I'm impressed folks!
It's been a while since I've done a good cleanse and I'm still here! Still on track, still cooking, cutting, drinking, eating, slurping and falling in love with food all over again.
I remember at the end of last year when my naturopath mentioned to me, "I just want you to get to have a good relationship with food again". It really shocked me, as I'd always had a good vibe with food. I always ate pretty well. But then with the adrenal stuff, feeling tired all the time over a number of years (that's what stress will do!) I shifted. I craved sugar, caffeine and all those yummy, processed, stimulating foods that really are un-yummy to your body.
So with a body physically under stress, and then me fuelling my temple with more stressful 'food', it was a recipe for disaster. A recipe for where I am today. And yes, I want to have a good relationship with food again - and I think this crazy sexy adventure cleanse is helping me get there! Phew :)
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| Today's menu - using up mango, strawberries, blueberries plus a handful of spinach, water and maca |
So here we are, 7 days under my belt. That's me above, saying hi. I'll tell you the truth, I'm a little tired today, but aren't we all sometimes?
The weekend came and I ate mexican. Yep, corn tortillas, beans, heaps of salad, brown rice, avocado, salsa (and yes, sour cream). I thought if I was going to have one takeaway I'd not feel guilty, just enjoy it, but make the best choice of it I could.
Normally I'm pretty lax with my gluten free diet - over the last couple of months I've aimed for 70% GF, but often fallen below that. Not anymore! I'm so happy to share I've not had gluten at all. Well, I know gluten is in loads of sauces and things, so actually I'll be more honest in saying I've had about a 98% gluten free diet. Break out the sparklers!
On the whole, my energy is up - and even when I'm tired (like today) it's a different kind of tired. It's not a bone tired, dragging myself around. It's a 'I need an early night' but ok kind of tired. And again, that could be because now, on Day 8 of the cleanse, I'm officially caffeine free! Yep, another goal kicked!
Here's a little snap shot of the Grand Adventure so far:
Day 1 (Monday): prepped on the weekend, so have heaps of salads, beans, fish (didn't go vegan this cleanse) and green veggies in my diet. Oh, and stacks of water! 1 coffee today (soy latte), down from the 3 I was having daily in holidays.
Day 2: much of the same. Meditation helps, oh boy does it ever! Noticing the habits I've fallen into - sugar-filled dessert after dinner, be it lollies, ice-cream, whatever! I've also (with my Doctor's permission and guidance) gone down to just half a tablet (from a full tab) in anti-depressant meds today. Weeeeee!
Day 3: Try my first green smoothie today. Belly had a "woah Nelly!" reaction but after one quick visit to the loo (TMI??) I was all back on track. My body is quickly adjusting to this! Also realising how much time I waste watching TV and doing... I don't know! Just wasting time! When I come home, I'm right onto cutting and prepping food for the night, food for the next day. I feel quite conscientious!
Days 4 & 5: much of the same & still on one coffee a day. Still haven't cracked and had takeaway - BIG DEAL for me! Friday night a friend comes over and cooks me dinner - this is when I usually break the GF rule, as people freak out sometimes when they're so used to wheaty-packed dinners! Nope.. GF all the way! It's not that hard, you've just got to be organised! Extra greens in salad is easy too :)
Day 6 (Saturday): Raced off for some exercise in the morning and had a bit of a headache... decided to push through and have NO COFFEE! I also have a nap today, headache gets a bit overwhelming and I have a free day, so again - no guilt! Listening to what my body needs and responding. Oh, and then have mexican. All in balance!
Day 7: Do a huge grocery shop to prepare for the coming week, prepare a few meals so I've got things ready to heat and go (lunches and dinners) and again, NO COFFEE! Actually was preparing myself to start weaning off this week (one day on, one day off) as I normally do when I have a coffee break. But there's only a teeny tiny twinge of headache so I bite the bullet and go without.
Also, could it be true? Am I starting to fall in love with cooking again?
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| From this... |
I think so! I bake veggies, and do a kick-ass marinated dory parcel (dory fillet with ginger, garlic, onion, lemon and dill wrapped in foil and baked till tender) for dinner. I'm impressed with my culinary skills.
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| to this!!!! |
And Week 1 - there you have it! Not just succeeded, but killed, been amazingly awesome, cheerleaders are doing high-kicks kind of wonderful!
Has it all been easy? Hell to the no! It's not. It's yummy, tasty, invigorating, brain-clearing and tops: YES, but it's hard kicking bad habits. Headaches suck, diarrhea (how do you spell that?) sucks, cravings suck.
But you know what? I had hit a wall. I just couldn't go on with this adrenal & depression stuff. It was time.
Honestly, I am blessed that I am not so-so-sick that I could have a sneaky semi-ok and well thought out mexican takeaway. I am super-star-lucky that I could wean off coffee gently (as gently as it could be) and have half my fruit and veggies non-organic-but-in-my-price-range.
But I'm also damn SICK of being sick, of being exhausted, of having no energy to be my shiny, bright self, of being so down that days can go by when I can't leave bed. I don't want to be on adrenal supplements from my naturopath forever, nor do I want to be on anti-depressants from my doctor forever. If I have to be on them, of course I will. But anything that is in my power to help this stuff? I'm sure as heck going to do my darndest to make it work.
So here we are. Morning of Week 2. Wonder what this week has in store???
x
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