Cleanse or, well, bust...

After three days of hard-core, all-raw, all-natural body cleansing, Joshua and I fell through the cracks. We both worked every day and cared for our son while we weren't at work. We went from eating crap and lots of it, to cutting our caloric intake in half. We were exhausted, and both experiencing headaches, weakness, and dizziness. We both work in hospitals so working under these conditions were not safe, to say the least. We finally decided...maybe we had went a little to far with our commitment. So, instead of delving straight into a cleanse and then going on a diet, we decided we should probably diet first - change our eating habits and slowly work towards lowering our calories and eating cleaner - then we could take on a 5-day cleanse without as many of the adverse repercussions.

A friend of mine has turned me onto the Paleo diet. It is basically a hunter-gatherer lifestyle diet. Paleo is short for "paleolithic" which was an era before processed foods existed. The idea of this diet is to cut out anything that you could not make, grow, or hunt yourself. You can still have meat and all the fruits and veggies your little heart desires - just no bread, pasta, or things that involve being processed.

We are going to begin this diet by educating ourselves on the exact do's and don'ts involved in the Paleo diet. I am getting a book called It Starts With Food which is basically a 30-day, clean-eating, paleo diet. It talks about all of the benefits of going paleo and how it can affect all sorts of ailments without the use of modern-medicines. Granted, I work in healthcare, I obviously believe in seeking treatment for your issues, but I also like to explore all of my options in the realm of natural-remedies before seeking more drastic, medical treatment.

I am looking forward to trying out the new paleo recipes I've been finding on Pinterest! And, although I am sad that Josh and I failed to complete our cleanse, I also realize that our bodies can only take so much change. Moving toward living a healthier lifestyle is not something you can dive into blindly. It takes more of a slow approach - at least for me - in order to be successful. I'm still determined to succeed on my quest to lose this last 20lbs. I just plan to take a more logical, healthier approach this time!

Preparation.

January 1st. Seems like the perfect time to change your lifestyle, right? I mean, isn't that what New Years Resolutions are all about? Well, my fiance and I have decided we are going to begin this year with a journey of self-purification by ridding our bodies of all the "not good for you" stuff we have been gorging ourselves on over the holidays. Tomorrow our entire lifestyles are going to be changing, beginning with a completely raw food, 5-day cleanse.

 Although part of me is dreading having to do without so many things that I absolutely love, like cereal and coffee, I am also excited about doing something good for my body for a change. Since my son was born six months ago, I have relied on food of convenience to fuel my body in order to stay alert for that little bundle of adorable chaos. I have been eating sugary cereal for multiple meals a day and only cooking meals that take less than 20 minutes to make - preparation included. Now I've decided it is time... time to do something for myself. I still have 20 lbs to lose in order to get back to my pre-baby weight and, so far, I haven't really been doing anything to make that happen. My fiance is going to be joining me on this journey because, since Elijah was born, he too has started to gain weight because he wasn't able to go to the gym like he used to and grabbing a bite to eat here and there has been about all we could do. Both of us work and we work our schedules so that we never need a babysitter so he and I are both constantly going, non-stop. It's hard to lose weight under those circumstances. In fact, it's even more difficult not to GAIN weight under those circumstances. So, our journey begins...

Joshua's found this cleanse on Dr. Ben Kim's website: Full Body Cleanse: Diet. Josh is extremely logical and will need 100% reputable information before taking on such a challenge. Basically, the rules for this cleanse are this:

1. Only fruits and vegetables
2. No meat
3. No grains, legumes, nuts, or seeds
4. No caffeine, alcohol, salt, sugar (sweeteners)
5. No animal products (dairy, eggs, fish, etc...)
6. Lots and lots of water

Dr. Kim is sure to make the reader aware that this cleanse is not a task to take on without properly weaning oneself from the foods and drinks you will not be allowed to have. He states that grains, legumes, nuts and seeds can be consumed up to the day before you begin the cleanse, but the rest should be completely tapered off.

I have spent the past  few days focusing on weaning myself from caffeine, as I know that will be my biggest challenge. After Elijah was born I decided to make up for the fact that I had barely consumed any caffeine at all over the past 9 months by increasing my coffee intake to 5-6 cups a day. I knew to just drop this habit cold-turkey would be devastating for all involved so I have finally gotten down to 1 cup a day. I am going to go ahead and start the cleanse, but I may supplement my caffeine intake with a cup of green tea since the amount of caffeine will be minimal and then I can adjust from there to no caffeine at all.

Today I went to the grocery store to purchase all of the necessary supplies for the next week. My cart was stacked with fruits and veggies and I'm sure people thought I was nuts. lol But here is what my shopping cart looked like:

•  Kale
• Spinach
• Zuchinni
• Squash
• Onions
• Carrots
• Celery
• Avocados (lots of them)
• Sweet potatoes
• Cucumbers
• Oranges
• Cantaloupe
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Lemons
• Apples

I steamed 5 sweet potatoes for the week because I know they will be more filling than most of the fruits and veggies we will be eating. I also cut up cucumber slices to use both as snacks and to put into my water along with lemon wedges. Lemons will be very important to use as dressing for my salads and for my avocados. I plan to eat "green" smoothies (fruit with avocados and spinach blended up) for breakfast in the morning, salad for lunch, hand held raw veggies for snacks, and some sort of potato-avocado dish for dinner. I'm also going to start with green tea (for the caffeine) and transition to caffeine-free chamomile tea on day 3. The next 5 days will definitely be a challenge, but I am determined to do something good for my body for a change! Here's to 2014!

In the Beginning...

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

...and then man screwed it up by adding chemicals and toxins into everything we put on and in our bodies. We shoot our meat full of antibiotics before we consume it - We have absolutely no idea what is in our lotions and soaps, yet we slather them liberally onto our bodies and let our pores soak up whatever the heck we just put on - We pride ourselves in being a civilization of knowledge with the ability to seek out any and all information needed, yet we completely overlook the necessity of this type of research when it pertains to the things we put on and in our bodies because that would, simply put, screw up the convenience factor in our lives. It is way easier to go to the store and pick up some fru-fru smelling lotion or a package of ground beef then it is to manufacture these things yourself, right? Heck, why would we even consider doing anything else? Well, thus begins the journey I am about to embark on... a journey to purify my body, my home, and my life in general. A journey of earth, body, and soul.