OK, so on day 3 I'm acutely aware of the fact that I've "cheated" for 2 out of 3 of my juice cleanse days. But the honest the truth is, I'm OK with that. To remind us all, "cheating" entailed a handful of pistachios, some crystallized ginger, and a bag of frozen peas (defrosted and cooked, with a little salt, of course)!
Still, day 3 brought new dedication to stay just on juice and tea and water. How did it go? Well, I DEFINITELY felt the need to eat food, especially around lunchtime, which was always the time I ended up snacking on real food. I made it past that milestone, yay!
I also managed to do some Ashtanga yoga, though not the entire thing. I made it to asana #5 in the seated sequence, which isn't bad given my limited caloric intake. In fact, it felt really good. I felt like I was able to engage my lower bandhas in a way I hadn't before.
Other things I noticed today (also yesterday, though I'm not sure I mentioned them):
- My nose is occasionally runny, and I've been sneezing a bit.
- I'm SO COLD! It's about 90 degrees here in Austin, and it feels hotter if you're in the sun or a car. Yet whenever I'm in the apartment, a store, or any place where there's any breeze or AC, I'm cold. (Great idea do to a hockey game last night, wasn't it? LOL.)
- The taking of an herbal laxative on day one has kept me loose for days 2 and 3, no more required!
- More water between juices helps with hunger (duh).
- My primary craving (every day!) was for a banana.
Anyway, I ended up going to Whole Foods to have food on hand for tomorrow. It wasn't so bad, and I even found myself looking at what juices they have. I plan to do a smoothie in the morning, unless of course I'm craving the organic omega-3 eggs, the smoked salmon, the organic cauliflower, avocados, or bananas, blackberries, blueberries, apple, and pear that I bought! :-) I plan to have a salad with those ingredients for lunch, and a light halibut with bok choy for dinner.
Around 5 pm I felt really wiped, but I'd also gone to the chiropractor who put my body back in alignment after I'd done a great job knocking it out, sitting in front of my laptop with bad posture for too long, putting together my upcoming workshop content (see http://ajourneyintohealth.blogspot.com/2014/05/upcoming-workshop-announcement.html). I was so sluggish that at 6:30pm, before teaching a Hatha class, I caved and had a banana! Oh well.
I do like the idea of doing this once a month. My hypothesis is that it should be easier to break poor habits by cleansing more regularly. At least 3 days out of the month, my body would get a break from the toxins I love: coffee, chocolate, and alcohol! Speaking of which, I'm not sure when those will get re-introduced, but my guess is that a nice dark chocolate will be the first on the list--it was last time!
Here's a comment I received via email:
ReplyDelete"Hi! Just read your blog posts about the juice cleanse. I'm not surprised that you crave actual food. That's one of the things that's bothered [name removed] the most since his inability to eat anything solid. He misses the feeling of having solid food in his stomach. Even though he drinks enough smoothies or soup to be technically "full", he never actually feels "satisfied."
I'm not sure I understand juice cleanses. While I get the idea behind it, I personally don't see what's so horrible about craving (and eating!) a banana. It certainly can't be considered a toxin. I know it wasn't what you were trying to do, but I don't view eating something healthy as "caving in." I would think that if you're feeling that sluggish, your body is telling you that it needs more than what you've been giving it. Just my 2 cents!
BTW, I think the movie you were referring to might be Soylent Green."
Here was my response:
Yes I had thought of [name removed] both times I did these cleanses, actually. And you're absolutely right, bananas aren't toxic! :-) There is discipline required to do a cleanse that's much more of a mental and emotional exercise, and that is actually more of what I like about them. (Perhaps I should have written more about that--next time!) Cleanses invite me to really feel into my desires and breathe through discomfort, which is helpful for not just around food but for life!
And yes, that sounds like the movie the man was referring to! :-)