DAY 1

Today is my first day of a 21 day detox program called Clean. I am so ready for this. One of the main things it talks about is getting rid of the extra mucus in your body. I happen to have a lot of that. For some reason, yesterday I lost my voice. And I woke up this morning at 4:45am with snot draining down the back of my throat. According to the book, there is a link between wheat and milk intake and mucus production. Since arriving home from Ohio on Sunday, I've had almost an entire pound of Esther Price milk chocolates. I would say that has something to do with my sore throat. I'm drinking hot tea at the moment. Liz Dykes is visiting and asleep in my bed. I didn't start coughing, but I started having to clear my throat and I didn't want to bother her, so I got up. I'm going to work for a couple of hours then probably take a nap.

This blog is going to track the progress of my detox. I'm going to try to write in it every day. The basic overview is to have a liquid breakfast and dinner, and an organic lunch. Last night I spent a lot of time writing out what I'm eating each day. For instance, today I'm having a mango & coconut milk smoothie for breakfast and dinner, and a roast chicken for lunch. The book has recipes in the back, and I've made notes for myself about what page to refer. I did some basic grocery shopping last night, and spent $95.00. I need to go through my lunch recipes this week and see if there are any additional ingredients I need. I hadn't made a list, and I was with Liz and wanted to get things done quickly, so I bought some basic ingredients and lots of frozen fruit for the smoothies. Last night I made up a master list of what was needed from each recipe. Today I will go through the next 7 days to make sure I have everything, and pick up whatever is needed.

In addition to a reduced and organic intake of food, it recommends eating one clove of garlic/day in between thin slices of apple, exercising, journaling, two T olive oil before bed for internal lubrication, and taking a daily picture. I'm going to wait until this afternoon to do that, but I will be taking a daily picture of my face. I'm going to post the first day of each week and a final picture, but I'll take a daily picture just for my own records. I'm going to take a yoga and spin class every day. I will be dog sitting for a few days, so I might pass on the gym classes and take the dog out for three 30 minute jog/walks. It's a young I think Huskie with a lot of energy, so breaking up the workouts for me will also help keep the dog under control. I'm going to focus on producing more claims and hitting 40 hours/week, so I want to make sure the dog isn't going stir crazy while she's here.

The book talks about dealing with hunger. I expect to be hungry on this, especially with the addition of exercise. When I was in Ohio, I was very conscious of the fact that I was full ALL THE TIME. Once we ate dinner, and I didn't even want anything; I was still full from lunch. I'm increasing my water intake, so that will help. And I'm not usually hungry first thing in the morning, so I'll put off breakfast as long as possible. The book says you need at least 12 hours between dinner the night before and breakfast the next day. I'm also getting a massage weekly, which is recommended. I have several built up from my Massage Envy membership, so that won't be a problem. There was a groupon for acupuncture that I purchased, and I'll be setting up my two appointments this week.

I'm really interested to see how I feel on this. It's different for each person, naturally. But with the amount of breads and milk products I eat, I suspect that my mucus production will go way down. I'm also hoping to avoid getting colds this winter, which I usually get every few weeks and which render me completely useless for at least a day (then a week of miserable coughing and super runny nose).

On Day 19 I will be at a wedding. I plan to juice breakfast and dinner, but eat whatever is at the wedding for lunch and have a slice of cake. Normally I could eat cake until I passed out, but I'm curious to see if the sweetness will be too much since I'll have cut out refined sugar for more that two weeks prior. January 16 is my Day 21, but depending on how I feel, I might keep going until the 20th, which is when Heather, Becca, Amber, and Jil arrive for my birthday weekend. I'm not happy with where my body is, in terms of fitness. I know that even if I didn't change what I was putting into my body, that if I exercised every day I would probably drop about 6 pounds before my birthday. I'm guessing with the diet change and the fact that I'll be dumping a whole bunch of toxic crap out of my system that I lose about 10 pounds. 15 tops. I'm also hoping that after doing this for 21 straight days, I will be in the habit of exercising every day, so that will be something I continue. I would also like to continue cooking from the recipes, eating healthy, and not completely reverting back to my old (bad) habits.

Later today I will post my Day 1 picture. I'm excited to start this!

* * * MID AFTERNOON UPDATE * * *

So far I have had so much water my pee is clear. But that helps with the hunger, which I'm beginning to notice since I've been up for almost 9 hours now, plus water and peeing are good for you. Liz and I went to Kerbey Lane for lunch. I had tea and lemons, she had chips and salsa and almond pancakes and bacon. I didn't even take a bite, which is amazing to me! I have zero self control, PLUS her food looked SO GOOD, but I'm incredibly proud that I stuck with my plan. We came home and I started to gather the ingredients to make my chicken for lunch, and I missed picking up a few key things last night. So, off to the grocery store again. The sunflower seeds, which needed to soak for 2 hours, are now soaking. They probably won't make it the full 2, but now I know for next time: LOOK AHEAD AT WHAT THE RECIPES CALL FOR. I ate my garlic clove in thin slices of apple, so I'm fine for now. But, whoooo boy does my breath stink!

Here's my Day 1 photo. One of the things the book talks about is tightening of your pores. I have huge pores, but this photo doesn't show it. I was hoping to see a difference by the end of the 21 days, but I suppose I'll just have to go by memory. Also, i was hungry all day b/c I didn't get to eat lunch until almost 4, but there was so much food I couldn't finish it all. I'm slowly snacking on it b/c I'm gonna see a movie w/ Emma at 10:30, so I know I'll be up late and not eating after 10.