So, it’s day 17 of my cleanse.
Here is a list of what is going to stay:
“Serious” green juice for breakfast. It may not be the “only” thing I eat for breakfast the way it is now, but it’s going to be a major player.
The big mid-day meal. This is so working for me. Love this. I usually get home from the studio between 7:30 and 8 PM and then eat dinner. Bed time is around 10. See the problem? No time to digest. So just a very light snack for dinner so there can be a “fast” before “break-fast.”
Coffee as a treat. I roll so much more serenely through life without that coffee buzz (though today I was incredibly tired and I really wanted a boost.) Yerba Mate is allowed on the Elimination Diet, and that is naturally caffeinated, so I will try that when I need a lift.
Severely limit sugar. I already know what sugar does to my system, and it’s not good. This won’t be hard.
Limit dairy. I already do, and although I’ll miss cheese, this won’t be much of a hardship either.
Sprouted grain bread. I am not gluten intolerant, but bread just feels like a gastro burden that I don’t need.
What’s coming back:
Wine! But only on Friday night. Oh wine, I have missed you. Friday nights have been soooo depressing. Not only is there no good food to eat, there is no glass of Pinot to signal that I am entering a new time zone: the Weekend Zone.
More variety of food. I really miss bananas (especially in smoothies) and tomatoes and eggs. I miss strawberries and peanut butter and fake meat. I miss oatmeal. It will be great to have my vegetarian chili again, and an omelette on Sunday morning.
What has been good is that I am feeling light inside, and I have a lot of energy. According to the scale at the gym I have lost 5 lbs in the past 2 and half weeks. And while that is good, I don’t put a lot of stock in the scale. Scales are all different, so I depend on the tape measure, and how my clothes fit to tell me how I’m doing. Much to my dismay, there hasn’t been any big changes there–yet! I am hoping by continuing with the Elimination Diet after the Cleanse, to become more lean.
All it takes is patience and persistence over time, and thankfully, I am good at that.
Inspiration Location 