Good Hump Day

So today was spent making the usual rounds, exercising and, of course, taking a trip for auto maintenance. The tires are now ready to rock, and here is my view as I waited outside the tire shop. This is becoming a very steady past time in Southern California. And yes, I will be back at another garage tomorrow for an oil change.

Today was also a cleanse day. I've been asked by many people about how this works and what you eat, etc. So I've decided to use this space to keep a food journal so that anyone can use it as a reference. I'm no nutritionist, but I can see that there is a great deal of confusion out there about doing a cleanse and it's really easier than you think and very worthwhile so I hope this is helpful.

First off, I'm using the 10 day Whole Body Cleanse by Enzymatic. This is one I've done in the past. I decided to do this one again over the Garden of Life 10 day cleanse because that one involved drinking a fiber potion, whereas the Enzymatic one has all your fiber in capsules--much easier. All your doing on a cleanse like this is limiting your diet, purging your toxins, and increasing your fiber intake. The cleanse costs about $25, but you can find it a bit cheaper if you get one online in advance. You have three supplements you take, one is acidophilus (probiotics), one is a detoxifier (comprised of milk thistle, dandelion and other natural agents) and the other is fiber (to clean you out). You take the acidophilus any time during the day and the other two in the evening. If you take supplements, which I do, you can stop taking them during the cleanse. It's good to give your body a break so that it doesn't become dependent and it's also saving you money because anything you put into your body is going to get flushed out pretty quickly.

Now for the diet. Basically, you want to eliminate stimulants. No caffeine, no alcohol. No dairy. And absolutely nothing processed. You want to eat only whole, natural foods. Pretty much go for lean meat and fresh fruit and vegetables. It's far more delicious than you might think.

So for today's menu:

Whole Grain Oats, with honey, cayenne pepper, and fresh blueberries.

2 oz wheat grass.

Organic peanut butter with organic strawberry preserves on an organic tortilla and a Fuji apple. And some almond milk.

Banana.

Broiled chicken (lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, fresh rosemary, fresh sage ---that's it, NO butter or oil).
Sauteed (in organic olive oil) spinach, yellow bell pepper, and onion.

Delicious food. For fluids, other than the almond milk, just water with lemon. Good stuff.

But yes, it's the first day, so I had rhapsodic thoughts of pasta, chicken tacos, donuts, and quiche. But I stayed the course.

If you find this obnoxious, in the past few days I have eaten a Nathan's hot dog at the Dallas airport, a Steak & Cheese hoagie at Logan, a Big Carl and a Crispy Chicken w/Bacon & Swiss at Carl's Jr, and a half pound (sensational) cheeseburger at Rocky's.

I do cleanses at least once a year so I can eat that stuff whenever I want, and not want to eat that stuff all the time.