Cleanse Days 8-12

I'm just back from a weekend away upstate New York. I really enjoy the mountains and can feel all stress leave my body once I get up there. We stayed right outside of Woodstock where I knew they had a fabulous organic juice bar and health food store. It was quite difficult staying on a cleanse and not having my own kitchen, but at least I was able to get juices every day. The first two days I primarily ate fruits, vegetables, salads, smoothies and fresh squeezed juices. On day two I was getting very hungry (without a good protein source again and the nuts weren't doing it) I wound up having a small amount of french fries at a fair because there was nothing else. I had been off of potatoes for the past week, but decided to add them in. I felt fine afterwards and felt as if were okay - I didn't have a hot dog or fair sausage roll. The following day I again was very hungry and finally found a restaurant that served quinoa - YEAH! When my vegetable plate arrived there was about one 1/2 cup of quinoa on the plate. I couldn't believe it, so I asked the waiter if I could order a side order and guess what, he told me no because they often run out of it through the evening. Okay I thought, I am being tested, but I stayed with it.

So my plan for the week is to juice everyday through Thursday and a liver flush tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll post the recipe too. I will be adding beans and fresh fish back in on day 14 (Thursday). I don't think I will go back to eating meat or dairy the way I did in the past. I feel too good to ever want to go back to my old ways. This has been an unbelievable experience for me and I can't wait to share it with my clients.

Day 7 of My Pre Cleanse

Today I completed my last minute preparations for my cleanse. I picked up a few ingredients that I needed and made sure I had plenty of fruits, vegetables and nuts to snack on if I get hungry.

I am completely off of wheat, caffeine, sugar, dairy, meat, processed foods and of course alcohol.

I spent tonight at a spiritual concert for peace" Snatam Kaur" http://www.snatamkaur.com/ with many members of the team cleanse and students of Divine Yoga. What a way to kick start the cleanse. I just started Kundalini yoga a few months ago and I already feel the transformation.

Day 5 of My Pre-Cleanse

Today I received my cleanse packet with all of the recipes and supplements for the cleanse. Judy, a friend of mine from The Institute For Integrative Nutrition, where I graduated last year is leading the cleanse. I will be posting some of the recipes and foods that I'll be eating during the cleanse. You can also go to uecleanse for more details, as this is the cleanse I will be following. There are 26 people participating in this cleanse. Coach Judy has split us in two groups The Apples and The Bananas. This type of cleanse is called a co-op cleanse as it is a team cleanse where we will all be preparing one meal for the group during the 7 days. If you are considering doing the cleanse in your area, see if you can get a few friends together for the support and help with the cooking.

Cleanse Shopping
I did some shopping today at Light Foods Co-Op with my friend Claudia who will also be doing the cleanse. We picked up some carrots and celery for juicing, some grade B maple syrup, lemons, Braggs amino acids, raw almonds and walnuts and some bulk quinoa and millet. I'll be picking up more ingredients during the week and will keep you posted.

If you like peanut butter you'll love the smoothie I had for breakfast this morning.
(this is not for the cleanse)

Green Peanut Butter Smoothie

1 Tablespoon peanut butter
(or any nut butter - this is for some protein and fat to keep you full)
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup frozen mango pieces from Trader Joes
3/4 cup filter water

(Put all the ingredients in a blender and there you have it)

For lunch I had an avocado, an apple and a salad 1/2 cup of quinoa with diced zucchini (see recipe below) with fresh squeezed lemon, olive oil and sea salt for a dressing)

Raw Zucchini Quinoa Salad
(great for the cleanse)

Prepare 1 cup quinoa (rinse well, add 2 cups water - bring to a boil, cover, simmer on low for 15-20 minutes) let cool
Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (first cold pressed)
1 whole zucchini diced into small pieces
Add to quinoa
1 pinch of cayenne pepper to desired taste
celtic sea salt to taste

My down for the day
It was my nanny's birthday today and I brought her a carrot cake. I wound up giving in and had a small piece. This would have been fine on an ordinary day, as my diet was great the rest of the day. There is nothing wrong with carrot cake after a day filled with fresh, organic and healthy foods. Deprivation is the downfall to dieting. That is why I believe in adding healthy foods into your diet and crowding out the unhealthy foods. Since I am doing this to cleanse, beat my sugar addiction again and bring my body into balance it's best that I stay away from sugar.

More on pre-cleansing
The main purpose of pre-cleansing is so that you don't experience withdrawal symptoms from sugar and caffeine and give your body to adjust to a simpler way of eating. It is also a bit easier when you make slow and gradual changes. This is my approach with my clients that helps them maintain the new habits they've created that can last. It also helps you to get in tune with your body and realize what symptoms may have cleared up as you remove certain foods from your diet. For example: feeling bloated, headaches and digestive issues. You can then see the true correlation between how you feel and what you eat.

I've slowly been giving up caffeine and today was my last cup before the cleanse starts. A success with no headaches and severe caffeine withdrawals.

2 days left before the cleanse begins.

Day 3 of My Pre-Cleanse

Happy Mothers Day!

What a wonderful day. My day started with me waking up with my 3 1/2 year old son (who crawled into our bed in the middle of the night), cuddled up next to me. I didn't want to get out of bed, especially when my husband brought me a cup of my favorite Kukicha tea (my alternative to coffee) with raw honey and some fresh organic strawberries and watermelon. At 9:30 we went for a family walk and the weather was gorgeous. We were supposed to go for brunch, but last minute decided to stay home and I'm so glad I did. I prepared organic eggs, sauteed asparagus, broiled tomatoes with olive oil and some fresh fruit. Both my mother and sister commented on how nice it was to have vegetables with breakfast food and how simple it was to add them. My husband once again picked up bagels - uhhh. This time I really had no desire to have a bagel. I am already starting to see my cravings diminishing. I'm consciously having other sweets in my life, but the good news is that the piece of Red Velvet Cake last night did not create a craving for baked goods today. Since our brunch was served at 12:30 our next meal didn't come until 5:30. We decided on Italian and fortunately the restaurant in town serves gluten free pasta. For those of you who don't know gluten is found in (wheat, barley, oatmeal). Since I am avoiding wheat at the moment this was a great alternative. It wasn't the healthiest choice, but it's all about balance. I decided on shrimp parmigiana - another favorite of mine.

So my day is over, I am sitting drinking a cup of tea and getting ready for bed. My overall feeling is of accomplishment and moving towards a more balanced body. My cravings are reducing and I didn't feel bloated one bit today. I also had great energy despite being on the go all day. I gave up sugar today, which was easier than I thought. Most of the sugar I would normally consume is in candies, cakes and processed foods. Without them it makes it easier to avoid sugar.

Until tomorrow,

Jacqueline

Day 2 of My Precleanse

Today I decided to eliminate wheat from my diet. I'm looking forward to feeling lighter and less bloated - I seem to get very bloated when I eat too much wheat. I also have a hard time only having a little bit, especially if it's white bread. After taking a morning spin class with my husband (our first together) we headed to the organic smoothie place in town. Uhhh there was a yoga class going on and the cafe wasn't open yet. So, my first attempt to get an all organic fruit smoothie didn't work - but I tried. So we move on to the organic coffee shop that also sells smoothies and I finally get my smoothie. Now it's 10:30 and we're off to a good start. No bread for breakfast and I feel great. OK until my husband picks up bagels for him and the kids. I think to myself "well the cleanse doesn't technically start until next week," but then I think about the end result and remind myself how good I feel when I don't eat wheat. Around 1:30 I start to feel a bit hungry and have an avocado and pistachio nuts. Later in the afternoon my family and I head to Ikea and I find myself in the cafe with the kids starving and no great choices - fried foods, cakes, over cooked veggis, swedish meatballs and no fruit. I opt for some fries as they're not meat and they don't contain wheat. This is more difficult than I think, but so far so good. For dinner we decided to invite some good friends over for a barbecue. I cooked some quinoa, halibut, salad and of course some real deal barbecue food. My friend walks in with a lovely cake box from Malverne Bakery and I think "ah I can do this." That is until she tells me it's a red velvet cake (my favorite.) So we both laugh about it and say " there's always tomorrow." I thought about freezing a piece for after my cleanse, but it just wouldn't be the same. So, I gave in and had a small piece. Now it's two hours later and I still feel great. Overall I had a great day. I ate very well and balanced, I didn't feel bloated and I didn't have any cravings. So a success. I don't believe in deprivation and I do believe in eating well 80-90 % of the time and splurging the rest. That's just what I did today.

Oh, one last thing - my wonderful husband decided to partially join me on my cleanse next week. He's giving up red meat for the week and will be adding a salad to his lunch everyday. This is not easy for my Irish born husband, but he's doing to support me.

Breakfast - Strawberry, Banana, Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch - Avocado
- Handful of pistachio nuts
- Few French Fries - on our visit to Ikea with the kids (the food choices were extremely
limited) they didn't sell one piece of fruit which is what I really wanted.
Dinner - Halibut, Salad, Quinoa, Sweet Potato Fries
- Glass of White Wine
- Piece of Red Velvet Cake from Malverne Bakery
- Fresh strawberry's and watermelon

LOTS OF FILTERED WATER WITH FRESH LEMON

Until tomorrow - Good night! My sister is bringing lots of fresh fruit for our mother's day brunch.

Countdown to my cleanse

Pre-cleansing - "The Cleanse Before The Cleanse"

Today I will be starting my pre-cleanse. A pre-cleanse is the gradual elimination of foods and beverages that generally create cravings, imbalances, a slow digestive system, are addictive and don't promote the bodies natural ability to cleanse and detoxify. During the cleanse I will be adding more cleansing foods and utilizing the Ultimate Energy Cleanse program. This year I opted for a fresh whole foods cleanse that includes many fresh squeezed juices, vegetables, fruits and nuts. I will be participating in this cleanse with a group and will also be taking daily Kundalini yoga classes in the morning to help the body cleanse and detox.

Why did I decide on a cleanse?

The reason I decided to do a cleanse is that I realized over the past few months my sugar cravings were coming back again and I was feeling a bit bloated. I asked myself what had changed in the past few months and I realized I am eating a lot of dairy and wheat which I know don't agree with me.

Great I thought, now I can recognize when I am eating for an emotional reason or how my body feels when I eat things that don't work for me (like too much dairy and wheat). Last year I was finally able to beat my addiction to sugar and have cakes and sugar in moderation without constantly craving sugar. What was the trick? When I decided to finally stop eating muffins and cakes for breakfast I gently replaced some of my unhealthy choices with better choices. It took me about a week to two weeks to bring my body into balance and be able to walk by a bakery / bagel store and just walk by.

How to beat sugar cravings?

As a nutritionist, I understand how simple sugars cause cravings by raising your blood sugar very quickly. This results in a surge of insulin that quickly brings those high sugar levels down. What then happens is you feel tired and your blood sugar has now gone too low. Since your body is always trying to maintain balance it creates a craving for more sugar and sometimes caffeine. They key to kicking the sugar habit is to make sure that your diet consists of many whole grains, fruits and vegetables that slowly raise blood sugar and don't create drastic changes in your blood sugar and result in more sugar cravings.

The next step is to find sweet alternatives that do not create those changes in your blood sugar. For me I used things like Agave Nectar , a sugar alternative that is derived from a cactus plant and has a low glycemic index. I had plenty of fruit and sweet vegetables on hand and some dark chocolate. This way I didn't feel like I was depriving myself of sweetness and was still able to beat those cravings. As a result I was able to lose 10 pounds without dieting and still enjoy my favorite cupcakes from Magnolia bakery in NYC on occasion.

The foods I will be eliminating include:

Meat

Dairy

Fish

Poultry

Sugar (I will be having small amounts of raw honey and agave nectar during the cleanse)

Coffee

Alcohol

Processed Foods

Things I will be adding to my diet include:

Fruits

Vegetables

Fresh organic juices

Lemon Water

Quinoa

Millet

Countdown to my cleanse.

Today I eliminated animal protein from my diet, this includes chicken, beef, turkey, etc.... After reading the book "The China Study" I realize how beneficial a vegetarian diet can be for your health. I decided 2 weeks of a vegetarian diet will give me a good idea of how I feel and if I can maintain an ongoing vegetarian lifestyle. Strikingly when your diet contains more than 5% animal products, cancer and heart disease start to rise.

I added fresh squeezed lemon juice to my day. This helps to alkalize the body and cleanse the liver.

How to get off of coffee:

If you are drinking a lot of coffee and are planning on doing a cleanse I recommend starting there so you don't experience severe caffeine withdrawal which often leads to severe headaches. Some things you can do include:

Start using 3/4 coffee to 1/4 cup decaf

Move to 1/2 coffee to 1/2 decaf

Move to 3/4 cup decaf to 1/4 cup decaf

Move to 100% decaf

**If you drink 3-4 cups a day a more gentle and gradual approach will work best**

Good Coffee Alternatives
Green Tea
Decaffeinated Herabal Teas
Kukicha Tea - one of my favorite
Teecino - a great coffee alternative

Here's how my day went today....

30 minutes on the treadmill and some anaerobic exercise

BREAKFAST

1 bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, agave nectar, and almond milk

lemon water

coffee with soy creamer and agave nectar

SNACK

Strawberries with a little fresh cream

LUNCH

Salad

vegetable sushi roll

DINNER

Tortilla chips with spinach and artichoke dip

Grilled shrimp, carrots, peas

salad

1 glass of wine

soft pretzel

some of my sons macaroni and cheese (I'm glad I'm eliminating wheat tomorrow )

** I didn't have a problem eliminating meat, but realized that I ate more bread and pasta than I

usually would.

I feel great, motivated and excited about the cleanse

Tomorrow I will be eliminating wheat - not carbohydrates , just wheat. I can't wait to see how I feel.

Here's my plan for the rest of the week.

Saturday - Wheat

Sunday - Sugar

Monday - Dairy

Tuesday - Coffee

Wednesday - Fish

Thursday – Alcohol

Friday - The cleanse begins