Detox Day Three

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not in a biblical, I'm about to die sense, but in an "I can finally see the end of this journey" sense. Yes. After just one more day, I can put solid food into my body again. But, will I want to?

Day Three:
8:15 AM- Juice one, the good ol' "Detox Greens." I drank this and have to admit, I was getting pretty sick of the sweet green juice. 

12:00 PM- I got caught up in shopping endeavors and forgot about my hunger but boy, did it remind me like a child pestering his or her mother for an ice cream cone on a hot day. Gotta love how all of my analogies are related to food now... Wonder why... On that note, it was really challenging to be in a grocery store while cleansing. I have noticed that my sense of smell is heightened while cleansing. I can all of a sudden smell food more than I ever could before. 

2:15 PM- Another green juice. Whoopee.

4:00 PM- I was a bit sad to polish off my last Spicy Lemonade! Love that stuff!

6:08 PM- A wonderful dinner of my LAST green juice.

748 PM- I fell into a bit of a depressed state when I sipped the last bit of my final Coconut Fusion.

Final Reflections:
Well, come the end of day three, all I could think about was the mental clarity I was experiencing and the strong urge to continue my cleanse. During the cleanse, I experienced some caffeine withdrawal in the form of headaches, but those subsided. The thing I was most shocked about was my extreme thirst throughout the three days. It is a bit counter-intuitive to crave water when all I am doing is downing liquid, so I'm not sure why that was the case. Therefore, I recommend sticking close to a bathroom while cleansing.

Detox Day Two

I awoke with a rather pressing dilemma. I couldn't decide whether to drink my first juice before yoga, in spite of the fact that I wasn't famished by any stretch of the imagination. However, doing yoga on a completely empty stomach brought on the hunger beast pretty quickly, so in retrospect, before may have been better.

Day Two:
9:25- Juice one "Sweet Greens" was tasty as usual, I have to admit it is only day two and I already feel a bit sick of the green juices. However, in past cleanses, I have had far worse green juices that tasted what I imagine algae tastes like, so this really is a piece of cake (yum, cake sounds amazing).

Nice n' sweaty after yoga!

11:50 AM- I waited a bit long for juice number two as I got a bit distracted with the events of the day. Honestly, if any of my readers out there are considering a juice cleanse, I recommend doing one on a day when you are busy with work or other tasks- when you are, you have no time to obsess over food.

1:50 PM- Something I observed around the time of juice 3, "Sweet Greens," was how insanely parched the cleanse was making me. It's a bit counter-intuitive, really. You would think that drinking nothing but juice all day would mean I wouldn't want to drink anything additional, but not the case. I felt like a weary traveler in the dessert desperate for water all day, and probably downed a good four liters of water.

2:48 PM- I did not wait nearly long enough for the "Spicy Lemonade," but honestly, it's hard to resist such a tasty treat. Also my stomach was growling, begging for it, and who am I to deny it what it wants? Someone who is doing a juice cleanse, that's who...

Hangin with my juice at the beach...

After drinking the lemonade, I ran some errands, which included a stop at Target. I had to walk past a Starbucks, which made me realize that smelling coffee while on a juice cleanse is basically torture. I also experienced a bit of a headache around that time, but it only lasted a bit.

5:45 PM- Drank the fifth juice, "Sweet Greens," and felt satiated. Not much to report there.

7:36 PM- Delicious, coconut delight! I chugged it a bit too fast!

Reflection:
I'm tired. Exhausted. As if I could sleep Rip-Van-Winkle style. I hope that is an accurate reference. I am too tired to care. But, it is a good tired. I feel content and happy! Two days down, one day to go!

Juice Cleanse and Marinating Yogis

Well, it's weird how something you thought tasted like pond scum can taste like melted heaven-gown sugar cane after drinking something that actually tastes like pond scum. For three days, I have been drinking six green vegetable juices as part of a cleanse. The first juice I tried, comprised of ingredients like fennel, cilantro and kale, made me want to toss my cookies more than the cheesy endings of most romantic comedies when I first sipped it. However, I actually began to crave the aforementioned fennel juice when I tried the parsley, kale, ginger, lime juice. My gag reflux was triggered as it never has been before while trying to chug that one.

See how excited I am for juice number 1?

I felt like the playground bully torturing myself via the forced consumption of juices resembling aquarium algae while simultaneously preparing some of the most aromatic food imaginable for the hotel guests. By day two, it got so extreme that the cartoon food in the coloring book of a girl I was babysitting made me salivate like a wild beast. Not only has this cleanse altered my sense of taste, but it has honed my sense of smell as well. The radius at which my olfactory glands can detect the scents wafting from restaurant kitchens has increased tenfold. I can now smell a good Chana Masala cooking from a mile away.

The lid literally looks like algae

Never in my life had my mind been so far “off of my mat” (as yoga people say) as when my instructor used the word “marinate” not one, but three times during tonight’s class.. First of all, I find it odd that the day I happen to get the yoga instructor who uses food-related verbs out of context is the last day of my juice cleanse. Not fair, universe! I always thought marinating only applied to fish, chicken and the occasional block of tofu, but apparently it can apply to yogis (aka, those who practice yoga) too. The first time she used it was to say “just lay and marinate in your good intentions.” This instantly caused my thoughts to run amok, thinking of the delicious salmon marinade I made last week. Then I tried to figure out how a “good intention” marinade would taste. Would it be spicy? Sweet? A little bit of both like sweet and sour soup? On that note…YUM, sweet and sour soup!

The most torturous part of these food-free days was stepping into a food court where smells of my favorite foods ambushed me from all sides. There was the chicken curry from the Indian place poised and ready to attack, and the three Thai curry warriors, Red, Panang and Green, who pounced on me the second I walked through the door. Those are evil entrees when you are fasting, showing absolutely no mercy!

I make it sound like juice cleanses are torture. That is obviously not the case, since I subject myself to them about once a year. In fact, I find them entertaining. I think my noticing of the instructor’s use of “marinate” and my observation every time I hear the crinkling of a food wrapper are absolutely absurd.