Master Cleanse -- Day Six

For the past few years, I've had this pain in both feet (left foot is worse) that resembles plantar fasciitis pain.  I have never been diagnosed with it, but I'm convinced that is what I have.  I have incredibly high arches in my feet and the years of rocking high heels have caused some tenderness in my heels.  Anyway, every morning the first few steps I take are excruciating.  The pain decreases as my  feet warm up, but it is  still a pain.  The past couple of days, I haven't felt that pain!

I know plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of tissue in your feet.  Is it possible this cleanse started to heal any inflammation I may have had in my body? 

Today I had a meeting with a coworker.  Although the meeting went well, the news I was given in the meeting was not good.  I zapped just about every ounce of energy I had in that meeting.  Now I feel like I'm on E.  I still have one more day to go.  It'd be silly to quit now, right??

I think I may do this cleanse once or twice a year.  Seriously, after you get over the initial hump (mine was day 2 and 3) it is not too bad.  I mean, you still crave and you still want to chew, but it isn't AS difficult as it was in the beginning. 

Master Cleanse -- Day Five

Again, I woke up today with bright eyes and no need to sleep for a couple more minutes.  It's amazing how your body feels when it's not busy digesting food.  B wants me to stop because he says that a cleanse should not feel like torture.  It doesn't feel necessarily like that, but it is not a good feeling.  I do feel like I'm depriving myself (I am!) and it does seem a bit of a punishment. 

Yesterday was rough working all day with no food in my belly.  Although I am still having cravings, the thought of putting food in my mouth is pretty unappetizing right now.  Of course this could change by lunchtime!

Master Cleanse -- Day Four

This morning I woke up really weak.  It is a work day, but I truly am not sure if I can continue to work at the pace I am required to without any kind of sustenance.  My job is mentally draining and right now I am moving so slow.  My legs cramp up if I move too fast or walk to much.  It doesn't help that I am wearing heels now.

Today I weighed myself.  I have dropped 7 pounds.  Of course, this is water weight, but it was nice to see the change on my scale.

I had trouble falling asleep last night.  I was wide awake way past midnight.  I also was consistently waking up every few hours throughout the night.  Even with a restless sleep, I woke up bright eyed.

With the way I feel right now, I am not sure how long I can continue this cleanse.  My body is so still and quiet and I feel like I have absolutely no energy or brain power to get through the day.

The evening was much better.  I had this hollow empty feeling in my stomach, yet it felt like it was full of rocks.  I just had a peppermint tea and that is all. 

I don't think I'm drinking as much lemonade as I should.  You're supposed to drink somewhere between 8-12 cups a day.  The first day I think I drank 8, but I've only been drinking 3-5 cups the rest of the days.  I'm not much of a "drinker" and have to remind myself to take a sip of anything.  When I'm hungry, I'll just sit hungry.  Not good.

Master Cleanse -- Day Three

Day 3 started with a new resolution.  I felt good!!  I skipped the salt water flush.  It is just nasty.  I went grocery shopping for more lemons and the ingredients to break my fast whenever I choose to do so.  I tortured myself and browsed through the premade and frozen foods section of Trader Joes.  I read the packages of cookies.  I was okay. 

Today, my legs are wobbly and I don't feel like I have much energy.  I'm so glad I haven't suffered from any headaches while on the cleanse.  It would have been tough to handle at this time.

Again I made breakfast for B and baked a loaf of bread for him during the week.  I tried a new recipe and I was dying to taste it.  Who wouldn't love fresh warm bread????  I refrained and sliced it up and didn't even eat the chunk that fell off the loaf.  I threw that out. 

B had a veggie Subway sandwich and again the smells nearly did me in.  Throughout the weekend, there were many times I was on my way to the kitchen to help myself to a slice of cheese or a few grapes.  I always caught myself, but I realize how often I really do graze.  I don't consider myself a huge snacker, but I guess I still do snack nonetheless. 

Today my mood was a little short.  My patience was running a little thin and I felt it.  I was hungry, but I expected to be much hungrier than I was for someone who had not eating for three days. 

I realized how much energy I go through with food.  I do cook and plan all (most) of my meals.  I did not have to do that for this week.  I have so much more time!  Too bad, I don't have the energy or the drive to do anything else other than sit on the couch and try not to think about pasta.

Master Cleanse -- Day Two

I woke up on Day 2 surprisingly refreshed.  I wasn't hungry, but my belly was definitely empty.  I started the morning with a salt water flush, which was nasty.  About an hour or so after digesting it, it worked!  As the day wore on, I became increasingly forlorn and slightly depressed.  I made B breakfast and cleaned up the dishes.  He opted for just fruit for lunch, which helped but the smell of fresh oranges was unbelievable!  For dinner he had a veggie sandwich and I had another cup of lemonade.  The smell of the peppers in his sandwich almost drove me mad.  And I'm not a big fan of peppers!!

We wanted to go out, but ended up staying home.  Day 2 was definitely worse than Day 1.  B told me that if I break the fast after three days, I still will reap the benefits of the cleanse.  I told him I didn't want to be a failure and he insisted I wouldn't be.  I told him I'll see how I felt the following day.  Secretly, I was happy that I may only have one more day to go!  This is definitely tough!!

Master Cleanse -- Day One

Last night, I made a healthy dinner of salmon and grilled asparagus.  The portions were adequate and I was satiated.  Around 8:30, I started looking around the kitchen for a one last hurray snack.  I was at B's place and therefore my options were limited.  B suggested if I wanted to order a pizza.  I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't resist.  So we ate pizza at 10:30 at night and it was wonderful!  I did not drink the laxative tea that night, but opted for two herbal laxative pills instead. 

This morning I woke up and after a few seconds I remembered that I am no officially off solid foods for at least 8 days.  I don't eat too much in the mornings anyway so I didn't wake up hungry.  Once I arrived at work, I made myself a laxative tea. It tastes good!  It takes like black tea.  I had to double check to make sure the tea didn't have caffeine.

Now it is almost 11:30 in the morning and I already had one cup of my lemonade.  I'm hungry.  I've brought about five servings of my lemonade with me along with peppermint tea.  I think I'll be fine.

I also opted to put only half of the maple syrup than the recipe calls for.  I'm allowed to put as little has half a tablespoon per serving.  I have started with one tablespoon, hopefully I'll decrease that as times go on.  I'm not a huge fan of pure maple syrup.

During busy days, I've gone a day without food.  That is totally different than refraining from eating!  I was fine while at work, but as soon as I got home I was insatiable!  I did not cheat, I was home alone on a Friday night and all I could think about was food.  Although I was hungry, I wasn't famished.  It was the cravings that tore me apart.  I ended Day One with another cup of lemonade (6 cups total) and a laxative tea.  

Master Cleanse -- The Day Before

Tomorrow I start The Master Cleanse.  I've been sick for the past five days and still feeling pretty crappy.  I did think about postponing my cleanse, but the timing to start tomorrow is perfect.

I had a lunch of Thai noodles with mushroom and chicken.  Tonight, I'll have salmon with grilled asparagus.  As an aperitif, I'll have a cup of delicious laxative tea.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm supposed to do a saltwater flush every morning.  I think I'll save that for the weekends only when I know I'll be close to a restroom.  As a substitute, the laxative tea will be my "breakfast" along with being my "dessert".

I made a cup of my lemonade concoction yesterday.  It's not bad.  I mean, it's not the same as eating a delicious pizza, but at least the drink doesn't suck.

I am going to start this cleanse with a bit of excitement along with a ton of anxiety.  My goal is to go to the end of the day on February 8, but I'd like to finish it on February 10.  We'll see how the no food thing agrees with my body and mind.

To prepare for the cleanse, I stopped drinking coffee on Saturday.  Sunday was going to be my last coffee day, but I got sick instead and started gulping herbal tea to try to nip my sickness in the bud.  Useless.  So, since I haven't had my daily coffee in almost a week, I'm confident I won't experience any caffeine withdrawal headaches for the next 8-10 days.

I will have a lot of free time since I won't be meal planning, food shopping, or food preparing.  My plan is to read, clean, and rest.  I have always wanted to learn how to knit and I do have a beginner's knitting kid.  I might go through some You Tube videos and see if I can find anything I can follow along with.

I'm praying the next 8-10 days will fly by.

The Master Cleanse: Have I Lost My Mind??

I've never really been one for fad diets.  I did the South Beach Diet once a couple of years ago.  I lasted a week.

When I was in my 20's, I developed a bit of an eating disorder.  I was obsessed with food and fat grams and for years I never ate more than 1 fat gram a day.  I was skinny, but not healthy.  There are no plans to repeat that diet, but it does show me that I have do have will power somewhere in my body.  I'm going to have to call it it out again and reintroduce myself to it soon.  My insane plan is to start the Master Cleanse on February 1.

For those who are not familar with it, it is a cleanse where all you drink is this lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper concoction for 10 consecutive days.  The cleanse requires that you do a salt water flush every morning, consuming up to 12 glasses of the lemonade, and ending the day with a laxative tea.  Yummy! During the duration of the cleanse, you do not consume one morsel of solid food.  You do not consume anything else other than water and the occasional cup of herbal tea along with the lemonade.  It is drastic, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

I'm mentally preparing myself for this challenge.  Unfortunately, one of my coworkers pushed back her last day at the job, therefore her celebratory lunch will take place on Day 8 of my cleanse.  I'm hopeful my cravings and hunger pangs will have subsided by then and I can be around people who are eating delicious food while I'm sipping water after not eating for 8 days.

Although you are supposed to do the cleanse for 10 days, my goal will be 8.  After the eighth day, I'll see if I can continue for another two days.

After you break the cleanse, you cannot resume eating your normal foods.  You will remain on a liquid diet for another 2-3 days.  The first day after breaking the cleanse, you will be allowed to drink only watered down orange juice.  The second day you are allowed watered down orange juice along with a bowl or two of fresh vegetable broth (no actual veggies).  If your digestive tract does not protest, you can have a bowl of vegetable soup with the veggies on the third day.  If all goes well, you can resume your normal eating habits starting the fourth day after breaking the cleanse.

What I've read is that you will lose cravings of bad foods and the taste of fruits and vegetables will be euphoric.  My plan is to use that time to change my diet and to limit my sweet and dairy intake.  We'll see how that goes.

I will blog daily during my cleanse.  I really hope I don't have any adverse reactions to it.  I do expect to be hungry, tired, and irritable.  I hope that is all I experience as I would love to do this cleanse 2-3 times a year.

Wish me luck!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

I'm not one for making resolutions.  I've never really made them in the past, but this year is different.  I fell off the spending train in 2012.  I also fell off the weight train. My plan is to get both houses in order.

Whatever money goals I may have had for 2012 are forgotten.  For 2013, I'm starting fresh, baby!!

May this year bring everyone love, happiness, peace, and MONEY! :)

Weight Loss

I've posted before how my weight has been a lifelong struggle.  I wholeheartedly admit I have issues with food and my body.  Sadly, this may be something that will plague me the rest of my life. 

The good news is that a couple of months ago, my weight started to steadily decline.  In about one month, I lost about 12 pounds.  Now, one month later, I've more or less maintained that weight loss.  Yay!!  I still have major issues with food and I still have a long way to go, but I'm happy that my life is starting to get back on track.

This past month, I've been eating more salads and taking advantage of all the summer fruits and vegetables.  Breakfast during the week usually consists of some melon while dinner is usually a salad with a homemade dressing or vinaigrette.  Since I also serve last night's dinner leftovers for lunch the following day, I eat about 6 main dish salads a week.  Of course, this could be better, but it is a start. 

Like I said, I'm happy I've lost 12 pounds, but I still have a long way to go...

Long Time No Blog

Wow!  I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged.  I was out of the country for a few weeks late last month and am still kind of getting into the swing of things. My posts on food, money, and me bitching about B will soon start up again. 

Best Advice

The best piece of advice I can give anyone is: Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

It applies to EVERYTHING! Think about it, you can apply it to relationships, diet, money, ANYTHING.

Better

Things are getting better on the home front.

I'll start posting my weekly menu plans again, but I feel like I've hit another rut. I'm researching new recipes which I will be trying out in the very near future. I'll post them as I make them!

Dork

I am a number cruncher. I always have a calculator out and am always crunching numbers, whether it be for the weekly grocery budget or how much I will put in my savings for the year. This weekend, my main calculator died out of nowhere. Then I pulled the one from my purse and that was dead too. I have a spare, so I got that out. Yup, a goner.

Although, I had no immediate need for a calculator and definitely can access one off my phone, I felt incomplete. I went out the nearest drugstore and bought three. I feel so much better! I bought a desk calculator and two pocket ones. Even B said I'll be having fun with the larger one. He's right!

False Alarm

Well, I went home last night ready to buy a new microwave. When I got home, I noticed the clock on the microwave was blinking. Once I set it, the microwave worked again. I guess, you cannot start the microwave without setting the clock first. B felt pretty silly :) In any case, I'm happy that I don't have to dish out $150 for a new microwave this month. I'll just budget it in for February!

Looking at the Positive

Happy New Year!!!

This year I'm going to have a more positive outlook on life. Let me start now: B has a birthday this week, so I already knew I'd be spending money on dinner and a gift. I was ready for that. Today, I was informed my microwave oven of 25 years (yes, 25 years)died. Of course, it lived a very long life and it was time to "retire" it. So, although I'll be shelling out approximately $150 in a month that was already spendy and I'm trying to make up for the ridiculous December month I had, I am grateful I HAVE the money to buy a new microwave. Yes, even if I do have to pay less into savings this month, I still have the dinero to buy an appliance that will heat my spaghetti and meatballs in record time! :)

Bright Side

I love mushrooms. B hates them. I make this creamy mushroom pasta that I absolutely love and B will not touch. I rarely make it now. I am so excited to make it while he is on his juice fast. Is that wrong???

ETA: B just announced that it may not be a 15 day fast. It might be shorter. Would it be wrong to feel disappointed? Don't judge.

No Time For Treats

When my sister and I were growing up, our mom stayed home with us. During the week, she was our caregiver. On the weekend, our dad pitched in. We LOVED the weekends. Our dad was fun and made everything that much more special. He was patient and told funny stories and we loved that time. As I grew up, I understood it. Our mom was so consumed by us during the week, she didn't have the time or even the desire to make things fun for us. I think she saw us as a chore. I'm not bitter over it, but this is a woman that had two small children biting at her ankles and she had no where to escape. Our dad worked outside the home. He would see us in the evenings when we had been fed and bathed and happy. He didn't see us as the terrors I'm sure we were during the day.

I'm in a similar situation. I don't have children, but I have B. I do most of the day to day chores. I keep the fridge stocked with his favorites. I make sure his favorite drinking glass is always clean. I make sure he has his mouthwash and deodorant. The list goes on and on. I don't resent it or anything, but I realized I am so consumed with the day to day things I do for him, I don't take the time to make anything really special. I used to buy him whatever I saw at a store if I thought he'd like it. Now, I must confess I don't even look for him. He, on the other hand, does do the little things to show how he loves me. I'll say in passing how I need a new hair clip. The next thing I know, he'll go out and get it. He saw my favorite ice cream was back in stock. He'll buy it. Now, I do love this guy, but I'm totally like my mom! I have to remember to take the time to make little things special. I know he knows I love him, but it's time I start taking the time again to show him.

A Memory

A few years ago, on a lazy Saturday afternoon, B and I were on our respective couches doing our own thing. I believe I was reading and he was on the computer. We had not said a word to each other in about 40 minutes. All of a sudden, we both shifted from our positions and we looked at each other and smiled over the coffee table. I swear, he looked at me with such pure love in his eyes and smile, it brought tears to my eyes at that moment. At that instant, I swore to myself that I love this man and will make him happy.

I still think about that moment from time to time and without fail, it still brings tears to my eyes.

Cutting Myself Some Slack

I've said many times in this blog how I keep my budget tight on purpose. I save something like 25% of my take home pay. I pay A LOT for rent (40% -- I live in LA) and I make due with the rest. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty to live off of and plenty left to spend. The thing is I have been doing this for so long (for me) that sometimes I feel like cracking. Some days, I'm just sick and tired of counting and budgeting and making choices. My Emergency Fund/Liquid Savings is currently at almost $11K. My IRA's total up to around $17K. I had a late start with all the savings and I'm trying to catch up. In March, I saved only half of what i usually do and I splurged on the rest. I didn't spend the whole amount, but I loved that little flexibility in my budget. I'm thinking of doing the same for August.

That made me think what if I put 50% less in my savings three months out of the year? That would cost me just under $1K for the entire year. Yes, that is a lot of money and I could easily have it sit in my savings. I would love to see the larger number of that bank account, but I don't feel it's really worth it. I work hard and I do everything on my own. My EF is funded (would love to see it at $12K) and I would still contribute to savings every single month, but just less for three months. if I did this, by the end of the year, I will still have a little more than $14K in my savings.

I am so structured in a large part of my life that I don't really like this idea, but I feel I deserve it and frankly, "need" it.

Any opinions or ideas?