Day 10 & 11...OOPS! Vision Quest

Hi Followers, Friends and Family!

So sorry I didn't post yesterday!  I was a busy Hip Chick the first part of the day, then had an awesome chat over tea with an amazing woman and friend yesterday.  She has her own blog and after you start reading it...you too will want to be as lucky as me and be her friend.  I have put her link to the right on my blog.  Her blog is called "Losing My Behind", we are going to meet regularly because she is so super fun, smart and just an awesome lady, but also to compare notes and share our weight loss, one-on-one with one another. The rest of the day I was a lazy detoxing health nut the remainder of the day...making me so lathargic I could honestly not function enough to blog.  I am on my "vision quest" again today.  I feel high!  I am eating as much as possible but it is all fruits, veggies and lentils and beans, but it truly makes me feel a bit "out there" so bear with me!  Yesterday I didn't do much on the exercise front, I did do a bit on the stair master, and did my kitchen workout (that is doing push-ups while waiting for my food to prepare, as well as other things like lunges, dips...) but I didn't have much energy so only went for a 30 minute walk.  I ate lots and lots of fruits and veggies but also had a giant yogurt with fruit and oatmeal for lunch while having tea with Cheryl.  It isn't part of the detox, but due to my bad planning, it was, what it was.  I still have until Friday night to detox, so I think my yogurt mishap will be forgiven by my body.
I have also begun reading "YOU on a Diet" by Drs. Oz and Roizen.  It is hard to read because of their ridiculous amount of "cliche" statements that litter the great text.  I have learned a lot, I just have to skip over the cheese factor in the cliches to get to the good stuff in there.  I wanted to share some of that with you today.  Much of it, I already know, but some of it was a really good reminder, so here I go:
Regarding High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) I am paraphrasing from page 47.
HFCS, a sweetener in many processed foods, like soft drinks and salad dressing...turns on your desire to eat because your brain doesn't see it as regular food.  Since your body doesn't see the fructose as regular food your body wants you to keep eating (which means that even low-fat foods can have extremely bad consequences, calorie and appetite wise).  Since HFCS doesn't turn off your desire to eat, eating a low-fat diet can cause you to eat more than whole foods such as fruits and veggies do.  So you constantly get the desire to eat, even after your belly if full of fat-free food, full of calories.
I found this really interesting, and ironically, Cheryl and I were just talking about why we feel hungry after we eat pre-packaged foods!  Now we know.
There is lots of great info in the book too regarding inflammation.  Chances are the toxins we put in our body are causing our intestines to become inflamed.  When that happens our body can't absorb the good stuff and the fat sticks around.  So by eliminating the toxins (pre-packaged food, sugar, fat, deep fried anything) we can help with the inflammation, and watch our waists rid of the waste! Love that!
This next quote from page 83 summed up my life for the past years. "How you feel influences ow you eat, and how you eat influences how you feel. When you eat food that makes you feel bad, you self-medicate with food that make you feel good in the short term, but will actually contribute to both inflammation and weight gain."  So true!

Ok, back to me!  Only a few days left to detox.  I have entered the fruit, veggies and legumes only portion of the diet, thank goodness for those legumes!  Thursday and Friday I will only eat fruits and veggies to prepare for Friday night/Saturday's detox.   So on Monday I cut meats and nuts.  I had a few shrimp Tuesday but I cut all meat.  Wednesday I cut all dairy.  Thursday I will cut the legumes and then only eat fruit and veggies.  So for the un-fun part of the detox.  It begins Friday night for me.  I have also forgot to mention that I drink 4-5 glasses of apple juice each day, this softens any toxins or stones in my system.  You must drink it at room temp.
Friday afternoon, I am going to liquids, so I will use my juicer for my fruits and veggies, it makes the remainder of the detox more pleasant to me.  Right before bed (10pm) I squeeze two grapefruits into juice to make 1/2 cup of juice.  I mix this with cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. YUCK I know!  I recommend using cold EVOO.  So as you will notice the two separate so make sure you bring a spoon or straw.  Now go stand next to your bed.  Mix the two really good and GULP it all down.  Lay down immediately.  Do not get up, so make sure you go to the bathroom and do all you need to do before you drink.  Lay on your right side (the side your gallbladder is (was) on.)  Place two pillows under your right hip.  The pillows slant your body so the oil will leave the stomach faster and go into the duct area and into the gallbladder.  As you rest (sleep) the oil will saturate and clean the body tissues.  It will feel awkward, but this is the most effective way to sleep so the oil can work it's magic by expelling the toxins and stones.  You may change your position after 4 or 5 hours.  You body will likely wake you up to expel the toxins.  They will be floating and may be waxy or look like stones from grey to green.  Some may be the size of a pea and some the size of the end of your thumb.  The apple juice you drank earlier will help soften them so it doesn't hurt.  You may feel very sick and even feel like vomiting.  This is normal.  Some (I will do this) will drink a portion of Epsom Salt mixed with water (please do your research on this, it isn't for everyone, and can make you sick if you don't use the right portions.)   I do this to further assist in getting out the toxins.  You will need to just relax this day, drink water, and read or relax.  Once you feel like eating again by the afternoon.  TAKE IT SLOW work your way back to your regular day over the next 3-4 days.  Start with some juice, maybe apple sauce, then work into soup and then fruits and veggies, after you have worked your way back up, you may resume your regular diet.  I always feel more energetic, and cleaner after my cleanse.  It is about a 2 week process, but I have ridded myself of toxins and that makes my skin feel better too!

Today I did 20 minutes of abs and 60 minute walking plus light to moderate housework burning 988 cals.

Day 10 weight: 210.2
Day 11 weight: 207.8

Breakfast: boiled and drained spinach, red grapes, banana (266 cals)
Snack: Odwall Orignal Superfood drink (179 cals)
Lunch: Red grapes, Baby Carrots, Brocolli (158 cals)
Snack: Lentils, Superfood drink(399 cals)
Dinner: Black beans, cilantro, brocolli (334 cals)
Apple Juice throughout the day (351 cals)
Total Cals: 1627