Zenbackpack

I haven’t posted about this in a while. I’m down to 216 pounds, which means I’ve lost a total of 24 pounds – almost 25% there!

On a semi-related note, I started the Master Cleanse today. I’m going to use it as a means of transitioning from about half-raw, which I’ve currently been eating, to all raw. Typically people go through a long, drawn-out detox process when they go all raw and I’d just like to get that out of the way so I can start feeling great. I’m really looking forward to experiencing the sense of well-being I’ve heard people feel after completing a Master Cleanse.

Weight loss is a typical result of the Master Cleanse, but that’s not why I’m doing it. However, I won’t complain if it happens!

I’m planning to use master cleanse as a way to transition to an all-raw diet. I’ve read that it makes a good transition, and that it helps get the detox part out of the way in a shorter period of time than a natural raw food detox would take.

Plus I ran out of money and don’t get paid for a while, so what better time to fast, right? I went to the store last night and spent the small amount of money I had on everything a some laxative tea and bunch of limes, ‘cause they were cheaper than lemons. I already had everything else.

I started my master cleanse last night with the Smooth Move tea, and this morning did my first SWF. Drinking that quart of salt water was much more of a chore than I was expecting it to be. It did its job, though.

Since then I’ve had two servings of the drink. I hope I’ll get used to the spiciness as time goes on, because I’m not really accustomed to spicy things.

Do people usually feel detox symptoms on day one? I feel kind of tired, unfocused, slightly depressed and basically like there’s a big ol’ cloud over my head.

About a month ago I started making raw smoothies for breakfast. Sometimes I change it up, but my favorite is pineapple, mango and spinach. Someday when I remember to pick up some spirulina from Whole Foods I’ll throw some of that in as well.

About two weeks ago I started bringing two pieces of fruit and a Larabar with me to work for “dinner.” I work late, and the biggest problem I’ve noticed with this is that it isn’t substantial enough to tide me over for the evening and I tend to eat whatever I can find when I get home. Usually “whatever I can find” means pasta or bean quesadillas. It could be worse, but it’s not the direction I want to be going.

Last week I started eating salads for lunch in place of whatever I used to eat – sandwiches, I think. Anyway, that has been going well. My favorite salad is mixed dark greens with half an avocado, sunflower seeds, the pulp from half a grapefruit, and then the juice from that half grapefruit as dressing. It’s pretty tasty, and I’ve become a big fan of avocado.

Also, I’ve been snacking on tasty things like nectarines.

I think the biggest problem is dinner. I need to find something more sutstantial that I can bring to work. This week I’m going to experiment with sprouting, which is something I haven’t tried before. I’m interested in making a quinoa salad with nama shoyu, bok choy, carrots and sea salt. Maybe that with an apple or something would do the trick and then when I got home I could just make myself something sweet, like a banana blueberry shake, and then call it a night.

Also I think I need to snack more throughout the day just to make sure I’m getting enough protein and all of my nutrients. Fixing the dinner problem will help that, though, because I’ll probably still eat that Larabar and fruit throughout the day. Also, I’d like to eat more nuts throughout the day. Macadamia nuts and almonds are on my next shopping list.