Whew, I Made It!!

Okay, the cleanse is officially over. I made it 4 days (well 3 and 3/4 days, really) which I'm really proud of. So how do I feel? Do I feel fully cleansed? Not really. Do I feel good? Yes! Have I begun to conquer some pretty nasty demons? Yes. Would I do this particular cleanse again? Probably not.

Here's the deal. The reason I don't feel particularly cleansed is because I never felt energized/light. I feel like I missed out on something there. I think it's because I forgot to do the laxative tea every night, which affected how much I really detoxed. I think I didn't detox to my full potential thereby never feeling fully cleansed. However, I do feel good. I feel like I have a clean slate to work with. For the most part I've made really smart choices since I've gone back to eating (the exception being the movie popcorn and child's sized box of Mike and Ikes- oops!!) The thing I am happiest about is my stomach shrinking, allowing me to start over again with healthy portion sizes- which was one of my personal demons.

I have to admit that I did get everything out of this cleanse that I was hoping for- so while I didn't feel particularly cleansed or detoxed I DID reach my original goal. The purpose for this cleanse (which I may have previously stated) was to push the reset button on my mind and my stomach. I wanted to be able to start fresh mentally, view food differently, prove to myself that I have the willpower, jump start my weight loss and regain control of my portion sizes by shrinking my stomach. I achieved ALL of these things!!

I have been trying to lose weight since the beginning of the year with very slow success- it wasn't until I got pneumonia that I lost any significant amount of weight (which obviously isn't the healthy way to lose weight, but it worked!). Since I was sluggish in losing weight yet again, I thought that doing this cleanse would again shock my system into letting some of the weight go. I knew that any weight I lost wouldn't necessarily stay off as some would be water weight but if I could lose at least 3 lbs out of it I'd be happy. So far that's exactly what I've achieved.

The next cleanse/detox that I am considering is on that Gwyneth Paltrow does that she posted on her website/weekly newsletter goop.com (my introduction to this detox is also courtesy of Miss Phoebe- who is my go-to gal!) I'm thinking of doing this 7 day detox in either June or July, as they will be warmer months and it will feel good to eat lighter- it just seems that the foods on this detox are summery!

So on to my next adventure!!! Trying new healthy foods/cuisines! I'm super excited!! So what is that next food adventure you might ask??? Well I'm thinking of trying a recipe I found on Goop called Bibimbop- so stay tuned for how that turns out!!