Sunday, July 8, 2012

Cleanse Day 3 and Day 4


I'm combining the last two days of the cleanse together in this one blog only because I know what my morning is going to look like tomorrow. Ok, stop right there and let me be honest. I'm actually blogging two days in one because I'm finding it hard in my own mind to find anything of interest to write about, whatsoever. 

Day 3 Recap.  On the luxurious menu for the day was fruits and veggies only. So, you know for me, it was basically just another veggie day with a few cherries here and there. I managed to gag down a few slices of pineapple as well, but it was mostly cooked vegetables. I went to the store in search for something new, only to find myself practically in a defeated heap in the produce aisle. I think my disappointment was audible because people were looking at me weird. Even more weird than normal.

The one treasure I did manage to find was frozen sweet peas. I LOVE sweet peas, more than I can even describe. I have to tell you that, because if I said it to Paul, he would respond with "then why don't you marry it?".... because clearly we are still in 6th grade. There's something special about sweet peas to me. And on this day in particular, they completed me to the core. Maybe I will actually marry a sweet pea someday, you never know. I bet that would end that game! All things said, they were a delicious culinary delight.

One of the things I always have a hard time with when I'm cleansing is what to do with my kids. I don't want them to suffer at the hands of my insanity, so I always try to make sure they still have good snacks. I toyed with the idea of making them some of my favorite cookies in the world...peanut butter oatmeal monster cookies. That lasted about 2 seconds before my selfish side kicked in and I decided to save the ingredients for my day of celebration at the end of this cleanse....that's how this is supposed to work, right? ;) I decided to make brownies instead. I know you can't hear it in this picture, but these little sugary delights learned my name and whispered it relentlessly. The funny thing about my genius idea with making these for the kids is that, once out of the oven and our house is filled with it's aroma, I immediately want them out of the house. As if someone forced me to make them. So the kids benefit tenfold, because I find myself asking them out of nowhere if they want another brownie. "Here, take another. Why not make it three? It's summer after all, right???" Needless to say, today the whole pan is gone and neither Paul or I had one. I became the most popular mother in the neighborhood very quickly. Little do those tikes know....suckers.

Let's fast forward to Day 4, which we are completing as I write. Program regimen includes eating UP TO 8 bananas, 3 glasses of milk and an unlimited supply of a special soup, which we (Paul) prepared last night. We were invited by friends to join them for lunch at a restaurant known for it's delicious brunch and catering. Apparently they have some of the best chicken and prime rib in the state. But for me, I guess I'll have to wait for my personal review. As hard as it was to sit in that restaurant today and watch everyone's fingers get greasy with chicken and smell the temptations all around me, it was SO worth it to be amongst some of our greatest friends. The laughs made up for the hunger. Actually, I can't say that I was all that hungry today. Surprisingly, the milk and bananas this morning filled me up quite a bit. On the blog, it says that Day 4 will almost certainly eliminate any desire for sweets. Um......lie! That desire never ever goes away for me. And the more I am without it, the more I want it. So that myth was busted. They don't know about ME! It did say, however, that today should go by easily and that was the truth in my case. The soup, in unlimited quantities, was delicious. It would have been better with some sourdough bread on the side lathered with fresh melted butter, but whatevs. This is a soup that I could see myself eating on a regular basis when it's colder outside. Yum! Lots of onions and cabbage. I googled the health benefits of cabbage just out of curiosity and one of the first things it said was "Cures constipation". Uhhhh, sure. Pretty sure that's just the politically correct way of saying "If you eat a lot of it, you will likely poop your pants".  Which explains the onslaught of bananas to this day. I made sure to load up on both. 

Paul and I are already planning on how we can celebrate the end of our cleanse. He has more dinner and restaurants in mind while I, on the other hand, am just thinking of how many cookies I can consume with a clear conscience. The peanut butter oatmeal cookie ones, to be exact. We're on the homestretch now with the cleanse. Tomorrow we add protein, which I'm super excited about. The worst part is definitely over. Now accepting invitations to celebrate....

To close, I just had to share this one picture. In making the soup, Paul had picked a green pepper from our garden in the backyard. In his mind, this pepper was like those sweet peppers that you may get when you order a salad at some places. However, this pepper was not what he expected. I've never seen him dance around the kitchen better. It was a great moment in my cleansing week. I couldn't just keep it to myself.

Precious.

No comments: