Life style change 2015

A few months ago (November), Superhubby and I had to get some blood work done for our health insurance (they said it would get us a discount on our premium, but we are still paying more). When the results came in we weren't very happy about them, all of our levels were normal and in healthy ranges except for our weight and blood pressure.  Since heart disease and stroke are common killers of most of my family members we decided to make a change to our life style.

I got to work (on pintrest of course), finding as many home workouts and meal plans as I could to get us started.  We decided to begin our fitness journey with a "beginner" 6-week home crossfit workout.  That lasted a whole week.  By the 6th day I thought I was going to die... we weren't ready for that.  We took our rest day (Sunday) and spent the whole day coming up with our own version that was ACTUALLY for beginners.  Don't get me wrong, I am no stranger to the gym or intense physical activity, but that first workout was HARD.  The plan we created was perfect and we were able to stick to it through the holidays working out 4-6 days a week until the first week of January.  At that time I had decided that I wasn't going to even think about changing my diet. I knew that trying to change everything about my lifestyle all at once and smack dab right in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmas was a recipe for failure.  Therefore I just worked out for 6-weeks and didn't worry about anything else, not my nutrition, not weight loss, not anything but getting my butt up and moving 4-6 days a week. 

What do you know, it worked!  I was able to stick with it, work at it and successfully compete our 6-week program.  On January 2nd I implemented clean eating and started weighing myself.  Then half way though January I began to count and calculate my calories, while still maintaining 5-6 workouts per week, baby steps!  At the end of the month I had only lost a whopping 3lbs!  THREE POUNDS... THREE!!!!

I was so pissed, but what was worse was that I felt like complete and total GARBAGE. I was tired, irritable and unmotivated in all areas.  It took all that I had to workout everyday and I was doing little more than that, which is bad because I have 4 people who depend on me everyday to keep this ship moving.

Superhubby noticed that I was exhausted and to be honest, just plain sad, and he went to work (on pintrest of course) to find me a solution.  We came up with 2 thing that will probably be the beginning of a complete lifestyle makeover for our entire family (my poor kids!).  

First off, I may be magnesium deficient.  Secondly I may be missing iodine in my diet.  As soon as I read up on these 2 minerals I ran straight to the store and picked them up, along with a more expensive liquid vitamin, a few bottles of Kefir and some Kombucha.  Since I've implemented those items to my daily routine, I have lost 3 lbs...THREE!!!! in a week.... A WEEK!!!! And guess what, I didn't work out that week (the kids were sick).

Magically I have more energy, I sleep all night, like ALL NIGHT LONG!!!  Without an Advil PM, praise the lord! I feel motivated to do the things I love again, and I'm not depressed.  I always knew that diet and proper nutrition was important, in fact, we eat pretty well in or home, I cook from scratch %90 of the time, we don't eat processed packaged foods, and we get out and get moving so I never imagined that my diet was keeping me fat and sick.

This experience has ignited a fire in me to change more things about my diet and lifestyle than ever before.  I want to find simple and ENJOYABLE ways to implement super foods and fitness on a daily basis and share them with others.  I wish I had known sooner how amazing I would feel in such a short amount of time. Hopefully this will wake up this old blog!

Happy Cleansing!

Day 6

Day 6 day 6 glorious, horrible day 6. Yesterday was rough.  I really don't remember being this exhausted last time. I have only had enough energy to do the bare minimum.  Stupidly, I felt good yesterday when I woke up, so I decided to go to the gym...Big mistake, I was weak for the rest of the day.  There is a reason they say not to workout on the Mater Cleanse, your body has just enough energy to do it's normal day to day tasks.

Another problem I have been having that is unlike last time is a decrease in brain function.  I can't think straight, It is hard to form complete sentences sometimes or to focus on certain ideas for long enough to express them.  I have also developed a little bit of a lisp.  My husband has also been complaining of not being able to think as clearly as usual.  I don't think that lose of brain function is a good thing and I am thinking about ending this cleanse early.  I'm still not sure yet though, if it gets too bad I will end it, but I am taking it one day at a time.

Other than being really tired and mostly brain dead, everything else is going good, I am not feeling hungry, I lost 7 lbs and an inch and a half around my waist.  My acne is clearing up and my joints are not as stiff and achy as they have been (I usually wake up at night with low back and hip pain).

Today I am going to sit on the livingroom floor with a big glass of lemonade and fold laundry and play tea party with daughters praying that I can get through the next 5 days!

Happy Cleansing

Pulling my hair out!!

Ahhhh, the holidays are coming!!!  I'm so scared because soon I will be presented with more food than you could imagine.  In my family we just bake and eat.  Football, Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, all these occasions mean FOOD. Lots and lots of food.  This would be fine but seriously this past summer has been all BBQs at the pool, amusement park food, and for some strange reason I have been baking cookies like a fiend.

This was me 6 months ago

Back to the Master Cleanse

 Now at the close of summer and the opening of the holidays I am feeling about 15 lbs heavier.  And to make matters worse I have been asked to be a bridesmaid in my cousins wedding mid January.  How cruel is she??  Having a wedding right after the most fattening season of the year.  AHHH, and I just found out that my size XL self will be standing next to a bunch of small and medium sized girls.  Weight lose FAIL, on my part!  So I guess I am in between a rock and a hard place.

Maybe I should try this workout

  I vowed to never do a Master Cleanse again and here I am just a few months later looking down the barrel of the maple syrup bottle about to start squeezing those darned lemons again.  Wish me luck!!

Good luck with your Master Cleanse goals!

Post Cleanse Update

So I didn't realize that this little blog of mine would get so much traffic. I actually stopped posting because in my opinion I failed miserably at the Master Cleanse this time around.

Let me give you a quick update.  The cleanse went really well.  This time I didn't feel hungry or crazy like I had during my first Master Cleanse.  But by day 8 I was sick and tired of the lemonade.  I have a very social life so it was emotionally difficult for me to go to parties and events where fabulous food was being served and resist the temptation. Well by Memorial day weekend, I had had enough.  My husband came home from work and I could not bare to take one more sip of that horrible lemonade.  It's not that it didn't taste good ( I actually love the way it tastes) but after 8 days of only tasting lemon and maple I was going insane! So Saturday evening of day 8 my husband and I drank orange juice and vegetable broth and called it quits.

I lost a total of 10lbs.  So far I have gained 2 back.  But I feel fabulous and we have both been keeping up on a plant based diet and workout routines.  My Hubby is actually in the works for a Muay Thai based "cross-fit" type of fitness class right now to be unveiled at his gym, Double T, this July.  That has been helping us tone up quit a bit.  I have lost at least 2 inches off my arms since I have been joining his class a couple times a week.

Sadly I don't feel the same detox benefits that I had last year, I'm sure it could be because I didn't have as much toxic stuff in my body.  After my first cleanse I changed my life-style a little bit.  I stopped using as many toxic soaps and lotions in favor of more natural products.  We don't eat as much processed foods as we had in the past and I try to sit in the sauna to sweat things out a few times a month.

All being said, The Master Cleanse is always a great learning experience, and if nothing else, it has helped me to cut off the cravings and dependencies to caffeine, sugar and carbs.  I really have no desire to ever do this again unless I am in some type of health crisis.

I hope that the information that I have written can help you prepare yourself for your cleanse no matter what stage of health you may be in.

Happy Living

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Day 3

Whew! The last couple days have been exhausting.  Saturday was difficult, day one and I already had lots of temptations.  In case you didn't know, I love baking cakes and do it for extra money a few times a month for family and friends.  Well Saturday my neighbor had a party for her 7 year old and commissioned me to bake the cake.  A big beautiful chocolate cake with ganache filling.  Sadly I was not able to taste the cake.  To top it off the party was catered by Port of Subs (my second favorite subs) and I was constantly offered a beer.  If that wasn't bad enough, a few hours before the party, my toddler got into the fridge (when my 9 year old opened the door) and she poured my entire lemonade supply out into the fridge.  That is a half gallon of sticky lemonade...life sustaining "food" out..the entire pitcher all over the fridge, floor, rug, under the stove, in the vegetable crisper.  I had no more lemons until my husband came home several hours later and I was starving! But I survived and stuck to water until I got more lemons.  The rest of the day was just fine and I only experienced a headache before bed.  My symptoms were not so bad on day 1.

mmmmm, Doesn't this look yummy???

Day 2, yesterday, I felt as if I could sleep the entire day.  My body was aching and when I got out of bed I was dizzy.  We went to church in the morning and I felt like I could collapse with exhaustion.   After church we came home and laid on the couch for the next 5 hours, watching cartoons with the kids and doing any playing from the couch.  After a few eliminations I felt much better, and by bedtime I was feeling good again.  I must have had something terrible being mobilized in my body.  Other than feeling weak and dizzy I haven't actually felt too hungry (as long as I have my lemonade).

As this is my second cleanse, its actually a whole lot easier than it was last year.  By day 2 last time I was starving and rethinking my decision to complete it.  Every waking hour was spent wishing I could eat and thinking about food.  This time...so far, has been very easy.  I feel hungry as if it were just before a meal, but a big glass of lemonade and a glass of water fills my stomach and keeps the hunger pains away.  Don't believe me?  On my first cleanse I didn't believe anyone who said they weren't hungry either.  I think that the difference this time is that we found grade B maple syrup, I think this is really important and something that I ignored last time. Also, my eating habits this past year have been really good (less sugar and mostly vegetable based). I'm sure you are still thinking "yeah right, no food for 10+ days and you aren't hungry, you are a liar!".  My question to you is, why would I lie?  What would I or any other master cleanser have to gain from lying?  If you chose to do this I gain nothing, I won't get paid, I wont get a metal, I get nothing, but you will benefit so much from it.  So if you feel your health needs a change, you are feeling tired and "toxic", please give it a try, for yourself, you only have your health to gain.

Happy Cleansing!

Good Morning Day 1

It's a beautiful day at our house, and Day One of our Master Cleanse. Today, this morning, might be the easiest day for the next month, but we shall see.  I have done my meal planning, did not make any freezer meals (due to lack of time...fail!), my house is a mess but we have a bowl full of lemons and 5 bottles of grade B maple syrup. We are ready.

The fun straw makes it seems better, like we are actually having a party ;)

This morning started out good, I made my delicious Salt Water Flush (sarcasm, the salt water does remind me of swimming in the ocean though) and it's been going pretty good, between getting the kids their cereal and dealing with the morning tantrums I have been in and out of the bathroom leaving them to fend for themselves.  They will be fine. And so will I.


Happy Day One

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Feeding kids while on the Master Cleanse

Lots of books and Master Cleanse experts say that before you start the Master Cleanse to rid your house of all foods.  Well that would be a great idea if I didn't have 3 small children to feed 3 times a day.  That was the hardest for me during my last Master Cleanse. I had to prepare food for my kids all day and not even take a tiny bite, but I did it. You can too!  Here are some tips for being around food or even worse cooking while cleansing.

1. Meal plan for the entire cleanse 

 Make sure that you have a solid plan of what you will be preparing for the kids for the next 2-4 weeks.  Make a large grocery store trip and stock up for the entirety of the cleanse so that you don't have to face the grocery store on an empty stomach

2. Make freezer meals  

There is a gold mine of free crock-pot and freezer meals on Pinterest, if you spend a day prepping meals and freezing them a day or two before you start your MC, it will be easier for you to just throw in the oven without spending too much time in the kitchen.

Try these blogs for ideas and recipes

http://joelandkitty.com/4o-freezer-meals-in-about-4-hours/

http://largefamilyslowcooker.blogspot.com/

3. Do Not feed the kids YOUR favorite foods

    If your kids are anything like mine, they have a very different palate than yours.  Feed them things they like (healthy things) but try to avoid cooking foods that you crave.

4. Stay away from the drive-thru 

It may be very tempting to run to McDonald's to grab your kids lunch but those fries will be calling your name from the back seat and you have to have iron clad strength to keep from jamming a hand full of America's Favorite fries in your mouth.

5.Purge your home of food "extras"

No one NEEDS to eat ice cream, cookies or potato chips.  Even if your kids like these foods, get rid of them for a few weeks at least.  That pint of Chunky Monkey will be calling your name from the garage freezer at 2 am and there is usually little that any of us can do against a middle of the night graving.  So trash it, give it away, don't buy it.  Let Grandma and Grandpa take the kids out for ice cream if they really need a treat, but you stay home and sip on your sweet sweet lemonade!

6. Watch "Food Porn"

This is my Hubbys favorite thing to do while on the cleanse. While the kids are sitting down for their delicious dinner, he and I will plop down on the couch with our lemonades in hand and watch the Food network.  Be warned that this may not work for everyone, but it helped us.  We mostly watched "Drive-ins, Diners, and Dives" and salivated over all of the amazing greasy foods we weren't eating.  It got us through some really tough times, I'm not sure how, but it did.

I hope that this helps you to prepare your home to have a successful Master Cleanse.

Happy Prepping