have an open can of pumpkin this afternoon I did a shake with 1/2 a banana and a generous spoonful of pumpkin puree - that was a lot better.

Granted I have only done a few so far but you are pretty limitless with what to add to the shake if you keep it within the approved list - I bought a bunch of frozen fruit - strawberry, raspberries, and peaches to make the smoothies.

As far as mixing the shakes - on Saturday morning I did the first one in our big blender and found it was a bitch to clean - so I went out and bought a Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender - I got mine from Wal-Mart for about $16 - I read a bunch of reviews and overall it seems like a good little mixer if you don't abuse it. I don't plan on putting ice in it and for my larger frozen pieces of fruit I plan on defrosting them some so they aren't' rock hard (I did peaches last night - defrost for a bit and cut into chunks). I also have been giving it short pulse bursts rather than longer ones and so far for the 5 smoothies I have made using it they have turned out great. The cup comes right off - I don't bother with the lid - just drink straight from the cup.

Tonight I am going to attempt to roast some brussel sprouts - I have never had them before as they have always looked nasty to me - but I figured I should at least try them...try most everything once....right?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

DAY 1 - so far so good

So I am at the end of Day one for my Standard Process Purification Program - so far so good

but I do have to preface this with the fact that I have had a major head cold for the past few days- which has diminished my hunger for things that are good...add in the fact that I eat a relatively clean diet - with little fast food and little caffeine - so doing this program is a bit easier for me.

Anyway - you may be asking what does the process entail?

The first 7 days you have 2-3 shakes a day made with the program powder, along with cleansing and fiber capsules. You also get all the veggies and fruit you want - within reason. You want to eat more veggies then fruit and eat as much raw or just slightly cooked as possible...you can also have 1/2 cup of brown rice or lentils a day as well.

So what did I eat today

Started with a shake - two scoops of powder, some water, a tablespoon of coconut oil, 1/2 a small banana and a handful of frozen raspberries. It is was Ok - the powder has a specific taste to it - hard to describe - the best I can do is say its "earthy". Some of the recipes I have read about talk about adding veggie juice - ummmm I think I will stick with fruit based smoothies.

We spent the day out and about -I made myself a cup of green tea - even though I have been told a small cup of coffee a day would be ok - I have decided at least for the first 7 days I will switch to green tea. I packed myself some carrots and bell pepper slices to munch on. I still have the head cold so nothing sounded good but I knew I needed something to have with me.

Got home and made another smoothie - same as above

I also spent some time making some homemade veggie broth for some upcoming soups I plan to make.

Dinner was IMO great - I simply cut up some yellow and green squash, red onion, baby portebello mushrooms and some bell pepper and sauteed them up with some garlic and olive oil and then threw in a handful of spinach. I added some Pampered Chef Chili Lime spice to give it some kick served it up over 1/2 cup of brown rice.

So I feel ok - still have the head cold so that is weighing me down some - on to Day 2...

Friday, October 21, 2011

Purify Me

I am back…I know it has been awhile – a long while and for that I am sorry – the only excuse I have is I’ve been busy.

I am still crafting in my spare time, what little I have. Toothless Wonder and Pantiewad girl are doing great – as they have gotten older more and more of my “me” time has been chipped away – and that is OK.

The main reason for jumping back into blogging is to hold myself accountable…

Accountable for what you ask?

I am going to do a Cleanse…I know, I know – you read cleanse and all sorts of bad images come to your mind…believe me I have researched this to death to see if I really wanted to do this…

Why a cleanse? Well if you read back through some of my posts you know I have been trying to eat and live a healthier lifestyle over the past few years. I have had some success – cut out soda and vast majority of processed food from my diet – I have increased my exercise – I found a great cardio kickboxing class I take twice a week. But after all that I still feel like my body is holding on stuff it shouldn’t have. I have had people comment about the weight I have lost…ummmm haven’t lost any – toned up yes – loss no.

Don’t get me wrong I am not doing the cleanse just to loose weight – hopefully that is just a good side effect – I didn’t start eating better or exercising more to loose weight – I did it to make my body better with the hopeful side effect of dropping a few lbs.

So here is the thing – there are A LOT of different cleanses out there…the thing about them is you have to do your research – read labels – check out reviews – etc…what good is a cleanse if all you are putting in your body is a bunch more chemicals. There are also different cleanses for different things…I have to admit the first time I heard of a cleanse I had a vision of not being able to be more than 3 steps away from a bathroom…and if you are doing a colon cleanse that would be true.

So what am I doing? I am doing the 21 day Standard Process Cleanse - It is one that my chiropractor recommended. I already take Standard Process vitamins with great success so I figured what the hell. The main component of this cleanse is whole foods. All the supplements and pills are made of whole foods – no chemicals, no weird fillers, none of that…all natural whole foods.

The first 7 days you are limited to eating fruits, veggies, lentils and brown rice with the addition of 2-3 smoothies a day plus some cleansing and fiber pills. One may ask why not just eat fruits and veggies for a week and call it good. I’ve done that before – doesn’t do much…and you can’t get all the vitamins, minerals and protein you need – hence the use of smoothies and pills. After 7 days you can add in lean protein in the form of chicken and fish – easily done. After 21 days you can slowly add back in other things – but the goal is to do it one food type at a time…the cleanse basically strips your body for it to begin anew.

I am hoping I do ok on this program – I am already used to eating a modified Paleo type diet and drinking lots of water each day so hopefully this shouldn’t be as hard for me as it might for others who eat a lot of fast or processed food. I have also decided to take this time to try foods I have been turning my nose up at …Lentils – haven’t ever touched them – brussel sprouts, kale, beets – OH MY…

I think the hardest thing will be to give up my protein sources for the first week – I love my chicken and fish…oh and my coffee - I have been told I can have a small cup of coffee a day while on the program – but I think for the first 7 days I am going to go all in…The program suggests drinking green tea – so at least for the first 7 days I will be switching my morning coffee with morning green tea…

So the question is why am I blogging about it – well I did some research and found a few blogs about the program and they enjoyed it – I figured if I blog about it then I have the whole internet to keep me accountable – right? I paid a nice chunk of change for the program so I will be brutally honest about how I feel and what I eat…if I don’t like it you will know – if I find it to be fantastic you will know.